"Allen, you have to understand," she continued, her voice softening into something almost pleading. "I didn't have the luxury of time. I didn't come to you because I would rather drown in debt than let you carry my family's burden. But I can't take it anymore… Allen, I'm scared. I don't know what to do."
For a moment, the world seemed to quiet around them, the distant hum of engines, the flicker of streetlights, the night holding its breath.
Looking at Calin like this…
If it had been in the past, Allen would have already fallen apart for her.
"You didn't come to me because you didn't want me dragged into your family's problems… or because I wasn't good enough?" Allen asked, his expression unreadable.
Calin parted her lips to respond, but he cut her off, his gaze locking onto hers with unsettling intensity.
"From the very beginning… did you ever even like me?"
Her expression went blank, then shifted into confusion, as if she couldn't quite process the words coming out of his mouth.
"Did you approach me on purpose?" he continued evenly. "Did you date me because you saw me as your ticket to Shin Keir? You knew I was part of his circle… and thought you could use me to get close to him."
Calin's eyes widened in disbelief as she shook her head.
"But to your disappointment," Allen went on, his voice calm but edged with something colder, "Shin rarely shows up. Not at banquets, not at gatherings… not even in small circles. You couldn't even catch a glimpse of his shadow."
A faint, humorless curve tugged at his lips.
"So you decided I wasn't useful anymore. You broke up with me and shifted your focus. Tristan, perhaps. Maybe even Saeki—"
"That's a lie!" Calin's voice cracked as she shouted, tears spilling down her cheeks. "How could you think of me that way? Allen, you know me! Of all people, you're the one I believed would never look at me with prejudice!"
But Allen didn't move, didn't soften.
Though there was hurt in his eyes, it wasn't for her. It was for himself, for the man who had once been so utterly, blindly devoted.
To him, Calin had always been brilliant. Driven and strong. Untouchable in her elegance, beautiful inside and out.
He had believed she deserved everything the world had to offer and if he could, he would have placed it all in her hands.
But that belief had started to fracture the moment her sudden engagement to Bryce Gate was announced. Then came the rumors that she had once been involved with Shin Keir.
At first, it felt absurd, like a story from another world. But slowly, that world began to bleed into his own, the edges blurring.
Was he the only one who didn't know? Why had she never told him about Shin Keir?
Shin was his friend and the thought that they might share a past with the same woman, it unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.
So he asked, and what he learned was far worse than anything he had imagined.
She wasn't the woman he thought she was.
The innocence she wore so effortlessly, the image she presented, began to crumble under the weight of truth.
The men she involved herself with, the way she carried herself, even her personality, it was all different from the person he had known.
And the stories she told?
The bullying, the injustices, the times she claimed to be wronged, most of them weren't true.
More often than not, she had been the one in the wrong.
And he, the blind fool, had stood by her, defended her, even used his own influence to clean up situations she herself had created.
But what truly shattered him was the incident with Shin Keir.
Calin had tried to drug him.
Allen could have chosen not to believe it. He could have clung to denial, buried the truth beneath excuses.
But there was evidence, witnesses, and Shin Keir himself, firm and unyielding, denying he had ever been involved with her.
That was when everything came crashing down, and once it did… the past began to rearrange itself.
Moments he once thought were coincidences now felt deliberate.
The way she would bring up Shin Keir, sometimes casually, sometimes with feigned curiosity.
The places she insisted on going.
The times she refused to see him only to change her mind when Shin Keir might be there.
Her "work trips" abroad, always aligning with Shin's business travels. Even the hotels, coincidentally the same.
And those rare encounters…
When they would run into Shin Keir by chance, only for Shin to remain distant, indifferent, his gaze never once lingering on Calin.
Now, looking back, it all made sense.
He had been standing right beside her yet completely in the dark.
Helping her.
Supporting her.
Unknowingly creating opportunities for her to chase another man.
While he, like an idiot, had been cherishing every moment with her. Never realizing that, in her heart, she had never once been his.
"Allen…" Calin muttered softly.
"I know you tried to drug Shin Keir." Allen cut in, not giving her another chance to speak.
Calin froze, her fragile composure shattering in an instant.
