Her Unwanted Marriage | MikhAiah

Chapter 27

A/N : Errors Ahead

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Johann's POV

Location: Gala Event

I sat alone at the corner of the gala event, quietly sipping my drink. The music played softly in the background, but I barely noticed. My focus was on the swirling liquid in my glass, an attempt to drown out the noise of my own thoughts.

Then, someone sat down beside me. I didn't have to look to know who it was—I felt her presence even before I turned my head. Stephanie.

I kept my composure, pretending her sudden arrival didn't affect me. But deep down, it was a different story. My heart raced, and the familiar pang of emotions I'd tried to suppress threatened to surface. "Hindi ko siya dapat pansinin," I thought, but my resolve was already wavering.

"Hi," she said softly, her voice almost hesitant but firm enough to make me glance her way.

"Hi," I replied, as calm as I could manage, though I noticed her gaze lingering on me. Bakit ganito siya tumingin? Her eyes seemed to search for something in mine, as if trying to unlock a secret I'd worked so hard to keep.

Fuck.... Please.... Don't look at me with those eyes. Steph.

"It's been a while, Johann... how are you?" she asked, her voice soft, almost too gentle, like she was testing the waters.

I clenched my jaw, gripping my glass tighter as I forced myself to meet her gaze. She looked the same—no, better than I remembered. Pero bakit pa kasi siya nagtatanong? Of all the people here, why me?

I swallowed hard, pretending her question didn't pierce through me. "I'm good," I lied, my tone clipped but polite. "You?"

She smiled faintly, but there was something in her eyes that didn't match it. Alam niya ba kung anong ginagawa niya sakin? I wanted to believe this was casual, that she was just being polite, but the part of me that still missed her—that still loved her—wanted to read more into it.

Fuck, I miss her. I hated how easily she could undo me, how a single question could stir up everything I'd tried to bury since we broke up.

My mind raced as she continued to look at me. Was she here to taunt me? Or worse, was she here to try again, only to leave me hoping for something that would never come? Aasa na naman ba ako nito? Tangina, naman kasi. Why did she have to show up now, when I'd almost convinced myself I was okay na kahit wala na kami?

And yet, no matter how much I wanted to move on, I couldn't stop myself from remembering. She wasn't just someone I loved—she was the one I lost.

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Stephanie's POV

"She's good naman pala,"

I thought, watching Johann as she answered me with that calm, distant tone. Halatang nakausad na siya sakin. The way she carried herself, the way she looked at me—it was like I was just another face in the crowd. Dapat masaya ako, 'di ba? This was what I wanted for her, for both of us. Closure. Peace.

But then why did it hurt? Bakit parang ang bigat sa dibdib? The sight of her, sitting there with that composed demeanor, felt like a punch to the gut. Ayaw ko bang makalimutan niya ako? The thought hit me harder than I expected. Maybe I didn't. Maybe a selfish part of me wanted her to still think of me, miss me, even if it wasn't fair.