Looking Ahead—Tokyo Awaits

The town had quieted for the night, leaving only the faint hum of streetlights and the occasional rustle of a breeze through the trees. Ava and Ryan strolled along the cobblestone sidewalks, their fingers loosely intertwined.

This was their town. The one where everything had changed.

Where Ava had inherited the tea shop—and, much to her dismay, the matchmaking business—from Mei, her grandmother, who had been all too eager to "retire" and pass the legacy on. Where Ryan had walked into her life, turning matchmaking from her profession into her personal battlefield.

They walked at a leisurely pace, hands entwined, the distant buzz of streetlights filling the silence.

It had been months—maybe years—since Ava had thought about the life she had before this madness. Before Mei had dragged her, kicking and screaming, into the world of matchmaking.

Before Ryan Kim had become an unstoppable force in her life.