I Abandoned a Poor Young Man, and When We Met Again, He Had Already Become Famous

Years ago, Aria Ning walked away from Lucas Song when he had nothing. Now he is a celebrated author and director, and his novel "The Monster in the Apartment" has become a film. At the premiere, Aria sits in the back corner beside her friend Emma, watching the man she once left command the room. When a reporter asks whether the female lead is based on a real person, Lucas looks straight at Aria and says she is dead now.

Outside, strangers whisper about Aria Ning, the girl who was broke yet pretended to be rich, and about Isabella Locke, the wealthy actress who silenced the gossip. Isabella is Aria's nightmare: the adopted daughter of the Locke family who spread rumors that drove Aria from college and from her father's trust, and who destroyed her relationship with Lucas.

Aria asks the driver to take her to Bluespring Lane, the cramped alley of peeling walls and dripping faucets where she and Lucas once found solace in each other.