Seven Years A Fool, One Day A Queen

"Miss Lloyd!" the dealership manager shouted when he saw Elyse collapse to the floor.

Before anyone else could react, Colton was already in motion. He rushed straight to her, lifted her into his arms, and carried her out without hesitation.

A trace of ridicule slowly spread across Kristine's lips.

After Colton drove away, she was left with no option except to find a cab on her own.

Unfortunately, getting a taxi near the dealership proved to be nearly impossible.

Wearing her high heels, Kristine walked for an entire hour before she flagged down a taxi.

Seated inside the car, she looked down at her sore, blistered feet and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

At least the pain stayed in her feet, because her heart remained untouched.

...

Since the incident at the dealership, several days passed without Kristine crossing paths with Colton.

There was no reason for her to reach out or ask about him.

Elyse took it upon herself to deliver every detail anyway.

"At 9:05 this morning, Colton sat with me and spoon-fed my soup. He was so careful."

"By 6:23 this evening, Colton peeled an orange just for me. It looks perfect. Do you want a bite? What a shame you will never get the chance."

Under the message, Elyse attached a photo of the neatly peeled orange.

"At 10:35 tonight, Colton is lying beside me and already asleep."

Beneath that text was a photo showing Colton resting on the bed next to Elyse, his arm supporting his weight as he leaned close.

Kristine skimmed through the messages before dropping her phone back into her bag.

Maybe she had already gone numb, because Elyse's constant updates about Colton now felt no different from watching a ridiculous drama.

After opening the car door, she stepped out and headed straight into K&C Entertainment.

K&C Entertainment had once been built by her and Colton side by side.

At the beginning, her reason for doing so was simple: she wanted something that would bind her closer to him.

She truly thought that creating a company together would make it harder for Colton to walk away from their relationship.

What she never expected was that it would eventually become the chain that trapped her instead.

"You're planning to leave for Peudon?" Vance Bailey, the VP, looked at Kristine with open disbelief. "Does Colton know anything about this?"

Without hesitation, Kristine answered, "I haven't told him yet. I need you to keep this confidential."

"Naturally." Vance nodded, though disbelief still lingered on his face. "Weren't you completely devoted to Colton? Are you really able to walk away from him like this?"

For seven long years, Kristine had stayed by Colton's side. She had handed over the most precious years of her life without holding anything back.

"I'm done with him," Kristine said calmly. "Once I leave, I will hand over the remaining work related to the company's equity division to you. I really hate to bring you trouble like this."

"There is no need to sound so distant," Vance replied, lowering his head as a faint look of satisfaction passed through his eyes. "We graduated from the same school, after all. I was able to join the company because you strongly recommended me."

A quiet sense of appreciation rose in Kristine as she faced Vance.

In truth, while the company was registered under her name, the burden of keeping it alive had fallen squarely on his shoulders.

Without his efforts holding everything together, the business would have fallen apart a long time ago.

After making one final round through the office space, Kristine made the decision to leave.

At the entrance of the building, Vance walked her out himself and stood there until her car disappeared from view, only then turning back upstairs with reluctance.

...

During the drive, Kristine unlocked her phone and marked off the second-to-last note on her list, which was the division of the company's equity.

Soon after, her attention shifted to the final task waiting beneath it, which was moving out of Colton's villa in Crestwood.

Once that step was completed, there would be nothing left tying her to Colton.

The drive continued without a single word spoken.

Inside the car, the air slowly became stifling and tense.

As soon as she arrived at his villa, Kristine went straight up to the second floor.

When Kristine stepped inside, the household staff behaved as though she did not exist, and no one came forward to acknowledge her presence.

Everyone in the house was aware that Colton did not love her.

Since the day she moved in, he had rarely returned home.

Instead of heading to the master bedroom, Kristine went straight to the guest room, because she and Colton had been sleeping in separate rooms.

Inside the closet were rows of clothes from well-known luxury brands. Every single piece had been given to her by Colton.

To Kristine, none of it carried any meaning.

Slowly, she crouched down and dragged her suitcase out from beneath the bed.

Just as she began placing items inside, a sharp car horn sounded from outside downstairs.

"Mr. Yates."

Polite voices floated upward from the front entrance.

Colton had come back.

At once, Kristine shoved the suitcase back to where it had been.

She had no intention of letting him find out that she was preparing to leave.

