Chapter 128: Learning to Live

Maya’s POV

I stared at myself in the mirror and slowly exhaled.

I was fully healed now.

There were still faint traces of the injuries if I looked closely enough, but nothing that would make anyone think I had once spent days in a hospital or needed crutches to move around.

I could walk normally again, drive again, go wherever I wanted, and return to my usual routine without anyone needing to worry about me.

But there was still one thing I had not recovered from. Kelvin had not said anything about the wedding.

Weeks had passed since my accident, and he had never brought it up again.

At first, that had terrified me.

I had wanted to ask him almost every day whether he still intended to marry me.

I wanted to know whether the wedding was still happening, whether he still saw a future with me, and whether the things he had said before everything went wrong still meant anything to him.

I had nearly made the mistake of asking him repeatedly.

If my mother had not spoken to me, I probably would have.

She had called me one evening and listened patiently while I complained about Kelvin’s silence.

"He still hasn’t said anything about the wedding," I had told her. "How am I supposed to sit here and pretend that doesn’t bother me?"

"Because you need to give him time."

"I have given him time."

"You have given him a few days."

"That is enough."

My mother had disagreed. She had reminded me that Kelvin had nearly lost me in the accident, that our relationship had already been damaged by what I had done, and that constantly asking him whether he still intended to marry me would only make him feel trapped.

"If you keep pushing him," she had said, "you may force him to make a decision before he is ready, and you may not like the decision he makes."

I had argued with her.

I had told her that I was afraid of losing him. She understood that. And that was precisely why she had insisted that I calm down.

Eventually, I listened. And I did notice the difference.

Once I stopped bringing up the wedding, stopped crying about it, and stopped asking Kelvin where our relationship was going, things between us became peaceful again.

He continued taking care of me while I recovered. He made sure I ate properly. He worried whenever I pushed myself too hard. He returned to his normal work schedule, but he still made time for me.

We had not had another serious argument in weeks. Kelvin had not brought up the wedding either.

I had learned to live with the uncertainty. At least, I had learned to live with it for now.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced at the time. There were only two hours left before Kelvin would return.

I smiled faintly. Two hours.

I had been patient for weeks, and I could continue being patient for another two hours.

But patience had a limit. There had to be one.

My thoughts returned to last night.

Kelvin had touched me. He had been intimate with me.

It had been the first time he had allowed himself to cross that distance between us since everything happened.

I had not forgotten it. I had spent much of the morning wondering what it meant.

Had something changed in him?

Was that a sign that he was finally beginning to forgive me?

Could last night have been enough to change his mind about the wedding?

I lowered my eyes. I wanted to believe it was. I needed to believe it was.

Another deep breath escaped me. I had waited long enough.

The doorbell rang a few minutes later.

I immediately rose to my feet and walked out of my bedroom, heading for the entrance door.

It could not be Kelvin. He had his own key and would never ring the bell unless he couldn’t use it.

Besides, I was expecting someone.

I stopped at the door and opened it. "Helen."

My younger cousin immediately threw her arms around me. "Sister!"

I laughed softly as I hugged her back.

After greeting her properly, I stepped aside and allowed her inside before closing the door behind her.

Helen looked around the apartment with obvious excitement. "Wow! Sister, your apartment is beautiful."

I noticed the way her eyes moved around the living room, taking in everything from the furniture to the decorations.

I didn’t particularly like how she looked around, but I kept that feeling to myself.

"Come and sit down," I said to her.

She followed me into the living room and settled onto the sofa. I sat across from her.

She immediately started talking. "I have heard so much about how Kelvin has been taking care of you. Mom told me you practically had your own personal caregiver."

I smiled. "He was simply doing what he was supposed to do."

"You are lucky."

I lifted my chin slightly. "It is expected. After all, I am the only woman he loves."

Helen nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly. You are so lucky. I wish I could find a man like Kelvin."

I felt a small swell of pride. Of course she wished that.

Kelvin was successful, handsome, intelligent, and devoted when he cared about someone. Even after everything I had done, he had stayed beside me while I recovered.

That was the kind of man other women could only dream about.

I returned my attention to Helen. And my expression changed.

I had been too distracted by our conversation to pay attention to what she was wearing. But now, I noticed everything.

Her skirt was short, printed, and flared, exposing most of her thighs whenever she moved.

Her top revealed a little more of her cleavage than I considered appropriate, especially for someone who had come to visit me and my fiancé in our home.

I frowned. "Why are you dressed like that?"

She looked down at herself and then back at me. "What is wrong with my clothes?"

"You know you are coming to visit my fiancé and me."

She chuckled. "Sister, I came straight from the spa. I had a chemical peel done, so I didn’t have the opportunity to go home and change. Besides, there is nothing wrong with what I am wearing."

I scoffed inwardly. There was plenty wrong with it.

If I had known she was going to arrive dressed like this, I would never have accepted her request to come over.

I was already imagining what Kelvin would think if he walked through that door and saw her dressed like that.

The thought irritated me.

Before I could tell her what I thought of her outfit, She suddenly stood.

"Sister, what drink do you have in your refrigerator?"

She started walking toward the kitchen before I could answer. I just stared after her.

She had been in my apartment for barely ten minutes, and she was already walking around as if she lived here.

I felt a sharp irritation rise inside me.