Chapter 2

Dante clearly hadn't expected her to push back like this. His silence lasted a beat too long.

Then he came back louder, more self-righteous than before. "Stella, can you stop being unreasonable?

"I told you, this situation was special. I couldn't just watch Vivienne get forced into a marriage she didn't want.

"And think about how much the company's invested in her. I was trying to protect our talent pool. What did I do wrong?"

Listening to him fabricate excuses with such confidence, Stella felt a laugh rise in her throat, dry and humorless.

So many employees faced pressure to marry. Dante never went out of his way for any of them. But Vivienne? Suddenly she was worth saving.

And "talent"? Vivienne couldn't even use basic office software. Her performance was so bad she hadn't closed a single deal in six months.

Anyone else with numbers that terrible would've been fired before they finished packing their desk. Dante himself would've yelled at them until HR handled it.

But for Vivienne, he always had a story. She was "giving others a chance to earn commissions." She was "saving her strength for when the company really needed her."

But Stella knew the truth. If Dante hadn't stolen her projects to pad Vivienne's stats, Vivienne would've been out long ago.

Maybe even Dante didn't realize how deeply his favoritism toward Vivienne had woven itself into every corner of his daily life.

The softness in his voice around her. The instinct to shield her. The affection he didn't admit even to himself.

Stella suddenly felt tired.

"You're right," she murmured. "You're not wrong. I'm the one who's been wrong."

Dante's tight brows finally eased. He even sounded smug. "Well, since you know that, delete the comments you posted and apologize to Vivienne.

"What will the rest of the company think of her if you—"

Stella cut him off before he could finish. "No. My biggest mistake was not breaking up with you sooner."

"Stella, you're being ridiculous. You really wanna be this stubborn? Fine, just you wait." He hung up on her, fuming.

Moments later, her phone buzzed again and again as every couples-account app pushed the same notification: relationship unlinked. Even their matching profile photo disappeared.

Stella barely blinked. Every time Dante got pissed, this was his go-to move. Cut her off everywhere, freeze her out until she bowed her head and begged for peace.

But this time she felt nothing but exhaustion. No urge to coax him back, no energy for another round.

She was about to lock her screen when Vivienne suddenly tagged her in the office group chat.

She said: [Stella, there's a reason Dante and I registered our marriage today. He was just helping me deal with my parents nagging me to settle down.

[Guys like Dante are rare these days. Please don't get the wrong idea.

[If I'd known you were this sensitive, I never would've posted it on my Moments. My bad. I'm really sorry.]

Dante replied right under her message: [Vivienne, you did nothing wrong. Don't apologize.

[The one who should be apologizing is the person twisting things with her passive-aggressive comments and wild assumptions.]

The moment he said that, the whole group seemed to smell blood.

[That's right, Vivienne. It's not on you. Stella's just petty. She's jealous you're young and pretty and the boss clearly values you. That's why she's spreading nonsense.]

[Mr. Lancaster is such a kind man. Meanwhile Stella, as his girlfriend, is coldhearted and selfish. No wonder he ditched her today. Good for him. Someone needs to knock that arrogance down a notch.]

Stella stared at the flood of messages, expression blank.

Ever since Vivienne joined the company and Dante began favoring her, these coworkers had become experts at switching sides. Praise one person, trash another, whisper behind backs. Stella had long grown numb to it.

She shut off her phone and slid it away.

Across the office, the clerk at the city hall gave her a sympathetic look.

"Ma'am, you've been waiting here all day. The person you're waiting for still hasn't shown up?" the clerk said. "We're closing soon… maybe you can come back tomorrow?"

Stella shook her head softly, eyes lowered. "He already registered with someone else. He won't be coming. And I won't be coming back tomorrow either."

She looked down at the files in her hand, a bitter laugh catching in her throat.

She'd arrived before everyone else. But she was the one leaving last.

She crumpled the paper, ripped it clean in half, and tossed it into the trash.

A wedding she couldn't have, a man she couldn't reach. She wasn't waiting anymore. A love that got no answer. She didn't want it anymore either.

She walked toward the exit, steps firm.

But just as she reached the door, her phone lit up. Dante, who had just blocked her, was calling her instead.