CANCELLATION.

Noah leaned with his arms crossed against Hayami's office door as he watched her, intently typing on her computer.

"What happened?"

Hayami asked, stopping typing to look at him when she sensed the man's presence.

"You'll be here today, right?"

"I should. Although I don't agree, I'm sure she doesn't want to be; she's been acting strange these past few days."

"She's too old to make her own decisions; you shouldn't interfere with them."

Hayami looked at him with displeasure as he continued to lean against the door.

"That's why I hate this "rich" society."

Hayami continued typing on her computer; he just continued to watch her. His expression had changed to an annoyed one; he didn't understand why a simple question could have ruined her day.

"Are you bringing your boyfriend?"

"Who?"

She asked again, still looking at him with apparent annoyance.

"That boyfriend you mentioned that time."

"Ah... He's not my boyfriend, he's a guy I'm dating, nothing special. To answer your question, I won't take him."

"Hmm."

Noah turned around and left Hayami's office without even saying goodbye, which didn't bother her and she continued with her work.

Hayami arrived home, went up to her room, lay down for a moment before going back downstairs to find Noah, her parents, and her sister sitting in the living room.

She looked at everyone, especially Isabel, who was a little lost in thought. She knew something was bothering her. She sat down on her left side and then took her hand. That's when Isabel came back to herself, looking at her and smiling.

Noah sighed, gathering strength, and took a small black box out of his jacket. When he opened it, there was a very elegant ring.

"I know I should have given it to you sooner. I know we're a couple of weeks away from the wedding, but... Well, the important thing is that I do it now, right?"

He took the ring out of the box and held Isabel's hand. She looked up at him, a tear running down her cheek. He was about to place that beautiful ring on her.

"I'm sorry, Noah, I can't marry you... I... I'm pregnant."

Noah looked at her in confusion; however, he quickly understood what was happening.

Hayami was still bewildered, but she couldn't hide her happiness that the wedding wasn't happening. She had a smile on her face, which her father noticed.

"Why are you happy, Hayami?"

Her father asked, annoyed.

"Why shouldn't my sister get married? Besides, I'm going to be an aunt!"

Isabel got up from her seat as they stared at her and quickly went upstairs to lock herself in her room.

The girls' parents exchanged glances, and Noah looked at Hayami.

"What? No, no, don't look at me."

"Well, you're single, aren't you?"

Hayami burst into laughter, unable to believe he was thinking about her. She stood up from her chair.

"I'm not for sale, dear 'boss'; no one can buy me, so I worked hard to have my own money and escape these absurd customs."

Hayami left the living room without another word, went up to her room, and locked herself in as well.

Isabel was lying on her bed; she heard someone knock on her door.

"I don't want to talk now, Yami."

"It's me, Noah."

She got up from her bed, opened the door, and he came in and sat down. Isabel closed the door again and approached him, sitting next to him.

"I'm so sorry."

Her tears fell incessantly.

"Don't worry."

He smiled gently, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.

"We had an agreement, and I broke it. I let you down."

"Isabel, first and foremost we are friends, and when we talked about this, we said we would always be, remember? I can keep my end of the deal if you want, even if we don't get married, just like I told you before."

He held Isabel's soft hands.

"No, how do you think? It was a deal, the three of us had talked about it beforehand..."

"I know, but I hate seeing you like this, blaming yourself."

"You're a good friend. I also know how important it was to get married; I didn't see this coming."

He just smiled.

"So... What does he think? Does he already know?"

She tilted her head.

"Yes, well, it was a surprise too; however, he's happy. You know he wasn't so keen on the wedding, but I insisted, leaving him no choice."

"I'm glad because, otherwise, he'd have to deal with me, he knows that well; I'll talk to him in a few days."

"And now what will you do?"

Isabel was worried about the agreement she had with Noah.

He smiled at her.

"There are two single girls in the family, right?"

Isabel, who had been crying until then, began to laugh.

"Are you talking about Hayami?"

"Well, she's not a bad option."

He shrugged, joking.

"No, no, with her it's a lost cause; she doesn't like that kind of agreement."

I continued laughing.

"Do you like my sister?"

Isabel asked, raising her eyebrow.

"No!"

He answered, slightly blushing, though he didn't understand why.

"You'll have to find another option; she won't accept it."

"She said something downstairs about having her own money to avoid this kind of thing. What did she mean?"

Isabel sighed and finished wiping away her tears.

"Our grandmother left us each a sum before she passed away; I didn't think twice and spent it like a fool, but she worked it until she made a fortune. She has a lot of money, I might even say more than our parents."

Isabel was hesitant to continue the story, but she was already working on it.

"Many years ago, she was madly in love with a boy. She loved him madly, but he wasn't in our financial position. She wanted to marry him, so she begged and pleaded with my father to let her marry him." What I learned was that she even knelt before him to be allowed to do so. My father always planned for us to marry wealthy people. Strangely, he agreed to Hayami's request, which made her very happy, and began wedding preparations. But two days before the wedding, while reading a newspaper, she saw that a social wedding would be held that day. She died upon seeing the groom's photo, since it was hers. She ran to the church where the wedding would be held... She saw him marry that girl; she was richer than Hayami. She felt very ill, tore her dress, and locked herself away for days; one day she emerged from it as if nothing had happened. Shortly after, our grandmother passed away and left us her money. That's why she hates these kinds of weddings, because money took away the man she loved.

Noah had listened attentively to Isabel's story, thinking about how anyone could do something as horrible as that, especially to a woman like her...