There’s an old saying:
When life closes a door on you, it always opens a window.
Watching Miranda grin and giggle in front of her, Mila couldn’t help but think—maybe, in her case, all the doors had been bolted shut. But fate hadn’t given up on her; it had offered her a window instead.
A huge window, so big it stretched across the entire wall.
Sunlight spilled in, unimpeded.
And just like that, Mila found herself smiling like a fool as well.
…
To pay off her debts—and maybe save up a little extra—Mila threw herself into the simplest work she could find. Tutoring was out of the question, and most of her options had dried up, so she settled for a job at a bustling bubble tea shop in a lively part of town.
It wasn’t glamorous, but it was honest work.
She was pretty, with a gentle voice and easy manners, and customers flocked to the shop, most of them more interested in chatting with her or admiring her face than the drinks themselves. The bolder ones would even ask for her number. Mila always turned them down, but that didn’t seem to stop them from trying.
She didn’t mind, though.
As long as business was good, the boss was happy—and he’d even slip her a bit of extra cash as a bonus.
It wasn’t long before Leonard showed up.
Back when he was just a teenager, Leonard had always seemed a little awkward, but there was an unmistakable coolness about him—aloof, distant, and impossible to approach. When he walked into the shop, the whole place seemed to fall silent, as if the air itself had frozen.
Mila recognized him instantly. She’d seen him before with Lysander—she wasn’t exactly sure what their relationship was, but Leonard always seemed to follow Lysander’s lead. Wherever Lysander went, Leonard was never far behind, lurking quietly in the background but still impossible to ignore.
She was on edge the moment she saw him, half-afraid Lysander had sent him to make trouble. But to her surprise, Leonard just wanted to order bubble tea.
At least he wasn’t here to cause a scene.
Before she could breathe a sigh of relief, the boy’s icy voice rang out: “I’ll take everything on the menu. Twenty cups of each.”
Mila just stared. Their menu had over thirty varieties—twenty cups of each was more than six hundred drinks. Enough to wear anyone out.
Her boss, on the other hand, was over the moon. He immediately told the staff to get moving.
But Leonard shook his head and pointed at Mila. “I want her to make every single one. I’ll wait.”
So he was here to make her suffer, after all.
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