P r o l o g u e

The only sound that could be heard in the entire house was the sound of silverwares clicking the plates. He sat across from you, chewing on his food while you were just using your fork, lazily playing with yours. No one spoke a word. You wanted to ask him about his day but you knew better. He was either going to reply his usual answer – ‘fine’ – or he would not even bother to reply at all. It was not like this before. But somehow, it happened.

“Kris?” you called out from the bedroom.

He did not answer and proceeded to the living room. He lied down on the sofa, his left arm covering his eyes. You went out of the room and walked down the hall to the living room.

“Kris, have you eaten? Do you want me to make-“

“No.”

You knew exactly why he was acting that way. Ever since his dad died, he had to take over the family business as he was the only son in the family. Every single day, he would come home late – sometimes as late as two in the morning. You knew that he was tired and the heavy workload from the company was taking a toll on him.

“I know you’ve not eaten so I am going to heat up something for you, okay? It’s not good to skip your meals. Sometimes I-”

“I said no, didn’t I?!” he snapped at you.

“W-why are you acting like this? I was only asking you. Did something happen at work?” you probed him.

He got up from the sofa and walked towards you.

“Nothing happened at work, alright. So I would appreciate it if you quit asking me questions and just leave me be!”

He walked past you and stormed down the hall to the master bedroom. You could hear the door slam and you flinched at his sudden outburst. Tears started to well up in your eyes and you slid down to the floor.

That night, you remembered, you did not sleep and cried your heart out. It was the first time Kris did that to you. Never once did he raise his voice at you, even when he was tired. From that day on, you asked him lesser and lesser questions. You were afraid. You thought that by avoiding the problem, things would get better. But you were wrong, because he too, stopped talking to you. He came home even later than before. Every day, it was the repeat of the same thing. You went to sleep at night, without him beside you. You woke up in the morning, without him beside you too.

You looked up at him. There he was again, looking everywhere else except at you. You just kept staring at him, hoping that for once, he would look you in the eyes with adoration again. The house used to be filled with jokes and laughter. It was full of colour.

“What did you say?” Kris asked you, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

You giggled and managed to say, “N-nothing!”

He then proceeded to straddle you and his hands ran up your sides, tickling you. You bit your bottom lip to prevent yourself from laughing. However, being the ticklish person you are, you could not take it anymore and burst out laughing.

“K-Kris! Stop!” You gasped.

“Never!”

Now, everything was dull and lifeless. The love the both of you had before is now gone. Well, maybe not for you because you obviously still love him. On most nights, you would let out all tears until you were drained of them. Of course, he did not know. You only cried your eyes out in the deep hours of the night.

Abruptly, you dropped your fork onto the plate. His eyes moved from where he was looking before, to you. You stared straight into his eyes. They were emotionless. You remembered how it used to be full of sparks and emotions. Realising what you just did, you furrowed your eyebrows. You contemplated on whether to say what you were about to say but then you decided to just go for it. You needed to know why.

“Kris, we need to talk.”

He did not answer, just like you expected.

“Why aren’t you answering me?” Your voice tinged with exasperation.

“I’ve got nothing to say,” he replied calmly. Too calmly that it irked you a little.

“That’s bull!” you said, your voice raising.

“What is there to say?” Again, he spoke calmly.

“I-I just don’t understand why we became like this. I know that you’re tired and everything, taking over your dad’s business but-”

“You don’t know anything,” he cut you off.

“Of course I don’t! You never tell me anything! Tell me, let me understand!”

“Even if you understood, it’s not going to help with anything! This is my problem, not yours,” he answered, with an edge to his voice.

“Your problem is my problem too.”

“It is none of your business.”

“W-why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?” he snapped at you.

“Pushing me away,” you did not intend for it to come out as a squeak.

Kris let out an exasperated sigh and stood up from the chair, running his hand through his hair a few times. That was something he would do when he was making decisions. He then walked towards you and grabbed your right wrist roughly, pulling you to the living room. You flinched slightly at the sudden contact. It has been awhile since the both of you had any form of physical contact with each other.

