Dumped By Ex Married To CEO

There was no longer any warm pile of french fries served on the plate. That fried snack remained untouched, still whole.

"Cel, why are you daydreaming? What's wrong?" Jenny asked worriedly, placing her hand on Celine's shoulder.

"Is there a problem?" Tiffany chimed in, sensing that Celine was holding something back. It wasn't like Celine to space out like this.

Celine lowered her head, hiding her tear-filled eyes. She looked up at her two best friends. "I... miss Zack," she whispered, her voice weak. Her heart pounded, struggling to contain the longing.

Jenny and Tiffany exchanged glances.

"Zack again? Still no word from him?" Jenny asked as if this wasn't the first time. Something felt different now.

Celine nodded weakly. "His number's not active. It's been over two days. I've sent him countless texts, but all of them failed to go through. I just hope he's okay, if he's really that busy lecturing at campus."

"Take it easy, Cel. Don't overthink it," Tiffany said, trying to calm Celine's growing panic. "Maybe once he's less busy, he-" Before Tiffany could finish, Celine cut her off.

"Busy? Or just no signal? We're in a modern age, Tiffany. Surely he could send one chat in a day. I'm just... worried. What woman wouldn't be? Once you're comfortable, once you care, once you love-you need reassurance!" Celine's voice rose slightly. She was frustrated, disagreeing with what Tiffany had said.

"And... I'm jealous of you both. You're always texted back, loved, celebrated. Meanwhile, me? Hah, I only felt all of that at the beginning. It hurts! Is this what falling in love is-just temporary?" All the emotions Celine had been suppressing finally broke through. Without realizing it, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"But... didn't you already introduce Zack to your parents? He must be serious about you-Om Adiwangsa has high hopes for him," Jenny reasoned, trying to reassure Celine that everything would be fine.

Tiffany's phone rang. She answered the call, and her face-once calm-instantly turned pale. She pulled the phone away from her ear as if the voice on the other end had dealt her a crushing blow.

"Wh...what? My mom got into an accident?" Tiffany screamed in shock. Her eyes immediately welled up. Her grip on the phone tightened, her knuckles turning white. Her mind raced, imagining the worst-case scenario. She prayed her mother would be okay.

Tiffany looked at Jenny and Celine. She stood up from her chair. "I'm sorry, I have to go to the hospital," she said coldly, her voice trembling with unshed tears.

"Cel, maybe you should head home too? I want to follow Tiffany to the hospital," Jenny said uneasily. She couldn't let Tiffany go through this alone-Tiffany needed support, strength.

"Y-yeah, I'll head back to the office too. I'll go now, Jen," Celine said, excusing herself. She felt guilty. This wasn't the time to be selfish. Things had gotten complicated-Zack's silence and now Tiffany's mother's accident.

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Footsteps echoed through the hospital corridor as Jenny ran, searching