Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Childhood Friend Attempts Suicide on the Wedding Day

"This wedding is really lively, did you hear? Attorney Hawthorne’s childhood sweetheart is causing a scene at the hotel rooftop, threatening to commit suicide!"

Listening to the murmurs outside the door, Stella Sterling felt a wave of bitterness in her heart.

This is Grace Quinn’s ninety-ninth suicide attempt.

She thought she was used to it.

But today is different.

Today is her wedding with Jasper Hawthorne.

Because of Grace Quinn’s scene, she knows she’ll have to make concessions again.

She and Jasper Hawthorne have been in love for five years, and Grace Quinn has been causing trouble for five years.

Each time Jasper Hawthorne rushes to comfort her.

Stella even feels like she’s the unwanted intruder in this relationship.

But the last time Jasper Hawthorne left her to find Grace Quinn, he promised — that was the last time.

She believed his ’last time,’ which is why they have today’s wedding.

"If she wants to die, let her! What’s the point of calling me?"

Stella suddenly raised her eyes; the balcony door wasn’t closed tightly, and Jasper Hawthorne’s deep, cold voice came through the room door —

"Jumping? She’s bluffing! How many times has she attempted suicide? Has there ever been real blood?"

Finally, she heard Jasper Hawthorne lowering his voice to instruct a few more things, but the words were too faint, and she couldn’t hear them clearly.

Jasper Hawthorne hung up the phone and turned his head, meeting Stella’s gaze.

Stella felt her heart pounding — this time he didn’t go to Grace Quinn...

So, did he not lie to her?

Is it really the last time?

"What are you looking at me for? The wedding is about to begin, are you ready?" Jasper Hawthorne’s face showed no expression.

Yet, Stella was still very happy.

She knew Jasper Hawthorne was naturally emotionally detached, often unable to empathize with others.

But from youthful, naive affection to offering sincere love now, she felt she finally achieved her goal.

To Jasper Hawthorne, she should be someone special.

Otherwise, why would he agree to marry her?

Stella wrapped her arm around his, smiling brightly, "Jasper, we’re finally getting married..."

Jasper remained expressionless, "Hmm, I know."

The door to the lounge opened —

"Now let’s welcome the bride and groom to the stage." The wedding host’s resonant voice instantly commanded the room.

Stella, full of happiness, held Jasper’s arm as they walked up to the stage.

"Let’s congratulate..."

The words hadn’t finished when Jasper Hawthorne’s phone suddenly rang.

The host’s face showed a hint of embarrassment, while the audience erupted in laughter.

The smile on Stella’s face froze; this ringtone haunted her like a nightmare — it’s Grace Quinn’s special ringtone.

Jasper Hawthorne took out his phone from his pocket and answered, "Hello, what’s happened now?"

The host quickly tried to regain control of the situation, attempting to restore the atmosphere — it was likely the first time he’d encountered such an incident in his years of hosting.

But before he could speak.

"I’ll be right over."

Jasper Hawthorne left those words and swiftly walked off the stage.

In an instant, everyone was in an uproar.

"Don’t go..." Stella lifted her bridal gown and chased after him, face full of pleading, "You said it was the last time."

Jasper Hawthorne furrowed his brow slightly, seemingly coldly weighing the pros and cons.

After a few seconds, he calmly explained to her, "Grace Quinn really jumped off the building, I have to go check. Please calm the guests, I’ll be back soon."

"Jasper!" Stella held his wrist tightly, "If you go, I won’t marry you!"

Jasper Hawthorne directly pried her hand away, "Then don’t regret it."

Stella felt her heart shatter into pieces, tears suddenly falling.

Jasper Hawthorne saw her tears, his heart trembled slightly, yet he knew she was compromising with him.

As always.

She couldn’t bear to lose him.

He knows how much Stella likes him, a pampered heiress willing to break with her family to follow him in Kenton.

No matter what happened, she always stood behind him.

Her greatest wish is to marry him.

Moreover, Grace Quinn had caused numerous disturbances before, and she had always helped him clean up the mess.

But this time, threatening him with ’not getting married’ clearly meant she was genuinely desperate.

