1 How Cruel!

"I think we should call it quit."

Overhearing the conversation that is happening not far away from him, one young man slowly puts down his phone. Completely forgetting about the other person who was on the phone with him, he slowly turns around to prove his suspicion as the voice sounds so familiar to him.

At the sight of a familiar man and woman standing just a few steps away, his eyes flicker.

What is happening?

Putting aside everything else, his attention is mostly on the familiar young woman who looks appalled even to say anything. Not to mention that she has completely turned pale!

"What did you say?" Alycia Reese finally asks after what seems to be forever. Her hands slowly squeeze her purse as she adds, "Are you saying you want to break up?"

The confusion and fear in her eyes betray the composure she is trying her best to maintain. As she tightens her grip on her purse, she stares at his eyes, looking for a reason.

After 13 years... why is he suddenly doing this to her?!

"Elliot." His name finally escapes her lips after a long silence. Even she is surprised by how calm she still sounds. Maybe she still loves him so much to even raise her voice at him!

"I cannot do this anymore," the young man named Elliot McCall finally confesses and gazes into Alycia's pained eyes. "I can't," he repeats himself. There is a mixture of guilt and relief in his eyes as if he just said something he had wished to say for a very long time.

Alycia Reese purses her lips and then narrows her eyes. She understands some part of what he means but... she cannot understand him.

How could she possibly understand him when he never said anything to her?

"Are we finally getting down at my family?" She asks in a low voice as she lifts her gaze to meet his.

"Alice -"

"You always told me not to worry!" She snaps and draws in a deep breath. "You told me to trust you."

'And that's what I do,' Alycia thinks to herself. From the time they started their relationship when they both were just 14, she has always trusted in him and his every word. Thirteen years passed and it is still the same.

"It seems like an excuse to me," she mutters when Elliot does not respond to her. "Is there another reason? Is that why you use my family's disapproval as an excuse? Answer me!"

"Nothing will change," Elliot McCall states in a voice so firm that it even surprises Alycia. "You heard me and I hope you can respect my wish." He does not even wait for Alycia to respond and instead, he turns his back on her and walks away, ignoring how she still appears to have many things to say to him.

A tear rolls down Alycia's face as she stands there, watching her first love and lover of 13 years walking away from her life. She wishes to stop him from leaving but a part of her refuses to do that when she recalls just how fed-up he appeared and sounded when he said those words to her. She remains in her place and stares at his back until he is out of her sight yet he doesn't even turn back once!

For him to end and walk away just like that after 13 years? How cruel!

* * *

Alycia Reese holds her head in pain the moment she wakes up from her sleep. Slowly pushing herself up, she glances around only to realize that she is in her room.

How come?

With confusion sweeping over her, she quickly attempts to recollect her memories from the other night. After being dumped by her lover of 13 years, she remembers going to a bar and drinking as she could not bring herself to go home while sober. She kept on drinking, glass after glass, and... that was all. Everything goes blurry.

How did she go home last night?!

Despite her missing memories which should be her priority at the moment, Alycia Reese is getting more distracted by the pain from the other night which resurfaces almost immediately and surges like a tide.

Elliot McCall... how could he just end things like that? How could he do this to her after promising that they will go through all the obstacles in their way and build a future together?

With the pain in her chest growing larger and larger, Alycia Reese narrows her eyes and closes them for a while, hoping to stop the pain from becoming unbearable.

Is this how it feels to have her heart broken? It seems foreign and scary to her. After all, Elliot was her first and only boyfriend to date. Not to mention that they did not once split during their 13 years together!

This is the first time.

After more than a minute, Alycia shook her head as if she were trying to brush the thoughts off her mind. Then she gets off the bed, only to halt her movement at the sight of a photo frame placed on top of the drawer next to her bed - a picture of her and Elliot standing next to each other and smiling happily on the day of their high school graduation.

All Alycia Reese can do is quietly stare at the framed photo which is the proof of her long history with the man who is now her ex-lover. With all those memories and emotions crawling back to her, Alycia barely manages to force herself to turn away and finally stands up. Then she leaves her room and walks down the stairs.

Entering the large kitchen which is also a dining room, Alycia Reese finds her mother quietly eating her breakfast while scrolling her tablet with one hand. Ever since she was young, Alycia noticed that her mother was busy most of the time. After all, her mother belongs to a powerful and influential family which runs a large corporation.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that her mother neglects her because as far as she can remember, her mother has always tried her best to be there for her despite her busy schedules.

"You are awake." Miranda Reese puts down her tablet and looks up at her only daughter once she notices her presence. "How much did you drink last night?"

"Were you home when I came home?" Alycia instantly asks her mother, not realizing how curious she sounded about her own activity and it makes her mother raise a brow.

"You don't remember anything?"

Finally aware of the displeasure in her mother's tone, Alycia Reese forces an awkward smile. "I only remember myself drinking..." Her voice trails off when something strange suddenly pops up in her mind.

A hazy memory of her walking the streets while being drunk the other night enters her mind out of the blue but... why wasn't she alone?

Some particular man seems to be with her yet her recollection is too muddled for her to even identify the man!