Chapter 1 A Toast to Betrayal

"Ms. Ellwood, I really should thank you. If you hadn't taken such good care of Levi, we wouldn't be where we are today." Luna Wyllow walked up to me with a glass of champagne, smiling as if nothing in the world could trouble her.

In an instant, every gaze in the room shifted toward us—some mocking, some eager for entertainment.

I used to be the brightest jewel of the Evermont elite circle. Now, I had become its favorite joke.

I gently swirled the red wine in my glass, the crimson liquid rippling in slow circles.

"You're too kind, Ms. Wyllow." I curved my lips into a faint smile, though it never reached my eyes. "After all, not everyone gets the chance to pick up someone else's trash—and treat it like a treasure."

Luna's expression froze instantly. Clearly, she had not expected someone from a fallen family like mine to still dare talk back.

"You—"

"What about me?" I took a slow sip of wine, glancing over her face as it paled with anger. "Did I say anything wrong? A man who needed a woman to help him claw his way back up… Only someone with your taste, Ms. Wyllow, would see that as a prize."

A few suppressed laughs rippled through the crowd.

Luna's eyes reddened instantly as she turned, aggrieved, toward Levi Coleman, who had just approached. "Levi… I… I only wanted to thank Ms. Ellwood. I think she misunderstood."

Levi immediately pulled Luna behind him. His brows knitted together as he faced me.

"Stella! Don't be mean." There was a trace of impatience in his voice. "Luna just wants to greet you. Why must you be so aggressive? Apologize to her and stop making a scene."

My heart clenched sharply, pain spreading through me in waves.

Five years ago, he had told me to wait until he reclaimed everything that belonged to him, and then he would come back and marry me in glory.

I believed him.

For that one promise, I rejected every arranged match my family had set up for me.

I had even staked everything I had on him—my family's connections, the resources in my hands—building him a path straight to the top behind everyone's backs.

Five years later, he did come back. He had reclaimed everything. He had even risen as a powerful new force in the business world.

But he had also personally devoured my family's company.

And the woman standing beside him was none other than my sworn rival, Luna Wyllow.

Now, he was even defending her against me.

I looked at his handsome yet unfamiliar profile and suddenly thought that I truly was a joke.

"Levi, did I provoke her, or did she come looking for trouble?"

"Stella." His tone hardened, his eyes full of warning. "Don't be unreasonable."

"I'm being unreasonable?" I let out a soft, incredulous laugh. "Levi, are you hearing yourself? You used the first investment I gave you to rebuild everything, and the moment you succeeded, you swallowed my family's company whole. Now you're standing here with another woman, calling her the love of your life, and you're telling me I'm unreasonable?"

The murmurs around us grew louder.

Levi's expression darkened instantly, embarrassment and anger flashing across his eyes. "That's enough, Stella. Don't make a voluntary investment sound like some grand favor."

He glanced back at Luna before returning his gaze to me. "My heart is now with Luna. The way you keep clinging on like this… It's honestly beneath you."

'Beneath me?'

"Fine. I won't meddle in your great love story." I lifted my glass and drained the wine in one go. "Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness."

Without another word, I turned and walked toward the garden outside the banquet hall.