'No, no, no!'
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Isla Prescott immediately dismissed it.
That was Shane Sterling! He was the one who destroyed people, not the type to destroy himself!
When she lived with the Lockwood Family, she had always heard Mrs. Lockwood talk about him. The eldest son of the neighboring Sterling Family had good grades, but he was rebellious and untamable. He would snap someone's arm at the slightest disagreement—a defiant troublemaker who was a headache for both his school and his family. He and the gentle, humble Silas Lockwood were polar opposites.
Isla Prescott didn't want to—and didn't dare—get too involved with someone like that. But then she had a second thought. 'What if?'
'What if he's arrogant on the outside but fragile on the inside? What if he has depression? What if he couldn't handle the public humiliation...' For a grown man to be cheated on so publicly, to have everyone know he was cuckolded, would definitely take a psychological toll.
If Shane Sterling really jumped from the rooftop tonight, she would be the last person to have seen him. She would be guilty of watching him die and doing nothing.
'No way. I don't want to carry such a heavy cross.'
In the end, Isla Prescott decided to go over and check things out.
She slowly approached Shane Sterling.
Shane Sterling heard her footsteps, turned his head slightly, and glanced behind him.
"Sean."
Shane Sterling ignored her. He turned back around, leaving her with his cold, distant back.
Isla Prescott looked up at him. "Are you... enjoying the view?"
"What? Thought I was going to jump?"
"No, no! I just saw you standing up there all alone and came to ask."
Isla Prescott's nerves were stretched taut. Her mind raced to analyze his words. Hearing the annoyance in his tone, as if she were being nosy, she instantly concluded that he definitely wasn't planning to kill himself.
'Just as I thought. I knew it.'
"The view from this angle must be great. I won't disturb you. You can carry on."
Isla Prescott bolted, quickening her pace.
"Wait. Did I say you could go?"
Isla Prescott stopped and turned around. The moment she looked up, she saw Shane Sterling smoothly pivot on the railing.
He was now facing her, the vast, empty night behind him. He looked even more dangerous.
The hair on her arms stood on end.
"Sean, why don't you come down! It's dangerous up there."
"I'm not coming down." He gave Isla Prescott a slight, roguish arch of his brow. "I'm in a bad mood. If you leave, I can't guarantee I won't jump."
Isla Prescott suddenly felt like she was being extorted for a good deed she hadn't even performed.
Of course, she was even more afraid that he would lean back and it would be ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
"Don't do this! I know you're upset about the breakup, but I think... it's normal for love not to work out in the end. Most relationships in this world don't last. Love itself is something that only exists in the present. You should just enjoy the journey!"
She didn't dare mention "cheating" or "cuckolded," wracking her brain to avoid those two words. But Shane Sterling didn't seem to be buying it at all. He looked down at her, sizing her up. "How old are you? You talk like an old woman."
"I just mean that a breakup isn't a big deal. If you don't make it to the end, it just means you weren't right for each other. Isn't there a song lyric that goes, 'You have to say goodbye to the wrong one to meet the right one'?"
"Never heard of it."
"Whether you've heard it or not isn't important. What's important is that you're so handsome, tons of women must like you. You can just find someone new."
Shane Sterling's gaze grew even more indifferent.
'Fine, fine,' Isla Prescott understood. Comforting someone didn't require grand philosophies; just saying "I'm just as miserable as you" was enough.
She took a deep breath. "Sean, you probably think it's easy for me to talk, but I really do understand how you feel. Because I had a breakup today, too."
Shane Sterling's dark eyes glinted, his interest genuinely piqued. "Oh? You broke up with your 'brother'?"
Isla Prescott flinched. "How did you know...?"
She had always thought her relationship with Silas Lockwood was a secret known only to the two of them. How could Shane Sterling possibly know?
"Help me down first," Shane Sterling said.
He was finally willing to come down. Forgetting her own confusion, Isla Prescott quickly extended her hand.
Shane Sterling lowered his gaze, glanced at her slender, pale hand, and grabbed it, leaping down from the railing.
The railing was high, and as he landed, he carried a heavy, oppressive aura. Isla Prescott subconsciously took two steps back, but in the next second, she was pulled into a tight hug by Shane Sterling.
Shane Sterling had a unique scent, like a green tea garden at the foot of a snowy mountain—a fresh and cool quality.
The embrace was incredibly solid; she could even feel the lines of his muscles beneath his black shirt.
"What are you doing?" Isla Prescott shoved him away.
"My legs are weak, I can't stand. Just needed you for support."
She glared at him.
"Don't believe me?" he said, completely unabashed. "Try standing up that high if you don't believe me."
Isla Prescott couldn't be bothered to argue with him. She was more concerned about something else. "How did you know I was with my 'brother'?"
