Prologue:

Aviannah’s heart pounded loudly as she sat in silence, waiting for her father to speak. Once again, he had joined her for a meal—something he only did when he had something important to tell her.

"I'm going to marry your Aunt Cristy," her father announced, causing her to freeze momentarily.

She already knew about his plans and desire to marry his girlfriend. But for some reason, she still felt a pang in her heart upon hearing it. Perhaps it was because she still couldn’t fully accept that someone else now occupied a place in her father’s heart—a place that should have belonged only to her mother.

Her father was well aware that she did not approve of his new relationship. Yet, it seemed he had fallen too deeply in love, to the point where he chose that woman over her—his own daughter.

Aviannah swallowed the food she was chewing before calmly responding to her father, “Okay.”

Her father paused for a moment, looking at her with slight confusion.

“Okay?” her father asked.

“Yes.”

“It’s okay with you? Okay as in okay, and you have no violent reaction?” he asked again, as if making sure.

“Yes, Dad. It’s okay. If you want to get married… you can do it,” she said softly and politely.

She had thought about it carefully and decided that it might be best to just agree with her father’s decision to marry someone else. Maybe, just maybe, she could use it as a chance to convince him to drop the idea of forcing her into an arranged marriage.

Her father fell silent for a moment, staring at her as if processing her words. Until…

“What’s the price of your approval for my marriage to your Aunt Cristy?”

“Excuse me?”

“Tell me. What do you want in exchange for agreeing to my marriage with your Aunt Cristy?” he repeated.

It seemed her father knew her too well, as he couldn’t believe she would simply accept his decision so easily.

She slowly placed her spoon and fork down on the plate in front of her and took a deep breath.

“You can marry Aunt Cristy, but… I don’t want to marry anyone else… unless I love him,” she declared firmly. “If you love Aunt Cristy enough to marry her, then fine. But please… allow me to marry only the person I love. Let me choose the person I want to be with,” she continued.

"You’re telling me this because, for sure, there’s already someone you like. Am I right?" his father asked her gently.

She swallowed hard before she could speak. “Y-Yes, Dad.”

"Alright," her father suddenly responded, catching her slightly off guard.

“E-excuse me?”

"I won’t insist on the arranged marriage I planned for you anymore. But first, I need to meet the man you like. Invite him over to our house or bring him to my wedding with your Aunt Cristy," her father stated.

She was overjoyed.

“R-Really, Dad? You agree?” she asked in disbelief, her face unable to hide the happiness she was feeling.

Her father gave her a small nod, followed by a faint smile. Overwhelmed with joy, she stood up from her seat and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you so much, Dad! Thank you so much!” she exclaimed happily.

Her father seemed pleased as well, as if he hadn’t seen her this happy in a long time.

Ark smiled warmly as Aviannah embraced him out of sheer joy. It felt good to see his daughter this happy again. And for the first time in a long while, they reached an agreement without their conversation ending in an argument during a meal.

“AVIANNAH, you have a visitor. Your Aunt Cristy is here,” Vangie said with a smile.

“Aviannah…” Cristy softly called her name and gave her a small smile.

Aviannah wasn’t expecting her visit, but unlike before, she no longer felt heavy-hearted toward her. Perhaps this was what acceptance felt like—when people learned to embrace things in their lives, everything became lighter and easier.

“Are you busy right now? Can you accompany me?” Cristy gently asked.

“I’m not busy. Sure, I’ll just get ready,” she replied with a smile. She then excused herself from her nanny, Vangie, before quickly heading to her room to prepare and freshen up.

Once she was done, she hurried out and joined Cristy on their way to their destination.

“Uhm… where are we going?” she asked softly while they were on the road.

If before, she spoke to Cristy without respect, things were different now. She found herself naturally using polite words when speaking to her.

Aside from that, unlike before—when she would always sit in the back seat to make it seem as if Cristy was just her driver—she now sat beside her in the front passenger seat.

And if in the past she remained silent, enduring long moments without speaking to Cristy even when they were alone, now she was the one initiating conversations.

Cristy gave her a warm smile before answering, “I just wanted you to come with me to choose and buy decorations… for my wedding with your dad.”

She gave her a small smile. “Okay.”

A few moments later, they arrived at a mall.

“Would you like to eat first?” Cristy offered, to which Aviannah nodded with a smile.

They went to a nice restaurant inside the mall.

“Thank you, Aviannah,” Cristy said with a warm smile.

“Huh?”

“Thank you for accepting me. And thank you for allowing your dad and me to get married,” she replied.

Aviannah gave her a small smile. “It’s nothing. I know that… my dad loves you. And I can also see that you truly love him too. I’m sorry for being rude to you so many times since my dad introduced you to me as his girlfriend. It wasn’t because I disliked you. It was just that I hated how quickly my dad moved on after losing my mom, while I… I’m still struggling to move forward. But later on, I realized that when you truly love someone, time doesn’t matter. Because when you feel it, there’s no escaping it. You can’t dictate when your heart is allowed to love, because it beats for the person destined for you, regardless of time,” she explained at length.

Cristy smiled at her warmly. “Thank you, Aviannah. I’m really happy that your dad and I are finally okay with you. Now, the only one left for me to talk to and convince is my own child,” she said, surprising Aviannah a little.

“You have a child?” she asked in surprise. It wasn’t obvious from Cristy’s appearance and figure that she already had a child. She had to admit that the woman was beautiful, and if you looked at her, she still seemed like a young, single woman.

“Yes, I have a son,” Cristy replied.

“Where is he? This is the first time I’ve heard about this. Well, I admit I didn’t really care before,” she said honestly.

Cristy smiled. “It’s okay, Aviannah. Uhm… my son lives in the province with his grandfather.”

Hearing that, Aviannah suddenly remembered Mang Gener and the man she loved.

“So that means… I have a brother,” she murmured.

“Yes, Aviannah. And your dad and I have already talked about it—he will be moving in with us once we get married.”

That news suddenly made her feel excited. What would it be like to have a sibling?

“Really? How old is he? Am I older than him?” she asked eagerly. She suddenly thought of Tonya and Jake. She had experienced being an older sister to those two kind-hearted kids.

“Hm. No, actually. He’s a few years older than you,” Cristy replied.

“Oh, I see. How old is he?”

“He is 22 years old. And his name is—”

Cristy was interrupted when her phone suddenly rang, preventing her from finishing her sentence.

“Hold on a moment, Aviannah. I need to take this call,” Cristy said apologetically.

“Go ahead, Aunt,” she replied with a smile as Cristy stood up to answer the call.