Ten minutes past eleven at night. The ride-hailing taxi ordered by Aris finally dropped Mira off right in front of the narrow alley leading to her boarding house. Following a ride home filled with lighthearted laughter, random chats about bizarre legal cases Aris had handled, and a minor incident where Mira almost left one of her size-13 men's loafers sitting in the backseat of the car, the night officially wrapped up with a sweet farewell at the mouth of the alley.

Mira stepped into her rented room, dragging her right foot—still wrapped in the oversized shoe. The moment she shoved open the flimsy plywood door, the familiar scent of dust and instant noodles welcomed her home.

She kicked off the size-13 men's shoes with an immense wave of relief, tossed the remnants of her stiletto into the corner of the room, and collapsed headfirst onto her squeaky foam mattress, letting her battered body melt into total relaxation.

"Oh... sweet bed, hug me tight! My spine feels like it's about to snap in half!" Mira groaned weakly, squeezing her bolster pillow tight against her chest.

Though every muscle in her body ached and her concrete Super Saiyan updo dissolved into a tangled bird's nest the moment she unpinned it, a strange, tickling sensation fluttered inside her chest. For the first time in forever, a Saturday night that would normally have been spent lamenting her singleness or overthinking her ex felt light, breezy, and wonderfully liberating.

Mira closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the quiet serenity of her small room.

Suddenly...

Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

Her budget smartphone, fully recharged via power bank on the mattress, buzzed loudly, casting a bright blue glow across the dim room. A new WhatsApp notification popped up at the top of the screen.

Mira opened her eyes lazily, reaching for the phone. She tapped into the messaging app and saw a new message from an unsaved number.

The message read:

"Hey, Mira. Honestly, starting from this morning at the wedding venue, I was biting back laughter like my life depended on it watching all your hilarious stunts—from the falcon-wing eyebrows and the sate sauce disaster, all the way to that epic nosedive on the stage. You are genuinely the most unique, one-of-a-kind girl I've ever met in my entire life."

Mira froze reading the message. Her eyes blinked slowly, while her cooling cheeks suddenly flared up in a blazing, incandescent heat. She broke into a wide smile all by herself on the bed, biting her lower lip to suppress a severe wave of bashful giddiness.

Before Mira could even begin tapping out a reply to either curse him out or thank him for the backhanded compliment, a follow-up message landed from the same number:

"Oh, and one more thing... Are you free tomorrow night? Care to accompany me to another wedding reception? But don't worry, this time it's not to exact revenge on an ex, but rather as an official excuse for us to get to know each other better and grab some more meatballs without risking a flash flood."

Mira's heart hammered against her ribs three times faster than normal. The phone in her palm felt like a hot coal burning into her skin.

She stared at the screen for a long, quiet moment, then cast a sideways glance over at the wooden rice ladle souvenir box and the rose gold ribbon box gifted by Aris sitting neatly on her study desk.

A genuine, uninhibited smile bloomed across her face. Operation Ex-BF Wedding Revenge—originally concocted as a high-stakes mission of pure pride that spiraled straight into a cosmic disaster—had officially morphed into the opening chapter of an entirely unexpected new phase of her life.

With fingers trembling slightly from nervous excitement, Mira began typing out her reply on the screen, ready to embrace whatever silly adventure awaited her next alongside the mysterious legal consultant.