Once she finished what she was doing, Kristine raised her head and found him standing at the doorway, his tall frame filling the space.

Weariness lingered in his eyes, yet the soft glow of the hallway lights sharpened his features and made him undeniably striking.

For a moment, Kristine forgot to breathe.

"What are you doing?" Colton asked, fixing her with a penetrating look that felt impossible to hide from.

Blocking the suitcase with her body, Kristine answered, "I was trying to find something."

Without pressing further, Colton stepped inside the room.

"The past few days have been a mess," he said. "I spoke with Bobby earlier. I'm free on the nineteenth, so we will get married that day."

Once again, he spoke as though he were delivering a decision rather than opening a discussion.

With a slight tilt of her head, Kristine responded, "The nineteenth happens to be my birthday."

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes before disappearing.

"I already made plans for that day," she continued.

"You usually do not celebrate your birthday, right?" he said.

He had simply never marked the occasion with her.

That realization stayed unspoken, yet it kept circling in her thoughts.

"Then we can choose a different date." After saying that, Colton adjusted his tie and walked toward the bathroom.

Roughly half an hour passed before he stepped back out, the warmth of the shower still clinging to him.

A towel was wrapped loosely around his waist.

Beads of water traced a slow path from his chest down over his defined abdomen.

Those contours had once stirred something fierce in Kristine, but now they left her unmoved.

From across the room, Colton watched her sit with her head lowered while she scrolled through her phone.

A faint crease appeared between his brows.

There was a time when showing off his physique would make Kristine hurry over, unable to resist touching him.

"We should sleep." With that, Colton reached over and turned off the lights.

Surrounded by darkness, Kristine rose to her feet. "I should get going."

A frown settled on Colton's face as he watched the door swing open and then shut.

Darkness filled the room once more.

For an instant, unease gripped him, yet he forced it down and convinced himself that everything would remain under control.

...

Over the following days, Kristine did not catch even a glimpse of Colton.

From what Vance told her, Colton had likely left town for a business trip.

Not even Vance had managed to get in touch with him during that time.

If this had happened before, the news would have crushed Kristine.

This time, however, it felt like a small mercy.

Because Colton was away, she finally had the opportunity to visit his villa and gather her things in peace.

Very little there actually belonged to her.

What remained were mostly items she had bought for Colton, including matching watches, clothes, a stuffed bear, and other things like that.

To Colton, all of it had seemed immature, so he had shoved everything into the farthest corner of the wardrobe.

One by one, Kristine pulled those items out and placed them carefully into her suitcase.

With the suitcase packed until it could hold no more, she walked out of the villa for the last time.

A member of the household staff noticed her departure but assumed she was leaving for work and did not stop to ask questions.

Before she realized it, the nineteenth had arrived.

By then, Kristine had already settled everything that needed her attention.

All she had left to do was wait for the twentieth and finally leave Gridron behind.

That night, Kristine went by herself to a cake shop in the city. She carried the small cake to a nearby park, chose a quiet corner, and ate it slowly on her own.

The sweetness lingered on her tongue.

This time, there was no need to worry about Colton leaving halfway through.

Leaning back, she lifted her gaze toward the darkened sky, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

At that moment, a sharp explosion sounded above her as fireworks suddenly bloomed across the sky.

Colors exploded across the sky as fireworks bloomed in dazzling patterns above her.

Kristine remained there for so long that her neck began to ache before the final burst faded into silence.

A sudden vibration broke the stillness.

Reaching into her bag, Kristine pulled out her phone and checked the screen.

A message from Colton appeared. "Did you like the fireworks? Happy birthday."

Tears rushed up without warning, blurring Kristine's vision, because she had never received a birthday wish from Colton before.

She never imagined that the first one would arrive on what was meant to be her very last day in this city.

After opening the message, Kristine had barely finished typing the word "thanks" when a new alert appeared on her screen.

The notification turned out to be a photo sent by Elyse.

With a light tap, Kristine opened it and saw an image of a slice of cake.

"Colton baked this cake for me with his own hands. I heard today is your birthday, so I deliberately asked him to make one just for me. I get to eat birthday cake, and you do not. What a pity for the birthday girl!"

While reading the message, the tears that had filled Kristine's eyes slowly disappeared.

Switching to Colton's chat, she typed out a short reply. "I want you to make a cake for me."