Chapter 118: Chapter 105: Chasm

Isla Prescott was hungover. She felt groggy and unsteady all day and was in no state to work.

She deeply regretted drowning her sorrows in alcohol.

The alcohol could only offer a temporary numbness; it couldn’t truly heal her pain. When she woke up the next day, the heavy feeling in her heart was still there. Worse, her physical discomfort only made her feel more depressed.

Isla Prescott stayed at her studio until four in the afternoon before heading home to rest.

She had just arrived at her residential complex when she saw Shane Sterling’s car parked in the shade of a tree.

’Isn’t he supposed to be getting engaged today? Why is his car here?’

’Could Justin Wyatt have driven it here?’

Puzzled, Isla Prescott went upstairs. As she stepped out of the elevator, she saw Shane Sterling squatting by her door, studying the potted plant next to it.

Hearing her footsteps, Shane Sterling turned to look at her.

“You’re back.”

He looked so natural, as if he was meant to be waiting for her right here.

For a moment, Isla Prescott didn’t know what to say. She just silently sized him up.

He was wearing a modern, Chinese-style suit with gold frog buttons. It wasn’t his usual style; it had to be his engagement suit.

’But if he really got engaged, why would he be here?’

“Where’s the key under the flowerpot?” Shane Sterling asked.

“How did you know there was a key under the flowerpot?”

“Silas Lockwood told me,” he said, his expression meaningful when he mentioned the name.

The familiar scent of jealousy hung in the air.

“How would Silas Lockwood know?” Isla Prescott asked.

“Didn’t you tell him?”

“Me?”

“Last night you were drunk, and Silas Lockwood brought you home. I saw him go right for the spare key under the flowerpot, like he knew exactly where it was.”

Fragments of the previous night at the bar flashed through Isla Prescott’s mind. She had indeed run into Silas Lockwood, and he had helped her into a car. But after that, she’d blacked out.

“You saw Silas Lockwood bring me home? You were here yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

“But aren’t you getting engaged? What are you doing here?”

“The engagement is off.” Shane Sterling’s tone was casual. “I’ve completely cut ties with Genevieve Quincy.”

Isla Prescott looked at the engagement suit he was wearing, finding it hard to believe.

Shane Sterling noticed Isla Prescott’s gaze, took off his suit jacket, balled it up, and tossed it into the hallway trash can.

“I came in such a hurry, I forgot to change.” Shane Sterling’s hand went to the buttons of his shirt as he asked, “Should I take off the shirt too?”

Before Isla Prescott could answer, his hand moved down to his belt. “The pants have to go too, right?”

…

“The shoes are part of the set with the suit and pants.”

…

“If you don’t like any of it, I can take it all off—until you’re satisfied.” The corner of his mouth curved into a wicked grin. “But can you let me in first? I’m worried your neighbors might call the cops on me.”

Isla Prescott was exasperated.

She took the key from her bag and opened the door.

“Let’s talk inside.”

Of course, she wasn’t actually afraid Shane Sterling would strip in the hallway until someone called the police. She just wanted to have a proper talk with him.

Shane Sterling followed Isla Prescott into the entryway. The moment the door closed, he grabbed her by the waist, spun her around, and pinned her against it, lowering his head to kiss her fiercely.

They had broken up before the New Year. It hadn’t been that long, and since they still saw each other from time to time, the breakup never felt entirely real.

But Shane Sterling acted as if he’d been holding back for an eternity.

The kiss was filled with a desperate urgency, as if he wanted to take her right then and there. He plunged in, tangling his tongue with hers until it ached.

“Don’t do this!” Isla Prescott pushed him away. “We already broke up!”

Her words were like a bucket of cold water dumped over Shane Sterling’s head, instantly extinguishing the fire of passion that had been building within him.

“I’ve completely cut ties with Genevieve Quincy.” Fearing she hadn’t heard him clearly outside, Shane Sterling repeated himself.

“I heard you.” Isla Prescott walked over to the sofa and poured him a glass of water. “What exactly happened? Sit down and tell me everything.”

Her attitude was clearly off.

Even though he had just kissed her so deeply, the look in her eyes was still polite and distant.

Shane Sterling suddenly had the feeling he had celebrated too soon.

He told Isla Prescott everything that had happened at the engagement banquet that day, down to the last detail.

Isla Prescott’s expression remained largely unchanged. She looked at Shane Sterling calmly. “So the engagement was part of your plan too?”

Shane Sterling was momentarily stumped.

He explained cautiously, “From the very beginning, I felt there was something fishy about Jocelyn Quincy being sent abroad for drug use, so I had people investigating it secretly. Using Jocelyn to keep Genevieve in check was part of my plan. But the engagement wasn’t. That was a last-minute decision the Quincy and Sterling families made last week.”

Shane Sterling had wanted to refuse, but first, he was worried about making Victor Sterling suspicious. Second, he figured that dragging Genevieve Quincy into the abyss at the very moment of her supposed triumph would be the best punishment for her. So, he just went along with it.

“So when you asked me to wait for you for a week, you had already decided to get engaged, is that right?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

“I was afraid you’d overthink things.”

Shane Sterling didn’t want her to know about the messy process; he only wanted to share the positive outcome with her.

“If you had told me beforehand, I wouldn’t have overthought it. But for me to be completely in the dark and then hear about your engagement from someone else… that’s a completely different feeling.”

Especially since she ended up hearing the news from Genevieve Quincy herself.

The shock of that moment was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

Shane Sterling’s breath hitched. He recalled the night before—how she was drunk and crying, murmuring accusations even in her sleep. He realized then just how terribly wrong he had been.

Between lovers, mutual honesty is more important than one person’s unilateral attempts at protection.

“I’m sorry, Isla. I really didn’t handle this well.” Shane Sterling took Isla Prescott’s hand, looking into her eyes. “But at least, from now on, Genevieve Quincy will no longer be an obstacle between us.”

Isla Prescott pulled her hand free from Shane Sterling’s and lowered her gaze.

She was relieved that the matter with Genevieve Quincy was resolved, but Isla Prescott knew that the fundamental problem between her and Shane Sterling remained.

As long as his family needed him to secure a marriage alliance, there would always be another “Genevieve”—some other family’s heiress.

Seeing her avoid his gaze, Shane Sterling grew faintly uneasy. “You can’t forgive me?”

“It’s not that I don’t forgive you.” Isla Prescott didn’t know how to put it into words. After a long pause, she simply said, “I’m sorry, I just don’t like the state I’m in right now.”

“What state?”

“Of longing for you, while only being able to view our future with pessimism.”

’She couldn’t just hide in the shadows every time Shane Sterling had to enter a marriage alliance, anxiously waiting for him to solve everything and come back to her. What if one day he couldn’t solve it? Or what if he met someone he didn’t want to ’solve’? Would she just have to stand by and watch the man she loves marry another woman?’

’How much torment would she have to endure while waiting for that outcome?’

The fantasy of love was beautiful, but the chasm of reality was impossible to bridge.

When all was said and done, it came back to the same thing: they were from two different worlds and could never have a perfect ending together.

Shane Sterling’s heart clenched. Being at the center of it all, how could he not understand what Isla Prescott was trying to say?

“Then what do you want?” Shane Sterling asked.

“Let’s… just end it here.”

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