Chapter 5

At dawn, I received an email from Dr. Elena Petrova, the internationally renowned plastic surgeon, from three years ago.

She said there was a new research project abroad that might help with my face.

She asked if I wanted to go abroad with her for treatment.

I replied without hesitation.

[I accept.]

Just as I was about to complete my discharge procedures, my phone rang again.

It was Sienna Maxwell.

I hung up immediately.

She called several more times, persistently, but I ignored them all.

Soon after, a text message popped up.

[Tonight at 8 PM, come to Starlight Bay. If you come, I’ll forgive you for everything that happened. I can even grant you one wish.]

Starlight Bay was the place she took me after our first time.

It had a beautiful private beach.

She said she loved the stars there.

Like my eyes…

But ultimately, she was from a different social class than me.

Looking at that text, she was still the same imperious heiress.

I looked at the message, smiled faintly, and then deleted it.

And blocked her contact permanently.

I didn’t go to Starlight Bay.

Instead, I went straight to the airport and boarded a flight to Switzerland.

The moment the plane took off, I looked out the window at the city growing smaller and smaller, a profound sense of peace in my heart.

At 8 PM that night, Sienna Maxwell sat alone on the terrace at Starlight Bay.

The sea breeze was cool, carrying a salty, damp scent.

She glanced at her phone; the screen still showed the message she’d sent, with no reply.

She frowned, a surge of inexplicable irritation rising within her.

Asher Reed should have come.

She had acted impulsively at the gala, but she had given him an out.

If he came, if he just softened a little, she could overlook it.

She could even compensate him.

Time ticked by, minute after minute, but Asher Reed never appeared.

Sienna Maxwell’s patience finally wore thin.

She picked up her phone and dialed the number she knew by heart.

But the only response was the message that the phone was turned off.

Sienna Maxwell’s heart plummeted, and a strong sense of unease gripped her.

This wasn’t right.

Asher Reed had always been so compliant; even when angry, he never dared to defy her so completely.

She forced herself to remain calm, trying to find a reasonable explanation for his actions.

He must still be angry about the project.

Sienna Maxwell’s thoughts drifted back to that day.

When she saw Asher Reed, looking so fragile and on the verge of breaking in front of Landon.

Her heart felt a sharp prick, a discomforting sensation.

So, after she left the office, she immediately followed him.

In the emergency stairwell, she saw him like a small animal abandoned by the whole world.

She, inexplicably, walked up to him and tried to comfort him.

But when he finally pulled his hand away, his beautiful eyes held nothing but lifeless despair.

She returned to her office, where Landon Reed proudly held the handover document, his smile glaring.

Sienna Maxwell’s expression instantly turned cold.

“Who told you to touch his project?”

Landon Reed was startled by her icy tone, and he said, aggrieved, “Sienna, I just wanted to help you out… this project is very important to me…”

Sienna Maxwell had no idea Landon Reed had done these things behind her back.

But defending Landon Reed had become her automatic response.

She was used to protecting the seemingly pure and innocent brother, used to sacrificing the always silent older brother.

But seeing the light extinguished in Asher Reed’s eyes, she regretted it.

So, she looked at Landon Reed and warned, “I don’t want this to happen a second time.”

Sienna Maxwell rubbed her temples in frustration.

She had already warned Landon; Asher Reed’s anger should have subsided.

But why was the feeling of unease growing stronger and stronger?

She couldn’t sit still anymore. She picked up her phone and called her secretary.

“Immediately find out where Asher Reed is!”

“Ms. Maxwell…” The secretary’s voice was hesitant.

“Mr. Reed… completed his resignation procedures this morning.”

“What did you say?!”

Sienna Maxwell shot up from her chair, her blood instantly turning to ice.

Resigned?

How dared he, without her permission!

She frantically dialed every number she could think of to reach him, sent people to his apartment, to his parents’ house…