I was the princess of the Capital Circle.

A lot of people wanted to date me, including the prodigy who had been my tutor for a long time.

I noticed him secretly stealing glances at me.

I crushed his hopes instantly. "We're not from the same world."

He blushed and turned his head away.

After graduation, he made his fortune in software and became one of the Capital Circle's new elite.

We met again at a banquet, where he walked up to my sister.

"Let me introduce you. This is my girlfriend."

I knew he was doing it to get back at me.

But I was dying.

1

It had been five years since I'd last seen Joel Alastair, and I never expected to see him again in a place like this.

At the engagement ceremony, Joel Alastair and my sister, Fiona Sterling, exchanged rings under the watchful eyes of every guest.

They were the perfect couple, lauded by all.

And I, once the untouchable Red Rose of the Capital Circle, was now just a waitress carrying a tray in the corner.

Everyone in the Capital Circle knew that I, Sylvia Sterling, was a materialistic woman who had abandoned Joel Alastair when Alastair's company was at its lowest point.

It was my sister, Fiona Sterling, who had stood by him for five years while he staged his comeback.

My own parents, ashamed to have a daughter like me, had kicked me out of the house.

And the once-renowned Sterling Family of the Capital Circle, thanks to Fiona, had been saved from collapse by a helping hand from Joel Alastair, narrowly avoiding ruin.

But back then, I was the one who had slowly warmed that gloomy delinquent, transforming him into a cool, aloof prodigy.

In a daze, I saw it all again: the obsessive love, like a tidal wave in the eyes of that intense boy under the cherry blossom tree, as he confessed to me, word by word.

"Sylvie, you are the only light in my bleak life! I like you. I really, really like you!"

We spent those sweet, youthful years together and had planned to get married right after college graduation.

'So how did it all end up like this?'

RING RING RING.

I fought back tears.

"Hello?"

"Miss Sterling, your late-stage Stomach Cancer can't be put off any longer. Prompt treatment can still extend your life."

My voice was flat.

"I know. I'm working to save up the money."

The past is smoke. Joel Alastair and I live in two different worlds now.

We'll likely never cross paths again. Letting go of the past is a way of letting myself go free, too.

But I never imagined they wouldn't let me go.

Suddenly, the banquet hall went dark.

Just as the crowd began to murmur in confusion, a spotlight abruptly landed on me.

Another spotlight fell on Joel Alastair and Fiona Sterling.

In an instant, we became the only two points of light in the darkness, drawing everyone's attention.

"Hey, isn't that Sylvia Sterling? What is she doing here?!"

Someone had recognized me, their surprised voice laced with contempt.

"Don't tell me she heard about Joel Alastair and Miss Sterling's engagement and came here to cause a scene?"

"Look how pathetic she is now. The once-untouchable Red Rose of the Capital Circle... TSK TSK TSK!"

Countless scornful and gloating eyes fell upon me.

When the sun, once so high and untouchable, falls from the sky, everyone wants to come up and stomp on it.

Under their gazes, I gritted my teeth and straightened my back.

'No.' I hadn't known beforehand that Joel Alastair and Fiona Sterling were getting engaged today.

Someone had contacted me, saying they were short-staffed here and were willing to pay a high price for me to fill in.

Even though the whole thing seemed suspicious, I was so desperate for money that I didn't think too much about it.

Fiona Sterling, dressed in an expensive wedding gown, sized me up with a look of disdain and triumph.

"My dear sister, long time no see. It seems my efforts to bring you here weren't in vain after all."

2

I whipped my head around to look at her.

"Did you deliberately set this up, calling me here just to humiliate me?"

Fiona Sterling covered her mouth and laughed, but her eyes landed on Joel Alastair, a meaningful smile on her face.

A bitter feeling welled up inside me. I finally understood.

With Joel Alastair's current status, how could Fiona Sterling dare to do something like this unless he allowed it?

I looked at Joel Alastair with a bitter smile, my voice hoarse and dry.

"Joel Alastair, do you really hate me this much?"

Even though we had our disagreements, the way I treated him back then was genuinely good.

Did he really have to be so ruthless?

The expression on Joel Alastair's devilishly handsome face was dark as he stared at me for a long moment.

Then, the corner of his lip curled into a cold smirk, his eyes hiding a bone-deep hatred.

