“He told me that it was his family's wishes and not his. Then, he said that he would take care of it.” Shannon narrowed her eyes and looked appalled. “Just like that?” Nodding, I replied, “Yes, just like that.” Without warning, Shannon gave me a tiny knock on my head. She raged, “Liliana, are you an idiot?! You should at least ask him for a valid explanation. The words he said were useless. How do you know whether he was telling the truth? What if it turns out to be a big fat lie?” Pulling her hand away, I grunted, “You can talk without resorting to violence. That hurt!” “So you do know what pain feels like. You should have a heart and stop believing everything that comes out of Dominic's mouth. Haven't you learned your lesson?” I felt touched by Shannon's words. Clearly, she was only looking out for me.“I am not a teenager anymore and have a grasp on reality. Additionally, there is nothing to gain if he lied to me.” Shaking my head, I explained, “I am a divorcee who is not very wealthy. Although I am not ugly, I am no beauty queen either. What does he stand to gain for lying?” Looking at the other woman, I stated, “Shannon, I don't want to hold on to the past. Since I have the opportunity to move on and start afresh, I think I can look at this from a whole new perspective. At the end of the day, breaking up is the worst-case scenario. What is there to fear?” It took what felt like ages for Shannon to respond. She grumbled, “I can finally see how stubborn you become when Dominic comes into the picture. I will not try to persuade you otherwise anymore. However, I keep to my word. If it all goes south, you only have to pick up the phone, and I will make time to drink with you.” Smiling, I nodded. Back then, I did not have a good eye for friends and got to know the vicious Camille, but I was glad to know Shannon who was a loyal and dependable friend to me. In the café, we sat and chatted for some time. Even though Shannon claimed she would stay out of it, she continued to advise and warn me against various scenarios. Since it was still early when we left the café, we decided to head to the city center. Christmas was fast approaching, and I thought perhaps I should buy a gift for Dominic. At first, he suggested going on an overseas trip together. However, I realized that the schedule would be tight, and I did not have a passport. Therefore, it might be better to spend our time here or travel to somewhere nearer. To me, it did not matter where we celebrated the festival. Instead, the person whom I spent the day with mattered most. Dominic told me that he would arrange it with James, which I had mentioned to Shannon at the café. Over the last few years, Christmas celebrations in the country had been increasingly lively and fun. Christmas had yet to arrive, but Christmas trees, snowflakes, and bells were seen everywhere. Many shops were carrying out promotional activities. When I spotted a shop that sold fashionable men's clothing, I immediately dragged Shannon to it. From my memory, Dominic is often dressed in a suit. Therefore, I thought of buying a tie or tie clip for him. With Shannon standing beside me, I took a long time to choose at the counter, and I finally picked out a navy blue tie and a tie clip. I even bought a black shirt and casual pullover for him before I felt satisfied enough to foot the bill. “Tsk, tsk. You are too generous. If you had to shop for yourself, you probably wouldn't spend as much and as freely as you did,” Shannon commented in awe when we came out from the shop. I could not care less about her diss, as I was feeling good. In a chirpy tone, I told her, “That's nothing. I can always ask him to pay for it. I lose nothing, and he is happy. It's a win-win situation, isn't it?” Following that, we walked into a lady's clothes store. Standing before rows of clothing, we continued to chat while picking out outfits. “Liliana, why don't I gift you something later? We can celebrate your rekindled relationship with Dominic.” Mindlessly, I took out a woolen coat from the rack and tried to figure how it would look on me. “No need. Why do you have to give me a gift for that? You could have said that it was a Christmas gift.” Shannon immediately took heed of what I said. “Sure! You can take it as your Christmas gift instead. Let's head over to the other section later. We'll figure what is suitable for you.” Instantly, my smile slid off my face. I meant it as a joke, but she took it seriously. “Okay, if you are giving me a present, then I will have to give you a present too.”Then, we both turned to each other and laughed. We left the ladies' clothes store with our hands intertwined and in high spirits. However, things changed when I saw Milena and Camille. Shannon did not know who Milena was, but she knew Camille. She protectively tugged on my clothes to remind me. If Camille were alone, I would have left without hesitation. Unfortunately, I hesitated to walk away since Milena was there. In the past, nothing was going on between Dominic and me. Thus, I was not intimidated by what Milena thought of me. But it was different now since we had gotten back together. We might be getting married to each other in the future. As such, it could be a problem with her. In addition, our previous meeting did not go so well, and it made me give a second think about going over to greet them.Before I could react, Camille spotted me. Like an overjoyed kid, she hopped over toward Shannon and me. On the other hand, Milena reluctantly followed behind her. Shannon held my arm and whispered, “The wretch is coming here.” I acknowledged her warning but said nothing else. Regardless of what Camille said or did, I decided not to take them to heart. She was cunning and could use anything to sabotage me. Besides, I wanted to redeem my image in front of Milena. “Liliana, what a coincidence! Are you here to shop? Milena and I are shopping too.” Looking around, Camile asked, “What did you buy?” My head already started to hurt from looking at the fake smile plastered on Camille's face. Instead of replying, I pretended to hear nothing.However, Shannon acted otherwise. Without a care, she snorted, “How is this any of your business? How does anything we buy have anything to do with you?” Instantly, Camille's expression changed, as she did not see that coming. For a split second, I even saw a glimpse of hatred in her eyes. Despite so, she whimpered, “Sorry, I was only curious—” I interrupted her by laughing coldly. At that moment, Milena also came over. Without sparing me a glance, she tugged on Camille's arm and prepared to leave. By impulse, I called out to her.