July 18th , 2026
At Ian's apartment - 11:33 PM
The city was asleep, but Ian was very much awake.
Lying alone in bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling, the hum of the air conditioner the only sound in the room. Tokyo's city lights leaked through the edge of the curtains, casting faint shadows on the floor. His heart wasn't racing anymore, but his mind was still a battleground.
"Why did I even go...?"
He turned to his side, fists clenched into the bedsheet.
The suit — the designer black suit that fit him like a glove, the one that made every head turn when he walked into that cathedral — now lay shredded and crumpled in the kitchen trash can. He had torn it off the moment he got home, disgusted. He didn't care how expensive it was or how it made him look.
It was a gift.
A trap disguised as luxury.
A message from Ruth.
He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and burying his face in his hands.
"She left me..." he whispered.
"She disappeared. No warning. No explanation. And now she... sends me a suit to watch her marry someone else?"
He couldn't wrap his head around it.
How did she find him? He had changed numbers. Moved apartments. Deleted every trace of her. He'd rebuilt his life piece by piece after she broke him… after she vanished without a word, leaving nothing but heartbreak and memories.
"Why is she doing this?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes.
She had everything now. A tall, chiseled CEO with charm, power, and the world at his feet. Leo Kawasaki looked like he stepped out of a magazine. Rich. Handsome. Confident. Connected.
So why was she still looking at Ian like that?
Why did her expression shift the moment their eyes met?
Why did it feel like she still owned him?
Ian leaned back against the headboard and reached for his phone. The screen's glow lit up his face in the darkness as he unlocked it and opened his go-to social media app — something to distract his thoughts, drown out the unease in white noise, memes, or meaningless videos.
But the first thing he saw made his stomach drop.
A trending post.
Front and center.
Ruth Tachibana & Leo Kawasaki — Married.
The caption: "A match made in heaven. Tokyo's power couple ties the knot. 💍❤️"
Ian stared.
A professionally taken photo filled the screen. Ruth wore an extravagant white wedding gown, her hand laced with Leo's as they posed on the cathedral steps. Her smile was dazzling. Leo's arm around her waist was protective. Dominant.
Millions of likes. Millions of hearts.
Over two hundred thousand comments.
Ian's finger hovered above the comment section.
He shouldn't have.
But he did.
"Damn, they're both model-tier beautiful."
"Power couple vibes."
"Ruth is glowing. She's never looked happier."
"Leo is lucky af. That woman is flawless."
"Imagine being the guy who let Ruth go, lol."
That last one hit like a bullet to the chest.
"I didn't let her go," Ian muttered bitterly.
"She ran."
His thumb hesitated above the screen.
And then — a notification.
A DM.
From an account with no name. No profile picture. Just a blank, empty user handle.
He opened it.
And froze.
It was a photo.
A selfie.
Of him and Ruth.
Taken years ago. At the beach. They were laughing, wind in their hair, his arm around her shoulder, her fingers running through his hair. Young. In love. Wild. Stupid.
His breath hitched. His thumb hovered, trembling slightly.
Then came the message.
"We looked so happy and in love here, honey. Don't you think?"
Ian stared at it, unable to move.
Another message followed seconds later.
"I miss you so much. I wanna feel your touch again <3"
The heart at the end turned his stomach.
The photo. The timing. The tone.
It wasn't nostalgia.
It was manipulation.
"No. No, no, no—" Ian whispered, dropping the phone onto the bed as if it burned him.
He stood up and started pacing the room. His palms were sweaty again. The air felt too thick. He grabbed a water bottle, took a swig, and poured some on his face.
"This isn't over. She's not done with me," he said aloud.
She knew he'd see the social media post.
She knew he'd check the comments.
She wanted him to feel this.
And the message… it was a reminder.
That to her, he was still hers.
Whether she wore Leo's ring or not.
Ian slumped back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. His heart still beat heavy in his chest. The lights from the phone dimmed beside him.
He didn't touch it again.
Didn't answer the message.
Didn't even block the account.
He just closed his eyes, praying for sleep to come.
But in the back of his mind, one fear grew louder than the rest:
She's watching me.
And worse,
She's not moved on and seems not letting him go.