That night, both of them got dumped.
Julia's fiance broke their 5-year engagement because he fell for someone else, while Helina's boyfriend broke up with her in front of everyone, saying he wanted to marry someone else.
"Hei Ju, why are we so unlucky? In fact, both of us got dumped on the same day." Helina muttered with red eyes.
Julia, who was drinking alcohol, couldn't say anything and just looked at her pitiful friend. Both of them are pitiful, but at least Julia never love her fiancé. Different with Helina, who loves her boyfriend like he's her whole world.
So the way they accept reality is different. Julia felt nothing when her fiance broke off the engagement, while Helina broke to pieces the moment her boyfriend wanted to break up with her.
"I love him. I do anything he wants. I gave him money. I buy him clothes. I gave him everything I had. So why? Why am I still not enough for him?"
Helina is always like that.
She always fights with her boyfriend, and she's always the one who apologises to him, even though it's clearly her boyfriend's fault. That's just how much Helina loves him.
She gave him everything, while he didn't even love her that much. He didn't deserve her. Julia knows that, but she also knows Helina is too blind to realise that.
Helina's boyfriend loves her so much, so Julia supports their relationship since Helina was happy when she went out with him, but three years ago he started acting weird. That's when Julia investigates what he's been doing, and it's shocking because he's been cheating on Helina with other women.
"I told you that he's not a good man." Julia spoke with a careful gaze.
She drinks a lot, but she's not drunk yet.
She was still sober and realised what she just said. Helina, who was already drunk, glared at Julia with a mad expression.
"He's a good man...!" She said it with a stubborn voice.
Yeah.
He will be a very perfect man if only he doesn't cheat on her!
Julia can't deny the fact that he's a gentleman that very polite especially with women. It's impossible for woman to not fall for him. But no one dares approach or seduce him because everyone knows how loyal he is to Helina. They envied her, but they didn't try to separate them.
If only he didn't lie or cheat on her, he could be the most perfect man on earth.
"Good man? Good man won't treat you like that. Could you explain how he found another girl right after he broke up with you? If he loves you, then how can he move on so fast?"
"That..."
Julia poured wine into Helina's glass.
"That's why I don't believe in love."
Love is a word with responsibility.
If you cannot bear the responsibility of that word, then don't ever say you love someone. It's not just a mere word that people can say to anyone at any time.
Love is when another person starts to naturally take up space in your mind and their needs and desires start to matter more and more to you over time. It's about prioritising someone and delighting in the things that make them unique.
Everyone know how deep their love to each other. They just can't stop thinking about each other and talking about each other to another person. But who knows when someone will start to think it's a useless feeling? Or who knows when one of them will fall for someone else?
Like right now.
"How can it be like this...? Why my boyfriend and your fiance cheat on us? What's not enough about us?"
Helina cried and put her face on the table.
Sometimes no one can find an exact answer to that question. No human can guess what other human thinking. How could they even know what they thought when both men chose to dump them?
The real question is, What did they do so wrong to be cheated on like that?
That's right.
What's not enough?
Even if they don't love their partner, is that reason enough for them to cheat? A man who cheats is disgusting. Women who cheat are also disgusting. Just why on earth does cheating even exist if they truly love each other?
In Julia's case, their relationship is a forced one. But in Helina's case, their relationship wasn't forced by anyone. They date each other because they love each other, don't they? So why would that man choose to cheat on Helina?
"I guess, we're just unlucky. Luckily, we're not married to them. Imagine being their wife and having them cheat on us. That was the worst thing that I could ever imagine."
Julia said as she rubbed her hands. Trying to warm up her body. It's winter, so it's cold.
"So pitiful." Helina kept mumbling alone until she fell asleep.
Julia, who was watching her stroke her head, said Helina is her only friend. They are both orphans who have no parents. They grow up in an orphanage together as friends. Their bond is very strong. They're like siblings. They always fight, but they also care about each other.
They know everything about each other.
Julia know once Helina wake up, she will be fine again. But of course, that didn't mean she would ever forget about this situation.
"Hey miss. We're going to close soon. Why don't you go home now?" The old lady who was wearing an apron said this to Julia, who was still sober.
Julia glances at her watch, and it's already late at night. They have to go home. Julia looks at the old lady again and smiles. Julia put the money on the table and immediately took Helina out of the restaurant.
They walked towards the car, and Julia drove it home.
Thinking about her ex fiance make her blood boiled in anger. Julia knew from the very beginning that the man she was engaged to was cheating on her, but she never thought that he would say such nonsense about herself in order to break off their engagement.
They were having a family gathering to discuss when they should get married. And that was the time when her ex-fiance, Jasper, brought another woman home and said nonsense to his family about her.
