I stared at Gabriel across the airport pickup lane.

“Your what?”

“My fiancée.”

His expression didn’t change.

I glanced around, half expecting Luna to jump from behind the car laughing.

Nobody appeared.

“Gabriel, I think your fever damaged something permanently.”

“It didn’t.”

“You have a girlfriend.”

“Yes.”

My stomach twisted unexpectedly.

“Good. Congratulations.”

He opened the passenger door wider.

“Get in.”

“No.”

“Emma.”

“I’m not getting into your car so you can explain why you’re calling your sister’s best friend your fiancée while you’re engaged to someone else.”

For the first time, amusement appeared in his eyes.

“There is no someone else.”

I froze.

“But Luna said—”

“My sister said her brother finally had a girlfriend.”

“Yes.”

“She meant you.”

My suitcase almost slipped from my hand.

“That is impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because being someone’s girlfriend usually requires informing that person.”

Gabriel considered this.

“Fair criticism.”

“Fair criticism?”

I lowered my voice.

“I left the country!”

“I noticed.”

“I ignored your messages.”

“I noticed that too.”

“I blocked three numbers.”

“Four.”

I stared at him.

He took my suitcase.

This time I was too shocked to stop him.

“Gabriel, give that back.”

“In the car.”

“I can take a taxi.”

“You can.”

He put my suitcase into the trunk.

“But Luna has been waiting at home for two hours, and she specifically threatened to blame me if you arrived late.”

That sounded believable.

Twenty minutes later, I was sitting as far from Gabriel as physically possible.

He drove silently.

Finally, I asked:

“What exactly did you tell Luna?”

“That I’m seeing someone.”

“Who?”

“You.”

“You weren’t seeing me. I was in Sri Lanka.”

“I knew where you were.”

That sentence made me turn.

“You knew?”

“You used your passport to check into a hotel owned by one of our partners.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Did you have someone watching me?”

“No.”

“Then how did you know?”

“You posted a photograph of the ocean.”

“That could have been anywhere.”

“The hotel logo was reflected in your sunglasses.”

I closed my eyes.

Of course.

I had fled from a man whose company specialized in international logistics and security, then accidentally geotagged myself through eyewear.

Brilliant.

“Why didn’t you come after me?”

Gabriel’s hands tightened slightly around the steering wheel.

“Because you ran.”

I looked at him.

“And?”

“I thought you needed distance.”

That wasn’t the answer I expected.

“You sent messages.”

“Three.”

“You sent more than three.”

“Three asking you to talk. The rest were Luna sending messages from my phone after she discovered what happened.”

My head snapped toward him.

“Luna knows?”

Gabriel finally smiled.

I wanted to disappear.

“When?”

“The morning you left.”

“How?”

“She came to check whether I was alive.”

I covered my face.

“I’m moving to another planet.”

“She was surprisingly calm.”

“Luna once threatened a delivery driver because he forgot her dipping sauce.”

“She was not calm for long.”

I could imagine it.

Then another thought occurred to me.

“The engagement invitation.”

Gabriel glanced at me.

“What about it?”

“Whose engagement party is tomorrow?”

He said nothing.

My stomach dropped.

“No.”

Silence.

“Gabriel.”

He continued driving.

“No.”

“Emma—”

I turned completely toward him.

“You invited me to my own engagement?”

“Technically, Luna sent the invitation.”

“Does she want to die?”

“Possibly.”

I grabbed my phone.

Gabriel calmly said:

“Before you call her, read the invitation carefully.”

I opened the digital card.

I’d barely looked at it before flying back. Luna had written that her brother was finally getting engaged and that she would never forgive me if I missed the celebration.

There were no names.

Not one.

I had assumed the bride was another woman.

I slowly lowered the phone.

“You two are insane.”

“Probably.”

“And I’m not engaged to you.”

“I know.”

That answer stopped me.

“You know?”

“Yes.”

“Then why call it an engagement party?”

“Because my family believes it is.”

I stared at him.

He exhaled.

“My grandmother has been pressuring me to meet women for years. After I told her there was someone I wanted to pursue seriously, Luna exaggerated.”

“Exaggerated?”

“She announced that I was getting married.”

“That isn’t exaggerating. That’s inventing an entire wedding.”

“I agree.”

“Then cancel it.”

“I tried.”

“And?”

“My grandmother invited eighty-seven relatives.”

I started laughing.

Not because it was funny.

Because the alternative was screaming.

Gabriel pulled into the driveway of the Gu residence.

Luna was already waiting outside.

The moment I stepped from the car, she ran toward me.

“Emma!”

I held up one finger.

She stopped.

“You.”

She immediately pointed at Gabriel.

“It was his idea.”

Gabriel shut the trunk.

“It absolutely was not.”

Luna changed direction.

“It was Grandma’s idea.”

“Luna.”

“Fine.”

She clasped her hands.

“I may have accidentally created a small misunderstanding.”

“Eighty-seven relatives.”

“Medium misunderstanding.”

