Elise looked down at the necklace and the brooch, her eyes reddening almost instantly. She quietly pushed them both back.

"Callum, these are too precious. I can't accept them. If Selene found out, she'd be upset."

Callum's voice was gentle. "You deserve them."

Tristan watched her too, a soft smile on his face. "Tonight's applause was something you earned yourself."

They offered again, but Elise still would not take them. If anything, she only looked sadder.

"It's not their approval I care about." She glanced past them, her voice barely above a whisper. "Does Selene still not want to see me?"

The moment the words left her mouth, the ache in Callum's eyes was almost impossible to hide. "Forget about her! Her approval doesn't matter. Everyone else loves you, and that's enough!"

Tristan let out a cold laugh. "Don't blame yourself, Elise. She's not here because she's too busy playing dead."

Elise froze. The color drained from her face. "Dead?"

Callum shot Tristan a look, clearly annoyed that he had scared her. Then, he softened his tone and explained, "The police called and said they found a body. They want us to come identify it."

He paused, then continued, "But don't worry. This is classic Selene. She's always pulled stunts like this to force people into giving in. She's been this way since she was little. The second something doesn't go her way, she needs the whole world revolving around her."

However, Elise did not relax. She clutched the fabric of her skirt, worry still written all over her face. "But what if Selene really is dead?"

I turned to look at them, at the fiancé I once loved more than anyone, and at the brother who once promised to protect me for the rest of my life, the way our mother would have.

Tristan only smiled, cold and detached. "Then I'd be free. If she hadn't held that engagement over my head, I never would've agreed to marry her. If she's actually dead, I'll throw a party to celebrate."

My soul went rigid.

A second later, Callum gave an indifferent shrug. "Then I'll go to her funeral and talk Dad into burying her somewhere far away. She spent her whole life clinging to you. No need for her to come back and haunt you too."

In that moment, the very last shred of hope I had been holding onto dissolved completely.

They spent a while comforting Elise before someone from the organizers came to remind them that the backstage press interview was about to begin. The moment Elise stepped out, every camera swung toward her, and reporters swarmed in.

"Ms. Mercer, tonight's performance was a tremendous success. The public is calling you the most gifted young musician to emerge in years. Who would you most like to thank right now?"

Elise held the microphone, her eyes glistening. "The person I want to thank most is Mrs. Corvin. If her charity fund hadn't sponsored me back then, I probably would have given up on music a long time ago. I'm also grateful to her daughter, Selene Corvin. She did so much for me."

A reporter followed up quickly. "Is Ms. Corvin here tonight?"

The smile on Elise's face stiffened for just a fraction of a second. She lowered her head, her fingers instinctively tightening around the fabric of her skirt.

Tristan was at her side before anyone else, his hand settling on her shoulder. "Relax."

Callum turned to the reporters, his tone dropping several degrees. "Tonight is about Elise and her interview. Don't ask irrelevant questions."

The reporters exchanged uncertain glances, but none of them dared to press further.

I stood off to the side and almost laughed.

Irrelevant?

Without this irrelevant person, there would be no Elise Mercer standing on that stage tonight.

I was the one who begged Mom to help Elise through the foundation. In the beginning, Mom had not agreed. She said there was something strange about the way Elise looked at people, and she warned me not to bring someone like that into our lives so easily.

Still, I was too young and too naive. I thought Mom was being paranoid. I kept insisting, and eventually she gave in.

Not long after, she died in a car accident.

During the darkest stretch of grief that followed, Elise was the one by my side every day. She went to school with me, sat with me while I practiced piano, and held me while I cried in front of Mom's portrait.

I depended on her, and I truly believed she was my closest friend. It was only later that I learned what she had been telling everyone else.

According to her, Mom had recognized her talent at first sight and offered to sponsor her on the spot. And the person who refused to let her into the Corvin household, the person who made things difficult for her at every turn, was me.

I tried to explain. I even asked the household staff to vouch for me. However, Callum had been studying abroad at the time and knew nothing about what actually happened. All he saw was the servants standing behind me with their heads bowed, and he decided I was threatening them into lying for me.

I went to Tristan, desperate and hurt, but for the first time, even he turned cold. He accused me of being unreasonable, of being petty, of not being able to stand someone else in the picture.

