Chapter 4

Stella's POV

For the next few days, my life ran like a perfectly calibrated machine.

During the day, I handled the complex handover process at the office. As the Chief Risk Officer of the Lane Group, I held the keys to virtually all of the company's core secrets. I slowly deleted the encrypted data from my personal drives, packed them up, and prepared to hand them over to the transition team Arthur was sending.

At night, I returned to the penthouse filled with memories of Justin and began erasing my presence piece by piece.

Twelve days left.

Chloe updated her Instagram again.

This time, it was a photo of a candlelit dinner. Justin's face wasn't in the frame, but his hands were visible as he cut a steak, a bottle of Romanee-Conti resting on the table.

The caption. "My favorite person across from me, my favorite wine in hand."

I had just finished a brutal four-hour simulator retraining session at the flight center. Drenched in sweat, I sat on the locker room bench, sipping ice-cold water. I looked at her story and calmly tapped the heart icon to leave a like.

Five minutes later, a message from Justin popped up on Snapchat.

"What are you up to, Stella?"

I stared at the screen, my fingers hovering over the keyboard for a second before typing. "Just finished some overtime, heading home. How about you? Is the merger going well?"

"Very smooth. I'll be back in New York tomorrow," Justin replied instantly, followed by a voice note.

I tapped it. His deep, soothing voice echoed in the quiet room, with soft piano music playing in the background. "I miss you so much, Stella. I got you a gift. See you tomorrow."

I listened to his voice while my eyes remained fixed on the glass of red wine in Chloe's Instagram post.

I typed back a single word. "Okay."

Eleven days left.

Justin arrived back in New York half a day early.

I had just shredded a highly confidential file when my office door was pushed open. Justin walked in hurriedly, not even taking off his coat. He locked the door behind him, strode over to my desk, and spun my chair around to face him.

He braced his hands on the armrests, leaning down to kiss me.

It was a possessive, aggressive kiss, carrying his signature cedarwood cologne... and a faint, sugary scent that belonged to another woman.

My stomach churned with a sudden, violent wave of nausea.

I jerked my head to the side, dodging his lips, and pressed my hands against his chest to push him back. "Justin, we're in the office."

Justin froze, a flicker of annoyance passing through his eyes, though it was quickly masked by his usual warmth. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply. "I couldn't help it. I missed you."

He nuzzled against me like an eager puppy, then straightened up, pulling a small, navy-blue velvet box from his pocket.

"Open it."

I took the box, my fingers cold.

With a soft click, the box popped open. Inside lay a breathtaking diamond bracelet. The design was intricate, featuring a rare, brilliant pink diamond as the centerpiece.

"I saw it at an auction in LA and thought it would look perfect on you," Justin said, his eyes filled with anticipation. "Do you like it?"

I stared at the bracelet, but all I could see was the Instagram story Chloe had posted this morning.

In Chloe's photo, she was wearing a diamond necklace with the exact same design.

Her caption had been. "He said this is his exclusive love for me."

So, his so-called "exclusive" love was just a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

I looked up, meeting Justin's affectionate gaze, and forced a smile. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

Instead of putting it on, I closed the box and tossed it into my desk drawer.

Justin's brow furrowed slightly. Usually, whenever he got me a gift, I would put it on immediately and wrap my arms around his neck. Today, I was far too detached.

"Is something wrong? Are you just tired from work?" Justin reached out to touch my forehead.

"Yeah. The quarterly risk reports are due soon. I haven't been sleeping well," I said, casually dodging his hand as I stood up. "You just got back. Go rest in your office. I have a meeting to run."

Justin stared at my cold demeanor. He looked like he wanted to say something, but seeing my blank expression, he swallowed his words.

"Alright. Let's grab dinner tonight."

Once his back was turned and the door closed, I took the blue velvet box out of the drawer and tossed it straight into the trash can.

Garbage belonged in the trash.