I stared at my best friend.

Then she suddenly became serious.

“Emma, he waited.”

I looked at Gabriel.

Luna continued.

“He didn’t date anyone while you were away.”

“Luna.”

Gabriel’s warning was quiet.

She ignored him.

“He asked me what flowers you like.”

My face heated.

“He learned which coffee you order.”

“Luna.”

“He even asked Nathan whether people can develop anxiety from being left on read for four months.”

Nathan appeared at the doorway.

“He did.”

Gabriel looked as though he was reconsidering every friendship in his life.

I should have laughed.

Instead, something inside my chest softened.

Only slightly.

That evening, Gabriel found me alone on the balcony.

“I’ll cancel tomorrow.”

I turned.

“What?”

“The party.”

“You said eighty-seven relatives are coming.”

“They’ll survive.”

“And your grandmother?”

“She’ll complain for several years.”

I smiled despite myself.

Gabriel remained several steps away.

“I shouldn’t have called you my fiancée at the airport.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

“I was angry.”

“At me?”

“Yes.”

“Because I ran?”

“Because you decided what that night meant without asking me.”

That silenced me.

He continued:

“You assumed I regretted it.”

“I thought you would.”

“I didn’t.”

“You were sick.”

“I was sick, not unaware.”

His voice remained steady.

“I remembered everything the next morning.”

My fingers tightened around the balcony railing.

“Then why didn’t you tell Luna before?”

“Because what happened between us wasn’t hers to announce.”

That sounded so reasonable that it made my escape seem even more ridiculous.

Gabriel looked toward the garden.

“I don’t expect you to agree to anything tomorrow.”

“Good.”

“I don’t expect you to stay because my family wants you to.”

“Better.”

“And if you want to leave again, I won’t stop you.”

I studied him.

“What do you want?”

For once, Gabriel Gu looked uncertain.

“A chance to start from the beginning.”

No dramatic promise.

No demand.

Just that.

The next afternoon, the Gu residence was packed.

Relatives filled the garden.

Flowers covered the terrace.

A giant decorated stage had somehow appeared overnight.

Luna whispered:

“Grandma may have gotten carried away.”

“May have?”

Before I could escape, Gabriel’s grandmother appeared and took my hands.

“So you’re Emma.”

I swallowed.

“Yes.”

She studied me.

Then smiled.

“My grandson has terrible communication skills.”

I almost laughed.

“At least we agree about something.”

Gabriel heard us.

“Grandmother.”

She ignored him.

When the guests gathered, Gabriel walked onto the stage.

Everyone became quiet.

I remained beside Luna.

Gabriel took the microphone.

“My family invited all of you here under the impression that today was my engagement celebration.”

Excited murmurs spread through the garden.

Then he said:

“It isn’t.”

His grandmother nearly dropped her tea.

Gabriel continued:

“There is someone I care about. But I made the mistake of letting my family move faster than she was comfortable with.”

Every face turned toward me.

I wanted the ground to open.

“So there will be no engagement today.”

The garden erupted in whispers.

Gabriel handed the microphone back.

He didn’t propose.

Didn’t call me onto the stage.

Didn’t pressure me in front of his family.

He simply walked toward me.

“Better?”

I nodded.

“Much.”

Then Luna’s phone rang.

Her smile disappeared.

“Gabriel.”

Something in her voice changed the atmosphere.

Nathan immediately approached.

“What happened?”

Luna showed Gabriel the screen.

His expression hardened.

“What is it?” I asked.

He looked at me.

“Someone sent photographs to my family.”

My stomach tightened.

“What photographs?”

Luna turned the phone toward me.

The first image showed me entering Gabriel’s villa four months earlier.

The second showed me leaving before dawn.

Underneath was a message:

Ask Gabriel Gu whether he still wants to marry the woman who used him and fled the country.

My face went cold.

But Gabriel wasn’t looking at the photographs.

He was staring at the sender’s number.

“Do you recognize it?” I asked.

“Yes.”

His voice became flat.

“Who?”

He looked toward the entrance.

A woman had just stepped through the garden doors.

Elegant dress.

Perfect makeup.

A familiar smile that made Luna’s face turn white.

Gabriel quietly said:

“Vivian.”

Luna grabbed my arm.

“Emma, that’s the woman Grandma tried to arrange for Gabriel to marry last year.”

Vivian walked directly toward us.

But she wasn’t looking at Gabriel.

She was looking at me.

Then she smiled.

“Emma.”

I frowned.

We had never met.

“How do you know my name?”

Her smile widened.

“Because four months ago, I was the person who told Luna that Gabriel was sick.”

Luna froze.

“What?”

Vivian stopped in front of me.

“And if you think that night happened by accident…”

She placed a sealed envelope into my hand.

“…you should ask your best friend why she really sent you to his villa.”

I slowly turned toward Luna.

Her face had gone completely pale.

And suddenly, running away from Gabriel no longer seemed like the biggest mistake I’d made.

The bigger mistake was believing I knew how that night had begun.