C17 Your First Love Has Moved On

Ben’s expression darkened. He had expected Mike to remain broken. Instead, day by day, the people around him seemed to be increasing. And that was something Ben hated more than anything.

He quickly took out his phone, snapped a picture and sent it to Samantha. “Looks like your first lover has finally moved on. So can we now decide on our wedding date?”

At that moment, Samantha had just finished taking a shower. She was drying her hair when her phone vibrated. She glanced at it.

The moment she saw Ben’s message, the hair dryer slipped from her hand and hit the floor with a loud thud.

Tears immediately filled her eyes. Tracy Wood heard the noise and rushed toward her room. Being pregnant, she was especially cautious and the loud noise had startled her.

She knocked quickly. “Samantha? Are you okay? Is something wrong with the baby? I heard a loud sound just now.”

Samantha quickly wiped her tears, forcing herself to regain composure. She opened the door with a faint smile.

“I’m fine, Mrs Wood. I just dropped my hair dryer by mistake. Nothing is wrong.” Tracy smiled gently, though her eyes lingered on Samantha for a moment longer than usual. “Be careful next time, my child.”

Then she turned and went downstairs. But as she walked away, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Samantha’s smile had looked forced and her eyes had been red. Still, she decided not to press further.

Back in her room, Ben noticed that Samantha had not replied. He frowned and quickly called her. “Did you see my message?”

He was confident. In his mind, everything was finally going according to plan. Mike had moved on and now Samantha would fully accept him and their wedding could finally be announced.

When Samantha answered, she pretended not to know anything. “What message? I just came out of the bathroom.”

Ben immediately repeated what he had sent, that Mike had found someone new and that they should start planning their wedding date.

Samantha stayed silent for a moment, then forced a calm tone. “Oh… I see. Then congratulations to him.”

Her words were polite but her heart was breaking inside. She continued softly, “Ben, we already agreed. The wedding can only be planned after I give birth.”

Then she added quickly, “I still need to dry my hair. We’ll talk later.” And before Ben could respond, she ended the call.

Ben sat there holding his phone, his expression darkening. Was she avoiding the wedding? Or did she still care about Mike more than she showed? His emotions twisted into frustration and doubt. Finally, he muttered, “We’ll see. Only a few weeks left.”

Meanwhile, lunch had ended and the atmosphere between me, Chris and Alicia had changed.

After we told her the full story, something shifted between us. The casual jokes were still there but now there was understanding too.

We returned to work but my mind wasn’t fully focused anymore. Even when I thought about Samantha, it didn’t hurt the same way it used to.

It felt distant… like a fading memory rather than a fresh wound. Well, I’ll know for sure the next time I see her.

In the afternoon, I decided I would not give Alicia another chance to appear at my desk.

I worked faster than usual. Typed faster. Focused harder. Finished everything earlier than expected. Then I quickly packed my things and headed for the door before she could show up.

The moment I stepped outside, I saw her.

Alicia was just leaving her department. She looked at me with surprise. “You were quick today,” she said. Small beads of sweat had formed on my forehead.

Before I could explain, her eyes narrowed slightly. Then she smiled. “You didn’t want me to come fetch you, did you?” She laughed softly. I ignored her and continued walking.

When we reached the outside area, Chris was not there yet, so we waited.

A few minutes later, he arrived. The moment he saw me, his eyes widened. “Mike… did you run here?” he asked. “How are you here before me? And why are you sweating?”

Alicia giggled. “I asked him the same thing,” she said. “He didn’t answer me. Maybe he will answer you.”

I felt my face heat up. I couldn’t tell them the truth. That I was avoiding the attention. So I quickly improvised. “No… I was just thinking about something,” I said.

Both of them immediately became curious. “What were you thinking about?” they asked at the same time.

My mind raced. “Since tomorrow is our first payday… maybe we should plan something.”

Their expressions immediately changed. Chris nodded. “Brother, that’s actually smart. What can we do?” Alicia tilted her head. “Our first payday is tomorrow… but we’ll still be working.”

Chris thought for a moment. “The day after tomorrow is the weekend,” he said slowly. “We won’t be working…” Before he could finish, Alicia interrupted. “Go out?” she asked with a playful smile.

She looked between us. “Are you two asking me out? Did you plan this behind my back?” She laughed as if she already knew the answer.

Chris and I exchanged confused looks. “We didn’t mean it like that…” I muttered. Before we could explain further, Alicia suddenly raised her hand. “I have an idea.”

Both of us looked at her. “The day after tomorrow is Kite Flying Day.” She smiled brightly. “Let’s go fly kites and push away bad luck.”

We both blinked. Neither of us had heard of it before. Coming from our world, it sounded almost unusual… something meant for families or wealthy traditions.

But seeing how excited she was, we both nodded. “Alright,” Chris said. Alicia smiled. “Good. It’s decided, I will prepare the things we will need."

A car arrived for her. We said our goodbyes and rode our bicycles home.