Farewell dinner

A few days later...

Steffi sat in a dimly lit café with off-white, yellowish lighting, furnished with classic furniture in shades of light and dark brown, dominated by wood. The girl, wearing a red dress, occasionally glanced at her white watch, which showed 5 pm.

"Have you been waiting long?" a man's voice said behind her.

Steffi turned her head and saw Liam smiling at her, then walking towards the seat in front of her. "Not too long," she said, a bit nervous and awkward.

Liam immediately sat down, looking at Steffi, whom he still loved deeply but couldn't return to. The man, wearing a grey suit with a dark blue jacket, bowed his head, trying to contain the sadness of their relationship which was no longer the same as before.

"I never thought we would have a night like this," he said, his tone sour. "A farewell dinner...I never thought about it."

Steffi remained silent with a blank stare, looking at Liam, who again showed sadness over what happened to their relationship, even though he promised to meet just for a farewell dinner.

"I'll go home if you keep talking about our relationship," she said.

"I'm sorry..." Liam lowered his face. "I...I just can't accept all of this...This mistake destroyed my life."

"Liam..." Steffi sighed. "Your life isn't ruined...You will be happy with Gea, especially now that there will be a baby between you two soon. Stop saying that you regret, your life being ruined...That's not true!"

"Okay..." Liam nodded his head.

Steffi took the menu catalog and immediately ordered food and drinks from the waiter. Liam also ordered food and drinks, then he turned his focus back to Steffi, who looked angry at him.

"So...when are you going to marry that guy?" he asked.

"His name is Bill!" Steffi snapped.

"Oh yeah...sorry, I didn't know his name."

"We will get married in three weeks. After this, I will be busy preparing for our wedding," Steffi said coldly, trying to hide her sadness because she still loved Liam. She tried to show hatred, but deep down in her heart, she wanted to hug him and accept him back. 'If Gea wasn't pregnant...maybe we still had a chance to fix everything...but that's impossible...I'm already bound to Bill,' she thought.

"Oh my God..." Liam shook his head, smiling bitterly.

"What's wrong?" Steffi asked.

"Remember...we once planned a wedding...we had dreams about our wedding...we planned to have a happy family, but now what's happening is, we will indeed get married soon, but...you with Bill, and me with Gea," Liam said, lamenting his fate.

"So...you and Gea will also get married soon?" Steffi asked.

"Yes...in three weeks exactly," Liam answered firmly.

"Wow...that's unexpected."

"Yeah..." Liam sighed, then his gaze focused on the diamond ring encircling Steffi's right hand. "But...I'm not sure about Bill."

"What do you mean?" Steffi asked, frowning.

"I know...you and Bill haven't known each other for long," Liam answered seriously. "But why...why did you accept him so easily? Even willing to marry him when our relationship has just ended."

Steffi remained silent, turning her face away.

"This...this is too strange for me," Liam said.

"There's nothing strange," Steffi replied, looking back at Liam. "Every girl has the right to decide when and with whom she will marry, including me," she continued.

Liam nodded. "I know that, Baby... But marriage requires good reason and mature thinking. Like how I married Gea because I had to take responsibility for her pregnancy... So what's your reason for hastily accepting Bill whom you barely even know?"

"Because I want to be happy, that's my reason," Steffi said curtly. "I also want to be happy like you and Gea..."

"But that's not the right reason."

"It's very appropriate... It's better than dating for too long but ending up with betrayal," Steffi taunted Liam, looking at him sarcastically. "Besides, Bill is very kind, our families know each other... And he's mature enough and deserves to be my husband. He will treat me better than you..."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"You're making me worried now," said Liam, looking at Steffi anxiously. "I'm afraid that your rushed decision will only make you fall deeper..."

Steffi frowned.

"I mean... He's a rich man... He's handsome, even I admit that he's much better than me," Liam said cautiously, not wanting to make Steffi angrier. "But... This is very strange. A perfect man like him suddenly wants to marry a girl he just met. That's... That's not normal. Handsome and wealthy men usually date a perfect girl who is equal to them...."

"So you think I'm ugly and unworthy of him?" asked Steffi, starting to get emotional.

Liam shook his head. "I didn't mean to say that, but this is about the duration of the relationship. It feels very unlikely that a perfect man like him has been single all this time and suddenly proposes to a girl he just met... It's too strange for me. I'm worried that he's just playing with you or using you as an outlet... I'm afraid he's using his handsomeness to play around... To seduce innocent girls like you... I'm worried that when he gets bored with you, he'll just throw you away..."

"Enough!" Steffi exclaimed, standing up with a sharp look.

Liam immediately fell silent.

"He has known me for a long time... He remained single after breaking up with his ex-girlfriend... He admired me, paid attention to me on social media..."

"If he liked or admired you for so long, why didn't he just meet you?" asked Liam.

"Because at that time, we were still dating... He's a good guy so he wouldn't dare approach a girl who had a boyfriend like me at that time!" Steffi explained, even though she didn't know what she was saying. But for her, it made sense because Bill came when she was already separated from Liam. "You know, good men won't cheat on their girlfriends, good men will never approach a girl who belongs to someone else... But when he found out that the girl was single and hurt, it was only natural that he approached her. And he deserves to be accepted..."

"Okay... Okay..." Liam nodded, gesturing for Steffi to sit down.

Steffi sat back down, annoyed.

"It's okay if you don't want to listen to me; it's your right, especially if you want to be happy. But my message to you is... What appears perfect in your eyes may not necessarily be good for you... You have to be careful," Liam said resignedly. "I'm just reminding you because I love you... And I regret my actions even more now, seeing you like this... You're accepting another man without thinking twice... I know you still love me; you want to forget me through him," he continued.

Steffi looked at Liam cynically. "You're too confident."

"I'm talking the truth," Liam said with a smile. "If it weren't for your feelings for me, you wouldn't have agreed to meet me," he added.

"I agreed because this is the last time!" Steffi replied sharply.

Liam smiled warmly, looking at Steffi with love. "You're sweet... Bill is so lucky to have you."

"Yeah..." Steffi sighed, looking at the waiter who placed their orders. "He's the winner because he was patient enough to wait, unlike you who chose to have fun with my friend," she continued after the waiter left.

"Well... I know I was wrong."

"But I hope this is your last mistake... Don't hurt her. Maybe she's like this because that's who she is. She wants to take you away from me," Steffi said, taking the chocolate milkshake in front of her.

Liam just stayed silent, satisfying himself by looking at Steffi while he still could because this was the last time they could eat together.

"Liam... It turns out you're here?"

Liam immediately turned to the west when he heard a familiar voice. Steffi also looked, her eyes finding Gea approaching them.

"Gea..."

"I've been trying to contact you several times, but you didn't answer. And it turns out you're here!" Gea said angrily.

Liam stood up, welcoming Gea and intending to take her away.

"You have no shame, in trying to steal my future husband, even though you know I'm pregnant with his child!" Gea exclaimed loudly, pointing at Steffi so that the other visitors also paid attention to them.

"Gea... Don't make a mess!" Liam shouted, embracing Gea and trying to make her leave, but she refused.

Steffi just stayed silent, sitting casually and waiting for Gea, who might insult her again, even though she was the one who deserved it for stealing Liam from her.

"What do you want? Do you still want him? Will you accept the love of a man who impregnated another girl?" Gea wondered, looking at Steffi angrily.

Liam pulled Gea away, but she immediately pushed his hand away.