Chapter 2

Blazing flames roared as the fire alarm wailed madly. Amid the chaos, Alice slipped out through another exit and found a phone booth on the roadside. She dialed the mysterious number and said, "Nick, you once said I could return to the orchestra anytime within five years, right? Does that offer still stand?" "Of course, my dear Alice," Nick replied in his deep and resonant voice. "The fans in Velldar miss you very much." "But there's some complication regarding my identity. It'll take three days to process the paperwork for leaving the country." "How do you plan to get out of Gearwin? From what I know, there's no way Camden would let you go that easily." Alice's gaze flickered. "I'm going to send him my corpse." Hadn't Camden replaced her with someone else? Well then, she would vanish from his life once and for all. Suddenly, a pair of warm hands circled her waist. Camden buried his face in her shoulder and said in a trembling voice, "Darling, thank goodness you're safe. If anything had happened to you, I wouldn't want to live either." "Alice, Cam thought you were still inside. He insisted on going back to find you, saying you couldn't see. The fire was raging, and a chandelier almost crushed him in there." Camden's best friend patted his chest, his face still pale with fright. Only then did Alice notice Camden's arms were covered in burns and that there was a gaping hole in his clothes. His eyes, too, were bloodshot from the smoke. Her breath hitched as a sharp pain prickled her heart. He was willing to risk his life for her, yet how could he love two women at the same time? "Mr. Bennett." A timid female voice sounded from behind. Elena, dressed in a white dress, looked frail as she dragged her suitcase along. Alice felt the hand around her waist stiffen, then slip away. Camden ruffled her hair and lied without so much as a blink, "Darling, a business partner has come to discuss work with me. Wait here for a moment." He then strode forward and pulled Elena into his arms. In sign language, he said, "Elena, why did you come without me asking? Didn't I say I'd go tonight to be with you and the baby?" "I just miss you too much. And I wanted to take care of Alice to make amends. It's me who wronged her," Elena replied in sign language as well. "You've done nothing wrong to her! I'm the one at fault for making you bear another woman's name. I've wronged you and the baby." He kissed Elena, his eyes brimming with so much tenderness that it almost spilled over. "I've already picked names for the baby. If it's a boy, we'll call him Elijah, and if it's a girl, she'll be Eloise," he signed. Alice stared dazedly at the scene before her, as if her heart were being slashed apart, each cut searing with pain. Around this time last year, she had discovered she was pregnant. Camden had been so overjoyed that he rented out an entire hot spring mountain resort and gave her a CD filled with 9,999 words of love he had recorded just for her. She was just about to play it when he took a call. On the other end came the faint sound of a woman crying. Camden had kissed Alice's belly and said, "Darling, there's an emergency at the company. Wait for me—I'll be back." Alice had suspected nothing. She waited obediently for a day and a night, but the man she loved never returned. What came instead was an avalanche, and their child died that winter. She watched Camden tenderly caress Elena's belly with that all-too-familiar gesture, and a bitter smile tugged at her lips. So, it turned out the only one who couldn't move on from that avalanche was her. "Darling, I'll be a little busy these days, so I've hired a nutritionist to look after you," Camden said to Alice. He was holding Elena's hand and looking at her with eyes full of affection. "Hello, Ms. Wilson," Elena greeted delicately. She had called Alice "Ms. Wilson" and not "Mrs. Bennett". Camden frowned slightly at the form of address but said nothing to correct it. Alice's gaze lingered for a few seconds on Elena's lips, which were swollen from his kisses, and her fingertips dug into her palm. Suddenly, she felt a warmth settling over her. Camden had placed a wool coat around her. "It's too cold out. Let's go home, darling." Before Alice could react, she saw Elena make a hand sign for "gotcha", and in return, the man pressed a doting kiss to her lips. She watched the two of them walking ahead with their fingers entwined, their intimacy impossible to ignore. Then, she witnessed Camden—who had always hated the smell of cooking oil—put on an apron to help Elena in the kitchen and laugh heartily beneath the roar of the exhaust fan. Lastly, she looked on as Camden, ever the considerate one, ladled soup into her bowl as he always had, only to turn the next moment and gently wipe some sauce from the corner of Elena's mouth. "Silly woman. You're simply too adorable," he signed fondly. Alice kept her head down as she sipped the hot soup. Her eyes stung with heat, but no tears would come. Having once been loved by Camden, she knew his every look and his every gesture. And in that moment, Alice understood at least that he had truly fallen for Elena.