That day, I genuinely believed that fate had finally tipped in my favor.

But it wasn't long before Alfred looked at me with that cold expression of his and said, "Let's keep this between us."

I didn't quite understand. "You mean... a secret relationship?"

"Yeah."

He took a sip of his drink, his tone still detached.

"I'm not ready to announce it to everyone. We'll wait for the right time."

He knew that whatever he asked of me, I'd agree.

So keeping our relationship hidden—

I wasn't going to refuse that, either.

Like a fool, I savored my hard-won happiness in secret, tasting every stolen crumb of it.

Until the night we were tangled together, and Alfred let a name slip from his lips without thinking. "Maud..."

It hit me like a bolt of lightning.

The whisper was barely audible.

But I heard it. Every syllable. It was Maud Matthews' name.

My boyfriend, in our most intimate moment, had been fantasizing about another woman.

Sophie kept chattering away on the phone, jumping from one topic to the next.

"Maud just got back to the States last month. Word is, some of the old classmates are throwing a reunion. You'd better not skip it."

"Besides, Alfred was basically the golden boy of Cloudvale University. I heard he's going too."

I looked around my apartment at the boxes packed to the brim.

"I probably... won't be able to make it."

"I'm heading back to Harbor City before the end of next week."

Sophie's interest perked up instantly. "Harbor City? What for? Oh wait, that's right, Harbor City is your hometown, isn't it?"

"We went to college here in Cloudvale. I honestly thought you'd stay here forever after graduation."

That had been the plan.

Alfred was a Cloudvale native. After college, my family called me back to Harbor City time and again to take over the family business, and I refused every single time.

I didn't want to leave Alfred. I was foolish enough to believe we had a future together.

But eight years of chasing him, three years of being his secret—none of it was enough to make Alfred forget Maud. None of it made him truly fall in love with me.

So I gave up.

And the reunion that had been organized specifically to welcome Maud back from overseas? I had zero interest in attending.

Three days later, though, Sophie showed up uninvited, taking a cab straight to my apartment building and physically dragging me out.

"Come on, Maria, just go! The more the merrier."