Chapter 12 Sparkle
After wrapping up a round of movie promotions, Hannah finally had some downtime.
She went out and shot a set of casual photos to keep her Twitter presence alive.
Back in the nanny van, she unlocked her phone.
There were a few WhatsApp messages–but not a single one from Ethan.
He’d left like that last night, without saying a word.
She was furious, but she hadn’t messaged him to ask why.
She was waiting for him to apologize first.
But he didn’t. It was like he’d vanished off the face of the earth.
What the hell was going on?
Why did it feel like Ethan’s attention wasn’t on her
anymore?
What had he even been so busy with these past few days?
As the head of a large corporation, Hannah knew Ethan’s schedule was packed.
But no matter how busy he used to be, he would still send her a dozen messages a day.
And the moment she needed anything, he’d drop everything to show up or handle it for her. Hannah’s slender fingers gripped the phone. She took a deep breath and opened Ethan’s chat.
She typed: “Ethan, are you free tonight? Dinner’s on me.
It was the first time she’d ever asked him out. He’d definitely say yes.
Right then, a new message popped up. Hannah focused in.
It was from Lucas.
‘Baby, how about dinner tonight? I got us a table at your favorite place.
Hannah smiled, but didn’t reply.
Let him stew a little. She wasn’t over it yet.
Her phone’s familiar ringtone started up.
Ethan had just parked and stepped out of the car. He glanced at his screen.
His brows furrowed.
He typed back: “Can’t tonight. Having dinner with my sister.”
Hannah replied almost immediately. “That’s fine! I can join you both.”
Elan glanced toward his sister, who was just stepping out of the passenger seat.
He hesitated, wondering if he should ask Hannah to come.
His sister seemed to have a misunderstanding about her.
But if she got to know Hannah, she’d see that she was actually a great girl.
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7.STAM PP.
Chapter 12 Sparkle
They were at a high–end mall, and the car was parked in the underground garage.
Just as he was about to speak, he noticed his sister staring at a billboard.
The man in the ad was ridiculously handsome,
Hair slicked back, one hand in his pocket, flashing a devil–may–care grin.
Ethan’s stomach dropped..
Wasn’t that Lucas?
He was the face of this fashion brand. Even the garage had his pos
Ethan watched as his sister frowned, her expression darkening.
posters.
His fingers instinctively fiddled with the bracelet on his right wrist.
Forget it. She just got out of a breakup. Inviting Hannah would only make things worse.
Especially since Hannah used to be in a fake PR relationship with Lucas. Even if it was fake, it still wasn’t ideal.
Without saying anything to Stella, he lowered his head and typed: “Maybe next time. I’ll take you out.”
Hannah’s face changed color like a spinning wheel–red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
Ethan actually turned her down.
She gritted her teeth.
Was this sister even real?
Why couldn’t she meet her?
She was dying to see this woman in person.
“The restaurant’s elevator is over there.”
Ethan tugged on Stella’s sleeve, steering her away from the ad.
Stella’s eyes left the billboard. “Okay.”
Lucas had changed a lot in the last eleven years. Go
years. Gotten greasy, lost some hair.
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God. She was starting to regret ever dating him
Didn’t even get one day of romance out of it–just ended up with emotional baggage.
Sitting in the BBQ restaurant, Stella was feeling pretty sulky. She hoped no one besides her brother remembered that relationship.
Ethan was busy grilling neat for her, face tense.
So she really did still like Lucas…
To shift her focus, Ethan asked, “Did you ask Mr. Nathan about his orientation?”
That was so Stella.
Ethan was sure there were only a handful of people in the whole city who would dare ask Nathan that to his face.
He sure didn’t have the guts.
Stella shoved a lettuce wrap into her mouth, packed with thick slices of pork belly, chewed it down, and finally said, “I asked. He said he’s into women.”
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Chapter 12 Sparkle
Ethan looked stunned. “Women: Tons of heiresses have chased after him, and he’s never reacted”
Stella wrapped some grilled beef in lettuce. “He said he hasn’t met the right one.”
Ethan flipped the beef tongue, nodding. “Makes sense. A guy like him must have insanely high standards. Not many people are good enough.”
“What do you think of him?”
Stella frowned and smacked Ethan lightly on the head. “What are you trying to say? You want me to go after him? Stop talking nonsense.”
Ethan definitely didn’t want his sister dating anyone–but Lucas was a dead end.
The best way to get over someone was to start something new.
Nathan was better than Lucas in every way–at least he was a decent man.
I’m not saying you should chase him. Just maybe try to notice some of his good points.”
Basically, anything to get her to stop thinking about Lucas.
“I don’t have time. I’ve got too much going on. I need to find Louis, and I’m planning to repeat senior year and retake the college entrance exam. Gotta get back on track.”
Her old scores from eleven years ago definitely wouldn’t count anymore.
No big deal. She’d just redo the year. Once she found Louis, she’d get him on the right path too.
Ethan’s expression turned solemn.
She wasn’t ready to fall for someone new–she just wanted to stay busy and numb herself.
“Retaking senior year’s gonna be brutal. We’ve got everything we need at home now. No reason to go back to school.”
As he spoke, he dropped a perfectly grilled piece of beef tongue into her bowl.
Stella shook her head. No, I’m doing it. I’ve got my own plan.”
Even if this world was just a novel, to those living in it, it was real life.
Nathan was so strong already–could she really just coast through and do nothing?
Back then, she’d applied to the finance department at Qingda University. Now, she was thinking of reassessing
People were products of their time. Things had changed, So her plans had to adapt too.
No rush. She’d take her time figuring it out.
Top priority now was finding Louis and seeing what school he was in
The male lead’s younger brother went to No. 1 High, but that didn’t mean Louis did too.
Gang fights weren’t always limited to students from the same school.
She’d head to No. 1 High tomorrow and check things out.
“Just let me know which school you want. I’ll handle it.”
Ethan didn’t argue. Once his sister made up her mind, no one c
could
change it.
Maybe staying busy wasn’t just a way to avoid heartbreak–maybe it was her way of taking back control of her life.
She was only eighteen. Life was still long.
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7:57 AM P P ·
Chapter 12 Sparkle
“I let
you know.”
Stella chewed the tender beef tongue and squinted in satisfaction.
So good…
“Get some rest tonight. I’ll have Tina pick you up in the morning.
Ethan parked the car in front of the villa.
“Got it.”
Stella got out, lugging a huge bag of snacks.
Ethan had taken her shopping for them
“Oh, and think about what I said. Try noticing some of Nathan’s good traits,” Ethan added.
Staying busy and shifting focus–two birds, one stone.
Stella rolled her eyes. “Ethan, you are so annoying.”
She pulled out her phone and messaged Nathan on WhatsApp.
I’m back. Can you open
the door?
It was already II p.m. Stella wasn’t sure if he was still awake.
She waited a minute. No reply.
She had no choice but to make a voice call.
It rang for a while before he finally picked up. His voice was low and husky.
“Sparkle.”
His voice was dangerously smooth–magnetic.
But Stella wasn’t paying attention to that. She was shocked.
“How do you know my nickname?”
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