572 Colder*

He felt like the world had turned dark, hellish. His life had always been ordinary, mundane, and quiet. He never felt so empty and fulfilled until this woman came into his life. He never disliked being alone, he was used to it, and he never found it boring before. But now, everything had changed. He felt like he could no longer bear being alone again. She had become everything to him. He never thought forcing himself to leave her and forget her would destroy him like this. Even though he knew it was the only choice he had, he couldn't believe the extent of pain and torture he had felt. He knew that letting her go wouldn't be easy, but he never knew it would be this hard.

And now, he was staring at her in this dim-lit room, and she was a mess. Looking at her thin frame as she sat on the floor barefooted and looking as miserable as he was made his heart convulsed in both pain and anger. He realized his pain was much more tolerable than watching her like this. No pain was greater than seeing her crying and hurting like this. He couldn't help but blame the world and himself for hurting her.

Slowly, Kai walked towards her. All he wanted was to touch her, stroke her messy hair, and comfort her. He wanted to embrace her and ease her pain so she would return being that annoying hooligan again. When Kai came into his senses and found himself at the building's rooftop, Kai had fought an intense battle against himself whether to appear before her or not. He had thought about the things Abigail said to him, and he clenched his fists into tight balls. He had thought about going to that bastard Tristan and kill him. But then what would've changed if he did that? Kelly was better of marrying a womanizer than marrying a man who would kill her. These thoughts steeled Kai's heart again, and he decided to go back. He thought he would just threaten the bastard or probably beat him up until he's half-dead once he catches him cheating on Kelly. That was all he could do for her because he knew that his love couldn't do anything good to her but her inevitable death.

He had waited for the night to deepen, planning to sneak inside her room and watch her sleeping face one last time, but what he saw shattered his resolve to leave.

"Oh, god…" her voice was soft as she watched him approach her. She blinked her eyes to let the tears flow from her blurry eyes and to have a clearer view of the angel approaching her. "It seemed drinking is a very wise choice," she added, a pleased smile now flashing on her face.

"Not if it's too much," he said, shaking his head as he glanced at the bottles on the floor.

She chuckled. Kai swallowed as his eyes remained glued on her. She was drunk, but her drunken laughter still sounded very sad and pained.

"I'll have to disagree with you, babe." She narrowed her eyes at him. Her other hand touched the other side of his cheek. "Because look… you're here." Her smile widened. "If I know you'd appear before me like this when I'm drunk enough, I should've got drunk in the past few days too."

Kai lifted his hands and held her wrists. Their eyes met, and Kelly's smile slowly died down. Her fingers began to caress his cheek.

"Did you… did you come here to congratulate me on my wedding?" she asked without masking the pain in her voice. It appeared she wasn't as drunk as he thought. The look in her eyes was serious and sober.

Kai could only shake his head. He began to feel the unbearable pain again.

"You're not going to congratulate me?"

"No," he said raggedly.

"Why? Because you're against it? Me, marrying another man?"

When Kai couldn't respond, a sweet smile curved on Kelly's face again. Watching his utterly miserable expression at that moment made Kelly's heart swell. Even in her state, his emotions were clear as the day to her. He was devastated, and she was selfishly so glad.

"Kelly." He breathed before his gaze became serious. "Why? Why are you crying? Did something happen?"

"Kai," she uttered as she leaned in closer to him, acting as though she didn't hear him at all. Her eyes were now surveying his face as though she was looking for something. "You looked like you've matured so much since the last time I saw you. Or is it because I'm a little drunk?"

Her remark made him stiffen for a moment.

"You looked so weary, and these shadows beneath your eyes aren't very good," she continued as her thumb gently traced the skin below his eyes. "But… why do you look even more appealing and more delicious like this?" She cocked her head as she said those words.

Kai didn't speak. He just stared at her face as though he was memorizing the way she looked at him with desire and admiration until she leaned in and brushed her lips against his. Sparks immediately flew between them with that little quick collision.

"I love how rugged and human you looked tonight, Kai," she whispered when Kai suddenly let go of her hands and stood.

Raking his lean hand roughly through the disordered layers of his chocolate-brown hair, Kai forced his gaze away from her and stared out the window, trying to concentrate on the city lights as he seemingly struggled to calm himself.

He looked down at her after a while just to be met with her huge eyes staring up at him. His eyes fell on her bare feet, and he took a sharp breath.

"The floor is cold, Kelly. You can't stay there," he said, his voice gentle as he bent and attempted to touch her to lift her up when Kelly shoved his hand.

Kai pressed his lips tight together. That mere action was enough to make his heart burn with stinging pain. Kelly had never pushed him away before. He was always… always the one who's pushing her away ever since. He didn't know it would feel like this.

"Are you going to tuck me on my bed and then leave?" Kelly said as she rose. She wobbled, but Kai was quick to catch her. His strong hands were carefully gripping her shoulders. "Tell me, why did you come here?" she asked again, her eyes determined and sharp.

Kai stilled and remained silent.

"Did you come tonight to see me one last time and say your final goodbye?"

"Kelly."

"Tell me!" She demanded. Her eyes narrowed.

"I don't know. I don't know why I ended up here!" he said with such a force, enough to make any girl jump in fright. But Kelly didn't. She was surprised but never frightened. Kai never spoke like this to her before.

Moreover, Kelly couldn't ignore what he just said, and her heart began to thump.

"You don't know? What does –" Kelly couldn't finish her statement because of a sudden surge of dangerous alertness that surged in Kai's eyes. His head whipped towards the entrance door, and his eyes narrowed. Kelly knew he heard the men outside.

His eyes widened as he returned his gaze to Kelly. "You are being locked up?!"

His eyes glimmered with a ferocity that wasn't like him at all. His negative emotions were closer to the surface than she had ever seen before. He was angry, so angry. She could see the fury in his eyes, and Kelly found herself in a trance as she watched the new expression he never showed her before. Kelly thought that he really did change tremendously in the past days. It was hard for her to believe that this man was the oh-so-well-mannered and controlled soft cutie pie she used to know. Because lately, he didn't just become harder and colder, he also became a little untamed, and now, he was acting like a bad-tempered beast. Kelly couldn't help but wonder if this was the result of their desperate love. Or did she do this to him?

The air in the living room became incredibly heavy. And then, Kai's eyes began to turn red as he gritted his teeth. His aura darkened that Kelly couldn't help but felt chills running down her spine.

"I'll kill them," he hissed.