After Love

Bella packed up her things and went to her parents' home.

The place was as she remembered: a lavish villa boasting grandeur and elegance. The villa next door, meanwhile, belonged to the Fox family.

Damian and Bella were childhood sweethearts. Everyone who watched them grow up knew he treated her as royalty—the queen of his heart. Bella, for her part, was never seen apart from Damian.

Her mom had said that even as a toddler, Bella was laser-focused on Damian alone. She would hug him tightly and would not let go.

Damian, who was five when she first did that, simply reciprocated her hug. He did not even push her away.

The families had joked that this was the first time Damian looked so serious. He had always been a perpetual frowner even as a kid, but he had never looked so protective until that day. It was such a cherished memory that their families still mentioned it from time to time.

Her parents were pretty jealous of the bond between Bella and Damian, too. The first word Bella learned to say, incidentally, was not "Mama" or "Papa." It was "Damian."

The entire house was a memory capsule. Every little thing here reminded Bella of him.

Rodrigue and Stella Valdez were surprised to see Bella home, but pure joy at seeing their daughter supplanted it soon. Stella made a feast boasting all of Bella's favorite foods to commemorate her visit that evening, and it was a genuinely happy dinner.

However, Bella spoke precious little during the meal. She sat in sullen silence most of the time.

She visited Rodrigue's study after dinner. He leaned against his chair and affected a cheery tone, but his eyes showed curiosity. "What's wrong, darling? You look despondent."

Bella rummaged through her bag and presented a photo of Damian and Dakota together.

Rodrigue examined it carefully. His easy smile faltered.

He could read the subtext of the photo way too fine: Damian was giving his heart to a different woman. He also knew that Bella hated sharing her favorites with others.

He looked up at his daughter. "What are you planning to do?"

Bella cast her eyes to the floor. "Call off our engagement."

Bella and Damian had only gotten together after they finished high school. Then, on that very same day, Damian and his family came to propose their engagement. It was so abrupt that it didn’t sit well with Rodrigue.

Rodrigue nodded. "Got it. Once the Foxes are home, we'll bring this up with them."

Silence. Warm tears rolled out of Bella's downcast eyes and splashed onto the backs of her hands.

Pained, Rodrigue tried to pry open Bella's clenched fingers to comfort her.

He discovered her nails had dug so deeply into her palms that they'd broken the skin.

"Oh God!" he whispered. Carefully, he tended to the wounds.

Bella gritted her teeth in silence. When he finished, she finally looked up. "I'm fine, Dad."