# SURPRISE
It was true. The proposal the women had been gossiping about really was happening.
The plan was for the proposal to be a surprise gift for Selina on her twenty-first birthday. And Selina had already learned about it from Laura herself. Even though she knew, her mother had repeatedly warned her to pretend to be surprised later.
“I’m a little tired,” Selina said after a while. The event, which still didn’t seem to be starting anytime soon, made Selina want to slip away for a bit.
“Then go rest. In the second-floor living room. I’ll make sure no one goes in there. Just rest there for a while,” Laura suggested.
“Okay, Mom.”
Selina left Laura and Nessa behind. She climbed the stairs one by one, thinking about the engagement that would soon be announced at her birthday party that evening.
‘A diamond ring, they said? How many dozen carats did Mom say it was again? It must be incredibly heavy,’ Selina thought as she stared at her ring finger, which was still empty for now.
‘Ugh... Do other women feel this restless too when they’re about to take a relationship to a more serious level?’ Selina wondered nervously.
“Ahh... Raka... Slowly... What if your beautiful fiancée hears us?”
Selina stopped in her tracks. The faint voice coming from behind a door she was passing caught her attention. They had mentioned her future fiancé’s name.
“Haha. You know what they call her, right? A living doll. Do you know why she got that nickname? Because she might not really be capable of thinking for herself.”
The familiar male voice made Selina listen even more intently.
“She’s always under her mother’s thumb. She accepts whatever her mother prepares for her. That’s all she can do.”
“Oh my God, Raka,” replied a woman in a coquettish voice. “Why are you suddenly saying things like that?”
“It means she won’t be able to do anything even if she finds out about us. Enough. Don’t talk about anything unimportant anymore. Just focus on me,” the man—who was indeed Raka—concluded.
“Yes, yes, my darling Raka...”
BANG!!!
“S-Selina?!” Raka stammered when the door suddenly swung wide open and he saw Selina standing there. “Selina... Why are you here?”
Selina remained silent. Her expression seemed to demand an explanation for what was happening.
“So, this is just...” Raka fumbled, trying to explain.
“If you don’t want people to find out about what you’re doing, then lower your voice,” Selina finished, suddenly switching to formal speech.
“Selina. I—”
“Haaah...” Selina let out a tired sigh. Seeing that Raka still seemed intent on denying everything displeased her.
‘Think, Selina. What should I do now?’ Selina thought, trying to remain calm.
‘If I followed my heart, I’d drag those two people out immediately and humiliate them in front of everyone... But I wouldn’t gain anything from that.’
‘Gossip would definitely start flying according to everyone’s whims. And there’s no way I’d escape the scandal either.’
‘Haaah... This really is the worst birthday ever.’
‘I already knew he was something of a playboy. I’d even suspected that he might do something like this someday.’
‘But I never expected him to do it on the very day he was supposed to propose to me tonight.’
‘What an irony that this really did become a surprise on my birthday.’