“You want to talk? Okay fine, let’s talk then,” he said through gritted teeth.

 He was still gripping your wrist. It hurts, so you tried to shrug his hand off your wrist. He only tightened his grip on you. You muttered incoherent words under your breath.

“For goodness sake, Kris, let me go!”

“What is wrong with you? You wanted to talk, so I brought you to the living room and now you’re acting like this. Stop being so damn childish!” He did let go of your wrist but instead, he took one of the photo frames from the table and threw it to the ground.

It was one of your wedding photos - your favourite one at that. Like the glass of the photo frame, your heart was shattered too. You looked down and bit your lips, fighting back the tears. From the corner of your eye, you could see him walking over towards you. You saw him open his mouth as if wanting to apologise for his rash behaviour. However, you cut him short by speaking.

“Alright, let’s talk,” your voice shaking. “A-are you having an affair?”

It was not that you did not trust him but somehow, you had to ask. As far as you remembered, you have not done anything wrong. So, that was probably the only reason left.

“What the hell? Do you honestly think of me that way, again? Really? Of all things you thought that I was cheating on you?! This isn’t the first time.”

“And I thought you trusted me,” he scoffed.

“I am sorry, Kris, I really am,” you apologised to him as you sobbed against his chest.

You were apologising because you had just accused him of cheating on you. Yes, you have accused him of that before during your senior year. You know that you should trust him more but you were too insecure. Kris was one of the heartthrobs in school. Girls prettier than you would always find ways to try to throw themselves at him. You were just that average teenage girl who was always in the background but somehow, Kris had noticed you. You guys became friends, close friends and eventually, a couple.

“Shh, it is okay, baby,” he reassured you while your back softly.

“But promise me one thing. You need to always trust me. Remember, I will always have eyes on you and only you,” he continued.

“Alright, Kris, I promise. I am sorry once again and I love you,” you looked up from his chest and stared into his eyes.

He placed a soft kiss on your forehead and replied, “I love you more.”

You bit your bottom lip so hard that you actually tasted blood in your mouth. You regretted asking him that question. But that was not going to stop you from asking him another question. You took a deep breath before continuing. It has been playing at the back of your mind since forever.

“Then, tell me honestly. Do you still love me?” you asked in a whisper.

He did not answer you and your heart fell.

“Do you still love me?” you asked again, this time louder.

Again, he did not reply. You did not know if he was just trying to piss you off by not answering as a payback for you accusing him of something he did not do or he was really not able to answer the question anymore.

“I thought so. Damn it, Kris! It was a simple question. With a snap of a finger, you were supposed to have been able to answer that damn question!” you lashed at him.

“I loved you, Kris. And I still love you, in case you were wondering. But I guess this love has become a one-sided affair,” you continued.

You could not take it anymore. Clenching your fist, you stormed to the master bedroom. Hot tears started to sting your eyes. Grabbing a huge luggage, you tossed all your clothes and toiletries inside it, not caring about how unorganized it looked like. You went to retrieve something from the drawer beside the king-sized bed before leaving the room. The brown folder had been in the drawer for a while. But every single time you wanted to pass it to Kris, you changed your mind.

A few minutes later, after regaining your composure, you went back out to the living room. Kris was still sitting down on the sofa. Before approaching him, you placed your luggage against the wall. You bent down slightly so that you were on the same level as him. You studied his face before pecking him on the lips. You let your lips linger on his for a few minutes. He was startled at your action. It has been awhile since you did that but he did not say anything as you placed the brown folder on the coffee table in front of him.

He raised a brow, “What’s this?”

“Your key to happiness.”

“W-what do you mean?”

You looked at him straight in the eye for the last time.

“I am setting us free.”

[A/N] I hoped you guys liked the first part! The second part will be uploaded tomorrow! Thank you for reading! :)