Shane Sterling looked down and dusted off his sleeve. "Does it matter? You've already broken up, haven't you?"
'True.'
She and Silas Lockwood had already broken up. It didn't matter anymore if other people knew or not. She knew in her heart that no matter what, a line had been crossed. She and Silas could never truly go back to being just a brother and a sister.
Isla Prescott had only intended to use her own breakup to comfort Shane Sterling, but finding out that he knew her secret left her at a loss for how to face him.
"Since you're okay now, I'll be leaving." She just wanted to get out of there, but she still felt a little worried. After a few steps, she stopped. "Don't get any more funny ideas. It's embarrassing for a grown man to be ready to die for love."
She ran off as soon as she finished speaking.
Shane Sterling stood on the rooftop, watching Isla Prescott's retreating back. He pushed his tongue against his cheek and smiled.
--
Isla Prescott got downstairs, her heart pounding as if she were the one who had been up high and about to jump.
She detoured to the restroom, planning to splash some water on her face to calm down.
"Who was that guy Young Mr. Shaw beat up earlier?"
"Felix Dudley from AuraTech. If you ask me, that Felix Dudley is an idiot. Of all the people to provoke, he had to go and provoke Young Mr. Shaw."
Inside the restroom, the sound of people chatting drifted out from one of the stalls.
"Felix Dudley never knows when to keep his mouth shut."
"No, he's just stupid. Actually, there's already a rumor going around in our circles that Young Mr. Shaw was the one who leaked the story about the Quincy Family's daughter cheating."
"Huh? He exposed his own cuckolding? Why?"
"Why else? He doesn't want to marry the Quincy girl. The bigger the scandal, the more irreversible it becomes, and the better his chances of completely breaking off the engagement with the Quincy Family."
"Is that rumor for real?"
"Forget whether it's true or not for a second. Just think about it. With the Sterling Group's PR power, if Young Mr. Shaw hadn't tacitly approved it, would his scandal have stayed on the trending topics list for a whole day?"
"..."
It was a moment of sudden enlightenment for Isla Prescott.
'Right! Of course! How could I not have thought of that? If Shane Sterling hadn't deliberately let it happen, how could the story of him being cuckolded have spread all over the city?'
On the rooftop just now, he was just playing weak to fool her, and she had stupidly fallen right into his trap! Not only had she sincerely tried to talk him out of jumping, but she'd also told him about her own breakup!
'Shane Sterling was probably laughing his head off at her inside.'
Isla Prescott was endlessly annoyed, but unfortunately, what was said was said, and she couldn't take it back.
She scooped up a few handfuls of cold water and splashed them harshly on her face.
After washing her face, Isla Prescott walked out of the restroom and saw Shane Sterling leaving with a few other people. With the confident stride of his long legs, he didn't look the least bit troubled by love.
Now, Isla Prescott was certain. She had been completely fooled.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Isla Prescott took out her phone and glanced at it. It was a message from Sarah Hayes, her friend who owned the dessert shop.
"Isabelle, did your boyfriend like the birthday cake?"
Isla Prescott hesitated for a moment, then replied directly: "We broke up."
Sarah Hayes sent back a string of exclamation points.
Isla Prescott had been forcing herself not to think about Silas Lockwood all evening, but seeing Sarah's shock bursting through the screen, her heart couldn't help but ache with sorrow.
The lovelorn seek reasons, but love has no true beginning or end. The words she had used to comfort Shane Sterling ultimately couldn't comfort herself.
That night, Isla Prescott tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
The next morning, she received a call from Mrs. Lockwood, Yvette Shaw. Yvette asked her to come back to the Lockwood Family home for lunch.
Isla Prescott didn't want to see Silas Lockwood so soon, but she was afraid Yvette Shaw would notice something was amiss, so she could only agree.
After her morning classes ended, Isla Prescott took the subway to the Lockwood Family's home.
The Lockwood family's villa was located in Arcadia Heights, known as Meritopia's most exclusive residential area. It was a French-style villa that looked like a luxurious and romantic castle from a distance.
This was a place that Isla Prescott, born in the mountains, could never have hoped to reach in her lifetime. But thanks to Mrs. Lockwood's "adoption," she had been fortunate enough to live here for ten years.
Isla Prescott walked to the entrance and was about to raise her hand to ring the doorbell when the large gate suddenly swung open.
She looked up and saw Silas Lockwood standing behind the gate.
Silas Lockwood was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. He stood partially in the shadow of a Buddhist pine, his expression as placid as the color of his shirt.
It was better when they weren't face to face. The moment she saw him, that hollow sense of melancholy flooded her heart again.
She avoided Silas Lockwood's eyes and murmured, "Brother."