Julia has no parents or siblings so no one can defend her. After all, Helina who's the only family and siblings she has also busy dating with her ex-boyfriend that night.
"I'm sorry to say this, but I'm going to break off my engagement with Julia."
Julia doesn't want to hear all of this, but since she's the main topic, she needs to listen and stay. She knows Jasper has planned this all along. Let's sit and watch how he would do it.
"Jasper. Don't talk nonsense. Why would you break off your engagement with Julia? She's intelligent and kind. She's the most suitable person to be your wife." His mother was the one to question his actions.
That's right.
The only reason Julia was chosen to be his wife is because she's intelligent, and it was to help Jasper, who will be CEO of Hunotion Company.
Jasper is just an ordinary person who has no talent, so to hide that fact, they need to put an intelligent person by his side so that the Hunotion Company won't be a laughing stock in the future.
"She's smart, but she cheated on me! It's not impossible that she'll rob all my money if she becomes my wife!"
Julia chuckled at his stupid words.
It looks like this is the only thing he can come up with with that stupid brain of his. He was the one who cheated, and he put the blame on her to make her look like a gold digger.
"You cannot say it without evidence." His father said with a complicated expression.
His father probably knows that the one who cheats is his son. Not Julia.
"Father! Why are you defending that woman? She cheats on me!" Jasper, who's stupid, yells with anger.
Julia felt embarrassed by his attitude, so she looked away.
Not wanting to look him in the face. The woman who was standing next to Jasper also looked away. Perhaps she feels the same way as she did.
"Jasper. Do you really think I don't know anything?" His father asked with a serious expression.
Jasper, who was taken aback, swallowed his saliva.
"I-"
"I have evidence that she cheated!" The woman next to Jasper spoke with a confident voice.
Julia looked at her.
She didn't expect anything from that woman since she's the woman Jasper loves. Well, I'm not sure if that woman loves Jasper too. Perhaps she is just aiming for his wealth.
"Show me." Jasper's mother said while glancing at Julia for a moment.
By the look in her eyes, Julia knows for sure that no one in this room is on her side. She thought Jasper's mom would at least be on her side, but her eyes explained everything.
"Yes! This is the evidence. There are a lot of pictures of her in her scandal! It's proof that she cheated on Jasper!"
The woman handed a white envelope to Jasper's mom and gave a sly smile as her eyes met Julia's.
There were many pictures of Julia with a man in the envelope.
Most importantly, the man's face is obscured so that no one knows what he really looks like. Jasper's mother's face changed, and she angrily threw the pictures in Julia's face.
"Julia! What have you done?" She snarled in a harsh voice.
Julia, who knows nothing, blinks with a blank face.
"What did I do?" She innocently asked what she had done so wrong.
"Look at those pictures! You even slept with that man! How can you be so disgusting?" She yelled in a loud voice, causing everyone who sat in the dining room to look at her with a shocked face.
Julia picked up the picture and stared at it blankly.
She smiled thinly.
It is clear that the picture has been edited. She didn't know who Jasper hired to edit the picture, but she was disgusted to see it. Jasper must have planned all this.
This is the moment Jasper has been waiting for all this time, but who would have thought he would be willing to go this far? Julia stared at the nude picture of the man and woman sleeping on the bed with an angry face.
"Aunt, do you believe I did all this?" Julia asked with a blank face.
"That's your face! Who doesn't believe it?" She screamed again.
"It's not me. I don't go to that place, and I've never seen that place before. It's possible that Jasper planned all of this to break off the engagement with me." Julia said it with a calm face.
She really wants to punch Jasper, but she holds it in. This is not the right time to do it.
"Are you saying my son would do such a disgusting thing?"
What mother would believe a stranger's word, no matter how logical it is?
"You forced this relationship on us. It's not impossible that your son would do this."
"Are you blaming me right now?" She asked as if she was angry.
"I did. I didn't love your son. Your son also didn't love me. This relationship is something we never wanted in the first place. The reason I agree to be engaged with your son is because you threaten me."
"Y-You bitch! You have been hiding this heinous personality of yours, right? You disgusting bitch!"
She raised her hand to slap Julia, but Julia immediately stopped her by grabbing her wrist with a soft smile.
"What did I expect from these people? I had enough playing with you guys. You threaten me and make me your son's fiance, and then you blame me for everything. The one who's disgusting here is not me, but you." Julia said.
"W-What...! What are you talking about...?"
"Are you mad? Of course you would be mad. You're right, Jasper. Let's break off this engagement. And don't bother me anymore. I have more evidence than you that you are cheating on me. I have your picture, I have your video. I have everything that could be used as evidence. So stay away from me. Otherwise, I spread the word about this on the internet. It would be exciting if we broke off our engagement because Jasper cheated on me, wouldn't it? After all, this evidence of yours is fake."
