Chapter 1

The king-sized bed in the hotel room.

I was still basking in the afterglow of Ryder's touch when his voice, husky with post-intimacy breathlessness, whispered a promise in my ear.

"Stella, just give me one more month. Next month, I'll propose."

"Stella, I, Ryder Sterling, swear I'll give you the most magnificent wedding, make you the most envied bride in the world."

This was the seventh year of our secret relationship.

No one in all of Veridian City would ever believe that the notoriously aloof heir of the Sterling family and the infamous adopted daughter of the Reed family had been secretly dating for seven years.

I had waited for that promise from the age of eighteen until twenty-five.

My heart suddenly hammered.

Before I could answer, my phone chimed with a special notification.

Ryder reached for my phone, his voice still thick with desire. "Which wild man is that? Baby, are you really keeping some D-list actor on the side, just like the tabloids say?"

I chuckled, pushing his hand away.

"Just my best friend."

I tapped on the SnapChat picture Valerie had sent. It was a marriage certificate.

The marriage certificate was dated today.

And the groom? None other than Ryder Sterling, the man I’d been secretly dating for seven years, the man who’d just spent our passionate thirteen rounds with me tonight, and who’d promised to marry me in a month.

I replied "Congrats" to my best friend, Valerie, then turned back to kiss Ryder.

Ryder was an incredible kisser.

His soft, lingering kisses left me breathless, tears welling in my eyes from the pleasant suffocation.

Ryder was still pressing, "Just one more month for me, the very last one, okay?"

"Okay," I said.

"I'll wait one more month for you."

I bit down on Ryder's lip, hard, not releasing until I tasted blood.

"Ryder, after seven years, this is the very last month I'll wait for you."

I casually dodged the lurking paparazzi outside the hotel and slipped into the car sent by the Reed family to pick me up.

My brother, Liam Reed, was driving.

His eyes were shadowed, dark, as he watched me stumble out of the side entrance, barely able to walk straight.

"Which struggling actor was it tonight? Stella, aren't you satisfied with your already ruined reputation? Are you determined to drag the Reed family name through the mud completely?"

"Look at Valerie! She's brilliant, plays the piano beautifully, and has an impeccable reputation. When she was eighteen, Mr. Sterling himself had personally visited the Valerie family to arrange a marriage proposal for Valerie – to become the Sterling family's daughter-in-law, to marry the Sterling heir!"

"I heard the Sterling heir waited for Valerie for seven years, visiting her abroad every year. He kept it up until Valerie finally got her PhD overseas this year."

"The tabloids caught photos of Ryder proposing to Valerie today, and them leaving City Hall together. They must have gotten married."

"Ryder must have been impatient, couldn't even wait for a wedding, just went straight to getting the marriage certificate to make their marriage official..."

"Stella, you and Valerie came from the same orphanage, but look at her…"

The words barely left his lips when Liam slammed on the brakes!

The black Lincoln screeched to a halt. Liam slapped himself across the face.

He didn't dare look at his sister in the passenger seat, his voice low.

"Stella, I said the wrong thing. I'm sorry."

I sat rigidly, my face pale, my eyes hollow.

Liam reached for my hand. My fingertips were icy cold.

"Hit me, Stella. I messed up... I shouldn't have brought it up."

After a long moment, I finally whispered, "The photos."

Liam blinked. "What photos?"

"The ones the tabloids took," I said, my gaze blank, fixed on the darkness ahead.

"She was, after all, my friend from the orphanage and my supposed best friend. I want to see if Valerie and that legendary Sterling heir really make a good match."

Liam tossed his phone onto my lap.

"See for yourself."

I unlocked it with my fingerprint and scrolled through the pictures.

Ryder on one knee in a lavender field, kissing Valerie's finger, adorned with a wedding ring.

Ryder, grinning widely, with his arm around Valerie's shoulder, standing in front of a wedding dress shop window.

Ryder sweeping Valerie into his arms, walking out of a castle...

Every single picture was taken abroad.

I remembered the past seven years of our secret relationship, every time Ryder mentioned "going abroad for business."

Twelve trips a year, half a month each time.

Turns out, his "business trips" were all spent romancing Valerie!

I lifted my hand, clutching my chest.

An indescribable ache spread from my heart, agonizing through my entire body.

The pain made me double over.

Liam was startled by my reaction. He snatched the phone from my hand.

"Stella, I'll never mention Valerie's name in front of you again! Don't scare me!"

He was one of the few people in the world who knew that Valerie, my so-called best friend, and I were deeply at odds.

Liam didn't know the details, but he knew how much his sister loathed Valerie's name.

I forced a smile.

"Didn't you tell me to learn from Valerie? I will. Help me arrange it, Liam. Send me abroad to study."

Liam looked at me, incredulous.

"Are you serious?"

He couldn't believe his non-biological sister could be so clear-headed.

I smiled.

"If I'm not married off by next month, then yes, I'm serious."