A Decision Made

In a dimly lit corner of the banquet hall, George and Julie sat together.

Julie was wearing a sexy slip dress that perfectly accentuated her toned figure. She leaned back against George, and he naturally reached out, wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her close. With their backs turned to the rest of the crowd, the two of them were laughing and talking animatedly.

In the photos, they were smiling at each other, and George was pressing a tender kiss onto Julie’s cheek. Even looking through a phone screen, I could see the affection radiating from George’s eyes. It was a look he had never once given me, and it tugged at my heart painfully to learn that George was truly in love with Julie.

Sophie’s updates kept flooding my screen. The next photos showed the crowd cheering and egging them on to dance together. At first, they maintained a respectful distance, but suddenly, someone bumped into Julie, and she fell into George’s arms.

With everyone watching them, Julie’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. George, however, wasn’t shy. Instead, he took advantage of the moment to kiss her, and it wasn’t until the song finally ended that the two of them broke apart.

Staring at the couple on my screen, tears streamed down my face. It felt as though my heart was being ripped out of my chest.

Sophie’s voice came through the line. “Annie, did you see that? I told you a long time ago that George is in love with Julie.”

She had clearly walked outside to find a quiet spot to talk. “Annie, now that you’ve seen it with your own eyes, are you going to give up on him?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but my throat was so dry that no words would come out. All I could do was shake my head violently.

In the past, George was the only person who existed in my world. I believed absolutely everything he said. I had even greedily looked forward to marrying him one day, eagerly anticipating the moment the Alfonso and the Costa families would merge.

Now, I was finally waking up from the dream, and it turned out that everything had just been a delusion on my part.

“George is an absolute jerk. He knew exactly how much you loved him, so he deliberately dropped those breadcrumbs to make you think he felt the same way. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted Julie on one side, and you on the other. In his dreams!

“Annie, everything you just saw is real. That is who George truly is. Are you really going to waste more of your life on a guy like him?”

I let out a bitter, hollow laugh. “Sophie, I’ve made up my mind. I’m not going to the Costa family banquet tonight, and I won’t get involved in the family business either. There’s a corporate position open over in Londres. I’ve submitted my application. But please don’t tell anyone else about this just yet.”