Chapter 3
Like a scene from my memories.
For a moment, time seemed to flow backwards.
Until Stella stood before me.
"Little Dashiell, it's been a long time."
Little Dashiell was her special nickname for me, unchanged since childhood.
I looked up, meeting her gaze directly. Her eyes were as deep as a starry night sky.
Bright yet profound.
Forty minutes before the summit began, my phone notified me of a new friend request.
An account named [Mr. Nice Guy].
The note read: Serenity told me to add you.
After a moment's hesitation, I clicked accept.
As soon as the addition was successful, they immediately sent a video.
The lighting in the video was dim, but I instantly recognized that familiar figure.
Serenity was leaning back in a booth, swirling a drink in her hand.
Against the noisy background, her voice was unusually clear.
"That incident with him back then, although I know I can't blame him entirely, to be honest, it still bothers me deep down."
"Especially when he... Who knows if nothing really happened then, or if he's just pretending."
"How do you expect me to marry someone like that?"
Her tone carried obvious contempt, as if discussing a complete stranger.
Not someone who had been her partner for ten years.
Unbelievable.The man who once whispered words of love in my ear now speaks of me with such venomous words behind my back.
My hands begin to tremble, unable to hold my phone steady. A gentle bump from a passerby sends it clattering to the ground.
As I bend to pick it up, tears flow uncontrollably.
Finally, I crouch where I stand, allowing the tears to stream freely.
After crying, I take a few deep breaths.
Slowly, I stand up.
Just then, a star projector is placed in my hand.
At the same time, Stella's voice sounds in my ear.
"I saw these on display in the exhibit area and thought you might like it."
I take the projector, noticing she's holding one too.
Somewhat confused, I ask, "Are you interested in these too?"
My voice is still hoarse from crying.
My eyes are probably red and swollen.
But Stella doesn't ask why.
She just smiles,
Gently covering my eyes with her palm.
"These are a limited edition pair."
"I don't want anyone else to have the same one as you, even if it's just a small projector."
Some encounters seem destined, yet unfold naturally.
During the tech showcase, the big screen captures that moment when Stella's lips softly touch mine.Amid the crescendo of gasps echoing around us,
the line between reality and fantasy began to blur.
In the most luxurious suite of Silicon Valley's finest hotel,
the city's neon glow filtered through floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing us in an ethereal light.
Stella's kisses, like a gentle spring breeze, fluttered from my brow downward.
At last, my fingers instinctively tightened on her shoulders.
Just as we were about to cross that threshold, I suddenly snapped back to reality.
"Stella, wait, we can't!"
I'm too dirty, truly too filthy.
The kind of filth that Serenity would recoil from touching even once in a decade.
In a haze, that deeply buried memory resurfaced.
A group of girls, sneering, shoved me into a secluded corner of the campus.
In that dark, damp place,
they roughly tore at my clothes.
If Serenity hadn't suddenly appeared,
my life might have spiraled into an abyss right then and there.
That's why, all these years, I've seen Serenity as my salvation.
Even when she hurt me time and again, betrayed me repeatedly, I never thought of leaving.
Until now.
She brought that boy home and called him pure and clean.
In that moment, I finally understood.All along, she had been disgusted with me.
Disgusted by my uncleanliness.