Only the cats

"Oh, there you are," Lucas said with a grin as he turned Raven's way. "I thought that you were not going to show up here, again."

Raven chuckled, "What can I say? I'm a busy man."

Violet narrowed her eyes at what he said. Busy man? He was supposed to have her back earlier!

"Looks like you have finally met Vi-"

"Yes, we've met." Violet interrupted before he could even say her real name.

"You know each other?" Lucas asked, blinking a few times, looking to and fro between Raven and Violet.

"Yes, he's my uncle," replied Violet with a small smile.

A small gasp was heard coming from the other guy, "Why didn't you say so? I was looking for him since earlier!"

She shrugged, "You never asked me if I know him or not."

"Good point," chuckled Lucas.

Meanwhile, Kevin was looking at his wristwatch from time to time before sighing heavily. "It's late." He reminded.

"Alright, we're leaving." It was not like he has a choice, right? He didn't want his brother to drag him out all of a sudden in front of the woman who took interest in. It would be so unmanly.

They all bid goodbyes to each other and the moment the brothers left, Violet turned to Raven with her arms crossed. "Where did you go? You did not flirt around, did you? You're a married man, remember?"

"What? No, no, I'm not the type of man who cheats." Raven replied, waving his hand a bit as if to erase that idea from her.

She rolled her eyes, not believing him.

"I should drop you home." He said, changing the topic. He led her out of the place and went to the parking lot. He opened the car's door for her, allowing her to enter first and when she did, he closed the door and went to the driver's seat.

"So, how did it turned out? Are you going to date him now?" He asked as he began driving their way out of the place.

"I'm not going to date him. We already came into an agreement. He's willing to marry me."

"W-wha--" Raven was shocked at the sudden progress. "You jumped all the way there?!" He looked at her in disbelief although it was just for a few seconds before he turned his eyes back on the road.

"Wasn't that the goal?"

He coughed a bit, "Well, yeah, that's the point... But shouldn't you at least give time to get to know him? Six months dating at least?"

"I'm not here to fall in love, Raven." She placed her chin on her palm as she gazed at the scenery they pass by through the glass window of the car. "I rather have this done at once."

She preferred not to get too attached to the man she was going to marry. They already made a deal. It was better not to have feelings towards him at all if she didn't want to get hurt.

Raven became quiet. He knew that even if she was going to avoid falling in love, one way or another, love will find her no matter how long it would take. It happened to him. He never imagined that a man like him, even if he wasn't allowed to fall in love, ended up loving someone so deeply.

"Oh well, as long as you got to make him agree with your conditions." He mumbled.

They soon reached her apartment building. Violet went out of the car and bid good night to Raven before she headed to her room.

After taking a bath, Violet prepared for bed. She never felt so drained and tired. Maybe it was because of all the socializing she did?

The moment she laid down on the bed, she instantly fell asleep into a deep slumber.

She wasn't able to notice her phone lit up as she received a message from an unknown number.

Violet was only able to see its contents when she woke up.

[This is my number, future wife. Give me a sweet contact name. Good night. <3]

She stared blankly at the message and for some reason, there was no excitement in her eyes. She didn't give the number a reply but instead, she renamed the contact into 'Lucas Hei'.

After messaging her as well, she did not get any other messages coming from him. Just like that, she once again had her usual routine as she went back to work. However, after about a week, she was messaged again.

[I want to meet up.]

This time, Violet sent a reply, [Sure. Give me the address and schedule.]

It only took a few seconds before she received a reply from him again. [Are you free tomorrow? I was hoping to bring you to a place with lots of cats.]

Upon seeing the word 'cats', a smile instantly appeared in her lips. Since it was weekend the next day, she didn't have a problem with meeting him up.

Violet: [Okay. I look forward to seeing the cats. <3]

Lucas: [Not me?]

Violet: [Only the cats. <3]

Lucas: [ :'( ]

"Who are you chatting with?" Her faculty friend asked when she noticed that Violet was smiling from ear to ear.

They were currently inside the clinic, having their lunch together there.

"Someone. A friend." She kept her phone and in a blink of an eye, the smile disappeared and was replaced by her usual serious expression.

Abigail Ye, her friend, pouted upon receiving such a reply, "I don't believe you. Is it a man? Are you seeing a man now?" She grinned excitedly.

"No, I'm not seeing any man right now. I'm not having any hallucinations, Abby."

She ended up receiving a slap on her shoulder, "Ow!"

"You know that's not what I mean!" Abigail refuted, pouting her lips in the process.

Violet ended up chuckling lightly. It was fun to tease her sometimes so she couldn't help it. "Well yeah... I think I am?"

In an instant, her friend's eyes sparkled in delight. "That's great news! You should move on from that jerk of an ex of yours!" She huffed. "I can't believe that others are taking his side without even learning what the actual truth is."

It was only normal to have a rumor spread after her wedding day. The faculties were invited after all. Rumors about her not showing up since she ran away because she had another man began spreading the next day. But Violet being Violet, she decided to ignore those rumors. She knew that it would die down sooner or later. The only person who bothered to ask her was her best friend, Abigail. Well... it was just actually normal for her to inquire about it.

"You can't just sit here and do nothing about the rumors going on, Vivi."

"Abby..."

"You can't allow them to tarnish your reputation. You can't let that fucking bastard Jason have the upper hand in everyone's eyes. I really can't understand how you can still sit here calmly after what he did!"