Once Arvin's Porsche had receded completely from view, Stanley patted Gage on the shoulder and said, "I'm afraid you get used to it. It's just the way he is. Let's go!"

They locked their arms around each other's shoulders, and divided up. Only Derrick lingered, looking on at Nita who stood motionless. "Nita, you should have... noticed his indifference a long time ago."

Nita simply shook her head. She touched her forehead with one hand and said, "Derrick, I thought...I don't know...if Rosa was gone for good, Arvin would choose me..." But a thought flashed through her mind. 'Even if Rosa doesn't return, he still doesn't love me! He's in love with someone else!'

Looking at her sad face, Derrick felt a little pain. "Nita, he only loves Rosa. Even if there are a lot of women around him, they are just passersby."

"Maybe I'm also a passers-by for him... but I don't want to be a passer-by! Derrick, what should I do?" Nita looked at Derrick with a deep and unrelenting sadness.

Derrick was almost thirty years old. He looked more mature than others. He was the president of a transnational group and therefore, shouldered more responsibilities and pressures.

He hesitated and told her, "Love him... and don't give up."

It may have been well-concealed, and he had taken pains to guard it so, but actually, Derrick loved Nita. He wanted to help her seize her dreams. So, could he do but demand she not give up, as he hadn't. He had loved her for about ten years. He still thought about her, never giving in to defeat...

" Nita! Derrick!" A sweet voice came to their ears.

Nita took a deep breath, turned over and smiled when she heard the voice. "Lulu, what are you doing here?"

Lulu took Nita's arms intimately, and announced, "I just went to the washroom! And when I came out, nobody was there? Why was the birthday party over when I came back?"

Nita and Derrick glanced at each other and they didn't know how to answer the question. Lulu's innocence was too great to handle. Finally, Derrick explained to her, "You know your brother doesn't like party."

Lulu's head made an ineffably comical movement that conveyed how intangible such a statement was to her. But when she found Nita's pale face, she asked her aloud, "Nita, what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing..." Nita didn't want to give herself away to Lulu.

"The reason your brother left the party, " said Derrick seriously, "was because of another woman! "

"A woman?" Lulu was surprised. Since Rosa disappeared, she haven't heard any rumors about Arvin!

Suddenly, she thought of one girl! Last time, when she went to the hospital, she met a girl who called Arvin a pervert...

Nita stared at Derrick, who finally found that he had crossed a line he shouldn't have. Derrick mad

When her boyfriend betrayed her, all light and joy was gone from Cherrys life. Deserted, bereft of hope, she married a man that she had barely met, but she had never expected him to be her ex-boyfriends uncle.

Cherry thought that she had finally found her happiness, but she had no idea about the dark secrets that were bound to unfold and haunt her forever...

med them in her bag, along with her pajamas, toothbrush, and some other sundries, and slung it all over her back. She put a hand on the door handle, then looked back to the kitchen. The bowl of noodles remained, its plastic cover sweating. She left.

Arvin was driving his black Porsche at a racing speed through the downtown thoroughfare. Lines of traffic began to materialize, and he slowed down. Soon enough, it had turned to gridlock. Stopped at a red light, he called Angela.

Odd, he thought, as the call went to voicemail. He couldn't get through.

When he hurried home, he found nobody was in the apartment...

Arvin threw the gift given by Nita on the table casually.

He looked high-and-low for her, including his private research and development room, but there was no trace of Angela. He went into his bedroom and immediately noticed the figures of the two dolls were gone. Angela had disappeared like a sneak. No note. No nothing. Only a bowl of uneaten noodles.

Arvin stood arms akimbo in the living room, raising his face to the ceiling, with his eyes closed. 'Peace, peace, ' he beckoned, 'let it wash over me. Have I hurt Angela in ways I can't grasp?'

What a shame. He had tried. Tried to leave with time to spare so he could indulge in her company.

Arvin didn't dislike Angela. He knew he actually liked Angela. But, he was afraid to think about it in detail. All these thoughts came to him without any struggle on his part, so he knew with confidence that they were true.

He understood that he was escaping from something.

He was escaping from something such as his love for Angela...

At the evening two days before, when he hugged Angela till he fell asleep, he was relying on her making the first move. He wanted to further their relationship. But, he didn't...

Because, he was not as simple as her.