Chapter 5

I had not answered Ross’s message from the café.

No matter what I do, the person I love is you.

I had read it once, then turned off the screen.

For seven years, I had waited for him to choose me in front of others. In the end, what he called love was something that could be hidden, delayed, traded, and explained away whenever profit required it. He said it was only acting. He said Stockdale needed the cooperation. He said I should understand.

I understood too well.

That was why I stopped waiting.

Three days after I left Stockdale, the Leone family held a private birthday banquet at their estate.

By evening, the Leone estate was already bright with lights. Family representatives, councilmen, investors, and business partners arrived one after another. To outsiders, it was Samora Leone’s birthday banquet and the first step toward her formal return to the family’s inner circle.

No one knew it was my birthday too.

Or rather, the birthday that had always belonged to me had been celebrated under Samora’s name for years.

Samora wore a pale gold gown with the Leone family’s red enamel lion brooch pinned at her chest. She smiled for the cameras and accepted the guests’ congratulations with the polished grace of someone who had truly been raised as the family’s treasured daughter.

Don Leone and his wife had not appeared yet. Everyone assumed they were waiting for the formal announcement.

Ross arrived early.

He knew what day it was. Years ago, when Stockdale was still struggling, he had promised he would spend every birthday with me once the company became stable. Later, when work grew busier, that promise became a rushed dinner, then a late-night message, and finally nothing more than a date he remembered only when guilt reminded him.

Tonight, he stood at Samora’s birthday banquet.

After a while, he found an excuse to step away from the crowd and call me.

No answer.

Then he called the house staff.

A polite voice answered, “Miss Izzy hasn’t been home for several days, sir.”

Ross’s face darkened.

“She grew up alone. Where could she go? She’s only disappearing on purpose so I’ll look for her.”

His tone was cold, but his fingers stayed tight around his phone.

“When she’s done making a scene, she’ll come back.”

A friend came over with a glass of wine, his tone teasing.

“You’re about to be engaged to Samora Leone. Have you cleaned up the woman you kept hidden all these years?”

Ross glanced toward Samora by instinct.

She was speaking with several family elders, her smile flawless.

Ross looked away, his voice even.

“It ended a long time ago.”

His friend smiled and lowered his voice.

“Good. The Leone family won’t let their princess marry a man who still keeps a mistress. If that girl disappeared on her own, it saves you trouble.”

Ross did not answer right away.

Everyone knew I existed. They simply refused to acknowledge me. A woman with no family, no name, and no background could only be treated as an improper distraction from Ross’s younger years.

After a moment, Ross forced a smile.

“You’re right. Meeting Samora is Stockdale’s good fortune.”

Across the banquet hall, the Leone family’s official Instagram account was livestreaming the dinner. The comments filled with congratulations, while media accounts praised Samora’s elegance and called her the brightest future heir of the Leone family.

Just then, Samora’s friend Daphne leaned close and whispered something quickly in her ear.

Samora’s smile stiffened for a moment.

“Are you sure?”

Daphne nodded.

Samora’s fingers tightened slightly.

She had planned to have the Leone couple acknowledge her engagement to Ross tonight, then use that moment to secure a major Leone investment for Stockdale. But if I appeared at the banquet, my relationship with Ross might be exposed.

In front of the Leone family, she could not allow anything to go wrong.

Samora looked toward Ross, and her eyes suddenly reddened.

She raised a hand to her chest, her voice trembling.

“Ross… my brooch is gone.”

Ross frowned at once.

“What brooch?”

“The red enamel lion brooch on my gown.” Samora bit her lip, tears gathering in her eyes. “It was given to me by the family elders. If it’s lost, how am I supposed to explain it to my father?”

The banquet hall fell into commotion.

Ross stood quickly.

“Don’t panic. Seal the side doors and pause all exits. It must still be in the hall.”

After saying that, he strode out with his men.

Samora lowered her eyes. While everyone’s attention shifted away, she gave Daphne a look.

Daphne immediately said, “Maybe it fell in the front hall. Samora, you were interviewed there earlier. Let’s go check.”

The group followed her toward the front hall.

The moment they turned past the screen, Daphne stopped as if she had discovered something shocking.

“Isn’t that Izzy?”

The camera turned with her.

I stood at the front hall entrance, wearing a simple black dress and holding the invitation my mother had sent over.

For a second, panic flashed in Samora’s eyes. By the time she faced the camera, it had become a gentle, surprised smile.

“Please don’t misunderstand. She used to work for Ross at the company. I didn’t expect her to come tonight.”

Her tone was polite, but she put just enough weight on “used to work for Ross” for everyone to hear the suggestion beneath it.

The guests turned toward me at once.

Daphne stepped forward, her voice sharp.

“We didn’t invite you. How did you get in? Did you sneak in with the waitstaff?”

She looked me up and down, then gave a cold laugh.

“I heard you were raised in a church school. I suppose you’ve never seen a real family token before. So tell us, where is Samora’s lion brooch?”