✨ 「Vengeful in Love」 ✨

After Min and her parents left Matthew's house, he told his parents that he wouldn't return home for dinner. Matthew grabbed his bag, the butler passed him his Mercedes-AMG GT Coupe keys and opened the door for him. The cold Matthew got into his car filled with exuberance and drove over to Renae's house without informing her beforehand.

Soon after he parked his car outside Renae's house and he knocked on the door. Renae jumped up from her sofa and ran to the door. She opened the door, expecting a delivery from the delivery man, to find Matthew smiling right at her.

"Sorry I didn't tell you that I was coming, I have some good news to tell you," Matthew said with a grin on his face.

"Come on in," Renae said.

Matthew nodded his head and frolicked into Renae's house.

"You sure must be happy, you never smile this much," Renae uttered as she locked the door.

"Definitely! So like I told you, today Min and her parents came over. Min tried to convince my parents that what she did was for a good cause but obviously she failed. You should have seen the look on her face, she was so embarrassed when she walked out of my house. But anyways-"

"But anyways, the good news is that the marriage has been called off right?," Renae cut him off.

"No! It's not just a marriage, it's an ARRANGED marriage," Matthew pinpointed her.

"OK fine, you win," Renae said.

"Loser," Matthew said.

"OK so if there's nothing else you have to say, the door's there. The door's waiting for the OUTSIDER to leave," Renae fired back.

"Nice one. I came over to ask if I could take you out for dinner. To celebrate that I don't have to marry that troublemaker."

"You said if you could take me out for dinner. But what if I say no? HAHAHA, I'm just joking. Sure, let's go?"

"Stop messing with me, but yes let's go," Matthew replied.

They sat down in Matthew's car and headed off. Renae was glad that Matthew remembered that she didn't like to attract attention and drove his least expensive car to her house.

"OK, where are we going?" Renae asked curiously.

"You'll see," Matthew said.

In less than 10 minutes, they arrived at their destination. Matthew parked outside the restaurant and they walked inside together. The waiter ushered them to their seats as soon as they walked inside. As they walked into the restaurant, Renae felt she was underdressed.

When they sat down at their table, Renae said to Matthew, "Matt, you should have told me to wear something better. All I'm wearing is a t-shirt and shorts, not even pants!"

"It doesn't matter, in my eyes, you're already beautiful. And I'm paying so order anything you want," Matthew blushed while saying those words.

Renae nodded her head and looked down at the menu. The reason she was looking down at the menu was because she was blushing so hard and didn't wish for Matthew to see. Hearing those words which came out of Matthew's mouth, could it be that he likes her?

Renae pushed that thought out of her head and chose what she wanted to order from the menu. There wasn't any pricing for the dishes on the menu so she chose what she really wanted to eat, in hopes that whatever she ordered wasn't too expensive.

The waiter came over and took their orders. Renae ordered her favourite, Carbonara, along with Jasmine Green Tea. Matthew ordered a Chicken Steak, which is also what he loved to eat, with a Coke Zero. Their drinks came before their meals were served. The two toasted to Matt not having to marry Min. After which, they chatted until their food arrived.

-

Meanwhile, Cathy was chilling in her room when her friend, Cassandra, called her.

"Cathy, do you want to go to a mixer with me and two other girls? You haven't had a boyfriend for very long," Cassandra suggested.

Cathy thought for a while before replying, "Sure, I'm not doing anything important anyways. What time?"

After which, Cathy hung up. What Cassandra said was true, Cathy hadn't gone on a date for a very long time. She got up from her bed and went to freshen up and decided to look through her closet before Cassandra arrived. She hardly had any dresses but oh man it was shorts galore. She didn't really mind though, t-shirts and shorts still looked good, especially on Cathy.

Soon, Cathy heard a knock from her front door. She sprinted to the door and greeted Cassandra with a smile. Cassandra examined Cathy's closet, taking this very... VERY seriously. "You... only have, like, one dress and a gazillion shorts. Do you have something against skirts and dresses?" Cassandra joked. Cathy harrumphed in response. "Mean... I just don't favour skirts and dresses."

"Luckily, I prepared for this! I've known you since junior high school, how little do you think I know about you?" Cassandra pulled out a whole dang outfit from her tote bag and held it infront of Cathy. It was a pastel pink knitted sweater, which was a little over-sized, paired with a black a-line skirt which stopped around her mid-thigh.

"Go, try it on! It's totally your type, cute, calm and comfortable," Cassandra smiled as she pushed her into the bathroom to change. She soon came out wearing the outfit. She was expressionless, but even so, she actually looked adorable! "Oh my... You look so cute hun, so cute! Alright, come come, let me do your hair," she appraised Cathy, looking her up and down with a satisfied smirk.

Cathy's cheeks turned a light pink as she nodded and obediently sat down infront of Cassandra to let her do her hair. Cassandra had planned all of this beforehand so it didn't take long at all. She spun Cathy towards the mirror and looked at her with a proud expression. She had styled her hair in a half up messy bun. Now, it was time for shoes! Cassandra thought to herself. They matched the outfit with a cute pair of basic black Adidas with ankle high white socks. After that, she was so excited she was almost jumping as she said to Cathy, "Come on, let's go! It's almost time."

They both left the house and took a train to the cafe they were meeting with the rest at. When they arrived, all the others had already chosen a table in the cafe. "Cathy?" A familiar voice called out. Cathy turned her head towards the direction of the voice and saw Kaiden. "Kaiden!" She exclaimed.

Cathy was definitely surprised when she saw Kaiden. She was sure that Kaiden had feelings for Renae. Did he not? She witnessed Kaiden getting jealous of Matthew and Renae so many times before! She gasped as a thought came to her... Could Kaiden instead have feelings... for Matthew?!

"Oh, so you two know each other. This'll make things easier," Cassandra said as they walked into the cafe. "All ya'll are late!" One of the girls said. "Yes, captain obvious," Cassandra retorted. Cathy followed behind shyly.

After a round of introductions, they got their drinks and started conversations with one another. Only Cathy sat out. Yes, even Kaiden was in a conversation. Just that it was kind of like a one-sided conversation. One of the girls laid their eyes on Kaiden the moment he joined them and set her target as Kaiden ever since.

"So your name is Kaiden, right? My name is Ella. Which year are you in? I'm in year 2. So do you-" "Sorry, I'm not really interested. I'm sorry Ella, but maybe we're just not compatible? Even just as friends?" Kaiden interrupted her. He tried his best to let her down gently but it was still hard. After he finished his sentence, it took a few seconds to sink in before Ella nodded and left.

Cathy was watching from the other side of the table and she unconsciously started feeling green. She didn't realise but her gaze on Ella turned into a glare. Her grip on her drink tightened and the aura around her turned cold. After some time, she became docile again.

Kaiden let out a sigh of relief after Ella left. He didn't want to be rude, but he had never been hit on before and he was definitely tensed. He took a sip from his drink and lifted his head to see Cathy sitting alone staring at the drink in her hands. He then decided to go over and accompany her.

"Hey," Kaiden smiled as he moved next to Cathy. "Hey, I wanted to ask since just now, but don't you have feelings for Renae? How come you're here?" She asked, curiously staring up at him. He just so happened to take a chug of his drink. Hearing the question, he nearly spit out his water. "W-What? What gave you that idea? Anyways, my friend dragged me here. I didn't want to come," he replied. "Oh... I see," she said with a slight smile.

The two chatted the rest of the mixer away.