It was a photo of a beautiful bouquet with a man’s silhouette behind it. Though his face was not visible, I recognized Lewis immediately.
What enraged me more was the caption, [After fifteen years, I return to you. And here, the flower blooms, a welcome in all its glory.]
Disgusted, I shut my phone and forced myself to focus on my college assignments.
The next day, fate dealt me another cruel hand. As I excused myself during lunch with my college friends, I bumped into Katrina on my way to the restroom.
She greeted me with a warm smile, her voice syrupy sweet. “Didn’t expect to see you here, little sister. Lewis and I just came from the playground where we used to play as kids.
“But then we got hungry, so I stopped by this restaurant near his campus.”
Her words, though innocent on the surface, dripped with an undercurrent of triumph. Fate was not just cruel, it was merciless.
I gave her a polite smile and was about to leave, not considering our relationship close enough for small talk.
But she did not seem to feel the same. Just as I turned to go, her voice stopped me again.
“Anyway, you go to Lewis’s campus too, huh? But have you guys ever eaten together there?”
The word also made me pause.
The truth was, we never had. Lewis had always avoided it.
He once said that eating together on campus might risk running into his old friends, which could complicate our relationship.
So instead, we would always eat at restaurants far away.
Even then, I remembered the day we accidentally ran into Lewis’s friends at an arcade.
He had waved it off, telling them he was just accompanying his friend’s younger sister to win a prize from the claw machine.
That moment had stung deeply, but I had tried to understand. I thought perhaps it was just a way to keep our private relationship safe.
But then, as I stood there with Katrina, the truth burned painfully in my chest. He did not care about the secrecy itself; he was embarrassed about me.
Because when it came to Katrina, there were no excuses, no evasions, and certainly no concern about being seen together.
He was not even afraid of being caught by me. He did not care.
I clenched my fists, forcing my emotions back down, the memories swirling like a storm in my mind.
Katrina’s knowing smile lingered, as though she could see right through me, but I refused to let her have the satisfaction.