"It's my family business. We own that chain of cafes and I was there to check on the accounts for the day."
Noelle froze, his words echoing in her head before they began to sink in.
Her eyes widened. His family business.
She knew that name. Everyone did. It wasn't just a café chain; it was a conglomerate. They owned everything from supermarkets to fine dining restaurants, an empire of taste and luxury.
She took an instinctive step back, suddenly seeing him in a new light. The man standing before her felt like a stranger. All this time… he had kept this from her.
Why?
Did he think she would only care about his money? That she'd chase his wealth like some shallow opportunist? Was that why he'd always hesitated, why he'd disappear after certain phone calls, his expression clouded by secrets?
A dozen questions tangled in her mind, but the one that hurt most of all was simple: Why hadn't he trusted her?
She felt something twist sharply in her chest. Had she been sharing her heart, her vulnerabilities, with someone she didn't truly know? Every memory of their time together, every quiet night, every whispered laugh, suddenly felt uncertain, tinted by the possibility of deceit.
She had been open with him, bare and honest in a way she hadn't been with anyone else. Even now, when her heart wavered with confusion about Han, she had almost told Ren. Almost. But that truth was gone now, smothered by the weight of his confession.
Her voice came out calm but her hands trembled. "I think you should go."
It wasn't a plea. It was a warning: the calm before the storm she could feel building inside her.
Ren's expression shifted, guilt and panic flickering across his face. "Noelle… please, just let me explain."
But she was already turning away, her heart thudding painfully in her chest.
At the door, she paused, glancing back at him with eyes that glistened, not with tears but with resolve.
"Maybe," she said quietly, "we should take a break from each other… figure out if this is really right for us."
Then she walked away, leaving him standing in the silence he'd created, his explanation dying on his lips.
Ren stood there, unmoving. The sound of her fading footsteps seemed louder than the murmur of conversations around him. For a long moment, he just stared at the empty space she'd left behind.
He let out a slow breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.
He had rehearsed this moment in his head a hundred times: the truth, how to tell her, how to explain why he had kept it from her. But when he finally said the words, they had landed like a stone between them.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Idiot," he muttered under his breath.
It wasn't about the money. It never had been. He just… hadn't wanted that to be part of what they were. With Noelle, he had been Ren… not the heir, not the businessman, not the man everyone else measured in numbers and worth. She never looked at him like that and for the first time in his life, he had wanted to keep something real and grounded.
But now, that choice had turned against him.
He could still see the look in her eyes with disbelief, hurt, the fragile flicker of trust breaking apart.
Ren sat on the bench at the playground long after the lights had gone dim. The city had quieted to a low hum but inside, his thoughts were loud, echoing with everything he hadn't said. His phone felt heavy in his hand, the last message from Noelle glowing softly on the screen. Two days ago, she'd written something ordinary, small: "Don't forget to eat dinner, you'll skip it again if I don't remind you."
He exhaled, feeling the ache twist in his chest. He typed a message.
Noelle, I'm sorry.
He stared at the words for a long time, then erased them. Too small. Too simple.
He tried again.
I should've told you the truth sooner. I didn't want what I have to change how you saw me. I didn't want you to see my world, just me.
His thumb hovered over "send." It felt too much, too late, too raw. But he hit send anyway.
The message showed "delivered." Then nothing.
Minutes stretched into an hour. The screen stayed blank. He leaned back against the bench, eyes closed. A dozen thoughts tugged at him. Maybe she was asleep, maybe she saw it and didn't know what to say, maybe she wasn't going to reply at all.
Another message formed beneath his fingers before he could stop himself.
Can we talk? Just once. I'll explain everything. You deserve that much.
He stared at the glowing screen until the battery warning blinked. Still no reply.
Ren set the phone down, rubbing his temples. His chest felt tight: not from anger or pride, but from the hollow space where her voice used to be.
For the first time, Ren wasn't sure if "sorry" would ever be enough.
Rain began to fall softly, pattering against the pavement. Ren finally called his driver, a quiet familiarity in the routine. Just like always, like the nights he had stayed over and he'd waited downstairs or when he'd sent the car to pick him up after he walked her home. In that moment, he decided he didn't have to try to hide it anymore: not from her, not from himself. He would let her see the real him, all of him, whether she liked it or not.
The following day, Ren walked through the campus, his backpack slung low over one shoulder. The corridors were alive with the hum of students between classes, the chatter of friends and the scrape of sneakers against the tile. And there she was.
Noelle.
She moved with her usual ease, laughing at something Mei Ling said, completely unaware that Ren was just a few steps behind, frozen. He wanted to call her name, to cross the room, to explain everything. But his feet stayed rooted. His chest tightened, a knot of longing and fear. He didn't dare approach her.
Noelle's smile was effortless, the same one that had once lit up his world. She glanced at Mei Ling, shrugged and continued their banter. Ren watched, a quiet ache swelling in his chest. She was back in her routine, in the rhythm of life that had never included him. And for all he knew, she had already begun forgetting the moments they had shared.
Mei Ling noticed Ren's presence first, the subtle stiffening in Noelle's posture when their eyes briefly met. Mei Ling knew her friend well. She didn't ask what had happened. Instead, she kept her protective distance, gently guiding Noelle back into laughter, into the mundane comfort of cafeteria tables, study sessions and shared notes.
Ren felt invisible, a ghost moving through a world that had once been his as much as hers. Each laugh, each careless gesture, was a reminder that he had chosen silence, that his confession, raw and real, had not yet reached her.
And Noelle? She didn't tell Mei Ling anything. Not about him, not about the truth that was gnawing at her from the inside. But Mei Ling, perceptive and loyal, had guessed. She could see the cracks in Noelle's eyes, the hesitation in her steps, the subtle pauses when someone mentioned names or memories. She had guessed that something had happened between them, maybe even that they had broken up.
And so, like any protective best friend, Mei Ling became a shield. She laughed louder, steered conversations, filled silences with lightness. All the while, Noelle clung to the routine, hiding her confusion and hurt beneath layers of normalcy, not ready to confront the truth or Ren.
Ren stayed just out of reach, quietly observing her from the sides.
Noelle sat at her desk in the quiet of her room, textbooks open but untouched. Her mind wasn't on her notes or the upcoming assignments: it was on him. Ren. Every memory, every fleeting smile, every word left unsaid played on repeat.
She had cried all night in the shower, letting the hot water wash over her, pretending it was just fatigue, just stress. She didn't want him to know. She couldn't let him see her like that, fragile and unravelling. Pride and fear tangled together, keeping her silent.
Now, with her makeup carefully reapplied and her hair brushed into place, she forced herself into the routine of normalcy. She put on her headphones, scrolling through music playlists, trying to lose herself in the beat, the lyrics, anything that could drown out the echo of his absence.
Mei Ling, ever perceptive, noticed the tension behind Noelle's laughter during their lunch break. "You've been quiet," she said gently, handing her a spoonful of dessert. "Everything okay?"
Noelle forced a smile, the kind that didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah, just tired. Exams are coming up, you know?"
Mei Ling didn't push. She had already guessed something was wrong. She didn't need details. She only needed to protect her friend, to offer quiet support. "Alright," she said, smiling, though her eyes stayed watchful. "We'll take it slow today. No stress."
Noelle nodded, grateful for the normalcy, for Mei Ling's presence. She buried herself in conversation, in laughter, in everything that wasn't Ren. But beneath it all, a small part of her heart still whispered his name, even when she refused to let it escape her lips.