Chapter 111 - The Greatest Lesson (1/2)

”I told you that you don't have to apologize about that,”Ria reminded Yanee who smiled.

Well, Ria was right. The last thing she needed was someone unrelated feeling sorry for what she'd gone through. At least, it's what Yanee believed. Her own trauma might not be the same as Ria's but she still felt uncomfortable when someone told how unfortunate she was because of what happened to her.

”Alright. I won't anymore,” she promised.

”But hey, you still didn't answer my question,”Ria reminded her.

”Well,”Yanee began as she remembered details of the story. ”Your story is quite intriguing honestly.”

Just as she had said earlier, she'd never encountered anyone with this type of disorder before. While Ria was telling her story, she had been confused at times— like the part where she thought Michael was trying to woo his employee but turned out already married to someone else that was not Ria. But in the end, he was truly married to Ria, but not the Ria who went to dine with him at the restaurant and met his mother.

No wonder Tohru told her to read about mental disorders before. The things she read about came handy this time. If she hadn't read a bit, she wouldn't be able to understand Ria's story at all. Also, she's glad that she seemed to have recovered already.

”I'm curious though,”Yanee started and Ria inclined her head in her direction; her eyes told her to speak up. ”I'm curious if you can now remember what happened in those missing fifteen months.”

Well, it was the period where the real ”Office Romance” happened after all. Then she worried if her question would cause trouble or offend Ria, but it was already too late to take the question back.

”Oh, that.” Ria looked thoughtful. ”I remember all now, of course. It's been years since I started my therapy. There was a pause as she gathered her thoughts before she spoke again. ”Now that's a typical office romance,” she added with a chuckle.

”I woke up after the accident then went to the company. Normally Michael didn't have to be at the ad agency but since we met there one day, and he seemed to remember me from the competition. He started coming more often after that.”

There was a nostalgic smile of Ria's lips which made Yanee feel warm. She truly loved her husband from the way she looked and talked about him.

”Just like what he tried to do with me when I forgot about him, he always asked me out. At first it's a pretense for work. But after that we started going out for real as a couple until he asked me to marry him, and we did.”

Yanee couldn't help but smile as she listened.

”A Cinderella,”Ria suddenly said and Yanee inclined her head as she waited for her to continue. ”I was like Cinderella— a commoner who fell in love and married the prince.”

Ah…

Well, in a way, it was true. Ria was after all from a middle-class family, while Michael Chen was the heir to a business empire. Unlike Yunjae, Ashley, and Marian who were princesses in their own ways. Even if they married rich men, the disparity of their statuses were not that high— most especially Marian. The James family was even richer than the Kangs. Compared to them, Ria's family was normal.

Then again, not all fairytale-like stories ended in happy endings— at least not entirely.

”Er…”Yanee didn't know why but she suddenly wanted to ask about Michael's family. But she also knew that asking about it was not appropriate.

Michael's mother…

She reckoned, even if two people truly loved each other and wanted to be together, there would always be others who would not be amicable with the setup. They could be parents, siblings, relatives, or even friends— people that a person couldn't easily remove from his life. To receive protests and dislike from people your significant other deemed important hurt.

On the other hand, for that someone whose chosen lover was rejected it would also hurt. Choosing between your mate and the people you cared about was painful. Yanee could totally understand how both Ria and Michael felt.

”Why did you become quiet?”Ria suddenly asked lightly. ”Are you thinking about my mother-in-law?”

Yanee glanced at her with caution. Of course she was thinking that. But she didn't want to be insensitive.

”You can ask about her. I don't mind telling you,”Ria told her. ”As I already told you earlier when I was telling you my story, Michael used to be very close to his mother. But she was only ever nice to him but not to me. When we first met, she did everything in her power to break us up. She even brought Mikey's old flame to the house one day like a villainess of a clichéd love story.”