Chapter 2

• I sat in the car with the heater on, but my heart was trembling with cold.
• As the two of them parted ways, my eyes fell on the half-filled bottle of paper stars by the car window, and my thoughts couldn't help but drift back a year ago.
• Back then, it was also a snowy day in winter.
• I, who had loved Julian for ten years, was about to happily marry him, but he ended up killing my entire family.
• Looking at my parents' cold bodies, I knelt in the morgue crying my heart out.
• Until a friend told me that Julian was kneeling in the snow outside the hospital, begging for my forgiveness.
• I bit my lip hard, the overwhelming hatred making me unwilling to see him again.
• But he knelt in the snow for three days and nights, letting the snow turn into water and freeze into ice, without the slightest hesitation.
• My heart softened, and I made a promise to protect him.
• So on that Christmas, just because I wanted to make a wish, the man braved the heavy snow and personally went up the mountain to cut down a Christmas tree.
• Seeing his frostbitten hands, I felt sorry and reminded him.
• "Don't be so crazy in the future."
• But he still smiled and told me.
• "As long as Viola is happy, I'm willing to be crazy countless times."
• It was also that night, when I was deeply moved, that I put a star in the jar and said to him, "Each of the stars in here records your kindness to me."
• But this relationship that I cherished so much was completely shattered when I heard the reason.
• I started the engine, drove to the cemetery on the outskirts.
• The snow weakened, and I walked to my parents' graves with an umbrella.
• Looking at the gentle eyes of the two in the photos, my heart was once again pierced with pain.
• Just because Bianca wanted to marry into the Sterling family, Julian deliberately killed them.
• Thinking of this, I knelt in front of the grave, knocked my head heavily three times, then turned to the phone to call the Sterling family.
• "Bianca is a fraud, she only cares about your money."
• Before I could finish, the man on the other end of the phone chuckled.
• "And then? Do you think I don't know?"
• I stood frozen in place, forcing myself to calm down.
• "So, do you want to marry a fraud, or do you want to marry me, who owns billions in assets?"
• Upon hearing this, the man on the other end of the phone let out a light laugh, with a hint of playfulness in his tone:
• "Billions in assets, that's it. I'm not short of money."
• "And, why do you think I would marry you?"
• The snow on my forehead melted into water, mixing with cold sweat. I clenched my fists tightly, my voice trembling as I spoke again.
• "Adding to the commercial land that the Sterling family and Sean are both interested in, this is all the chips I can bring to the table."
• "I need Mrs. Sterling's identity, please help me."
• As the words fell, the phone was dead silent.
• Just when I thought he wouldn't help me, the man chuckled sadly.
• "Exactly, Miss Hayes. For a businessman, this is the only way to show sincerity."
• "Give me a day, I will give you a satisfactory answer."
• The phone was hung up, I breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but collapse on the ground.
• Just as I began to doubt if my decision was correct, my phone rang again.
• It was a message from Bianca on TikTok.
• In the video, she was happily choosing a wedding dress, while the man standing beside her did not show his face, only revealing a small piece of his arm.
• But I recognized Julian at a glance because of the band-aid on the back of his hand, which I personally put on him when I left in the morning.
• I stood up in a sorry state, looked resolutely at my parents' photo, gritted my teeth and spoke.
• "I will avenge you, even if it means stepping into another fire pit."