From that point on, every slight Elise suffered became another sin added to my name in their eyes.

Eventually, I was simply exhausted. I did not want to fight anymore, and I did not want to explain anymore. I was even ready to walk away from both Callum and Tristan.

However, Tristan told me the engagement between the Gage and Corvin families had been arranged long ago and could not be called off just because of a passing mood. Hence, the engagement banquet went ahead as planned.

No one could have imagined it would be the last celebration I ever attended alive.

Three hours after the banquet ended, I was stuffed into a sack and thrown into the ocean.

After the interview, the organizers arranged a celebratory yacht party by the waterfront. The car had barely pulled away from the concert hall when Tristan's phone rang again. He glanced at the number, frowned slightly, but answered anyway.

A clinical voice came through the other end. "Mr. Gage, this is the forensic center. The police DNA comparison results are in, and the deceased has been confirmed as Ms. Selene Corvin.

"Due to the extended period of time the remains spent submerged in seawater, we have compiled her personal belongings. We need a family member to come collect them."

Tristan listened, incredulous. "Are you people still not done with this act?"

Callum glanced over with a sneer. "First, the police station; now, the forensic center. Selene's got quite the network."

The staff member on the other end went quiet for a few seconds, their tone cooling. "If it's inconvenient for you to come in, you can start by looking at the photographs."

Three photos arrived moments later.

The first showed a white gown, bloated and warped from the seawater. The hem was stained with dark traces of blood, and the lace had rotted beyond recognition.

The second was the necklace I had put on before leaving the house. The delicate chain was tangled into a hopeless knot, a few strands of hair still caught in it.

The last photo was of my engagement ring, sealed inside a clear evidence bag on its own. The diamond was still intact, but the band had darkened. Engraved on the inside were Tristan's and my initials, along with the date of tonight's engagement banquet.

The car went silent for a moment because every single one of those things was something they recognized.

Elise's face paled slightly. She spoke softly. "Tristan, these things... They have to be real, don't they? They're in such bad shape. Selene would never ruin them on purpose..."

Tristan let out a low laugh. "Wouldn't she? That's only how you'd think."

His tone was dismissive, as though he had seen through me long ago. "A princess like Selene, who's never gone without money and never suffered a day in her life? She doesn't know what it means to value something. If it wasn't earned with her own hands, what does it matter if it's ruined? She'll just buy another one."

Callum had looked genuinely shocked at first, but when he noticed the photos bore no police insignia whatsoever, he came around to Tristan's side.

Tristan snorted. "If she's willing to throw it away, she shouldn't expect me to put a second ring on her finger."

My soul hovered in the corner of the car. I smiled bitterly to myself.

Even though Tristan had grown so cold toward me in recent times, the moment he slid that ring onto my finger at the engagement banquet, my nose had still stung with the threat of tears.

It was a scene I had fantasized about for years. I once believed that even if he did not love me, at least in that single moment, there could still be a scrap of dignity left between us.

I never imagined that in his eyes, this was the kind of person I was.

My eyes burned completely. He would never get the chance to put a ring on my finger a second time.

The staff member on the other end of the line was barely holding back their frustration. "Mr. Gage, Mr. Corvin, what exactly do you want done with these belongings?"

Tristan could not be bothered to listen anymore. "Throw them out."

The staff member was stunned. "Excuse me?"

Callum leaned back against the headrest, his tone even more casual than Tristan's. "I don't know how much Selene paid you people to put on this little show, but do me a favor and tell her to come home tonight. She needs to stop running around out there."

The voice on the other end exploded. "How can you do this? She's your family! And her ashes? Are you going to throw those away too?"

Tristan added one last, cold remark. "Don't send that kind of thing our way. I don't want it to stain our eyes."

He hung up without another word.

The car pulled to a stop at the dock just then. The yacht was blazing with light, music drifting across the sea breeze, and the deck was already packed with guests.

The moment they boarded, someone rushed over with a phone in hand.

"Mr. Gage, you need to see this! The gown on this body... Doesn't it look like the one Ms. Corvin wore to tonight's engagement banquet?"

Tristan paused. He lowered his gaze to the screen, and in an instant, he went completely still.