Chapter 50-She chose you

Chapter 50: 50-She chose you

Time ticked away, Aymara stood beside the dining table with her arms crossed, watching Nathaniel cuddle Yaya as though the white cat were the most precious thing in the entire world.

She couldn’t believe it, absolutely couldn’t believe it. The system hated her, there was no other explanation.

First, she didn’t even like cats and second, after she had spent hours preparing an entire table full of food for Nathaniel, the system had rewarded her with a cat.

A cat! What kind of reward was that?!

She had expected something useful. An upgrade to the ship, a rare treasure or a new ability. Maybe another powerful defense system for the fortress.

Instead, she got fur and not only had the system given her something she didn’t like, but the creature had somehow managed to receive better treatment from Nathaniel than she did.

Aymara watched as Nathaniel gently stroked Yaya’s head. His fingers moved carefully through the cat’s soft white fur, his expression so tender that Aymara almost wondered if she was hallucinating.

"Did you miss me that much?" His voice was unbelievably soft.

Yaya purred and Nathaniel’s lips curved into a smile.

Aymara’s eye twitched. She had spent the entire day trying to make Nathaniel comfortable.

She had prepared his room, stocked his favorite foods, filled the fortress with everything he might possibly need, and cooked for him. She had practically treated him like a fragile national treasure.

And what did she get? Cold responses, suspicious looks, reminders that he hadn’t forgiven her.

Yet this cat had been here for less than ten minutes. Ten minutes. And Nathaniel was already holding her against his chest, stroking her fur, feeding her, talking to her in that soft, intimate voice, and looking at her as though the stars had been gathered from the sky and placed directly inside his eyes.

Aymara stared at the scene and it was as though someone had plunged a knife deep into her chest. She felt betrayed, by the system, by the cat and, somehow, by Nathaniel too.

"Unbelievable," she muttered under her breath.

Nathaniel looked up. He had noticed that she had developed a habit of talking to herself a lot. She processed alot of emotions in that way.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing," she answered, an answer he had anticipated long before she spoke. He had heard so many times already.

She smiled brightly, producing a very fake smile. "Keep cuddling your cat."

Nathaniel looked at her suspiciously before turning his attention back to Yaya.

Aymara’s smile immediately disappeared. She watched him scratch beneath Yaya’s chin.

"Do you want more?"

"Meow."

"Of course you do."

He picked up another small piece of food and offered it to the cat.

"Here."

Yaya happily ate it.

Nathaniel’s eyes softened with praise for the cute fur ball. "Good girl."

Aymara’s fingers curled around her sleeve. Good girl? Really? She had never received a good girl from him. Not once.

She looked toward the ceiling. "System," she called out.

Ding!

[Host inquiry detected.]

"Why?"

There was a brief silence. Either the system hadn’t understood her or it didn’t care enough to justify the question with an answer.

"Why would you give me a cat?"

[Mysterious Gift successfully delivered.]

"I know that!" Aymara gritted her teeth. The system was repeating what it had said earlier, only now it sounded like mockery than reminder. "That’s exactly the problem!"

The system remained silent.

"You gave me a cat!" She sighed. "A cat I don’t even like! And now Nathaniel likes the cat more than he likes me!"

Nathaniel slowly looked up. "What did you say?"

Aymara froze. She thought for a moment that he had heard her and would get angry she was badmouthing his baby.

"I said..." She glanced at Yaya. "...the cat looks very healthy."

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. "You said something else."

"No, I didn’t," she denied the accusation. "What else could I possibly say."

"You did."

"I didn’t."

He stared at her and she stared back refusing to back down or admit what she truly said.

Finally, Nathaniel shook his head and returned his attention to Yaya.

Aymara let out a quiet breath. That was close.

She didn’t know why she was so embarrassed. It wasn’t as though she was actually jealous of a cat. She absolutely wasn’t.

She was simply... Annoyed. Yes, she was annoyed. Very annoyed. Because why was Nathaniel looking at Yaya like that? His expression was so gentle, so warm, so full of love.

Aymara had spent six years believing she knew Nathaniel. She remembered the boy who used to follow her everywhere, the boy who waited for her after school, the boy who knew exactly which snacks she liked, and the boy who would quietly sit beside her whenever she was upset. He had always been there.

Then she had fallen in love with Dylan and slowly pushed Nathaniel away. At the time, she had told herself it was only a matter of priorities, that Nathaniel would understand, and that he would still be there when she was ready to look back. She had never stopped to consider that he might be waiting for a goodbye she never gave him.

Six whole years had passed. Long enough for childhood habits to disappear, old wounds to harden, and a person to become someone their past could no longer claim to know.

And now she was beginning to realize just how much could change in six years.

She had assumed Nathaniel would remain the same person she remembered. In her memories, he was still the boy beside her desk, the boy carrying her books, and the boy whose affection had seemed so constant that she had mistaken it for something permanent but he hadn’t remained there.

He had grown older. He had become colder, more guarded, and more independent. He had learned how to hide his emotions and built walls around himself.

And apparently, he had become a cat person.

Aymara stared at Yaya. "When did this even happen? When did you get a cat?"

His fingers continued stroking Yaya’s fur. "Five years ago."

"Five years?" Aymara’s brows furrowed. "You’ve had a cat fo-for five years?"

"Mmh."

Aymara’s eyes widened. Five years and she didn’t know and it wasn’t for the system bringing Yaya over, she never would have known.

"Five years?"

That still shocked her. She would’ve thought doctors would advise against having a cat seeing as how he has lung problems and breathing in the wrong thing can get to have an attack.

He nodded. "I’ve had her for almost five years now."

Aymara stared at him strangely. Feeling like she had no reason to be jealous when she was the outsider, the one intruding on their bond. Because that meant he had gotten Yaya only a year after they separated.

A year after she had chosen Dylan and left Nathaniel behind, he had found someone else to come home to.

The thought shouldn’t have hurt. It wasn’t betrayal. Nathaniel had owed her nothing after she walked away.

Still, a strange feeling settled in her chest, sharp with guilt and threaded with something she didn’t want to name.

"How did you meet her?"

Nathaniel’s hand paused briefly. He looked in the distance as though replaying that day in his head. "I found her."

"Where?"

"Outside the hospital one day after a check up," his expression softened. "She was tiny and hungry," his lips curved faintly. "She was soaked from the rain and hiding beneath a car."

Aymara looked at Yaya. The fluffy white cat looked completely comfortable now, curled against Nathaniel’s chest as though she had always belonged there.

"I took her home that day," Nathaniel gently rubbed behind her ears. "She wouldn’t leave me after that."

Aymara’s heart unexpectedly softened. "She chose you."

Nathaniel smiled. "I guess she did."