Enemies by Fate, Lovers by Choice

Mira frowned as she received a message from an unknown number. She hesitated to open it for a moment and planned to delete it directly, but then she received a call from the same unknown number. She counted five seconds before she answered but didn't speak.

"Hello? Is this Ms. Mira Vosbein? I'm Luna Pattranite's mother,"

Mira tightened her hand holding the phone upon hearing that it was Luna's mother. The anger she was suppressing suddenly ignited. "It's me, Ma'am," she still answered politely.

"I heard that you helped my daughter, so I would like to meet you to thank you in person if possible."

Mira tried to calm down her emotions since the other party wanted to thank her. "There's no need to thank me, Ma'am. She deserves it, and the first place is hers to begin with."

Lilith paused from playing with her pen. Although she was being rejected indirectly, she still insisted, "But I still want to see you in person."

Mira was about to answer when she heard her mother who came out from the kitchen.

"Honey, we're about to eat—" Maria stopped when she noticed Mira holding her phone to her ear. She realized Mira was talking to someone. "You continue."

Mira nodded then replied to Lilith, "Okay, Ma'am, just please send the address when I can meet." Mira agree without thinking just to quickly ended the conversation

"Good."

Lilith hung up the phone, but her hands kept trembling as she heard the voice who spoke to Mira. She didn't expect that after all these years, she would still hear that voice. Her heart, which had been as calm as the sea, suddenly had ripples again. The emotions she thought she'd already forgotten came back—a ghost from a past she'd tried to bury.

Lilith took a deep breath and put her hand on her heart, which was beating faster. Her anger, the sadness, the betrayal—all of the emotions she felt years ago came back.

Lilith was too distracted that she didn't notice Luna who came to her room. "Mom?"

Lilith didn't hear Luna, so Luna walked closer and saw her mother's tears. Luna was shocked, as it had been a while. Suddenly, Luna panicked. She really didn't like seeing her mother's tears, as it broke her heart.

"Mom, what happened?" Luna asked.

Lilith finally heard her daughter, turned her head to look at Luna, and said, "It's nothing."

"...but you're crying."

Lilith's eyes widened when she heard her daughter and quickly touched her cheeks. She wiped her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop. She became annoyed and roughly wiped her face.

Luna bit her lips and quickly restrained her mother's hand and hugged her. This is what happened when her mother cried, as her mother hated crying and would become rough to herself. She didn't care even if it hurt her, as if her tears were dirt. Luna didn't know why her mother suddenly became like this again, but she knew she had to calm her mother first.

Lilith didn't know why her tears came out. She hated crying, but she couldn't stop just hearing Maria's voice. Even though they hadn't met for many years, that voice never changed, and the way she softened her voice—she was familiar with it, as Maria would sometimes coax her in a sweet, soft tone whenever they had a little fight. Lilith liked it, so she would sometimes argue with Maria and pretend to be angry from time to time, but Maria wouldn't fail to coax her.

For almost 19 years, that voice was like a key to open the memory she had locked away. The memory came back like a landslide. Lilith kept suppressing the emotions she was feeling because she didn't want her daughter to see her go crazy again.

Luna hug her mother until she felt that her mother finally calmed down.

"Mom?"

Lilith wiped her tears and distanced herself from her daughter. "I'm fine. I just remembered something."

Luna lowered herself. "Mom, is there something I can help with?" she asked, full of concern.

Lilith looked at her daughter's beautiful eyes—those innocent eyes. For some reason, she got scared again, thinking that what happened to her might happen to her innocent daughter. Although her daughter was smart, for Lilith, Luna was still a child and innocent.

Lilith held her daughter's face with both hands. "That Mira... even if she helps you, don't trust her. Don't get close to her."

"But Mom—"

"There's no 'but' Luna. It's for your own good," Lilith said coldly.

Luna wanted to say that Mira wasn't like what she was thinking, but she knew it was pointless to say a word to her mother. However, she felt pain seeing her mother like this again. She loved her mother the most, so how could she disappoint her? Luna nodded against her will again.

"Luna, this is for your own good, okay?" Lilith softened her voice as she knew she lost control of her emotions again.

"Mom, I know," Luna smiled and hugged her mother.

Lilith patted her daughter's back lightly then asked her to leave her alone for the time being. Luna agreed and went back to her room, forgetting the reason why she went to see her mother.

Luna sat on her bed, playing with the four-leaf keychain. She thought she could finally make friends with Mira, as Mira wasn't as bad as she expected even Mira's mother looked so gentle. She thought maybe it was because she had only heard her mother's side of the story and not yet the other party who was involved. But seeing her mother like that again, she felt that there was no need to hear the other party anymore. Just look at what happened to her mother.

Luna felt disappointed. ' Why does it have to be your mother, Mira? If it wasn't your mother who hurt my mother, maybe we could be friends or even closest friends' She bit her lips, then she remembered the necklace she bought.

Now her thoughts became complicated again. She just agreed to her mother not to get close to Mira, but she already had a plan, and it wasn't her habit to back out when she already took a step.

' It's okay. After I gave this to Mira, that will be the end ' Luna promised to herself