Even though I was terrified, I planted myself between him and danger without a second thought.
Until a bottle smashed against my head and everything went black.
When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. The first thing I saw was Alfred's scrutinizing gaze fixed on me.
"Maria Sullivan, why would you do something like that?"
I stared at him, completely lovesick. "Because..."
The words I like you were right on the tip of my tongue.
Then the sharp click of heels echoed from the hallway.
"Alfred, I heard some girl saved you. I came to check on you..."
A woman walked in carrying a fruit basket. The moment she appeared, I watched Alfred's perpetually cold face soften into something warm.
He stood and introduced her. "This is my friend, Maud Matthews."
Then he turned to Maud, his voice gentle. "Didn't you say you were busy today? How'd you find the time to come?"
Maud draped her arm casually over Alfred's shoulder. "We grew up together. You and me go way back. You think I'd just sit around when I heard you got hurt?"
She must have noticed me staring, because she quickly added, "Don't get the wrong idea, sweetheart. We've known each other since we were in diapers. That's all it is."
In that moment, I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat.
A woman's intuition is rarely wrong.
Sometimes all it takes is a single glance to know exactly what two people are to each other.
And in that instant, I knew.
Maud Matthews was the one Alfred loved.
And sure enough, over the eight years that followed, he proved that suspicion right more times than I could count.
"Maria?"
Alfred frowned and waved a hand in front of my face, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"What's wrong with you? You're white as a sheet."
He reached out and took my ice-cold hand.
"Did something happen?"
I forced the corners of my lips upward and slipped my hand free of his without making a scene.
"It's nothing. I think my period just started. I'm not feeling great."
Alfred relaxed. He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a few times.
"I ordered some delivery for you. Pads, some hot cocoa, things like that. Hopefully it'll help."
With that, he left my apartment.
I watched his retreating figure. He never once looked back.
The bitterness crept in again, slow and familiar.
How easy it was to fool him.
If Alfred truly cared about me, he would have noticed that my period had already come and gone last week.