"Kevin, this all has to be a big misunderstanding. What are you saying?" Louisa panicked, and avoided his gaze. She knew that Kevin had her dead to rights. But she hadn't thought that he'd be so brazen as to directly accuse her. It caught her totally off-guard. She was at a loss for words.

  "I didn't say anything before out of respect for Claire. I don't want to hurt her feelings just because you did something wrong. So, now that I have you alone, I'm going to tell you straight up. No matter what, you and Claire are besties, right?" Kevin gazed deeply into Louisa's eyes, forcing her to face him.

  "Kevin, I'm confused! What do you mean?" Embarrassed, Louisa turned her head away and quickened her pace. She wanted to run away. She didn't want him to notice the panic on her face.

  "The food was pretty bad tonight. I have a feeling that was your doing." Louisa seemed to have no concept of what she did, or worse, not care. So Kevin was blunt. He didn't give a damn how she felt.

  "How could you say that? Kevin, I know you don't like me, but why are you accusing me of doing something like that? What kind of girl do you think I am?" Louisa stared at Kevin with sad eyes. She was humiliated by his bluntness, by his aggressive manner. There was no way she was weaseling out of this.

  "I think you know the answer to all of that. Do you even feel bad about what you did?" This time, she faced him and met his gaze. In her mind, she did nothing wrong. So why should she feel bad?

  "Why don't you ask Leena? Maybe she did it intentionally. It's obvious she wanted to frame me." L

  she's hot, well, I don't think she is hotter than me. And I am from a much better family than she is. My dad can help you get ahead." Tears streamed down Louisa's face. She couldn't hold them back. Kevin had hurt her, and so there was no shame in letting him know.

  "Get a grip. Marriage isn't based on shallow things like appearance and power. At least, my marriage isn't." Kevin put his hands on her shoulders. He really had the urge to shake her. Maybe her brains would roll around in her skull and land right this time. She was too caught up in her own head.

  "Isn't it? All guys are like this. Don't they want power more than anything?" Louisa bit her lip and gazed at Kevin firmly with her watery eyes. She had nothing left.

  "I don't know what other guys think about power. But to me, power isn't everything. I'd rather have a happy family than all the power in the world. Get it now?" Kevin released her and shifted his eyes away from her. He looked off in the distance rather helplessly. He was overwhelmed by how callously she thought of love.