The people around me wrinkled their noses and looked me up and down with contempt.
"That scruffy-looking guy used to date Miss Cruz? Look at him. He’s dressed like a greasy middle-aged man. I can smell him from here."
"This is a dinner party hosted by the richest family in Duvant City. How did some stray mutt manage to sneak in?"
"He’s probably a security guard here. Maybe he heard Miss Cruz would be attending and snuck in for a glimpse…"
I calmly put down the half-eaten snack in my hand and gave Yevana a polite smile.
She did not see a shred of embarrassment on my face and sneered. "Stefan, did you dump me back then just so you could rush over here to work security?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, laughter erupted from the crowd again.
Everyone was waiting for me to slink away in shame, but I did not flinch. My expression remained composed and my smile appeared courteous.
"Stefan, don’t you have any dignity? If I were you, I’d have left by now."
Yevana felt like she had just punched cotton since there was no satisfying reaction from me and her irritation flared.
Lucan gently took her arm and said soothingly, "All right, Yevana, don’t be angry. It must already be painful for him to see what he’s missed. Why humiliate him in public?"
As he spoke, he reached out and gave my shoulder a pat, adding with fake sincerity, "Isn’t that right, Stefan? Don’t blame Yevana. After all, you did abandon her. Of course, it hurt her deeply."
"But Yevana does have a point. A job like security isn’t really suitable for someone your age. It’s… undignified."
"Plus, you work so hard just to make a few thousand a month. It’s not worth it. Why don’t you bow your head and apologize to Yevana? If she’s in a good mood, she might toss you a tip, maybe even one hundred thousand or two. That’s more than you could earn in years."
Lucan spoke as if giving heartfelt advice, but his eyes were watching Yevana, gauging her reaction. Seeing her pleased expression, he quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Yevana raised her chin arrogantly, pulled out a check from her purse and dangled it in front of me.
"Well, since Lucan is so eager to help you, Stefan Lorrimer, if you apologize for what happened back then and admit you regret it, this one hundred fifty thousand dollars is yours."
I stared at her in disbelief, stunned that she had the audacity to demand an apology from me.
The year I met Yevana Cruz, I had just started as an intern at one of the group's entertainment companies, keeping my identity hidden.
Back then, she was new to the entertainment industry. She was ambitious but frustrated, aloof and full of disdain for the capital-driven machinery of a famous magazine, "Elite Times."
"Stefan, I really can’t stand those bitches who rely on rich sponsors to climb the ladder. How are they any different from those cheap bitches working in nightclubs?"
Back then, I had wanted to use my family's resources to support her, but the scorn and disdain in her eyes when she said those words made me swallow everything I was about to say.
From that moment on, I only dared to help her from the shadows.
Fearing it might affect her rise to stardom, I buried my pride and kept my relationship hidden. For three years, I was secretly in relationship with her and quietly poured in resources, finally pushing her into the limelight as the industry's newest darling.
I had planned to tell her the truth about who I truly was, but on the night she won the Newcomer Award, she wrapped her arm around Lucan Raye and made a grand, public announcement of their relationship.
At that time, she just sent a cold breakup text and erased the three years we shared with the tap of a screen.
I used every connection I had to track her down at her new place, desperate for answers.
However, she merely looked at me with mocking eyes and sneered, "Stefan, do you really have the nerve to ask why I broke up with you? You should be asking yourself instead…"
"Lucan brings me fame, helps me win awards and connects me with powerful investors. What about you? What can a pathetic part-timer like you possibly offer me?"
Her words left me speechless.
She stood there, confident and self-assured, as if she had completely forgotten her own words where she swore she would make it to the top on her own.
