HARU?!

Ame arrived at their home and was greeted at the front door by the maids. When she entered the living room, she saw her parents waiting for her sitting in the sofa. Her older brother and her younger sister were also present. She subconsciously lowered her head.

"Hello, mom and dad. Ryo, Hana." She greeted them as she bowed, then lifted her head to sit down.

"Why did you come home?" Her mother asked. "Did that rascal leave you behind?"

Her heart broke. She knew her mom didn't mean it but...

It was true, he did leave her. Tears suddenly made their way to her cheeks, falling to her clenched fists. They were surprised, they didn't know that was the case. Ryo rushed to her side and comforted her. Her parents looked at each other and then to her.

"So he really did? Ame, we're sorry."

...

She was told to go to her room and rest awhile so she did. She laid on the bed, the tears poured endlessly. She wanted to stop, but the tears overflowed. She has never been one to cry, but, she was hit where it hurts.

...

A few days later, Ame moved back to the Tsubaki household. She was accepting jobs again, most of it was promotion and advertisement for their family business but it was a nice start to her comeback, she had a steady flow of jobs coming, but she spent most of her time inside her room. Of course, it's because she hasn't moved on yet.

She has sacrificed a lot and was willing to sacrifice a lot more just for Yuan. But those weren't worth it in the end. Was it even possible to move on? Ame kept asking herself that question.

But still, she tried to distract herself with work. She was browsing through her emails when she realized, it's been a long time since she's done any of these tasks by herself. The last time was when she didn't have an agency and a manager yet. Surely, her family background won't be foundation stable enough to get her a lot of resources anymore. She was formerly a model of Hoshi Agency, but she resigned, and of course, it was for Yuan. But Hoshi doesn't want to take her back anymore. After breaching the contract, Hoshi lost one of their top models. They thought the reason behind her quitting was because she simply looked down on the agency just because she became a little popular.

Her first priority now was to look for an agency that was willing to accept her.

...

As soon as they heard Ame was coming back to the spotlight, GM, a jewellery company, immediately contacted her and offered her a part in their commercial. Ame stumbled upon this invitation and took the offer. GM was a good catch for her. A very good one in fact. Her first commercial since her comeback is going to be a big one. So without hesitation, she accepted this offer.

It was four days before the shoot for GM's commercial, so Ame used her free time to look for agencies she could sign with. It wasn't too hard since there were a few agencies who tried to contact her. Her best options were New Age and Miracle. In the end, she decided to contact New Age.

...

"Ms. Tsubaki, are you saying you want to sign with us? That's great! But I'd like to know, why us? I mean, for all we know, you could always choose to sign with Sora agency."

"I want to sign with New Age, that's all." Ame couldn't help but smile. She never thought of herself as someone important. Yet the lady speaking on the other side of the phone seems to speak highly of her. She even thinks Ame is able to get into one of the industry's best agencies, Sora.

"Th-thank you! Ms. Tsubaki, for choosing to work with us. We will not let you down."

"I'll take your word for it, Ms. Akiyama, and please, call me Ame."

"Alright, Ms. Ame, you can call me director Rika. We will contact you about the contract soon. We look forward to working with you."

"I look forward to working with you as well. Thank you, director."

She hung up the phone. A little later, there was a knock on the door...

"Miss Ame, the madam calls for you. She says 'fix yourself up and come to the living room,' you have guests." The maid said as she bowed politely.

"Thank you, I'll be there in a minute." She replied.

She went in her closet and looked around. She then decided what to wear. She then faced the mirror and looked at herself wearing a simple white dress with pink seams. She wore pink flats and a tiny bit of blush and lip balm. It was simple, but she looked stunning.

'Guests? Who could they be?' Ame wondered as she finished fixing up, tying her hair up the sides and a bow at the back.

...

When she came down, she saw her parents sitting down in the living room, happily chatting with one of the guests. Two guests were seated opposite them, they seemed familiar. Ame could tell one of them was...

Haru?

'Why was he here?' Ame thought.

When she reached the living room, Haru was first to notice she was there. She looked at him questioningly, but he just grinned and waved his hand casually.

"Why are you here?" She mouthed. Haru just shrugged.

"Ame you're here. Come here dear, be polite and greet our guests, the Sasakis." Her father said as he stood up as soon as he noticed she was there. All of them faced her. She felt uncomfortable having everyone's attention so she quickly went to her parents' side and hid the embarrassment.

"Hello Mrs. Sasaki, hello Haru. I'm Ame." She said as she bowed politely.

Her parents looked at each other. Mrs. Sasaki also looked at Haru who was looking at her. She was troubled.

'Did I say something wrong?' She thought.

Mrs. Sasaki laughed. "It seems that the two of you are already familiar with each other? You even call each other by your first names. Well it's great if that's the case." Ame sat down.

"If you're going to call him Haru, then you might as well call me mother, right?" Mrs. Sasaki smiled.