Chapter 1 Engagement
Stella Johnson stood in front of the massive floor–to–ceiling window, wrapped in a silk robe, staring out at the scattered stars. After a long while, she took out her phone and made a call.
“I agree to the engagement.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by her father Grant Johnson’s voice, barely containing his excitement.
“Star, when are you coming back? I’ll come pick you up.”
It had been ages since anyone called her by that nickname, and Stella’s nose stung at the sound.
“Next Monday.”
She hung up immediately after,
After her mother died, that man had wasted no time bringing another woman and her daughter into their home.
She hated them. But the company her mother left behind could not fall into the hands of that mother–daughter duo so easily.
Back then, she had bent over backward for Shane Boston. But now? There was no need for games. She would take back what was hers in the most direct way.
The thought of Shane made her chest tighten again.
Earlier that evening, around 8:30, Stella had just brought the dinner she had made to the table.
At the same moment, Shane sent her a message.
“Something came up at the office. Don’t wait for me.”
She stared blankly at the screen.
Today was her 23rd birthday. It was also their fifth anniversary.
Starting at 6:00 p.m., she had been calling and messaging Shane, No one answered her calls. Out of every ten texts she sent, he replied to one.
“Busy.”
Her WhatsApp chat looked like a one–sided monologue.
“I ordered a tomahawk steak…”
“Got a bouquet of roses and lilies…”
“Your favorite wine–I picked it up from the vineyard this afternoon.”
“I lit the scented candles I made. Gardenia, your favorite. All ready for you tonight.”
For thirteen years straight, Shane had never missed her birthday.
Unwilling to give up, she tried calling him again, but it still went straight to voicemail.
She glanced at the timestamp on his last message, but just then, Wendy’s post notification popped up on my phone.
“Vinnie’s concert. Been waiting forever.”
Attached was a photo of a man and a woman, their arms pressed closely together.
Under the dim lights, the man’s diamond–studded cufflink was clearly visible. It bore the gardenia pattern she had custom- made for Shane.
It was his favorite flower, and that cufflink was one of a kind in all of Cloudtopia.
Stella clutched her phone tightly, zooming in and out on the image until her eyes ached. Finally, she threw the phone onto the table and gasped for breath.
She had bought tickets for Vinnie’s national tour the momen
for her birthday.
it was announced. She told him it was the gift she wanted most
Shane had promised to go with her–only to ghost her right before the show.
Now, on her birthday, he went with Wendy instead.
The pain in her chest spread through her entire body. She covered her face with her hands, unable to keep up the act any longer.
As a child, she was often ill. When she was ten, she moved from Capital City to Cloudtopia for treatment—and that’s when jshe met Shane.
Because of him, she never wanted to return, even after recovering.
The boy, two years older than her, had protected and pampered her all the way from middle school to college.
On her eighteenth birthday, he had confessed in a rush, eager to claim her as his own. He gave her the most beautiful flowers and swore he would love no one else for the rest of his life.
When did everything start to change?
Maybe it was the moment she introduced Wendy Sue to him–her arm linked with Wendy’s.
That fragile girl in the white dress smiled at him timidly, filled with shyness and inferiority.
“Mr. Shane, I’m the scholarship student Ms. Stella is sponsoring.”
Like a lily growing on a cliff’s edge–delicate, stubborn, and irresistible to a man’s desire to protect.
From that day on, whenever Shane had to choose between Stella and Wendy, nine times out of ten, he chose Wendy.
She had fought it.
But Shane always looked at her with a disappointed frown.
“Wendy’s not in good health. She’s nothing compared to you. Don’t bully her.
So being sick made it okay to shamelessly steal someone’s boyfriend?
The phone buzzed continuously on the table.
Stella snatched it up.
Three messages popped up instantly.
“Vinnie’s violin really is world–class. Shane’s already arranged for me to meet him after the concert.”
“Today’s your birthday, right? I told Shane to go home to you, but he was worried I wouldn’t eat properly and insisted on staying. You kept calling, and he was so annoyed he had to turn his phone off.”
This is Shane’s gift to me, Ms. Stella. Can you tell me if it matches
my
outfit?”
A dazzling rainbow diamond bracelet.
The newest launch from a certain luxury brand–preorders required.
She had once mentioned it to Shane when the promo first came out.
Turns out he had bought it just not for her.
Stella silently put down her phone, lit the candles, and ate her birthday dinner alone. Then she threw all the leftover food into the trash–including the cake she had spent half a month learning to make by hand.
The reason she was waiting until next week to leave was simple: thirteen years of entanglement with Shane didn’t just disappear overnight.
Emotionally and practically, they were inseparable.
Breaking away wouldn’t be easy.
She needed time.
Half–asleep, she felt someone sit down beside her.
A cool hand cupped her cheek and gave it a gentle squeeze. That familiar magnetic voice sounded just as indulgent as always.
“Star, sorry I’m late. Here’s your birthday gift–see if you like it?”
She woke with a frown and opened her eyes.
The man wore only a black dress shirt–his jacket was nowhere in sight.
In the soft light, his chiseled face looked even more charming, the tenderness in his expression almost dazzling.
Those eyes could drown a person.
She pushed herself upright and looked on as he opened the box and handed it to her.
Inside lay a rainbow diamond bracelet.
“You’ve always wanted one, haven’t you? Let me put it on you.”
Just as Shane reached for the bracelet, his phone rang.
He tossed the box onto the bed and stood up to answer it.
“You fell? Are you hurt? Don’t cry. I’m on my way.”
He was so flustered he didn’t even pause to explain.
“Shane…”
Stella called out softly, but the door shut firmly behind him.
He didn’t look back.
Minutes later, Wendy’s message arrived right on cue.
“Did you put on the bracelet? Ms. Stella, please accept it. I had to beg Shane to give it to you. He said I’m so thoughtful it hurts him, so after the concert, he went back and bought another one.”
“I love what this one symbolizes–being loved means you’ll be happy forever.”
Same brand. Their classic couple’s edition.
The year Shane founded his company, he took Stella to see that bracelet.
Back then, the company was strapped for cash. She had sold two of her mother’s heirloom ceramics to help him fund several projects.
She didn’t want him to bear the burden.
But once the company took off, Shane never brought it up again.
When the projects paid out, she had gone looking for those ceramics–only to find they had already been sold to a mysterious buyer at an exorbitant price.
There was no getting them back.
That night, Shane never returned.
The next morning, while she was eating breakfast, her phone buzzed again.
Another message from Wendy.