"What makes you so confident about that?" Jasper is so angry with her arrogant words.
That arrogant, blank face is the thing he hates the most! That's why he cheated on her. He didn't like the fact that he's just ordinary while Julia is a genius.
"You want to know? Then I shall send you some of the evidence I got." Julia took out her phone and sent it to them.
After receiving it, Jasper's expression changed.
"T-This! Why would you have all of this? How do you get this?" He yelled with a panicked expression.
Everyone who also received the same thing looked at each other before looking at Jasper, who turned red out of shame and anger. They probably didn't believe Jasper was a person like this.
He's a womaniser. He raped a lot of virgin girls, and he even locked them up. This is a crime. He can be put in jail if this is ever given to the police.
"Why? Huhuhu. Do you think I'm stupid for not knowing what you're trying to do? Hey Japser... Don't you remember who I am? I got the highest grade in our country, and I was labelled the 'genius of the country'. What makes you think you can surpass me?"
"Jasper... Are you crazy?! This is a crime! You kidnap, rape, and lock up a young girl! Have you gone insane?" The father was shocked after seeing this.
He never knew his son was like this. If this were known, their business would fall!
"Jasper. The reason I stayed silent until now is because I wanted to give you a chance. But you never took it. Then, goodbye." Julia walked away without looking back.
It's obvious that she won't stay silent about this. She has sent all of that information to the police and asked them to investigate him. If she hid it, then what is the difference between her and Jasper?
That's how their dinner ended.
Even if Jasper didn't bring these issues out, this marriage won't happen no matter what since Julia has been thinking about putting Jasper in jail for all his disgusting crimes.
Helina didn't know about this yet since she got drunk after telling Julia her story. Helina's story is also tragic.
Helina has loved her boyfriend for more than five years. Helina always told Julia how much she loved him, and she couldn't wait for the moment he proposed to her.
She want to marry him.
She wants to be his partner for the rest of their lives, and she wants to be the mother of his child.
But it's too bad because her boyfriend didn't feel the same way. It's tragic how her boyfriend end up loving someone else and has been cheating on her for almost three years. Her boyfriend and his scandal also have a child together!
All of that was exposed when her boyfriend, Anthony, asked to break up in front of everyone.
At that time, they were dating in a public place.
There were a lot of couples who dated there, so the image of Helina being dumped and being cheated on was witnessed by many people.
"Helina... I need to tell you this. I think we should end it here." Anthony spoke with a low voice.
Helina, who was watching the fireworks, turned her head towards him in shock.
"End? What do you mean?"
"Let's break up."
"Why? We have been together since high school. It's been almost seven years now. Why are you saying this all of a sudden?" Helina laughed at his words.
Thinking it was a joke.
"I'm serious. I can't do this anymore."
The moment Helina's eyes meet his, she knows he's sincere. He really wants to end it. He really wants to end everything.
She shook her head in disbelief.
"You can't do this to me... Please. Anthony please don't leave me like this. Anthony, tell me what I have to change. Please don't choose to end it like this."
"Let's stop this. I can't do this anymore."
"Why? What's wrong with us?"
"It's not about us. It's about me. I don't feel the same anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't love you anymore."
Anthony didn't look into her eyes when he said that. Helina didn't know what to do. She kept watching him, who didn't look at her.
"Lie. Don't lie to me."
"I didn't."
"Then look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me!"
Helina didn't believe it when Anthony said he didn't love her anymore.
No.
To be honest, it's hard to believe because, until now, they've been doing fine. Everything seems beautiful. Even before this moment, everything was great. They date like they're soulmates who are destined to be with each other!
Anthony raised his head and looked Helina straight in the eyes. The eyes that usually seem gentle and full of love look empty. Helina feels nothing.
There's no love in those eyes.
"My feeling for you is gone. I don't love you, Helina. So let's break up."
"Tell me again."
"Helina..."
"Say it again...! Say it!" Helina raised her voice a little.
People who were originally focused on fireworks are starting to focus on them.
"What? What happened to them?"
"Are they fighting?"
"It looks like it's not doing well. The woman looks broken."
They are talking while looking at Helina and Anthony, but their gaze and words didn't bother any of them. Helina and Anthony focus on each other.
They're too busy with this problem to realise what's happening around them.
"I don't love you."
It sounds both heartless and cruel at the same time. Helina's heart broke every time he uttered those words.
"How... since when?"
"I don't know."
"I guess I know. It was when you met that woman, right?" Helina guesses with a painful smile on her face, while Anthony looks shocked.
"What? How do you know?"
