Chapter 3After the Favor

I thought packing my luggage would take a long time. But looking closely, there wasn’t much left. My clothes were almost all chosen by Sterling. Back then, he used to say, “Our Willow is the most beautiful princess, of course, she has to dress beautifully every day.” Now, those clothes were soaked in dirty water, giving off an unpleasant stench. And I, from his princess, had become a parasite with a princess complex.

Moving the clothes aside, I saw photos scattered across the floor. Lance used to love taking pictures of me, saying he wanted to capture all my different looks. Every time we took a group photo, these two brothers would compete to be closer to me. Now, in our group photos, my face was crossed out with a red marker.

I couldn’t bear to look further. I simply threw everything into the trash.

Sterling and Melanie came downstairs just as I was doing this. A flicker of shock crossed his eyes. After all, I had always treasured these things. But then, he let out a cold laugh.

“You’re certainly wasteful with Sterling family money.”

Sterling once showered me with expensive gifts to make me happy. Now that Melanie was by his side, everything I did was wrong. I had lost the right to be willful, and the desire to argue. I simply said, earnestly, “I’ll pay it back.”

“The Sterling family isn’t short on a bit of money. Just remember, don’t ever make trouble for Melanie again!”

Melanie tugged at Sterling’s sleeve, pouting. “Sterling dear, don’t waste time on unnecessary people. I still want to go to our secret stargazing spot. Let’s go.”

I froze, stopping in my tracks. The ‘secret spot’ Melanie spoke of was something Sterling had created for me when I first came to the Sterling household. Mrs. Sterling was often busy with work back then, so she entrusted the responsibility of caring for me to Sterling, who was six years my senior. Sterling gave me almost everything good in the world. He said I was his muse. So, he personally designed a patch of eternal, shimmering stars for me. That day, beneath the starry sky, he looked at me with deep affection. “Willow, remember, this is your sky, and it’s a symbol of my love, just for you.”

We spent twenty years, little by little, perfecting that starry sky, building a dreamy secret hideaway. From then on, my heart leaned towards Sterling. But every time I was close to making a choice, Lance would pop up, throwing a fit, and the decision would be indefinitely postponed.

As for now… They had their new ‘red rose’ and had long forgotten me, their ‘fading moon.’

But it didn’t matter. I took a deep breath and walked away. I didn’t want either of them anymore.