Tary and I were in a private restaurant to talk. We were the only people inside the restaurant because we ordered already and the staff decided to give us privacy. I was glad that he visited me.
"You didn't even say you were coming. It’s a surprise, ah. How are you?"

"I came here to say that I broke up with Lavender. I want to win you back."

Sadness crept into my system after I heard what he said. The earlier sheer joy I felt was replaced by painful sadness. I wasn’t surprised when he said that but I still didn’t know what I should say. I was ashamed with myself because I felt I was the reason why the two of them separated.

"Why did you split up?" I asked. I filled my mouth with carbonara after asking because I wasn’t really comfortable with what he said.

"I don't love her. I guess my answer is enough for you to stop asking about our break-up," he seriously said.

I couldn’t taste the carbonara that I was eating because of what we were talking about. I just tried to swallow it before I spoke. "But she loves you. She loves you so much."

"I love someone else. You know who she is."

Tary's seriousness was annoying me... Annoying because I thought we were already over. I thought it was clear to him.

"What do you want to happen now?" I asked straigthforwardly.

"I want to win you back."

I softly punched my forehead when I realized he had said that a while ago. "Oh, I'm sorry. You said that earlier. But I'm sorry because it’s over... I don't feel anything for you anymore."
"Because you have someone already? Is it Constance? Tell me." His voice was not loud but I could feel that he was angry. His pronunciation of every word was full of emotion, he didn’t seem to let me say ‘yes’.

I passionately sipped the avocado juice I ordered before I let out a sigh. "What are you saying? That guy won't like me. Plus, he has a girlfriend."

"It seems that you're hoping."

"Let's just say I admire him, but I’m not expecting that we’ll be together."

"I love you."

I just closed my eyes because of what he said, I wondered how long I would tell him that I had no feelings for him anymore. I was having a hard time telling him. I didn’t want to see him get hurt even though he was one of the reasons why I was hurt then. But I also couldn't give him a false hope.

"I love you too–"

"Yes!" he almost jumped because of joy and even intended to hug me.

"No, Tary, that’s not it. I love you as a friend and it won't get any deeper. You know that I don't want to hurt you and you'll only be hurt even more if I give you a false hope. If you say, let's just try if we’ll click again, I won't allow it. We don’t suit that anymore. You're no longer young to not understand what I'm saying. I just love you as a friend. It won't go deeper. It won't. "

"No, I won't cry. I really cursed myself for dumping you before. But I will accept what you said. This is my karma. Karma is real. Hey, I hope this won't be that last time I will see you. I will find myself again. I will continue to love you from afar. Take care of yourself," he directly said before standing up from his seat although he was sad.

He hugged me tightly as if it was the last. I hugged him back and lightly patted his back.

"I hope you'll be free. Don't keep jailing yourself to the past. You also need to move on."
[FLASHBACK]

"They have a baby and she's already one-year-old. Congrats." The man who loved me so much had a beautiful baby girl and he was the man I neglected because of Tary. He was happily married to the woman he loved and had a beautiful family.

Meanwhile, I glanced at the man lying on the bed who was none other than Tary. The man I chose because I loved him so much.

"When are you going to look for a decent job, huh? It's been three years but we're still not progressing. I chose you over Cloud in the very beginning, I cheated on the person who loved me so much. You gave me a false hope! You told me that things will be better when I became a model in America! I never became a model there. I became a waitress and almost became a prostitute in the bar where you just showed me how womanizer you were. You just didn't able to do it with Gara that you became like a hungry lion! Cloud is so different from you!"

I unexpectedly received a slap from him but I did not mind it. That was not the time for me to feel the pain. That was not the time for me to be weak.

"Are you done, huh?! Leave me if you want! I don't care!" he angrily said.

"I'm really leaving you!" I immediately grabbed my bags. "By the way, I was the one who sent your pictures to her so she knew right away that you were fooling her. I used a dummy account to spill the tea!"

Tary, who had been an addict, a womanizer, and a drunkard since we settled in America, stayed silent.

"Choose to change for good. Be worthy," I said before finally leaving. I learned to hold those two sentences because of a good friend.

The only way I could think of to change my life was to move away, I had a hope that a sensible man was also destined for me. I still believed that I have the right to be happy in spite of everything.

"He didn't even stop me from leaving," I said with a shrug as I was a little farther from the apartment where we were staying.

"Luck will also smile to me someday."
[END OF FLASHBACK]

"Yvo? Hey, are you okay? You’ve been hugging me for a few minutes."

I immediately freed him from that hug when I realized that I was still hugging him.

"Ah, eh, sorry. I just remembered something. Let's eat. I haven't finished my carbonara yet, oh."

"Let's eat."

Even though we were eating already, it seemed like my mind was still on another planet. I knew I made the right decision then. My life changed. I was able to move on.

Tary smiled before he turned around and started walking away from me, we would take different paths again. But I was not numb not to know that his heart was suffering. I would never lose hope. I knew he would also fully accept that we were not for each other.

When I came home to the mansion, I found Magdalen waiting at the main door. She greeted me warmly and said...

"Daddy is home! Daddy is home!"

I bent down and gently pinched her beautiful nose. "Darling, mama will go to our room first. If you want to come, just tell me."

"I'll stay here for a while. Daddy promised me an ice cream! Strawberry ice cream! Yum-yum!"

"Oh, all right, mama will just go upstairs. Enjoy your ice cream, darling."

I kissed her on the cheek before handing her over to Yaya Joy. I didn’t want to see Constance. We're not really okay. I hated myself for letting our friendship to be damaged. You really should do what you could do or fix right away. I wish I reconciled with him in the past so that our situation would not get worse. I became a coward. My pride won.

When I got to our room I slowly lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.
[FLASHBACK]
"You submit a resume."

"What?! I've been hired so I'm not going to submit."

He ignored what I said so I was a bit irritated. He just focused on his cellphone.

I would disturb him.

"When do you like to marry your fiancée?"

"Why? Do you plan to object?"

He’s crazy!

"No, I'm going to be a flower girl."

He immediately laughed at what I said but only for a moment and he became serious again.

"Stop staring at me; I might melt," he teasingly said. I just stared at his face for a moment, I just realized something.

"Assuming! Your mole is just beautiful," I blurted out. A handsome man was definitely in front of me. "It's near your right checkbone, seems a pathway of tears. Maybe you’re a crybaby, aren’t you?"

"What's so good about a mole? Does a mole have a face? You're funny," he said before slightly laughing.

"Tse! The mole doesn’t need to have a face to be beautiful. It depends on the person's appreciation."

"You mean you're just amazed at my handsomeness similar to Adonis?"

I never thought he’s that arrogant.

"Be careful not to be like Narcissus," I said as if concerned.

"You're beautiful. Why did I notice it this late? Your eyes are shining. Maybe you're in love with me. You like me, don't you?"

[END OF FLASHBACK]

I opened my eyes before I got up and sat on the bed.

"Oh, I miss the joke time. I wish he didn't hear what I said about his belly fat before. I wish I wasn’t that impulsive when I spoke that time."

I was about to go to bed again when there was a sudden knock on the door, I heard three consecutive knocks. The person outside the room didn’t speak but I was not surrounded by evil people because I knew we were safe inside the mansion. I did not hesitate to open the door. I was shocked when a man appeared in front of me, but I was even more surprised by what he did next!

"There's a thief!" I shouted loudly after he did something alarming.