However, Grace truly did have an issue on her end.

He couldn’t allow Stella Sterling’s unreasonable behavior.

Jasper subconsciously moved his lips, but his phone buzzed again from his pocket. He immediately answered it and turned to run outside.

For a moment, the guests looked at each other in bewilderment.

What... is going on?

Why did the groom run away?

Seeing the chaos unfold, Stella wiped away her tears, mustered her strength, turned around, and took the microphone from the previously stunned emcee, "I’m sorry, everyone, today’s wedding is canceled..."

The scene instantly erupted.

But Stella couldn’t care less.

She knew that after today, she would become the biggest joke in all of Kenton.

Everyone knows that Stella Sterling loved Jasper Hawthorne madly, leaving behind so many brilliant suitors, only to choose a poor guy to struggle with, and now, just when the clouds seemed to clear and the moon was visible, Jasper abandoned her on their wedding day.

After Stella chased out of the hotel, she found the entrance blocked with impenetrable crowds.

Not far away, Grace had already been carried down from an air cushion by Jasper. She was wearing a wedding dress, crying until her eyes were red.

"Jasper, how can you leave me alone? Didn’t we agree to be together for a lifetime?"

"Stop making a fuss." Jasper slightly frowned, his face still expressionless.

Grace directly cupped his face, looking into his eyes as dark as ink, "I just won’t!"

Stella watched Grace’s actions, and her first reaction was that Jasper would be angry.

When she was young, she too had once held his face like that, only for him to look at her coldly, "I don’t like people touching my face."

His tone was icy, and there wasn’t a trace of emotion in his eyes.

But at this moment, Jasper did not react, allowing Grace to vent herself by rubbing his handsome face, eventually making her chuckle through her tears.

Stella originally thought that Jasper’s emotional detachment was equally cold and distant to everyone, but at this very moment, watching him carry Grace to the ambulance, she realized how large a joke she had been.

She thought that day by day, year after year, one day she would warm Jasper’s cold heart, and he would eventually come to like her, his clear and beautiful eyes filled with joy and indulgence for her.

But the result—

She was brutally slapped in the face.

It turned out that Jasper did have feelings, just not for her.

Stella started to cry while smiling.

In these five years.

What did she even count as?

Stella, you are so naive, so laughable.

These five years were nothing but a big dream of hers.

Now that the dream was shattered.

She should wake up.

Stella returned to the resting room, took off her wedding dress, and changed into her own clothes.

The aftermath of the wedding chaos was still raging, so when Stella returned to the law firm, her colleagues who had been lively discussing suddenly fell silent.

However, Stella didn’t care; she always had thick skin. When she was young, she brazenly pursued the law school prodigy Jasper Hawthorne, becoming a joke in the entire school.

She was bold and fearless, charging forward despite obstacles, and only now, after being battered and bruised, did she understand that Jasper truly didn’t like her.

Stella returned to her workstation, printed a resignation letter from her computer, signed her name, and placed it on Jasper Hawthorne’s desk in his office.

Just after setting it down, her phone started vibrating.

It was a call from Jasper Hawthorne.

"I heard you canceled the wedding? Why didn’t you discuss it with me beforehand? Don’t you know this has a bad impact on the firm’s reputation?"

"What was I supposed to do, not cancel it?" Stella retorted coldly, "Did you want all those guests to sit in the hotel waiting for you to come back as the hero to rescue the damsel?"

Jasper was silent for a few seconds, seemingly not expecting Stella to talk back.

From the beginning, Stella was always like a little sun around him, chirping cheerfully. She seemed forever energetic, her face always wearing a smile.

She had never lost her temper with him.

"My mistake." Jasper was always so calm and rational, "I didn’t think it through."

Stella gave a bitter smile, she truly was like a young calf unafraid of tigers back then. Why did she think a naturally emotionally indifferent person would fall in love with her?

Stella glanced at the resignation letter on the table, "Jasper, my resign..."

Before she could finish, a sweet voice came through the receiver, "Jasper, my waist hurts, come here and rub it for me."

"I’m busy, we’ll talk later."

The dial tone quickly followed.