(Michelle Lui's POV)
The courtyard slowly regained its lively rhythm — music swelling again, guests dancing, lights shifting into warm amber tones.
But inside our little circle… everything was wrong.
It felt like someone had shaken a snow globe violently, and now the glitter was still suspended mid-air — waiting to fall, waiting to settle, waiting to reveal the new shape of the world.
My pulse still hadn't calmed down.
Kate had disappeared into the crowd after Steven left, probably to hunt for tissue, drinks, or maybe to assassinate Vince for enjoying the drama too much.
I stayed in my chair, willing my heart to stop sprinting.
One sentence kept replaying in my head:
"I won't bother you anymore."
Why did that hurt?
Why did that feel… final?
I didn't want it to.
I didn't want Steven to be someone who had to "stop bothering me."
I didn't even want him to think he was bothering me.
But how do I explain something I didn't even understand myself?
