With another woman.
She clung to his arm. He carried her shopping bags. They looked like a couple. Kate tried to stop me from reacting, but I couldn’t breathe. We followed them. I watched him open her door, walk her up to a fancy house, kiss her cheek… and drive off like nothing happened.
I was livid. Heartbroken. Betrayed. I marched up to her house, knocked on the door, and when she answered with a smile, I threw a smoothie in her face.
“Stop sleeping with my boyfriend!” I screamed.
She shrieked. Threatened to call the cops. I didn’t care. I stormed off, my heart pounding. That night, when Michael came home, I saw the faint lipstick mark still on his cheek. He lied, saying it was “lunch leftovers.” I said nothing. I just waited—for family dinner.
And then… she walked in.
The woman I’d humiliated. Smoothie still fresh in my memory. Arm in arm with Michael. I screamed.
“What is she doing here?!”
Michael blinked. “You mean… my mom?”
The world stopped spinning.
“You’re sure?” I asked, my voice hollow.
“Yes, Olivia. I’m sure.”
His mother—Cynthia—was the woman I had accused, followed, and assaulted. She greeted me with a smile as sharp as a blade.
“Nice to finally meet you. Shame you won’t be part of my son’s life much longer.”
She turned to Michael. “She’s the crazy girl I told you about. The one who threw a smoothie in my face.”
Michael looked at me, stunned.
“I thought she was your girlfriend,” I said weakly. “We followed you. I saw you with her. I lost it. I thought…”
He sighed. “Why didn’t you just ask me?”
Cynthia smirked.
“I wanted to see her face when she realized,” she said smugly. “Now dump her and let’s go to dinner somewhere better.”
“I’m not dumping her,” Michael replied.
Cynthia gasped. “What?!”
Even I was shocked. “Michael… what I did was insane. I was a maniac.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t know who she was. And you’re my maniac.”
Then he got down on one knee.
“Olivia, I love you. Will you marry me?”
Tears filled my eyes. “Yes. Of course, yes.”
Cynthia exploded, demanding he call it off.
“You don’t get to forbid anything,” Michael snapped. “And I know you saw her watching us. You kissed me on the cheek. You don’t even do that. You wanted her to see.”
She tried again. “She doesn’t deserve you.”
“I’ll decide that. And if you can’t accept it… you can leave.”
And she did. Stormed out with her husband trailing behind. I turned to Michael, shaking.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s okay,” he said. “If I saw you with another guy, I’d probably do worse.”
Then he kissed me—and suddenly, I remembered why I loved him in the first place.
