When Clarissa walked out of the Hamiltons', the sky was already dark, shadows stretching long under the dim streetlights. The night breeze carried a chill, and she stood by the door for a bit before fishing out her phone to call Elian.
But before she even dialed, she spotted him hopping out of his car not far away.
"Wow, talk about timing. I just came out," she said, like he somehow sensed exactly when she would appear.
Elian didn't respond, just slid off his suit jacket with one hand and draped it over her shoulders.
His tone wasn't exactly cheerful when he muttered, "You left the house without even checking the weather? Just focused on looking pretty, huh? Who were you trying to impress?"
Clarissa looked down at her outfit - a plain dress, barely any makeup, didn't even do her hair. Not exactly red carpet ready. Then she remembered touching up her lipstick after tea earlier.
Maybe that was it? Classic straight-guy logic: 'Is she wearing lipstick? Must've dolled up.'
Still, the jealous note in Elian's voice didn't go unnoticed.
Whatever. She couldn't be bothered to argue.
Once they were in the car, she turned to him and asked, "Got any food cravings? Let's grab something."
Elian's hand paused on the seatbelt buckle for half a second, his voice low: "You haven't eaten yet?"
It was almost 7PM.
He figured she must've eaten dinner at the Hamiltons' if she had lunch there.
Clarissa tilted her neck, clearly sore from sitting too long. "Nope. If I had, I'd have told you. You're still my husband, right? I'd keep you in the loop."
Without a word, Elian handed her his phone. "Pick a place. I'll drive. Oh, and while you're at it-follow yourself back on Insta."
He sounded casual enough, but Clarissa started panicking a little as she took the phone.
Yep, he definitely noticed she'd blocked him.
And as if to confirm it, he asked, "Why'd you block me in the first place?"
Her grip on the phone tightened, almost dropping it. She looked totally guilty.
What was she supposed to say? "Oh, I did it because of Sebastian"? Yeah, right.
"I figured you were going abroad. Thought we wouldn't really stay in touch after that..."
Even she didn't buy that excuse, her voice going all soft and tiny by the end.
She stole a glance at Elian. He was stone-faced as always, but his hands on the wheel were clenched tight, veins popping under his rolled-up sleeve.
Feeling awkward, she hurried to add her own contact back into his phone.
Elian stayed quiet.
She looked out the window at the passing streetlights and asked, "When did you find out I blocked you?"
He let out a bitter laugh. Her throat went dry. She braced herself, hoping he'd at least say it was recent.
"It was when I wanted to ask about Plumie. I thought-man, what kind of heartless person just disappears like that? If I ever saw her again, I'd make damn sure she paid for it."
Clarissa's head dropped lower and lower. The kitten...
So, it must've been right after she wiped him from her contacts.
The way he'd spat out those last words, so full of frustration - just like one of those stubborn CEO types from old-school romance dramas, raging about the one who dumped him with nothing but heartbreak.
"Sorry..." It took her a while to finally get that out.
Just as she was about to put his phone away, she noticed dozens of unread posts. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she asked, "Mind if I check your feed?"
Elian kept his eyes on the road and replied indifferently, "Go ahead."
She tapped into his feed, and right at the top was a post he'd made.
[From promises to paper to forever.]
A photo of their marriage certificate and them holding hands. But honestly, it was hard to tell it was her hand in the shot.
She let out a very faint breath of relief.
As she scrolled, most of the comments were people expressing shock that he got married. A few of them were names she didn't even recognize.
Their social circles had drifted apart the moment they graduated, hadn't they?
But then there was one particular message:
Perry Quinn: [Congrats.]
Clarissa blinked, then tapped on it to make sure-yep, it really was her teacher Perry. Wait, Elian knew him?
She locked his phone screen and turned to ask, curious, "You know Professor Quinn?"
He had just parked the car when she asked, replying, "Yeah, met him at a gala."
Clarissa nodded. Professor Quinn did attend a lot of events. It made sense someone like Elian, who was always networking in the business world, would know him.
"What about Liam? How do you know him?"
Considering Liam and Sebastian were close friends, they shouldn't be crossing paths with Elian...
Especially since Elian and Sebastian never got along.
He answered unbothered, "His family's done some deals with us."
That checked out-Liam's family name carried serious weight, especially in global markets these past few years. Collaborating with Elian's company made perfect sense.
Although... that picture didn't really reveal it was her, so Liam probably didn't put two and two together.
"You're scared Sebastian might find out? Wouldn't that actually be a good thing? Like, show him you moved on and even upgraded."
He raised a brow as he unbuckled her seatbelt, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth that made him suddenly look so much more desirable than Sebastian ever had.
"We're here. Let's get dinner." He released the belt and was about to step out when Clarissa stopped him.
"Elian."
His hand stilled on the door handle. He turned back to look at her, eyes softened just a bit, maybe because the night air was unusually gentle tonight.
She took a breath and said clearly, "That day at the Marriage Registration Center, I think I was just running on impulse. Just lost my head a little and blurted out we should get married."
She paused, not caring anymore about whatever Sebastian and Aria would end up doing. It didn't matter.
She glanced at Elian.
Out of her sight, his hand clenched into a fist, that question - "Do you regret it?" - stuck in his throat.
Clarissa continued, "It was my idea, yeah. But I never meant to use you to get back at him, or drag you into some comparison game. That's not fair to you. We're married now, and I really want to be a proper wife to you. But if one day you meet someone you truly love, just let me know. I'll step aside."
Each word came out steady and sincere.
And even though she insisted she hadn't used him to throw shade, for a second, he selfishly felt pleased about that.
But then she said she'd step aside if he found someone he liked?
What did that even mean? Divorce?
He didn't dare to go down that road. Instead, he asked, "What about you? What if you meet someone you really like?"
Clarissa was caught off guard, her eyes lifting to his.
Maybe the car was just a bit too cramped, but in that moment, she thought-did he sound... hurt?
