I didn’t reply to any of his messages.

How ironic. This was the first time he replied to my messages so quickly.

I always thought his slow replies were because he was too busy.

Now it made sense. He was able to see my messages, but he just couldn’t bother to reply in time.

Mom came to pick me up at the airport. It had been years since we last met.

Dressed in her floral dress, she was still as beautiful as ever. Despite this, the effect that time had left on her face was unmistakable.

I hugged my mom, telling her how much I missed her. Mom’s eyes swelled up with tears.

Even though we weren’t living together, I would still share parts of my life with her.

She knew about my relationship with Luca.

While she didn’t oppose our relationship vehemently like Dad, it did not mean she approved of our relationship.

She probably figured out on her own what happened to my relationship with Luca.

I stared out of the window at the familiar, yet weirdly-unfamiliar city. Mom happily told me about the recent changes to the city as well as our family as I listened patiently.

Just then, my phone started receiving a chain of text messages. Without reading any of them, I blocked Luca’s number.

Mom glanced over at me. I assured her with a smile, “It’s nothing.”

She did not ask any questions, and I continued to remain silent.

The wedding day was fast approaching and I now no longer had the luxury of time.

I too, started to get busy. I went to pick a wedding ring with my mother.

Staring at the rings on the counter, my thoughts began to overwhelm me.

This was the moment I had been looking forward to the most. And yet, the sight of a ring on my finger felt surreal.

Mom was beaming when she finally picked out a ring for me.

“Don’t worry, Hailes. I’ve met Jonah before. He’s a good kid.”

I returned a smile at Mom and tried on a ring that I thought was pretty.

Having experienced the sort of abuse by Luca, I wasn’t in a position to be picky about my partner. In fact, I wasn’t concerned with any of this.

Just then, I heard a voice from behind. “Good choice.”

Jonah Lee cast a polite smile in my direction.

The man in the photo had suddenly come alive. Feeling a bit shy and embarrassed, I averted my gaze.

“Thank you.”

Seeing this, my mother hurriedly stepped in to save the situation.

“Jonah? What brings you here today? Oh, look at the time, care to have lunch with us?”

Mom smiled gleefully at us. I did not reject her proposal.

Wearing rings of the same model, we went out for lunch together.

No one expected photos of us together would be circulated online the next day.

“Jonah Lee is seeing someone.”

What I found incredibly hard to believe was that photo going viral on the internet.

Several hashtags started gaining popularity on Twitter.

#LeeXJones#

#JonahLeeFiancee#

Mom was, of course, delighted to see this, and spent the next few days replying to tweets.

She sent me a text message.

“We must let Luca know that he’s not worthy of my daughter!”

To hear that name all of a sudden felt strange to me as our relationship had come to an end. Besides, he didn’t love me anymore.

What I did not expect was that two days later, I would receive a call from an old friend.

Over the line, I could hear Luca’s voice. It sounded hoarse as if he had been crying before this.

“So I’m guessing you left me because of him?

“After so many years, how could you just leave like that?!

“Is it because of his family? Do you think he really loves you?

“Come home now, and I’ll forgive you. How about that?”

I raised my hand to look at the ring that I forgot to take off during the day.

With a sneer, I replied, “He’s richer than you, better-looking too. We’re getting married soon, but why do you care?”

I could hear the sound of a long inhale on the other end of the line. It sounded like Luca was smoking a cigarette.

After a long pause, he finally spoke up.

“Does he know about your past? You chased after me for five years, getting knocked up in the process. Do you think he’d still marry you if he were to find out the truth?”

He took a breath, perhaps after realizing that he had said the wrong thing.

He switched to using a softer tone, “Hailes, don’t be mad at me, okay? Come back to me, we’ll get married immediately. Wasn’t it always your dream to get married to me?”

I wanted to hit back at him, but just as I was about to say something, I noticed Winnie had uploaded a new story.

The caption read, “Luca knows how to treat me best.”

In the photo, Luca had given her a bouquet of flowers. To add insult to injury, they were lilies, my favorite flowers.

I hung up the phone and blocked the number without hesitation.