Enemies by Fate, Lovers by Choice

Time passed, and graduation arrived. After Luna's turn, she looked around but couldn't find Mira. It was expected that Mira wouldn't be able to come back since she had already started her job, but Luna still held out hope.

Luna and her mother interacted with a few people, but Luna's face remained cold to strangers, so she was pulled away by Tina and Prima.

"Luna, guess who we saw," Prima whispered mysteriously.

Luna finally reacted. "Who?"

"It's Mira's mother," Tina blurted out.

Prima gave Tina a side-eye. "You're not supposed to tell her that quickly."

Tina wanted to reason with Prima but didn't want to argue at that moment. "Luna, she seems to be getting Mira's medals."

"I'll go first," Luna said immediately.

"What about your Mom?" Prima asked.

"Just... tell her I went to the comfort room." After saying that, Luna quickly walked towards the teacher's office. Now, she felt that this must be the reason why she wanted Mira to come to the graduation.

—' Aunt Maria must be sad too.' Luna saw Maria not far away, so she walked faster.

Maria also saw Luna walking towards her quickly in high heels. She got worried and also quickly walked to Luna. "Don't run in high heels," she said to Luna.

"Aunt Maria~" Luna pouted, with her twinkling boba eyes acting like a child all of a sudden.

Maria was flustered by Luna's sudden change of reaction, but she had also gotten used to Luna after spending more time with her.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked worriedly.

"My feet hurt."

"Haaa... you know you're wearing high heels, yet you still run," Maria said, then she continued, "Let's sit somewhere."

"Okay," Luna quickly pulled Maria to the garden where she and Mira had met and spent time together before.

Maria was amazed by the beautiful flowers. Luna pulled her to a bench under a big tree with long branches.

"Is this where you and Mira liked to hang out?" Maria asked, a little wistful.

" W-what?"

"Mira likes flowers and quiet places. She must be here from time to time," Maria said with a small smile. Even though she was sad, she didn't let it affect the child with her. She continued, "By the way, I watched you earlier on stage, your speech was very inspiring. Congratulations."

Luna was silent for a few seconds before she answered, "Congratulations too."

Maria was about to continue talking when her phone rang. "It's Mira," she said to Luna.

"Hello Mom," Mira's voice came through the phone.

"Honey, did you watch it?" Maria asked, as she recorded Luna's graduation. She wouldn't tell Luna about it for the time being.

"...yes," Mira answered.

"Great, congratulations honey. You have lots of rewards too. I even talked to your teacher. I'm sorry I was too shy to go on stage."

"It's okay Mom, I already told my professor about that," Mira said.

"Honey, I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you Mom," Mira replied.

"By the way, you talk to Luna. I'll hand over the phone." Maria didn't wait for Mira's answer and gave the phone to Luna.

Luna took the phone even though she was still mad. "Hello,"

"Luna, congratulations,"

"Yeah,"

There was a long silence. Mira could feel that something was wrong with Luna, but she had no idea what it was. She straightened her posture and broke the silence. "I sent a package to Mom, and there's something for you there. I just don't know if you will like it."

"When will you come back?" Luna asked with a slightly cold tone in her voice.

Mira didn't know why Luna was giving her a cold tone, but she still answered, "Maybe in a few years. I want to develop here first before coming back. There's a lot to learn here."

"Develop? Have you already adjusted there?"

"Yes,"

"Oh yeah, it must be thanks to that girl who's with you last time, right?"

Maria didn't know where her goosebumps came from and the smell of sourness. "That girl... she's Vivian, a senior in my company, she's like a sister to me. Also, her older sister, Aunt Liona, she's the one who helps me a lot."

"A sister like and co-worker?" Luna asked again.

"Yes,"

"I see... you should thank them."

"Yeah," Mira felt that the feeling of gloom and sourness faded away.

"By the way, congratulations," Luna said as she remembered she hadn't congratulated Mira.

"Thank you,"

Luna gave the phone back to Maria just to see Maria's wide smile with teasing eyes. She felt embarrassed and quickly looked away.

Mira and Maria talked for a few more minutes before it ended. Maria looked at Luna's feet.

"How is it?" She asked, pointing at Luna's feet.

"It's already fine."

"Shall we go back now?"

"Yes,"

Luna felt at ease that Maria didn't ask anything 'weird... why would I feel at ease? It's not like I talked to Mira about something illegal in the first place. Everything is normal.'

Maria, who watched and listened to Luna and Mira's conversation, had a vague idea, and it seemed that the two children were unaware of it. Although she liked Luna as she was a good child, she still wanted to make sure that Luna was different from Lilith, who didn't believe in her.

Maria walked slowly, letting Luna walk first before she took a turn. She didn't say anything to Luna and just sent Luna a message. Not far away, she saw Lilith anxiously approaching Luna with a worried look. This was the first time she had seen Lilith after so long. Maria felt a sudden emotion, and her tears fell down.

That feeling of disappointment and broken trust came all over her. She quickly hid when Lilith was about to turn to her direction. Maria decided to go home and leave the school quickly. She thought she didn't care anymore, but seeing Lilith again, she still wanted to hear why Lilith doubted her when Lilith knew her better than anyone else. Why did Lilith believe that guy over her? She had a lot of questions that she thought it wasn't necessary to be answered. —' Lilith and I will definitely meet sooner or later. Maybe it's time to talk about it, or else it will be a burden that I might carry until I die and might become a hindrance to Mira's opening her heart to others.'