"How can I not? You're being too obvious, but I turn my blind eyes, thinking that you still love me and are just friends with her. But it looks like you've really fallen for her."
Helina looks at Anthony, who looks sorry for her. Helina knew it from the very start. Three years ago, when Anthony met the woman with blonde hair, he looked weird.
As if they had a special relationship.
But Helina chose to believe in him.
She believes that he didn't cheat on her. She believes that they're only friends. Helina didn't ask anything about that girl to respect his privacy, but who would have known it would be like this?
"I'm sorry. You're right. I've been cheating on you for three years. I love someone other than you."
His sincere confession makes it even harder for Helina to breathe.
"Haaa. How did this happen?" She laughed at herself with tears streaming down her face. "Were you just playing with me all this time?" She asked with a pained look.
When did these tears come out? Why she feel like something was pounding hard in her chest? Why did it feel weird? This feels weird.
She feels like she's broken.
Something inside her is broken.
Anthony didn't dare look at her.
He feels miserable, but he can't do anything about it. He really feels nothing for her. There's no more affection. He didn't love her anymore.
"I'm sorry..."
"You broke my heart, and all you can say is sorry?"
"I won't make any excuse."
"Is this a game to you? Is it fun to play with me? Is it fun to make me like this?" Helina yelled while sobbing hard.
She grabbed his collar and shook his body. She wants to know why he did this. How did he have the heart to do this to her?
"Helina..."
"I gave you everything, and all you did was throw it away. Tell me. What am I supposed to do after you do this to me?" She asked.
"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry, Helina."
"I love you so much. I believe in you. All I got in return was this painful thing. What am I supposed to do, Anthony?" She asked while crying.
"I'm sorry."
"That's not something I want to hear."
"I'm sorry."
"You promise me. You promised you would make me the happiest person in the world. You promised you would love me until death do us apart. Is that all a lie? You lie?"
She looked up at him, tears filling her already-swollen eyes.
"It's not a lie. It's just a promise I couldn't fulfil. I can't fulfil the promise I made. It's my fault." His voice broke a little.
He smiled, but it was shaky, and Helina's heart broke. She probably heard the crack in her chest. She reached out and touched the side of his face gently.
He didn't avoid it.
He closed his eyes as if he were also in pain.
"Do you ever regret it?"
"What?"
"Do you regret loving me in the past?"
He was quiet for a moment.
She was about to ask him to forget what she asked, but he finally said, "Just because we didn't work out doesn't mean you weren't the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Then why can't we make it? Why did we have to end it?"
Helina didn't understand. Is it because he didn't love her? Or is it because he loves someone else?
"Because you deserve better. I cheated, and I don't deserve to be with you, and you're no longer the woman I wish to love."
"We can start again. Let's learn to love each other again. I want to be love by you Anthony. Please love me again." She begged him.
The reason she turns a blind eye, even though she has suspicions, is because she loves him too much to break up with him.
"Helina, we can't. Don't treat me like I'm not wrong. I cheat and I might do it again. I cheated; I don't want to put you in pain anymore. So that's why we have to end everything here."
It's true that Anthony still loves her.
But there is a saying that if you really love the first, you won't fall for the second. And if you ever fall for the second, choose the second, because if you really love the first, you won't fall for the second.
That's why he chose to end this with Helina. Despite the fact that he really loved her, he chose to let her go so that she wouldn't get hurt again.
He didn't want to hurt her again.
He really meant it.
"But I love you, Anthony. I really did." She cried as she begged him again and again. "What do I do if you just leave me like that? How would I live after you leave me like that? What should I do then? Anthony tell me."
She looks pathetic, but there's nothing she can do.
"You have to give up on me. I even have a child with that woman. How can we ever make it happen again? Let's stop. Let's break up."
The word child stunned Helina.
She's always imagined having his child, but after knowing that he has a child with another woman, she feels half of her soul broken.
"I-"
"Let's not meet each other again. Please live happily without me."
With that, she immediately walked away and didn't look back. This is the end. This is real. It's hurt. Why does breaking up hurt so much? Is it because she loves him so much?
"It hurt. It really hurt."
She walked away first because she couldn't bear watching him walk away from her. The man she loved for seven years is now gone. The man she always admires. The man she always wished to marry. The man she always loves.
She never thought they would end up like this. It's pitiful.
It's pitiful to think that Julia also faces the same thing.
The only difference between her and Julia is that she loves Anthony, and Julia doesn't love Jasper. So she's in pain.
Julia knows this too.
Julia knows Anthony cheats on her. For Julia, Anthony is not a good man, but for Helina, Anthony is everything. It's true he cheats, but it's also true that he has loved her before.
That night, she drank until she passed out.