Contract Marriage with My Secret Partner in Crime-Chapter 56: Not Alone

Zephany’s stomach twisted. She hadn’t known.

Kendrick had never mentioned this part of his past. The well-natured, kind-hearted man who loved his mom and sister had once been a martial arts genius? And now they mocked him like he was a joke?

She turned her head slightly, her voice soft but steady.

"Kendrick..."

He looked at her, and she gently squeezed his hand.

I’m here, her gesture said.

Kendrick felt something pull deep in his chest. A warmth. Zephany’s fingers in his, her quiet strength, made the humiliation sting a little less.

He turned to the man with the smirk and said calmly, "I didn’t realize you kept track of my career so closely. Should I feel honored?"

The man chuckled. "You should feel embarrassed. I mean, look at you now. We all kept pushing. We became champions, joined elite schools, got recognized. And you? You gave up."

Kendrick’s smile was faint but real. "I didn’t give up. I just chose a different path."

"A path to nowhere," someone else from the crowd added, laughing.

Zephany opened her mouth, then closed it. She couldn’t blow their cover. She had to stay in character—a shy, soft-spoken journalist. Not the field agent(null) who once jumped from rooftops and took down five men in seconds. Not the girl who once stared down a warlord.

Even so, her eyes burned.

"You know," she said softly, still holding Kendrick’s hand, "Sometimes people disappear because they had something more important to take care of. Like family."

There was a brief pause. Some people scoffed, some looked curious.

The man crossed his arms. "That your girlfriend, Montclair?"

Kendrick looked at Zephany and, for a second, her nervous green eyes met his. Then he turned back to the man.

"My wife," he said simply.

The murmurs exploded.

"Wife?!"

"Wait, they’re married?!"

"Seriously?! When?!"

Zephany felt all the blood rush to her face. She bit her lip and looked down, doing her best to act like the shy woman people believed her to be.

"You married someone?" the man repeated, amused. "Well, I guess if you’re not winning trophies, you might as well get a girl. Still, kind of sad how far you’ve fallen."

Kendrick didn’t reply. He sat down calmly, pulling Zephany to her seat beside him. The crowd’s whispers didn’t stop, but they no longer mattered as much. Not with her beside him.

Zephany lowered her voice. "Why didn’t you ever tell me about all that?"

Kendrick gave her a small smile. "Because it’s not who I am anymore. I had my reasons for leaving that world behind."

She looked at him for a long second, then nodded slowly. Her fingers curled again around his.

And Kendrick, for the first time that night, allowed himself a quiet breath of relief. Not because the stares stopped, not because the whispers faded. But because the girl sitting beside him—his "wife" in all this madness—didn’t let go.

He had endured scrutiny for years until almost everyone began mocking him. He felt helpless and alone until now. Someone was finally by his side.

In the crowd, Pia watched from a distance, wide-eyed.

"Oh. My. God. Zephany. What are you doing?" she muttered, already pulling her phone out. Then she paused. "Wait... maybe I should wait before I post anything. This might be more fun to dig into later."

Sophia, standing behind Cassius, who sat cross-legged on the upper private balcony away from the crowd, said without emotion, "They’re drawing too much attention."

Cassius grinned, sipping his drink. "Isn’t that what makes it entertaining? I’d say the show has just begun."

And far away in a corner of the arena, a man in a hooded coat watched silently, arms crossed. The shadows seemed to lean in closer as he whispered to himself, "Kendrick... you really have changed."

Kendrick felt Zephany shift slightly beside him, her shoulder brushing his.

Despite the chaos, despite the past rising to haunt him, there was comfort in this moment.

The arena’s noise filled the air, but for Kendrick and Zephany, it felt muted. The whispers, the murmurs, the judgment—it all seemed distant now, fading into the background.

It wasn’t the task they were there for anymore; it was the strange, unexpected bond that had begun to form between them in the last few moments.

Kendrick sat straight, his fingers still intertwined with Zephany’s. She had lowered her eyes, her cheeks still flushed from the unexpected revelation.

She had been so focused on the task at hand, so absorbed in the role she had to play, that the reality of Kendrick’s past had taken her by surprise.

She had never imagined he’d been a prodigy, someone once admired and envied by so many, only to fall from grace so publicly.

"Do you... do you regret it?" Zephany whispered after a long, quiet moment.

Kendrick turned his head slightly, the soft overhead lights catching the edges of his face. He didn’t look upset; he looked calm, almost resigned.

"Regret?" he repeated, then shook his head. "No. There’s nothing to regret. I’ve made my choices, and I’ve found peace in them. Sometimes... we just have to leave things behind to move forward. That world? It wasn’t the life I wanted. It wasn’t my family. It wasn’t my future."

Zephany nodded slowly, though her mind was still swirling with questions. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand what he was saying—it was just the weight of it all.

The thought of someone being so revered, only to lose everything, was a lot to digest. She couldn’t imagine being in his shoes, standing there as a target for mockery.

Wait—she actually understood it all. She knew too well how it felt, because she had experienced the same.

She glanced at him and saw something more. Kendrick wasn’t broken. He was here, with her, fighting through it with dignity.

For that, she respected him more than she’d ever admit.

"Thank you," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. "For... everything. For not letting them get to you. For not... pushing me away."

Most people who had gone through what Kendrick had would’ve built walls—shutting others out, isolating themselves. She’d seen it before. Sometimes, she’d done it herself. But Kendrick had stayed open, steady... and kind. That meant more to her than she could put into words.

Kendrick’s smile was small, but genuine. His eyes softened as he looked at her.

"I’m not sure what brought that on," he said, his tone gentle, "but... thanks. And hey, you’re not so bad yourself."

She chuckled nervously, giving his hand a tighter squeeze.

"I’m not exactly good at pretending, you know?"

He raised an eyebrow, a flicker of humor in his eyes.

"Could’ve fooled me. You’re pulling off the shy journalist act pretty well."

He still remembered their unexpected date night. How she had carried herself differently—confident, bold. There was something feisty buried under that quiet front, and he hadn’t forgotten it.

Before Zephany could respond, a voice suddenly interrupted, followed by a tap on Kendrick’s shoulder.