A slim and short-haired woman approached Zack and Celine while the couple was enjoying their food and the songs performed by a band at the café. The woman looked beautiful with her fair skin and curly short hair, resembling a Korean woman."Are you Zack?" the woman asked."Yes. And you...?""Hey, how could you forget? I'm Monica.""Monica? Oh, hi, how are you?" Zack stood up immediately and shook Monica's hand."I'm good. Is she your wife?" Monica pointed at Celine."She's my future wife.""Hi," greeted Monica, extending her hand to Celine.With a forced smile, Celine accepted Monica's handshake, standing up to greet her."Why are you in here?" Zack inquired."I live here now. My husband works in this city. Anyway, I'll have my meal first. My husband and kids are over there.""Sure," Zack replied.After bidding farewell, Zack noticed a change in his girlfriend's expression. Celine looked unfriendly – her mouth was pouting, and her eyebrows were furrowed."Why the long face?" Zack aske
The morning after their argument, Celine woke up with swollen eyes. She cried, feeling that Zack didn't truly love her. That day, Celine had a day off, and they had planned to visit Zack's parents in Manhattan. However, Celine was curious if Zack would still pick her up as planned. Celine glanced at her phone. The awaited message had yet to arrive, even though it was already 6:00 AM. Celine sighed, then lay back down, turning her body. Once again, tears streamed down her face. Her feelings were a mix of anger, sadness, and guilt. Since becoming Zack's girlfriend, this was the first time he refrained from sending her a message. Celine felt insignificant to Zack now. In truth, she wasn't ready for their relationship to end. "Celine...." Her mother's voice made her wipe away her tears. She got up again, trying to compose herself so as not to look sad. She combed her hair, patted her cheeks gently, and then opened the bedroom door. "What is it, Mom?" "Zack is waiting for you in the l
It was already noon. Celine's stomach began to growl, but she was still afraid to talk to Zack.Zack smiled as he observed his girlfriend. He knew Celine was hungry, but he was reluctant to ask about her preferences, fearing it might end up annoying like the previous night. Eventually, he took Celine to a food stall on the Street.After parking the car, Zack gestured for Celine to enter. They chose a sitting mat to enjoy the spicy dishes they had ordered."Is it good?" Zack asked."Delicious," Celine replied, chewing her food eagerly.Zack was pleased to see his girlfriend eating so heartily. He even added some sautéed water spinach to Celine's plate."Eat more, Darling. Stay healthy.""I've eaten a lot. I'm full already. If I eat too much, I might get fat.""It's okay if you get a little chubby; you'll still be beautiful.""Flattery."They laughed. Such cheesy humor only brought them closer."Are you ready to meet Mom and Dad?" Zack asked."I'm not ready. But whether I like it or not
It was 5:00 AM when Celine prepared to return to her home. She had already dressed casually and gathered her belongings.Remember, Mrs. Zack had prepared some souvenirs for Celine's parents. The woman in her fifties hoped to establish a good relationship with Celine's parents. Even if fate allowed, they could become family."Celine, I hope you marry Zack soon. It's time for Zack to get married. We'll wait for the next news, Dear. Zack will propose to you," Mrs. Zack said."Ehm, yes, Mom," replied Celine nervously.There was happiness within her, but on the other hand, she still felt unprepared. Celine herself didn't know what was holding her back. At a quarter of a century old, she should be ready. It wasn't as easy as wanting to get married, even though she loved Zack.Many burdens weighed on her mind, alongside fears she couldn't comprehend. Celine was afraid Zack wouldn't be as she hoped. She was afraid that if they married, she wouldn't be a good wife.Celine was afraid she didn't
"Damn Celine! She's getting more arrogant. Taking leave whenever she wants. Others are struggling." Emma muttered to herself repeatedly.She had been envious of Celine's fast-rising career here from the beginning, even though Emma, with more experience and seniority, should have been more deserving.But it seemed like Celine's luck was better. Emma thought to herself angrily. She didn't care. She had to sabotage Celine's plan to become a supervisor. It wasn't even confirmed yet, and she dared to take leave, two days nonetheless. No one else was allowed to do that easily.Eventually, Emma's envy-filled mind pondered on ways to obstruct Celine's work. Something that would make her look bad in the eyes of the department head, Mrs. Jane, and the Head Supervisor, Miss. Tiffany.Even though Celine was genuinely liked by her superiors due to her hard work and intelligence, Emma decided she needed to do something to tarnish her image. Celine was the type who always planned meticulously in eve
"Wait, why are so many defective materials entering the Line?" Someone in the Line sewing materials was surprised when they executed their stitches and saw that the material they worked on needed fixing. There was a small hole that wouldn't pass the QC control later. "MISS Tiffany, take a look at this." The seamstress reported it to Ms. Tiffany. Ms. Tiffany was furious, especially after checking some that had already been sewn, and there were indeed several with defective materials. "So careless, Kylie!" Ms. Tiffany raged. Approaching Kylie and Celine's desks again, Kylie wasn't there, so Ms. Tiffany expressed her frustration TO Celine. "Look, there are many defective materials that entered the Line. How did this happen? Why wasn't it checked properly?" Celine examined a stack of materials already sewn in several places and found some defects. "This is strange; Kylie usually doesn't miss segregating defective materials. Especially not so many like this, Miss." Celine was not convi
Emma finally faced significant consequences for her actions. She attempted to frame Celine by cutting materials with scissors, making it look like Celine was responsible for defective materials entering the Line.And somehow, Miss Tiffany, initially furious about the material check, turned her anger towards Line and began to rage.Oh no! Her mischief was exposed. Even though Miss Tiffany didn't know the culprit was Emma, she was sure it was Line's fault. To make matters worse, Emma, responsible for adding materials, was in charge of the damaged material exchange.This is a case of the tables turning, she thought, regretting her actions. Her intention to defame Celine had backfired on her. This only fueled her envy and hatred towards Celine. How could that girl remain untouched? Everything she had done to bring down Celine had failed miserably.She contemplated adopting a new strategy. She wouldn't disturb the girl's work anymore. Now, she would interfere with another aspect of her lif
That night—for the second time—Zack and Celine's date didn't go smoothly. Zack was still furious about the presence of Celine's ex-boyfriend. His chest tightened at the thought of Leo giving his phone number to Celine and Celine accepting it without any objection.Meanwhile, there was a sense of uneasiness in Celine's heart. She felt guilty for wanting to save Leo's number. Celine knew Zack wouldn't accept her reasons in any form when she decided to keep her ex-boyfriend's number."Are you going to save that number?" Zack asked, still with an unfriendly face."No. I'm not going to save it.""Don't let your words differ from your heart. You want to save Leo's number."Why are you like this?" Celine's heart began to heat up. Zack always seemed to be able to read her mind."Do you not trust me just because Leo gave his number to me?""I want to trust, but...""But what?""But your face doesn't show it.""Whatever!" Celine's heart was irritated. She didn't expect Zack to be so angry. The