Loved Too Late

Kara was allergic to alcohol. She broke out in a widespread rash.

The doctor prescribed eczema medication, but it seemed to have side effects on her heart.

"Kara, it's just some itching. If you just bear with it, it'll pass.

"If it leaves scars, I'll find the best plastic surgeon in the country to treat you!

"We can't take any chances if this medicine possibly has side effects. Your heart has been through surgery. I can't even begin to imagine losing you if something happens!"

Inside the villa, Kara looked up at the man keeping watch beside her.

His eyes were filled with concern and love, yet his words only made her heart grow colder. It was summer, yet she felt ice-cold. There was a chill that seeped into her bones.

"Bennett, the doctor said the side effects are so rare that maybe one in a thousand people would experience them.

"I can't even sleep from the itching. Are you sure you won't let me take it?"

Her throat felt dry when she spoke.

"Kara–"

Pain flickered across Bennett's face.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he quickly pulled out a bottle of sleeping pills from the drawer and eagerly poured out a few.

"Take this. These sleeping pills were prescribed by our family doctor. They have no side effects. If you take them, you'll be able to sleep."

Afraid that Kara would insist on taking the eczema medication, he swiftly stuffed the bottle into his pocket. Just then, his phone rang. Anxiously, he rushed out to take the call.

It was as if staying even a second longer would give Kara the chance to ask for the medicine again.

Kara's hand was suspended in midair. There were more than ten sleeping pills on her palm. If she took them all, it would likely be a fatal dose.

She turned away. Her tears silently soaked into the pillow.

At that moment, a call came in from abroad. She absent-mindedly picked it up.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Miss Sierra, hello. I heard from Miss Carter that you've agreed to the marriage. I'm calling to inform you that the wedding will be held as soon as possible. Are you okay with that?"

Kara suddenly recalled that she had agreed to Marilyn's request.

She forced a smile. "I'm fine with that. But there's something I'd like to ask you for help with."

"I'm at your service."

"I don't want a wedding gift worth billions or a villa. Instead, I'd like you to help me fake an accident. On the day I head to Solaria, I plan to take the Odyssey Cruise. Could you fabricate news that I accidentally fell overboard?"

There was a brief silence on the other end before they quickly agreed.

"Understood, Miss Sierra. I'm looking forward to our wedding."

Kara politely ended the call.

The moment she hung up, Bennett rushed in with an anxious look on his face. Visibly tense, he sat by the bed. "Kara, I just heard you mention a wedding. Who's getting married?"

"Just a friend," Kara brushed him off.

Fortunately, Bennett didn't press further.

For the next few days, he seemed unusually busy. He always left home early and returned late.

Kara wasn't idle either. Unable to sleep at night due to the itching, she spent her time researching immigration policies. At dawn, she went to the immigration office to complete the necessary paperwork.

Once everything was settled, she returned home and slowly began packing her belongings.

Eight years wasn't a short period of time.

Over the years, Bennett had written her a love letter every week, filling an entire bookshelf. She gathered them all, placed them in a fire basin, and burned them.

Bennett had a diary filled with notes about her preferences.

The first page stated that she had a heart condition and needed special care, followed by a list of precautions. Things that had once felt like love now felt like a sharp blade, cutting her open and leaving her bleeding.

The second page noted her alcohol allergy, warning that she must never drink. Yet, hadn't she downed those 88 glasses of alcohol under his watchful eyes? The fiery taste had burned straight into her heart.

–

Kara hugged her knees, crouching on the floor as she watched the flames consume the letters and diary.

Bennett rushed home just in time to witness this scene. Panicked, he pulled off his jacket and frantically tried to smother the fire, completely disregarding the risk of burns as he pulled the diary from the flames.

Ash scattered everywhere, some landing on the back of Kara's hand, scalding her and making her inhale sharply.

"Kara, didn't I tell you not to touch anything in that room? If anything happens to this diary, I'll make you pa–" Bennett caught himself before finishing the words' pay for it'.

He had noticed that the diary was still signed with 'Kara' on the cover. After sighing in relief, he finally realized that she had been burned. He frowned. "How could you be so careless? There's burn ointment in the drawer. Go take care of it yourself."

With that, he strode upstairs without looking back.

There was a locked room on the third floor of the villa, a place where Bennett never allowed anyone near.

Now, as if desperate to prove something, he unlocked the door in a hurry. He was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice Kara following silently behind him.

At the corner of the hallway, Kara caught sight of the room's interior. Her eyes widened in shock.

The walls were covered with photos of a couple.

Beneath a cherry blossom tree in spring, amidst golden wheat fields in summer, on a bed of red maple leaves in autumn, and beside a snow-covered road in winter.

These were places she and Bennett had once traveled together, and they included every photo they had ever taken.

Her face had been replaced in all of them.

All of them had been altered with AI, swapping her out for an unfamiliar woman.

That had to be Natalie's face.

Kara's heart clenched. A suffocating pain jabbed at her heart like a thousand needles. Even the burn on her hand seemed insignificant in comparison.

Clutching her aching heart, she found herself unable to breathe or even utter a single word.