Chapter 1Starlight and Scars

While video chatting with my boyfriend, his roommates started teasing him, clamoring to see me.

I was smiling demurely when suddenly the phone was snatched away.

A magnetic voice laced with laughter rang out:

"Don't be stingy, let the bros see what our sister-in-law looks like."

The next second, I was face to face with my ex-boyfriend, with whom I had an extremely messy breakup.

The smile on his face gradually disappeared. After a long while, the corner of his mouth twitched:

"Fuck."

* * *

The moment that person bent down, the silver chain with a star pendant hanging from his collarbone brushed past the camera.

And my breath stopped the second I clearly saw his brows and eyes.

Sweat rolled down Caleb Vance's sharp jawline into the open collar of his jersey. He stared at the screen, stunned for two seconds, pupils dilating violently!

"...Fuck."

The next second, the phone was thrown somewhere unknown. The screen went black for a moment before being hurriedly picked up. Ethan Wells held the phone, dissatisfied:

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden?!"

Caleb paused for a moment, then scoffed:

"You have terrible taste."

Ethan, usually so gentle, rarely lost his temper, but now he said coldly:

"My girlfriend is wonderful, don't talk nonsense."

"Yeah, sister-in-law is so pretty. I think she's even prettier than the beauty queen of the foreign language department. Caleb, what's wrong with your eyes?"

"If I could date someone like this, I'd be willing to eat instant noodles for three years!"

"Get lost, I'd be willing to eat them for ten years—"

His roommates started making noise, and Caleb didn't speak again.

Ethan picked up the phone: "Sorry Stella, he might have lost a basketball game today and is in a bad mood."

A gritted-teeth voice came from over there: "I won, won by 20 points!"

Ethan didn't change his expression: "Then he's just brain-dead. Stella, I'll pick you up for dinner tonight."

...

After hanging up the video call, I lay back quietly on the bed. The midsummer sunlight was a bit dazzling, so I covered my eyes with my arm.

It seems like I haven't seen Caleb for three years.

I didn't expect him to still be wearing the star necklace I gave him.

Such a cheap thing. I still remember the price tag was only $19.99, and the couple's set was 50% off, so it was only ten bucks. Mine was thrown away somewhere by me long ago.

He didn't seem to have changed much, yet seemed to have changed a lot. Clearly still that face, but after maturing, his edge seemed sharper. Like a gem cut with angles, the unruly nature between his brows couldn't be suppressed.

I suddenly remembered three years ago, before we took the college entrance exam (SATs).

Caleb was also wearing a jersey like this, standing downstairs at my place, begging me with red eyes.

"From now on, I'll listen to whatever you say. If you don't like me contacting her, I'll never interact with her again.

"We agreed to go to the same university—"

His voice became hoarse, a glint flashing in his eyes in the night: "As long as we don't break up, I'll agree to anything you say, okay?"

He looked so pitiful, almost about to kneel and beg me.

But I just looked at him expressionlessly for a while and whispered:

"Caleb Vance, I changed my college application.

"I'm not going to Tech U anymore."