I knocked on Geraldine’s door, but no one answered.
In the end, it was the cleaning lady who told me—Geraldine had booked a flight and left without a word.
I stood there, stunned, for a moment, and then I let out a helpless laugh.
After what happened to Bernice—the day she almost got hurt—I blamed Geraldine.
She was the one who stopped me from going out, and because of that, Bernice turned her back on me.
Three years had passed since then. Her phone number was still on my blacklist. We hadn’t spoken a word.
Thinking of that, I removed her number from the blacklist.
A second later, my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.
It was Geraldine. All the old messages started pouring in.
[Idiot! You got played like a fool by a woman, and you still had the nerve to yell at me?!]
[Wow. It’s my birthday and you really didn’t get me anything? Fine. But just so you know—I’m totally holding this against you!]
[Cyril… you’ve grown up. Maybe it’s time I leave. I’m scared I won’t know how to stop loving you…]
Each message struck deep. My heart stirred, unable to stay calm.
But fortunately, this life gives me a chance to fix my regrets.
And so, I turned to leave… only to be suddenly stopped by someone barging in.
It was Phineas.
He dropped to his knees the second he walked in, his voice trembling, his eyes nearly in tears.
“Sir, please don’t give up on Bernice just because of me!
“She’s really innocent—nothing ever happened between us!
“You must be mad. I’ll punish myself so you can vent it out!”
He started hitting himself hard over and over.
Everyone nearby began pointing and whispering, looking at me like I was the villain.
Right then, Bernice stormed in.
And the moment she saw Phineas on his knees, her face twisted with fury.
“Cyril! I knew you were this kind of person!
“You act all calm, pretending you didn’t care, and now you’re taking it out on Phineas behind everyone’s back?
“Get down and apologize to him—right now! Or I swear, Cyril, I’ll never forgive you!”
But I just let out a cold laugh.
“He slandered me. What the hell did I do wrong?”
Her anger only burned hotter.
“Phineas would never lie! He’s kind and decent—he wouldn’t do something like that!
“You, Cyril, you’re petty and power-hungry. You used your status to force him to kneel!
“If you don’t get on your knees and apologize, I will marry Phineas. I swear, I won’t marry you!”
Phineas seemed to panic the moment those words came out of her mouth.
He tried to stop here, say something—anything.
But before he could get a word in, Bernice grabbed his arm and dragged him away in rage.
“Phineas, we’re leaving!” she said impatiently. “When no one’s around, Cyril will kneel and beg. You’ll see.”
I didn’t say a word the entire time. Because honestly?
‘She’s not worth it.’
I let her shout. I let her make a scene.
But once my family announces the official bride-to-be tonight, she’ll be kicked out of our place.
‘I don’t need to stoop to her level.’
Later that night, while I was sketching out the wedding gown for Geraldine, Bernice barged into my room, full of herself.
“Cyril, I got the villa you sent. I’ll let it go this time,” she said, her arms crossed.
“But if you ever try to save face in public by making me look bad again? You won’t be forgiven so easily.
“Oh, and here—your apology gift.”
‘Apology gift?’
That made me put down the fashion magazine I was flipping through.
She handed it to me. It was a brand-new luxury watch, one of the newest models.
She smiled proudly. “The back’s engraved with your birthday.”
I turned it over.
Yeah, there were numbers etched in.
But I immediately gave it back, laughing from sheer disbelief.
“Bernice… Is it even my birthday? And you’re really here giving this to me?”.
She frowned at the back of the watch, and then she laughed it off.
“Well, you know how it is—hang around greatness, and a little of it rubs off,” she said. “Phineas’s on another level. Even stuff he turns down still feels… special because of him.”
