Chapter 24: Per Aspera Ad Astra
“Nova, will you marry me?”
Amidst a sea of flowers, Lorenzo Gabriel Rossi knelt on one knee, holding up a simple, elegant diamond solitaire. Beside him, Scarlett clamped a hand over her mouth, stifling a giggle as she recorded the moment on her phone.
Nova Sterling blinked, momentarily stunned, then a soft smile touched her lips. “This is sudden?”
“I’ve been planning it since we made things official six months ago,” Lorenzo said, his gaze steady and sincer, “I knew then. My future partner is you. It can only be you.” He paused, his voice thick with convictio.. “From the moment we met, we just… fit. We work together seamlessly, our tastes align, and we love each other deeply. I couldn’t think of a single reason to wait any longer.”
Nova tilted her head, eyes glistening.
Lorenzo was right–being with him felt effortless.
He’d drop everything when she fell ill, stay up till 3 a.m. when her designs stalled, chase inspiration with her across continents, his steady presence always at her back.
“Nova! Don’t just stand there!” Scarlett interjected, her own nerves showing. “This is totally your call! I crashed the proposal, but it’s not to pressure you! If you’re not ready yet…”
“Yes.”
Scarlett’s words cut off mid–sentence. With a squeal, she launched herself at Nova, enveloping her in a bone–crushing hug just as Nova started to extend her hand towards Lorenzo and the ring. “Oh my god! Nova! We’re going to be sisters!”
Lorenzo, the ring still poised, froze. He shot an exasperated look at his impulsive sister before turning back to Nova. His eyes, however, were alight with pure, unadulterated joy.
On the wedding day, as Scarlett carefully pinned Nova’s veil into place, her own eyes suddenly welled up. “Nova… be happy. Promise me you’ll be so happy…”
Nova chuckied, though her own vision blurred slightly. “What? You don’t trust your own brother to make me happy?”
“I’m just overwhelmed,” Scarlett sniffed, wiping hastily at her eyes.
Lorenzo standing at the altar. His fingers,
As the resonant notes of the pipe organ filled the church with the Wedding March, Nova saw L clasped tightly before him, were trembling slightly.
When the officiant asked, “Do you take Nova Sterling to be your lawfully wedded wife?“, Lorenzo’s “I do!” burst out almost before the question was finished, drawing warm laughter from the gathered guests
During the bouquet toss, Nova deliberately threw it backwards with a slight arc. The roses arced over gasping guests, grazing the last oak pew whate a stooped figure in a hooded coat frantically ducked into the shadows.
“What happen?” Lorenzo followed her gaze towards the p
pillar.
“Nothing,” Nova murmured, rising onto her toes to kiss her new husband. “Just a trick of the light”
Days later, in a rehabilitation center on the outskirts
“Mr. Blackthurn, your account balance is insufficient,” the nurse stated, handing him a printed invoice. Her tone was professionally detached “Il payanelu isn’t settled by tomorrow, we’ll have to ask you to leave
Zane Blackthorn took the paper umbly. Since the bankruptcy of Blackthorn Group and the death of his mother, this place had been his bleak refuge. The former business titan couldn’t even afford basic care anymore
Dragging a worn suitcase behind fum, he stepped out through the facility’s main gates Rain plastered his thin jacket to his skin. On a largestreet–side screen across the road, a mancial news segment played “Nova Sterling, creator of the ‘Stardust collection, recently announced her marriage in a high–profile ceremony Company valuations soar to new heights…”
strom, ar fer veltir timmistakable tenderness, hic arm proterol and Twan Thee went prefer may completa
Zame stoot rooted to the sper in the dwerge The rain marked through to be numery on a muling at him undir burfti stims, fim ayas holding promises he’d actioned for nothing on the red rashes
Bain mingled with tears as the traced the dentisticheeks Zene knew where deeg cong the Now who’d new lined him fiercely had finally found arbeitellation, anchored in light face much to outshine weery storm,
And he had font, forever, the one person who died him onditionally
Chapter 1
His two sugar babies balled. Again.
This time, the way he coaxed them back was with a signed divorce agreement.
That whole chase–me, catch–me act had played out in front of me too many times to count.
I’d cried, yelled, even stormed out like one of his golden girls.
But each time, he’d toss me another check–with more zeroes than the last
Travis Langley’s lips curved into a mocking smirk. “Is that enough?”
I calmly took the divorce papers and signed my name.
He cupped my face with satisfaction. “Good girl. It’s just a temporary divorce. I’ll withdraw the filing before it goes through.”
“Good that you get it. What man doesn’t want a challenge? Especially women like those two–total knockouts, way out of most guys! league. Once I’ve claimed them, I’ll come back and settle down with you. Just like I promised.‘
I didn’t argue I bent down and picked up the check.
what he didn’t know was–I wasn’t going to wait for him ever again.
H
“Alright, the divorce is filed. It’ll be official after 30 days, once the court processes it.”
I accepted the filed copy from the clerk. Travis snatched it from my hand and took a photo.
Then he stared at his phone, grinning like some smitten teenage boy.
The girl behind the counter gave me a look full of pity.
After all the fake divorces I’d done with Travis just to appease those two mistresses, the staff here practically knew me by name.
It took him a while to finally look up. When he did, his gaze was all soft and gentle. He pulled out a red velvet ring box and opened it in front of me.
“Elise, isn’t it gorgeous?”
think Blair and Lila will like them?”
Inside were two insanely expensive rings. I nodded, expression flat. “Pretty,”
Almost unconsciously, I rubbed the pale indent on my ring finger–just a faint mark now..
A week ago, Blair had slit her wrists in some coastal village, and Lila had overdosed abroad, both demanding Travis propose. They even insisted he use the exact same custom rings he’d given me when we got married.
Mine had been one of a kind–designed by him, a true original.
While I slept, he’d slipped it off, saying it was being sent for cleaning.
But I knew he lied. He flushed both rings–his and mine–straight down the toilet, all to make his new darlings sinile.
When we got last the car, he instinctively reached for my hand.
The interior I’d designed had been redone in pastel pink. I stared at it in disbelief, and Travis rushed to explain, “Those two are such silly little things–they wouldn’t stop whining until I changed it. I’ll switch it back later.”
I gave a soft “Mm. We were divorced now. Guess it made sense the ‘wedding car‘ got a makeover too.
It wasn’t just the new air freshener–overpoweringly sweet -or the trunk packed with fresh flowers.
ReelShort
It all made me sneeze nonstop, and finally, Travis looked up from his phone.
When he saw the rash blooming across my neck, his brows pinched together. “Damn. I forgot you’re allergic to pollen.”
He ordered the driver to head to the hospital immediately.
But just as we reached a red light, his phone rang. His face darkened the moment he saw the caller ID.
“Pull over.”
He glanced at me. “Blair scalded herself with hot water–left a nasty welt. You know how obsessed she is with her looks. Normally she acts all cold and distant, but now she’s crying, actually asking for me. I should go check on her.”
“Elise, you’ll have to go to the hospital by yourself.”
He pushed me out of the car. I stood there in the middle of traffic, dazed
It wasn’t until I saw the notification on my phone–flight confirmed that I snapped out of it
Then I flagged down a cab and headed to the hospital alone.