"I know everything now, Calin," Allen continued. "If you're going to say it's all a misunderstanding, that everything is just coincidence… then is it also a coincidence that every woman you claimed offended or wronged you just happened to be connected to Shin Keir? His fans, socialites chasing after him, the women the Keirs arranged for blind dates… even celebrities who casually mentioned admiring him suddenly 'wronged' you?"
Calin tried to speak, but no words came out. A chill spread through her body as her heart pounded violently against her chest.
"Even if you never had feelings for me… even if I was just one of your many chess pieces," Allen said, his voice quieter now, "for the sake of what we had, the least you could do is stay away from me from now on."
He stepped into his car.
Panic surged through Calin. It felt as if something far greater than a relationship was slipping through her fingers.
She rushed to the passenger side, opened the door, and climbed in.
Allen's patience thinned. "Get out."
Calin shook her head as tears spilled uncontrollably. She bit her lip, her sobs raw and unrestrained.
When no explanation came from her, Allen simply drove off, intending to drop her at her house.
Halfway there, Calin finally spoke between broken sobs.
"Allen… anyone can leave me, but you can't. I know I made so many bad decisions… and I admit I was once infatuated with Shin Keir, but believe it or not… my feelings for you weren't a lie."
Allen let out a faint, self-deprecating smile.
He was capable of loving deeply, but he had never been a man blinded by love. He knew he couldn't place all the blame on Calin. He, too, bore responsibility for believing her so completely.
The Calin he once loved… had never existed.
"Do you know when I first fell for you?" he said after a moment. "It was at a social banquet. I had just argued with my family again. They always made me feel like nothing I did was ever good enough. Then I met you. You said you didn't believe hard work couldn't defeat talent… that if I had both, I'd be invincible. When you said that, you looked so bright… full of life. Maybe to you it was just some random talk, but it made me feel better. Though… you probably don't even remember—"
"I remember," Calin blurted out but couldn't recall that moment.
Silence stretched between them, heavy and suffocating, until Allen spoke again.
"I'm engaged, by the way."
The words dropped like a stone into still water.
Calin blinked, then let out a light, disbelieving laugh. "You hate me that much? Now you're making things up?"
"It's Saeki's sister," Allen replied casually, his gaze remained fixed on the road.
Calin went still, her expression shifted to something complicated flickering across her face.
Saeki's sister was already married unless...
"Which sister?" she asked slowly. "The one studying abroad?"
Allen nodded. "She's coming back. We'll officially announce the engagement then."
Calin "...."
She couldn't quite name what she was feeling, but one thing was certain… she's unwilling to accept it.
Allen had always been there when she needed someone the most. Every moment, every quiet act of devotion… would all of that soon belong to another woman?
No.
She didn't want that.
"You're abandoning me?" Calin asked, resentment and anger rising like a tide within her.
Allen frowned, his eyes still on the road. "Get your facts straight. You're the one who broke up with me. Besides, that relationship—"
Calin suddenly lunged at him, striking him as if he had committed an unforgivable crime.
"Calin Ricci, are you crazy? Do you want us to get into an accident?" Allen snapped, trying to grab her flailing hands.
But Calin only screamed incoherently, her words tangled with rage and desperation.
He wasn't allowed to get engaged. He was supposed to love her, only her!
The alcohol she had consumed earlier blurred what little restraint she had left. If anything, his scolding only fueled her anger further.
The car sped past a flickering yellow traffic light.
Then a sharp screech tore through the air.
Followed by the thunderous, unforgiving sound of impact.
---
When Calin woke, the sterile white ceiling of the hospital greeted her like an unwelcome sunrise.
A nurse sat quietly by her bedside, the faint beeping of machines stitching the silence together.
From the nurse's explanation, Calin had been unconscious for two days.
Fortunately, aside from blood loss and the impact, there were no permanent injuries. Her limbs were intact and her condition was now stable.
"What about the person I was with… Allen?" Calin asked, her voice dry and unsteady.
The nurse hesitated. A flicker of something unreadable crossed her face before she forced a polite smile. "You should focus on resting and recovering."
Calin's brows furrowed, irritation sparking.
"I need to contact my brother," Calin said firmly. "It's urgent."
Not long after, Sergei arrived.
He looked irritated, his presence carrying the faint chill of someone inconvenienced rather than concerned.
He couldn't help thinking why this lunatic had survived that fatal car accident, really unfortunate and regrettable.