Time continued to pass, and Hans went about his usual activities. Since Maria's office was quite far, they often communicated through text messages.

One day proceeded as usual, with Hans and Maria heading home together. Unbeknownst to them, someone observed them from a distance.

This person sent a photo to a friend with a message that read, "They're getting into the car."

Nothing unusual happened during Hans and Maria's journey until they stopped at a red light.

"Crash!"

Suddenly, something hit the rear bumper of Hans' car. He and Maria were jolted forward a bit. Emotionally charged, Hans stepped out of his car intending to confront the person who had hit them.

"Miss! Hey! Come out!" Hans shouted angrily, tapping on the person's car window.

The window slowly rolled down, revealing Natalie behind the wheel.

"I-I'm sorry," Natalie stammered nervously.

"Oh? Natalie?" Hans softened suddenly upon seeing her face.

"Mr. Hans?" Natalie got out of her car and stood in front of Hans. "I'm sorry, sir. It seems I'm not used to driving here, maybe because I've been abroad for too long. Oh, by the way, let me pay for the damages to your car?" Natalie offered to cover the expenses.

"Oh, no need, Natalie. I thought you were someone else. I can understand if it was you. It's okay; I'll take care of it myself," Hans, who was initially angry, suddenly became gentle towards Natalie.

"Ah, sir, please don't. Let me take responsibility. Here's my business card; contact me once the repairs are done," Natalie said, handing him her business card.

Without hesitation, Hans took the card.

"Alright, oh, the light is turning yellow; we better get ready to go," Hans said, worried about disrupting traffic.

Inside the car, Maria had been watching them with a stern expression. Shortly after, Hans got back into the car, and they continued their journey.

"Are you two close?" Maria asked with a curt tone.

"You're starting again with your sour face," Hans replied patiently, fastening his seatbelt. "Relax, let's get going."

...

Upon arriving home, Hans saved Natalie's number. He messaged her to ensure she saved his number as well.

After a few days, Natalie tried to contact Hans regarding the car incident.

"Mr. Hans, how is your car?" she asked in her message.

"No need to worry; I've already fixed it. Oh, by the way, Natalie, do you have time this evening? My friends and I are having a dinner gathering. Would you like to join?" Instead of discussing the car, Hans invited Natalie to dinner with his friends.

"Wow, can I? I'd love to. I'm also looking to make new friends here," Natalie replied, showing great interest in Hans' invitation.

"Of course! It's a casual event, ready at 3:00 PM; I'll pick you up," Hans replied, his face beaming with joy.

Natalie only read the message and didn't reply. Similarly, Hans assumed Natalie accepted his invitation.

...

In the evening, Hans prepared to pick up Natalie, but suddenly, Maria sent him a message.

"Darling, I decided to come home earlier; come here!" Maria's message read.

Hans, feeling a bit annoyed, as he had promised Natalie to pick her up, ignored Maria's message and hurriedly left the office.

...

At the office, Maria, who was waiting for news from her husband, started feeling anxious.

"Mrs. Maria hasn't come home yet? Weren't you planning to leave earlier?" Maria's secretary asked when entering her office to place some design samples.

"Oh, there's still much I need to check. Can you get me some coffee? I might work overtime to review everything," Maria requested her secretary.

"Of course, ma'am. I'll be right back," the secretary replied and walked towards the exit.

Maria felt confused and worried about what her husband was doing when they weren't together. She recalled that Hans had cheated on Jessie with her in the past, and he often lied to Jessie.

...

At the gathering place,

"Hello, Hans!" his friends greeted, extending their hands for a handshake.

"Hello! How are you all? It's been a while, hasn't it?" Hans welcomed all his friends.

"Hey, Hans, who's this?" one of Hans' friends asked, directing his gaze towards Natalie.

"Oh, this is Natalie, the daughter of a colleague of my wife. Nice to meet you all," Hans introduced Natalie to his friends.

Natalie nodded, smiling at Hans' friends.

"Hey, but if you look closely, she looks a lot like your ex-wife, doesn't she?" one of Hans' friends remarked.

"Really? I feel the same way. I might have fallen in love with her the first time we met," Hans joked, causing a stir among his friends.

"Wow! Are you forgetting your wife?" another friend teased, glancing at Hans.

"Ha ha ha, of course not. How could I forget? You all know my relationship with Jessie, right?" Hans didn't deny his friend's words.

"Exactly, you two are the definition of true couple goals, even though you were arranged by your parents back then," another friend added, recalling the times when they used to meet Jessie and Hans.

"Um, I'll excuse myself to the restroom for a moment," Natalie suddenly interrupted their conversation. Hans and the others nodded, allowing Natalie to go to the ladies' room.

Natalie walked toward the women's restroom; at that time, it was quite empty. Natalie splashed her face, which appeared reddened from frustration.

"What? Couple goals, you say? I'll show you later how beautiful Hans and Jessie's marriage was," Natalie said, looking at the mirror in front of her.

Natalie seemed very upset at that moment, continuously splashing her face to cool down.

Once her emotions settled, Natalie returned to the table where Hans and his friends were gathered.

"Sorry, I took quite a while," Natalie apologized while rubbing Hans' back.

Hans, feeling Natalie's touch, thought he got a green light from her. Slowly, Hans held Natalie's hand.

"No problem," he replied, looking into Natalie's eyes.

They both stared at each other, as if equally interested in one another.