After Love

Damian called her that night. He was panicking. "Kitty's gone, Bella! I came home and it's not where it should be!"

"I gave it away," Bella said coldly.

He froze.

In that silence, she heard an angry female voice crying out, "How could you, Bella?! How could you give Kitty away?! Who do you think you are? This is irresponsible!"

So, Dakota was there, too. She continued sharply, "You've had Kitty for a long time! How could you be so heartless to give Kitty away just like that?!"

Bella's grip tightened around her phone. Her chest undulated in pain. Was she upset that Dakota was shouting at her through Damian's phone, who passively allowed her to do so while saying nothing? Or was she upset that these two were still together?

"Dakota, enough," he finally spoke up tiredly. "I'll buy you a cat, alright?"

Bella hung up the call and bolted into the bathroom. Her stomach was churning. After some retching, she threw up. She had to steady herself with the sink after that before blacklisting Damian's number.

-

Claire could tell Bella was in a bad mood. She decided to drag her unhappy friend out of the house to go shopping. Bella was not that interested, but she relented.

It was a warm, sunny day. The streets were bustling.

Claire had always loved decking herself in all kinds of accessories. She was especially defenseless against expensive jewelry, so as usual, Claire brought Bella into one of these shops.

Seeing the blinding light reflecting off the jewelry display across the glass cabinets made Bella feel a little relaxed. Growing up as the lonely child in a super wealthy family, Bella was never left wanting for these things.

Damian also loved buying all sorts of delicate gifts for Bella ever since they were children. Once they got older, he would buy her things that would only number in millions of dollars.

Bella used to think these were all representations of his undying love for her, but now? It just made her feel bitter.

Claire got what she wanted. They were about to return happily when Claire froze and asked quietly, "Is that Damian?"

Bella followed her gaze. Damian and Dakota were holding hands as they perused a row of bracelets.

Claire pursed her lips, frowning. "Those two are disgusting. Let's get outta here!"

Unfortunately, Dakota had already noticed them. She made her way to them, beaming. "Oh my, is that you, Bella? Fancy seeing you here, too! Wanna join us on our shopping? Damian's buying me a necklace."

"Oh, I see," Bella replied icily.

"It's not what you think," Damian added quickly. "Dakota was crying the entire night because of Kitty, so I originally wanted to buy a new pet cat to make her feel better…"

"Sure," Bella remarked quietly. She looked at him as though he were a stranger.

"Well…" Dakota interjected sweetly, "Damian thought it might not be a good idea to buy a cat. I mean, what if it dies or goes away someday? I might feel bad and cry the whole day again! So he decided to buy me a cute cat-shaped necklace instead! Isn't he just the sweetest?"

She raised her hand. A silvery necklace dangled from her palm. A cat-shaped pendant gleamed softly.

"It looks good," Bella remarked flatly.

Damian could tell something was wrong from her tone. "Look, this was nothing, okay? It was just… whatever."

"Oh, really?" Bella scoffed. "What happened to being busy with work? I wouldn't expect you to have enough free time to spend hours on a 'whatever' gift."

"It's not like that! Dakota's feeling upset, okay? I just wanted her to feel better."

Bella glared at him icily. "So, when she's upset, you wanna do things to make her feel better. When I'm upset, you want me to shut up and stop throwing tantrums."

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Save your breath," Bella continued. "Come on, Claire. Let's not waste time over here."

She circled around Damian and Dakota and left the shop.

Damian watched her darkly. Dakota, meanwhile, caressed her necklace with a small, satisfied smile.