"Are you... planning a murder?" Alexander murmured, his voice barely a breath as he leaned slightly across the table, desperately trying to break the suffocating tension rolling off her. "Because if you are, I can recommend some excellent clean-up crews. For free."

​April didn’t blink. Her gaze remained locked on the corner, her pupils sharp and unyielding. "Shut up, Alexander. The show is starting."

​A few yards away, the atmospheric lights of the restaurant seemed to dim, casting the corner alcove into a dramatic spotlight.

Samuel had stepped forward, pulling out a small, velvet-lined box from his breast pocket. His fingers, usually so steady when handling multi-billion-dollar wire transfers, were visibly trembling.

​The violinist in the shadows took it as his cue. A soft, sweeping, heartbreakingly romantic melody began to drift through the open-air garden. Right on time, two staff members subtly unrolled the satin banner behind the ivy wall: Will You Marry Me, Mei?

​Samuel looked into Mei’s eyes, his voice carrying over the quiet music, thick with an emotion he had clearly suppressed for three long years.

"Mei... I know I haven’t been the most present. I know the hours I keep for Reed Industries have taken so much from us. But everything I did, every single night I spent at the office, was to ensure we would never have to worry about our future. I built a foundation for us. Please... let me take care of you for the rest of our lives."

​He began to sink down onto one knee.

​April watched, her breath coming slow and even behind her menu. She waited for the look of pure, horrified disgust she knew was coming.

​And it did.

​Mei didn’t look touched. She didn’t tear up with joy. Instead, she took a sharp step back, her face contorting into an expression of sheer irritation and exhaustion.

​"Stop it, Samuel. Just... stop," Mei interrupted, her voice cutting through the violin music like a blunt blade. The violinist froze, awkwardly lowering his bow. "Are you serious right now? A proposal?"

​Samuel froze, halfway to the ground, the velvet box clutched in his hand. "Mei...?"

​"This is exactly what I’m talking about!" Mei snapped, tossing her designer purse onto the table with a loud thud. "You have absolutely zero emotional intelligence. You think you can just ignore me for weeks, cancel our anniversary dinner because Xavier Reed needed an emergency audit, and then fix it all by throwing money at a fancy restaurant and dropping to one knee?"

​Behind the menu, April let out a tiny, silent scoff.

"You never say no to him and always leave me hanging," she said.

​"Mei, please, listen to me," Samuel pleaded, his voice cracking as he stood up, completely abandoning his corporate dignity. "It’s just a temporary phase. The market is unstable right now, but once this merger settles—"

​"I don’t care about the merger, Samuel! I care about me!" Mei yelled, completely unbothered by the fact that a few neighboring tables were beginning to look over. "You’re married to your work. You’ve been cheating on me with Reed Industries for three years. We haven’t even taken a single vacation together! I am sick of being your second priority. I’m sick of waiting up until midnight just to get a text saying you’re sleeping at the office."

Aside from April’s hostility towards Mei, her points were indeed valid. In a relationship where the man was hardly ever there, any woman would feel unwanted and tire out.

But since Mei was the other person, April was going to side with Samuel regardless of his wrong.

Mei drew in a sharp, ragged breath, crossing her arms defensively. "I’m done. I met someone else. Someone who actually has time for me. Someone who doesn’t think a fat direct deposit solves every emotional problem in a relationship."

​Samuel looked as if he had been struck across the face by a physical blow. The color drained from his skin, leaving him a hollow, ghostly pale. "Someone else...? Mei... you... You cheated?"

​"Call it whatever you want but yes, I’ve slept with him. Because unlike you, he’s a real man who actually puts me first," Mei said coldly, reaching down to grab her purse. "Don’t call me anymore, Samuel. Keep your money and marry Xavier Reed. We’re over." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

​Without giving him a single chance to respond, Mei spun on her heel and marched right back down the path, her high heels clicking aggressively against the stone floor.

She passed April and Alexander’s booth once more, her chin held high, radiating the self-righteous aura of a woman who thought she had just liberated herself from a toxic burden.

​Samuel stood entirely alone in the alcove.

​The two staff members holding the banner slowly, awkwardly rolled it back up, looking anywhere but at the broken man in front of them.

Samuel’s hand slowly dropped to his side, the velvet box slipping from his fingers and hitting the carpeted floor with a soft, hollow thud. He didn’t pick it up. He just stood there, staring at the empty space she had left behind, his shoulders sinking as his entire world fractured into pieces.

​Across the restaurant, the dark, chilling smile on April’s face finally bloomed into a quiet, cruel laugh.

​Perfect, she thought, a deeply vindictive satisfaction washing over her skin. Run along to your new ’real man,’ Mei. Cherish him. Hold onto him tightly when the world ends in a few weeks, and see if his ’emotional intelligence’ can stop a zombie from tearing your throat out.

​She couldn’t wait. She truly, honestly could not wait for the day the sky turned black and the virus broke loose.

Samuel would be safe inside a heavily fortified, highly supplied bunker, eating fresh beef and corn alongside Xavier Reed, fully protected because he was an indispensable asset to her primary client. And Mei would be out in the dirt, starving, terrified, and abandoned by the very coward she just chose over him.

​You’ll be begging on your knees at his gates, and I’ll be watching the whole time, April thought, her eyes dancing with a terrifying, prophetic malice.

​Alexander, who had been watching April the entire time, slowly leaned back into his seat. The sheer intensity of the dark aura fading from her was palpable. He cleared his throat, his tone a mix of deep fascination and lingering caution.

​"I don’t know who that woman is," Alexander said softly, shaking his head as he looked toward the retreating figure of Mei, "but I am officially making a mental note to never, ever get on your bad side, Miss April. Whoever she is... she’s already dead. She just doesn’t know it yet."

"Oh, just shut it, Alexander. I’m not that bad of a person," April muttered, finally lowering the giant laminated menu. She slid out of the booth, smoothing down the fabric of her dress. "I only do to others what they have done to me. And in your case, you’ve only offered me fat checks, so you’re perfectly safe."

She left Alexander thoroughly baffled, her eyes trailing back toward the alcove.