Chapter 1

Austin Everett stopped fiddling with his thumb ring and looked at me with dark, unreadable eyes.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"It's not like I haven't given Jonah enough chances," I replied with a shrug. "Three strikes and you're out, right? The fact that he delayed our wedding three times for another woman's sake proves that we're not meant to be together. Why should I remain stubborn about it?"

Chuckling, Austin cocked a brow and said, "Since you've made up your mind, I'll get my people to start preparing the wedding. An Everett wedding will be the center of everyone's attention. You'll need to be mentally prepared for that. In two weeks, everyone will know who the wife of the future successor to Everett Group is."

I gazed solemnly at Austin, knowing that he was earnestly declaring his decision.

"Sure, and don't worry. My family, the Fergusons, will do our best to support Everett Group. We won't be a burden."

Laughing once more, Austin glanced at me and said pointedly, "I didn't do it for Everett Group."

…

Once I got back to the house, I quickly cleared everything related to me. When Jonah Alston came in, he was startled, but soon, he scoffed.

"Here you go again, Celeste. Are you a baby? Don't you find it childish to throw a tantrum and run away from home each time we have a fight? Are you that desperate to get married? I already said it was just an unfortunate overlap between the dates. It's not like I'm refusing to marry you."

As his annoyed tone filled the room, I deftly continued packing my things without looking at him.

"Who said I was leaving? There are too many things lying around here. I'm tossing out everything that's not needed anymore."

That included him, of course.

Jonah leaned against the door and placed a cigarette between his lips indifferently. "Oh, in that case, you can tidy up the guest bedroom while you're at it. Sasha will be moving in soon. The art gallery is nearby, so it'll be convenient for her to stay here."

Nodding, I replied, "Sure. I'll get the staff to prepare the guest bedroom tomorrow. What else do you think she'll need?"

Jonah, who was in the middle of lighting his cigarette, paused in disbelief. His tone abruptly grew gentle as he said, "I know things must've been hard on you, sweetheart. You like the wedding bands from Cartier, right? Let's get another pair so that you have two to switch between.

"I might not be able to spend much time with you these days. It's Sasha's first time having a solo art exhibition. I need to help her out with it. Once my schedule clears up after the end of her exhibition, I'll be sure to make time for you."

Feeling a tightness in my chest, I couldn't turn around to face Jonah. Still, my voice was unusually pleasant as I replied, "It's fine. I don't need you to make time for me. You can go ahead with whatever you need to do. It just so happens that I have a lot of things I need to clear out and settle anyway."

Jonah never bothered asking why someone like me, who favored a minimalist lifestyle, would suddenly have so many belongings to get rid of. He simply thought I had suddenly become a lot more understanding.

Feeling pleased, he said, "Well, since you mentioned it, I was thinking we should turn the study into an art studio instead. It gets a decent amount of sunlight. It's such a waste to simply use it as storage for all your research-related stuff. Why don't we let Sasha use it as her workspace instead?"

"You're absolutely right," I said, still briskly packing things away. "She likes that room a lot. It'll be her dedicated workspace from now on."

Since Sasha Lester loved moving in on someone else's man so much, she might as well move into the house too.

The next day, without even bothering to have breakfast first, Jonah rushed to the airport to pick Sasha up from her flight.

The media were all in a frenzy reporting about the return of Sasha, the up-and-coming artist who was about to hold her first exhibition in her home country. The news even went viral online, and the online community left positive comments.

"Isn't this a modern-day fairytale? I'm inspired to write a novel about the stock market genius and the free-spirited artist!"

"Eat the rich and all, but there's no way I can hate these two. They're such a match made in heaven! They deserve a happy ending."