Chapter 3

The photograph on screen showed Sophie herself.

And a man. Sophie was kneeling in front of him, her eyes in daze—anyone could see what was happening.

The man's face wasn't visible, but Isabella still recognized him as Ethan.

The venue erupted.

"What the hell! She's auctioning off this kind of photo? Has she lost her mind?"

"If I'm not mistaken, that's the photographer Sophie Shaw herself in the picture. Is she trying to create a scandal for attention?"

"I mean, there are artistic nude works out there, but this... it's just vulgar!"

Amid the chaos of voices, Sophie's face went ashen as she shook her head frantically.

"No... this isn't the photo I submitted. I swear it's not this one..."

But no one was listening.

The auctioneer, maintaining professional composure, began the bidding.

"This photograph has a starting bid of one hundred thousand. Do I hear any higher offers?"

The room fell dead silent.

Only a few sleazy men's crude laughter broke the quiet.

"A hundred grand for this? It's just a sex photo—you can find thousands online for free!"

"Exactly. A hundred thousand for the photo is ridiculous, but this girl clearly knows how to please a man. If she'd recreate what's in the photo live, then maybe a hundred grand would be worth it."

"Hahaha!"

The humiliating comments kept coming. Sophie's last trace of color drained from her face as she swayed on her feet.

Until—

"I bid two hundred thousand!"

Ethan's cold voice cut through the room, instantly silencing everyone.

People stared at Ethan in disbelief, whispering among themselves.

"Does Mr. Cross know this Sophie Shaw?"

"Oh, I remember now—Sophie Shaw is one of Mr. Cross's students..."

The auctioneer was also stunned but politely reminded him.

"Mr. Cross, according to our auction rules, each person can only bid on one item. If you wish to change your bid, you'll need to forfeit your previous purchase and offer a higher amount."

Ethan instinctively looked at Isabella, who kept her head down in silence.

Sophie below was already sobbing audibly.

"Professor, you don't need to help me. I uploaded the wrong photo by mistake. Please don't worry about me..."

Her voice grew smaller and smaller until she was crying uncontrollably. Ethan felt his heart clench and blurted out, "Fine. I bid two million for this photograph."

The entire room gasped. The auctioneer confirmed, "So Mr. Cross, you're forfeiting Miss Winters's photograph?"

Ethan again looked instinctively at Isabella, but this time she had already stood and left.

"Bella!"

Only then did Ethan panic, rushing to follow her. But at that moment, someone below shouted, "Sophie Shaw has fainted!"

Ethan's steps froze.

The scene descended into chaos. As Isabella left the auction house, she could only hear the auctioneer's voice:

"Congratulations to Mr. Cross for winning Miss Sophie Shaw's 'Dreams' at two million dollars!"

Isabella closed her eyes as the tears she'd been holding back finally fell.

In the end, he had chosen her after all.

...

For the next several days, Isabella didn't speak to Ethan.

No matter how much jewelry and designer bags he bought, no matter what novelties he brought home, she wouldn't even look at him.

Until Isabella's birthday.

Ethan practically got on his knees begging before she finally agreed to go out with him.

After driving for what felt like hours, the car stopped. Ethan covered her eyes as they walked, and after a long journey, he finally spoke.

"Okay, Bella, you can open your eyes now."

Isabella looked up to find they were at a marina.

Before them sat an enormous yacht, brilliantly lit, with words painted on its hull— The Winters

Isabella's eyes flashed with surprise as she looked at Ethan. "This is..."

Ethan took her hand.

"This is a yacht I had custom-made for you, named after you."

He said softly, "Bella, I'm truly sorry about the auction. Sophie is my student and the girl you've been sponsoring. I really was just trying to help her out of an embarrassing situation—nothing more.

"I asked her about the photo too. She said someone jealous of her photoshopped it. Please believe me. Besides..."

He paused, then said gently, "Didn't you want to sell the 'Memory' photograph for charity anyway? An extra donation is a good thing, right?"

Isabella's eyelashes trembled slightly.

‘Since this represents my promise to you, I want to keep it forever.’ His words from that day seemed to echo in her ears, but now his story had completely changed.

Isabella lowered her head, hiding the irony in her eyes. "We don't need to explain so much to each other."

Because I... stopped believing you long ago. And soon I'll forget all these sordid details anyway.

But Ethan misinterpreted her words as forgiveness. Joy flashed in his eyes as he eagerly took her hand.

"Come on, let's go aboard!"

Once on the yacht, Isabella saw that nearly everyone she knew was there.

Ethan had ordered a massive three-meter-tall cake, and everyone was celebrating her.

The yacht set sail as fireworks lit up the sky—everything was so beautiful it felt like a dream.

Even Isabella felt momentarily dazed.

As if they were back in their happiest days, sweet and inseparable.

Until Ethan's phone buzzed and he looked down at it.

Isabella glanced over and realized he wasn't reading a message—he was checking social media.

Understanding dawned. She opened her own social media to find Sophie had just posted a photo.

The image showed Sophie sitting alone at a table in darkness with a cake and a single lonely candle. The caption read: "My 23rd birthday, spending it alone again."