The Stars Never Slept

Everyone around Nathaniel Cooper knew how hard he had worked over the years to get closer to Audrey Sinclair.

He had given up a promotion to become her assistant. Audrey resisted every attempt he made to get too close, but he remained patient.

For ten years, Nathaniel had slowly gotten her used to his presence. He took care of every little detail in her life and shielded her from unnecessary social events.

In the eyes of outsiders, Audrey already treated him as someone special.

The cold, brilliant woman remembered his birthday and even made an exception to let him stay overnight in the lounge when he wasn't feeling well.

But only Nathaniel knew that his birthday gift was nothing more than a large bank transfer. She simply didn't want to spend too much time picking out a present.

And on the night he stayed over, she had worked straight through until morning, leaving him alone in the next room with a fever and a terrible cough. She hadn't even bothered to check on him.

No one knew that Audrey had agreed to marry him, either. It wasn't because he had finally won her heart. It was because of the kidnapping two months ago.

After Audrey was kidnapped, Nathaniel had stormed into the abandoned factory alone.

He had taken the brunt of the attackers' violence to protect her. They kicked him to the ground and repeatedly smashed his back with wooden clubs.

Yet he stubbornly refused to cry out in pain. When the attackers grew furious, they slammed his head hard against the concrete floor.

He had successfully bought Audrey enough time to escape and held on until the police arrived. But his injuries were so severe that he had nearly died.

Audrey rarely left her lab, yet when Nathaniel finally woke up, she was sitting beside his hospital bed.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and her voice was hoarse as she said, "Let's arrange a time to meet both our families and discuss the wedding date."

After all those years together, Nathaniel could easily read the guilt in her eyes.

She was only marrying him because she felt guilty.

In the end, he had shamelessly accepted her offer just to secure another chance to stay by her side.

If Jackson Reed hadn't appeared, Nathaniel might have kept lying to himself forever.

After leaving Audrey's office, Nathaniel walked out of the administration building. A giant screen outside was broadcasting a live feed of an international summit.

Several people had gathered beneath it, gazing up at the screen and chatting excitedly.

"Look! It's Ms. Sinclair and Jackson!"

"They look so good together! I heard Ms. Sinclair is even personally supervising Jackson's research paper this time."

"Ms. Sinclair is so cold and distant. If she's willing to mentor him herself, Jackson must be quite the charmer."

The chatter around Nathaniel left his mind in turmoil. Everyone was praising how well Jackson and Audrey looked together.

Yet after spending so many years by Audrey's side, hardly anyone knew that Nathaniel was her actual fiancé.

He forced himself to look up at the screen.

Jackson was leaning toward Audrey, whispering something in her ear. She had lowered her head slightly to listen.

They were standing incredibly close, yet Audrey didn't seem bothered at all.

Whenever Nathaniel gave her a work report, he had to maintain a distance of at least ten feet. But she allowed Jackson to whisper right beside her ear.

Nathaniel had once believed that no one could cross the boundaries Audrey had set.

But Jackson's arrival showed him a side of her he had never seen before.

He remembered the first time Audrey had mentioned Jackson to him.

She had been staring at a messy pile of data when she gave a faint smile and said, "Jackson mixed up the sample order again."

There had been no hint of blame in her voice. Instead, she sounded helpless, almost indulgent.

Jackson was her mentor's son. That connection had given him the same academic advisor as Audrey, and he had been pushed into their research team because of it.

He was bold and carefree.

He would snatch the pencil from Audrey's fingers and start working through calculations on her papers. He would even offer her coffee after drinking from the same cup. Sometimes, when she was deep in thought, he would slap her on the shoulder and burst out laughing.

At first, Audrey had seemed awkward whenever Jackson got too close. But over time, she began allowing him to mess up her desk. She even accepted the drinks he offered, despite never drinking them before. And when he told jokes, she would look at him and smile.

Audrey would quickly pull away even if Nathaniel's fingertips accidentally brushed against hers. But later, Nathaniel witnessed Jackson lean down and kiss Audrey on the cheek right there in the lab. She had frozen for a moment, then blushed. Yet she hadn't pushed him away.

If Nathaniel hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have known that when Audrey truly liked someone, she could become just as shy and flustered as any other girl, forgetting all her usual restraint.

Nathaniel returned to the house they were supposed to share after marriage. Audrey had never once visited it, not even after the renovations were complete.

Calmly, he opened the walk-in closet and began taking down the clothes he had bought for himself, folding each piece neatly.

The household items he had carefully chosen, along with all the warm, ordinary moments he had once imagined sharing with her, now felt like a cruel joke.

He found some cardboard boxes and packed up his belongings. Then he scheduled a courier to collect them.

Just as he finished, a notification appeared on his phone.

His transfer request to a position at the research institute's northwestern branch had been officially approved.

At the same time, Audrey sent him a message. "My flight, CA1837, will arrive at 8 p.m. tomorrow. Come pick me up."

Nathaniel stared at the message for a long time before calmly replying. "I won't be able to."