(Michelle Lui's POV)
I woke up smiling.
Not the tiny, accidental kind.
The embarrassing kind.
The kind my eighteen-year-old body shouldn't be capable of holding but my thirty-year-old heart understood too well.
I stretched beneath my blanket and replayed yesterday in my mind:
Steven waiting outside in the cold.
His careful study layout.
His shy almost-compliments.
The way he listened like every word mattered.
The way he walked me to the door like letting me leave physically hurt him.
And then—
Today was my favorite.
So far.
My pillow had never endured such emotional violence.
I kicked my feet under the covers once, twice—trying to outrun my own giddiness—
Then the door opened.
Mom peeked inside, already smirking. "Ah. The face of a girl who is no longer denying anything."
I groaned loudly. "Mother please—"
She marched inside like a soldier on a mission.
"Tell me EVERYTHING."
I hid under the blanket.
She yanked it off with zero hesitation.
"Mom!!"