"Hate you? Sylvia Sterling, you'll never know how much I hate you!"

I stared into his eyes, and in a daze, I heard his words transform—

Sylvia Sterling, you'll never know how much I love you!

'Where there is love, there is hate.'

The next moment, I wanted to laugh at myself for my own wishful thinking.

'Joel Alastair only has hatred for me. Where would there be any love?'

I searched my memory. In all these years, I had never done anything to wrong him.

"Joel Alastair, you can't do this to me."

After all the changes I'd been through over the years, I thought I was strong enough.

But the moment I spoke, a sob catching in my voice, I realized I could still feel wronged.

"Joel Alastair, how could you do this to me?"

I stared straight at Joel Alastair, fighting back tears.

In that instant, I saw Joel Alastair's pupils contract. He reached a hand out to me, his expression softening for a fraction of a second.

But in the next, he clenched his fist tightly and pulled his hand back.

"Sylvia Sterling, do you still think you're the Sterling Family's eldest daughter, the Pearl of the Capital Circle?"

"Look at you now. What part of you is worth a second glance? Why shouldn't I treat you like this?"

As his words fell, the entire room erupted in loud, mocking laughter.

Everyone was pointing at me, their expressions filled with the utmost contempt and disdain.

Trampling on the once-proud Pearl of the Capital Circle seemed to bring them extraordinary satisfaction.

The tears I had been holding back finally fell.

Now, here I was, dressed in a work uniform, frail and thin.

'I really wasn't worth a second glance from him.'

"Don't cry, Sister. It's all my fault."

Fiona Sterling said to me, putting on a concerned act.

Then she turned and whined coquettishly to Joel Alastair.

"Joel, are you mad at me?"

Joel Alastair stroked her hair dotingly.

"Of course not. I know you're a good girl."

"Sylvia Sterling brought this on herself."

I stared at him blankly as a sharp pain suddenly seized my stomach, churning it violently.

Heedless of anything else, I clapped a hand over my mouth and bolted for the restroom.

: I Will Make You Regret It

3

I was hunched over the sink, vomiting my guts out. The intense pain sent my mind into a haze.

My mind drifted back to my younger days.

The osmanthus blossoms on campus were in full bloom. A rebellious delinquent shot me a cold, harsh glare.

"Keep staring, Sylvia Sterling. Don't want those eyes anymore?"

The radiant girl gave him a warm smile and held out her hand.

"Joel Alastair, stop fighting. Finish your homework, and I'll treat you to some candy."

The boy stared at her, stunned, and reached out as if under a spell.

In that instant, the rebellious delinquent transformed into a cool-headed prodigy.

He stood under a cherry blossom tree and confessed his love for me. "Sylvie, I love you."

'What sweet times those were.'

My forehead was beaded with cold sweat from the pain, yet a smile I hadn't worn in ages graced my lips.

But the scene in my memory shifted. Thunder boomed and lightning snaked across the sky as a torrential downpour began.

The now-grown girl's face was ghost-white as she tightly clutched the Stomach Cancer diagnosis in her hand.

She returned to the Sterling family home like a wandering spirit, only to find her parents on their knees, begging her.

The Sterling family business had been mismanaged, and after years of losses, it was on the brink of collapse.

Her parents begged her to use her beauty to find a wealthy patron.

If she would just sleep with someone, perhaps a scion of some powerful family would be willing to help the Sterlings.

She closed her eyes in agony.

Not long before, the company Joel Alastair founded had encountered its greatest crisis ever.

Given their relationship, she knew that after the Sterling family fell, their rivals wouldn't spare Joel.

She wouldn't live much longer, and the great Sterling ship was sinking. At the very least, she couldn't drag Joel Alastair down with it.

Joel Alastair loved her with an obsessive passion. If she wasn't ruthless, he would never agree to break up.

In the pouring rain, the tall, composed man knelt, begging her to stay.

His devilishly handsome face was as pale as paper.

"Sylvie, please, don't leave me!"

The girl fought back tears, forcing out the cruel words.

"You and I are from two different worlds. We can never be together."

With that, she cruelly wrenched her hand from his.

My memory ended with the hatred in Joel Alastair's eyes, seen through the downpour.

He roared, "Sylvia Sterling, I swear I'll make you regret leaving me!"