The encounter at the supermarket was like opening a floodgate that had been holding back for years. Returning to her luxurious home, Elara could no longer suppress the tidal wave of memories crashing over her. She walked through the silent hallways of her house, but her mind was noisy with the past.
FLASHBACK - TEN YEARS AGO
Kael was a storm. That was Elara's first impression of him in their second year of university. He was the center of attention without trying, brilliant without studying, and radiated a wild energy that was both alluring and terrifying to Elara, whose life had always been ruled by the uncertainty of her parents' broken home.
Their first date wasn't at a restaurant, but on the roof of a campus building, staring at the stars while sharing a bowl of instant noodles. It wasn't perfect, but it felt more real than anything. With him, Elara felt alive. Free. Not as the "child who needed to be saved from her parents' divorce."
"You know, El," Kael said one night, his hand tightly holding hers. "I don't believe in the institution of marriage. It's just a piece of paper that restricts freedom."
That sentence should have been a warning. But to Elara, who was in love, it was just a philosophy that could change one day.
They lasted for two years. Two years filled with spontaneous laughter, heated arguments about trivial things, and promises that felt eternal under the campus sky. But as graduation approached, Elara's anxiety grew. Kael talked about traveling the world, starting a start-up, living without a plan. He refused to discuss a stable future, about marriage, about foundations.
Then, David appeared.
David was Kael's opposite in every way. He was calm. A young man already established in his company, with a clear direction in life, and from the start, he stated his serious intentions towards Elara. He was a safe harbor after the exciting yet uncertain storm with Kael.
The climax happened on a rainy afternoon. Elara, who had just argued with Kael because he refused to attend a serious job interview, was walking alone. David found her, invited her into his warm car, and listened to her without judgment.
"You deserve the best, Elara," David said, his eyes sincere. "I can give you that. A home. A stable life. Happiness."
It was everything the little girl inside her had always wanted, the one who grew up watching her parents fight about money and infidelity. In that moment, her wounded heart and her fears chose the safe path.
She broke up with Kael via a short text. Without a proper explanation. Just, "This isn't working. I'm sorry." Kael tried to contact her, repeatedly. But the cowardly Elara blocked him. She buried their story and walked steadily into David's embrace, believing that security would eventually turn into love.
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PRESENT DAY
Sitting by the edge of her crystal-clear swimming pool, Elara finally admitted the truth she had been hiding even from herself: she was a coward. She left true love because she was afraid of uncertainty. She sold her soul for material comfort and called it a "logical decision."
And now, the universe was presenting her with the bill.
She tried to immerse herself in the routine—being David's perfect wife, Alisha's mother. But every time David kissed her, all she felt was emptiness. Every time David talked about family vacation plans, the image of Kael and Bimo in the supermarket aisle flashed through her mind.
One night, as she was getting ready for bed, her phone vibrated. A notification from a long-forgotten messaging app. A message from a user named "K."
Her heart stopped.
She opened the app with trembling fingers.
There was only one message.
K: "Do you still like instant noodles on rooftops?"
Sitting on her bed, with her husband fast asleep beside her, Elara stared at the message. A flood of hot, silent tears finally erupted. She cried for the cowardly young girl who chose a gilded cage. She cried for the love she had betrayed. And she cried because, in the deepest part of her soul, she knew the answer was "Yes."