The silence on the other end of the phone was suffocating. Dewa, who had initially been so skilled at stringing together sweet words, suddenly fell silent. But the man's manipulative nature didn't disappear just like that. Within seconds, his voice turned panicked and stammering.
"Q-Qiara... wait! You... you misunderstood again, Sweetheart!" Dewa babbled, his voice rising an octave.
"It's not what you saw and heard! You must have heard wrong, Qia! Mimi and I—"
"Enough, Dewa!" Qiara snapped, roughly wiping the tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I'm not stupid! I saw her sitting on your lap with my own eyes! I heard you laughing while calling me a spoiled girl and saying you couldn't be bothered dealing with Zacky!"
"Qiara, listen to me first!" Dewa cut in, his voice growing even more frantic.
"I can explain everything! Mimi... she was the one who flirted with me first! I just felt bad for her, Qia! You're the only woman I love. Believe me!"
Qiara gave a bitter laugh through her sobs. The love that had once been so enormous evaporated, replaced by overwhelming disgust. The man she had worshiped for two years turned out to be a world-class liar.
"Stop making excuses, Dewa. Never come see me again, and never call me again," Qiara said coldly and firmly.
"We're through."
"What?! Through?!" Dewa shouted from the other end of the phone, his tone suddenly turning emotional and indignant.
"No! I don't want to break up, Qiara! We've been together for two years! You can't just dump me over something this trivial!"
"You call this trivial?!" Qiara cried in disbelief.
"You cheated on me behind my back, and you call this trivial?!"
"I didn't cheat on you, Qiara!" Dewa snapped, now shifting the blame onto her.
"Besides, you're the one who made my life difficult! You asked me to run away with you for no reason, and you want to marry your former brother-in-law! Don't pretend you're the victim! I'll never accept this decision! Do you hear me, Qiara?! We're never breaking up!"
"Whatever you say, you cheating jerk!"
Click!
Qiara ended the call unilaterally. Without thinking twice, she pressed the power button and shut her phone down completely. She tossed the flat device carelessly, and it landed hard on the carpet.
Qiara's breath came in ragged gasps as she held back the tightness in her chest. Her bedroom door once again felt strange and cold. All the defenses she had tried to build in front of Dewa shattered in an instant.
Qiara drew a deep breath, then threw herself roughly onto the bed. She pulled the thick blanket over herself and buried her head tightly beneath the pillow. In that stuffy darkness, her sobs finally broke loose.
"How could you be so cruel to me, Dewa...? Why...?" Qiara whispered between sobs.
The girl mourned her relationship's tragic end. Two years filled with sweet memories that she had believed would end at the wedding altar now left behind the deepest wound of all.
The pain of being betrayed by the man she loved so dearly mingled with the overwhelming fear of facing the reality that next week, she would have to exchange sacred vows with Zacky.
Qiara kept crying until her shoulders shook violently beneath the pillow, grieving over how her life had suddenly fallen apart in a matter of days.
Meanwhile, in a two-story house, Dewa's bedroom was a mess. The ashtray on the man's desk was overflowing with cigarette butts. Dewa paced back and forth, breathing heavily as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"Damn it! How did she find out?!" Dewa cursed harshly.
His anger peaked not only because his affair had been exposed, but also because his position was now threatened. Qiara was his bridge to a life of luxury. If their relationship truly ended, he would lose access to that wealthy family.
Dewa grabbed his phone again and angrily dialed Qiara's number.
The number you have dialed is not in service...
"Bastard!" Dewa screamed as he slammed his phone onto the bed.
"Just you wait, Qiara! You think you can get away from me that easily?!"
He refused to accept being dumped unilaterally.
To Dewa, Qiara was a naive girl he could always control. His pride and dominant nature drove the man to swear that he would never let Qiara go so easily.