Change of Heart

With a "clatter," a small round mirror fell to the floor.

"Hey, darling, what's wrong?" The voice of Cathy echoed from the kitchen. She stuck her head out, glanced at the living room and saw Royce smiling at her. Returning the smile with a gentle nod, she continued with her work in the kitchen, seemingly brushing off the incident as nothing more than an accident.

Once Cathy withdrew her head, Royce's expression changed instantly. He gingerly picked up the mirror and proceeded towards the kitchen, all while asking, "What's for dinner tonight?" Upon reaching the kitchen doorway, he leaned against the frame, observing Cathy in her bustling state.

"Steak and Italian pie...also some onion soup," Cathy glanced back at Royce, her eyes filled with concern. "If you're still not feeling well, you can rest on the couch in the living room. I'll be done soon, and I'll call you when it's ready."

Royce's face became tense, but he nodded in response, "Alright, I'll rest in the living room." However, instead of resting, he bolted out of the house, hastily getting into his car and driving out of the garage.

"Vroom--" The second-hand car's engine roared as he stepped on the gas, speeding off towards downtown Los Angeles.

"Hey, Royce--" Cathy, alerted by the noise, rushed out from the kitchen yelling after the disappearing tail lights of the car, "Hey! Where are you going?"

But the car was already out of sight. Worried, she dialed Royce's number only to be quickly hung up on. On her second attempt, she found his phone was turned off, exacerbating her annoyance. She slammed her phone down on the couch in frustration.

Everything was fine just moments ago, so what had caused this sudden departure? More than anything else, she was worried about his safety.

"Damn it, can't he at least tell me where he's going before rushing off like that?" Cathy sighed, sinking into a melancholy state as she stared blankly at the row of trees outside the house, even the smell of burning food from the kitchen didn't stir her.

Yes, everything had happened so suddenly.

Not just for Cathy, but for Royce too. He had been terrified. His first instinct upon encountering Cathy in the kitchen was to flee and get as far away as possible.

As the car got further from the villa, his panic gradually subsided. He reached into his pocket, his fingers brushing against the small round mirror, which reminded him of his encounter with Jason and the words they had exchanged.

Upon clearing his thoughts, he made a U-turn and sped towards the motel where Nina was staying. He rushed out of the car upon reaching the motel, only to find another round-faced, brunette girl at the front desk instead of Nina.

"I need to see Nina—" Royce leaned on the counter, pleading with the girl, "I have urgent business with her. Or you can help me check for a guest named Jason. Tell him I'm looking for him. My name is Royce Kote. He knows me."

"You're a friend of Nina's? I'm sorry, Mr. Royce Kote, but Nina is on the night shift today. At this time, she's either sleeping at home or out somewhere. Also... I can't just give out information about our guests. It's against our policy... but you can leave a message or note, and I can pass it along to him."

"Damn it!" Royce cursed, then pleaded with a grim face, "If you don't make this call, then... you will face a situation where I will be killed... Yes, don't look so surprised, I will be killed..."

"Sir... I think you should go to the police... If you continue with this nonsense, I'll have to call them..." The round-faced girl reached for the phone, only to be stopped by Royce.

"Please—" Royce couldn't help but beg, "Please, just call Jason and tell him... that Royce is looking for him. Whether he comes to see me or not, that's his business. I swear to God, I'm his friend..."

Finally, the round-faced girl dialed Jason's room number in a state of confusion. However, the call rang for a long time without an answer. She shrugged apologetically at Royce, "I'm sorry, I've tried my best."

Defeated, Royce slowly turned and left the motel. He aimlessly drove around the city, too afraid to return to his rented villa. After eating some random food in a restaurant, he cringed at the memory of what he had seen earlier.

When he finally turned on his phone, he was greeted with a barrage of missed call and text message notifications. All of them were from Cathy. He opened up a text from her, and her worry and concern practically jumped off the screen.

"Darling, where are you? You left the house in such a hurry, and I couldn't reach you. If something has happened, I hope we can face it together..."

"I don't know what happened, but darling, remember that you have me!" Royce had read all the twenty-eight texts, each delivered approximately every twenty minutes. The content was similar, but it was clear that Cathy was deeply concerned about him.

"My God, what should I do?" All those messages made Royce's resolve waver, especially with Cathy's beautiful face filling his mind, along with the warm scenes of them together.

Damn the little mirror. Thinking of it, Royce suddenly seized the tiny round mirror and violently threw it onto the open road. But as the mirror was hurled out, it suddenly turned into a beam of light and disappeared into the sky.

It seemed as if he had made up his mind. Royce picked up his phone and dialed a number. After a single ring on the other end, he heard a woman's voice, filled with surprise and anxiety, "Is it you, Royce?"

"Yes, it's me, Royce," Royce gently replied into the phone.

At a restaurant in Los Angeles, Jason was slowly eating his meal. His company was Nina, and they were both enjoying a small steak. Nina was in an excellent mood as she finally had her second formal date with Jason. She wasn't sure if this counted as dating, but it was certainly a good start.

"I know an Italian restaurant, the food is great, I can take you there next time!" Nina, who was pretty smart, was already plotting their next date.

"Of course, I really enjoy cuisines from around the world." Jason cut a piece of steak and put it in his mouth. Just as he was about to say something, he saw a streak of light crossing the sky and landing in his palm, where a mirror had appeared.

This streak of light was like a ray of sunlight coming in through the window, unnoticed by anyone. Even Nina, sitting across from him, didn't notice anything unusual.

Jason held the mirror and involuntarily furrowed his brows. With a soft flick of his hand, the mirror disappeared into his palm. Looking up at Nina, he asked, "Do you think Royce is a good man?"

"Of course, he's a good man, I like him a lot. Why bring him up now?" Nina found Jason's question strange and looked at him suspiciously, "Don't you dare try to steal his girlfriend." She was overthinking things.

"Good men often have short lives." Jason shook his head and smiled. He had given Royce a chance, but he didn't seize it. Perhaps that's how fate works, deciding one's destiny through a series of wrong decisions.

Royce returned home, driving very fast all the way. By the time he got home, it was already night. He quietly parked the car outside the front gate and sneaked in, wanting to surprise Cathy. He wanted to tell her personally that he shouldn't have trusted a stranger's words and doubted her, and the mirror must have been a prank.