LOGINAlmost instinctively, Esther pulled her hand back from Felix, leaning away as if they’d just been caught doing something wrong. Felix blinked, taken aback by her sudden reaction, before he noticed the young man stepping out of the elevator, standing right in front of them.“Gaara! You made it!” Felix greeted warmly, a grin on his face that only made Esther’s complexion drain further. She had completely forgotten one critical fact that they all knew each other.Gaara, momentarily stunned by the scene, didn’t even realize he had stepped out of the elevator. His eyes darted between Felix and Esther. “What… what are you doing here?” His question carried a dozen hidden meanings, layered with disbelief, irritation, and something else she couldn’t quite name.“I’m also invited to the wedding,” Felix replied smoothly, as if it were the simplest explanation in the world.Gaara, processing the chaos around him, forced out a strained chuckle. “Oh… yeah, of course.”Before the awkwardness could s
And suddenly, Esther found herself in a taxi with Felix. Just like yesterday, the taxi became the unplanned setting that brought them together.“You must be wondering why I chose a taxi instead of driving myself,” he said, breaking the silence. It was, indeed, a little surprising to see him riding without driving his own car. Especially considering he was a multi-millionaire who bought cars like they were toys.“Yes… honestly, I did think about that,” Esther replied, stiffly.“I only have two cars. One is for the farm, and the other… is Vinson’s Lamborghini,” Felix explained.Unexpectedly, he was the type of wealthy person who remained humble, and Esther secretly admired that.“I don’t like the way people look at me, filled with awe, jealousy, or curiosity. I hate feeling like I have to interpret every glance. It’s easier to just ignore it, but honestly… I’m more comfortable this way,” he continued.As he spoke, Esther realized that Felix was genuinely a good person, someone deserving
Dinner went off without a hitch. The Maxwell siblings couldn’t stop praising Esther’s cooking, raving about how lucky whoever married the eldest Rodrigo would be. Amber and Jack admitted they couldn’t cook at all, and Amber even asked Esther to come by more often to teach her. The conversation flowed easily, touching on Elson’s busy schedule, Amber’s work, and even Jack’s engagement plans, which he claimed would take place in Switzerland next summer. By the end of the night, Esther had somehow landed herself on their guest list.Gaara’s name came up a few times, but otherwise Esther was grateful that the siblings were considerate enough not to mention anything about their youngest brother’s connection with her. Still, the youngest never showed up not even by the time Elson and the Maxwells said their goodbyes.“Esther, can I get your phone number? Just to make planning easier,” Amber said as she stepped toward her car.“Of course,” Esther replied cheerfully. Her contacts were finally
“I started realizing that when I was dating Gaara, at least you’d start noticing me. I thought if I started dating your friend, you’d start wondering why the hell I’d bother with him, and maybe… just maybe, you’d get interested in me.” A tear slid down her cheek.“I was such an idiot. Even to the end, my stupid hope of making you see me never came true. Instead, I dragged an innocent person into this mess. Even though Gaara wasn’t the type to take our relationship lightly, he never left me. He was always there when I poured my heart out, even when I spilled about you. He’s not the attentive type, but whenever I struggled, he helped. What we had wasn’t anything romantic to me. But apparently, he saw me as more than that. Unlike me, I just used him.”Closing her eyes, two more tears ran down her face. “After dating Gaara and realizing I couldn’t go on like that, I thought I needed to talk to Nelsy about it. But of course, fate hates me. I got wasted at our high school graduation party.
“Before I tell you anything, I need to warn you this happened a long time ago. Whatever happened back then is done, sealed, and it won’t touch the present. Can you promise me that?”Vinson nodded. By then they had already moved to a small café not far from the arcade. Since the place accepted cards, Vinson ended up treating Grace to a drink. He ordered a hot chocolate, while Sakura asked for a strawberry milkshake. They chose a quiet corner, hugged by two soft red couches.If anyone asked whether Vinson wanted to know what was going on between the girls, of course he did.He’d known Grace for as long as he’d known Nelsy. Both girls filled his childhood memories as his closest companions. The three of them grew up spending afternoons together, especially back when the girls used to visit Mr Yamazaki’s farm just to play. Even through middle school, nothing changed. Grace and Nelsy stayed inseparable, true friends from the start. Vinson simply existed between them, carrying his quiet cru
“Thirty coins.” A cigarette hung from Vinson’s lips as he dug through his wallet, trying to pull out some bills. The cashier, chewing her gum without a care in the world, dropped thirty arcade tokens onto the counter. Her eyes never left the game happening right in front of them.“Shit,” Vinson muttered when he found nothing inside his wallet. He hadn’t refilled it with cash, and this old place still didn’t take cards. At least the ATM wasn’t far. “Hey, I’m out of cash. I’m still buying the coins.”The woman only shrugged. “Whatever, man.”Vinson rolled his eyes and turned around to leave, but he stopped short when he bumped into someone standing behind him in line.“Hi,” Grace greeted, lifting her hand and patting his shoulder like they hadn’t just run into each other. “I got it.”Since she was already holding her wallet, she pulled out some money and slid it to the cashier. “Add thirty more coins.”Vinson didn’t say a thing. He just stared at her, surprised she’d step in so casually







