Chapter 1

The day I was invited to the University's Centennial Gala, I ran into my first love, Zane Gables.

After delivering his speech as a distinguished alumnus, he pulled out a diamond ring in front of everyone.

"Laina, you once said you wanted to make me a wedding ring based on your Thorns and Roses design. Now, it's my turn to propose.

"Marry me."

The auditorium erupted in cheers instantly.

Everyone was waiting for me to nod in tears and say yes.

After all, the way I had chased him back in the day was so legendary that the whole campus knew about it.

But they all forgot something.

They forgot that my graduation project was once accused of plagiarizing Sutton Vance's work.

Zane knew the truth, yet he publicly labeled me a thief.

At the press conference, acting as the brand representative, he announced the termination of our partnership and filed to have me blacklisted from the industry.

The day I became a pariah, I left the country.

Now that I'm back, his friends are all trying to guilt-trip me.

"Zane has been waiting for you all these years. Even though you humiliated him back then, you're still the only one in his heart.

"He even stormed the Dean's office just to get your diploma released. Laina, he really loves you."

1.

"Stop looking at your phone. Can you at least give me a response?"

Seeing that I didn't take his words to heart, his friend Sonny Higgins looked rather annoyed.

I slowly put my phone down and looked at him with a calm expression.

"Zane comes from a wealthy family, but he hates it when people suck up to him.

"Even though his father is on the Board of Trustees, he never used that influence for himself. Yet for your diploma, he almost got expelled for harassment!"

"Laina Sterling, do you even have a heart? Do you feel nothing at all?"

Sonny spoke with righteous indignation about the past, as if my lack of tears was a mortal sin.

I frowned slightly and glanced around.

The alumni who were eavesdropping quickly looked away, though their ears remained sharp for more gossip.

The plagiarism scandal seven years ago had been massive.

Even now, I could see the lingering disdain and mockery on the faces of these bystanders.

Today, I just wanted to go backstage to prepare for the gala, but Sonny blocked my path to lecture me.

I didn't know if he was doing this out of brotherhood or because Zane asked him to.

But to me, none of it mattered anymore.

I sighed softly. "What should I feel? It's all in the past."

My answer clearly wasn't the one Sonny was looking for.

He knitted his brows, staring at me in confusion.

I understood why he looked like that.

In my freshman year, I had chased Zane Gables for three months straight, shocking the whole school.

Knowing he loved stargazing, I went through hell to find meteorite fragments and handcrafted a star-themed necklace for him.

To spend more time with him, I risked getting detention by lurking in the Law Library every night for three months.

I would always pretend I was "just passing by" to study with him.

One rainy night, I heard he had a fever and climbed over the school fence to buy him medicine, resulting in a fractured right wrist.

When he asked about it, I just laughed and said I was testing my pain tolerance.

Zane knew exactly why I was hurt, but he just listened to my lies in silence.

It was on that very day that he finally agreed to be my boyfriend.

After we got together, he gave me a moon bracelet, saying we were a perfect match.

To stop me from "just passing by," he gave up his late-night library sessions.

He even waited in the long, greasy cafeteria lines just to get me the glazed BBQ ribs I loved.

Small gestures like those sprouted in my heart like seeds, eventually growing into a giant tree.

I thought that tree of love would bear fruit.

But the appearance of Sutton Vance caused it to wither overnight.

Initially, Zane told me Sutton was just a business match forced on him by his father.

He claimed his heart only belonged to me.

As the sole heir of the Gables Group, he said he had the power to reject anything he disliked.

I believed him.

So, I never saw Sutton as a threat.

But later, I realized he was always late for our dates and forgot our anniversaries.

After he started taking over the family business, he was frequently seen at galas with Sutton.

The news reports were incredibly suggestive, but he didn't seem to care.

After I protested, he dialed it back a bit.

But then I saw a leak showing him adjusting Sutton's pearl earrings behind the scenes at a jewelry show.

On Valentine's Day, he promised to make it up to me but stood me up for an "emergency meeting."

I waited at the rooftop restaurant until closing, only to see Sutton's post on social media.

It was a photo of them sitting close together in first class, smiling at the camera.

Looking at the flood of Congratulation comments, I lost all my courage to confront him.

The next day, Zane came to the Design Department with a strawberry smoothie.

He didn't care about my swollen eyes; instead, he slammed the bottle down in frustration.

"Laina, I've told you a thousand times, you're the one I love. Sutton is just a business partner. Do you really have to keep crying about this?

"Do you have any idea how much you're suffocating me right now?"

My tears spilled over as I looked at him. "I never even told you why I was crying. Are you admitting you're too close to her?"

Zane froze, his brow furrowing.

"You're being completely unreasonable!"