When the Stars Fell into Dust

“Adrian Cole, you fool, don’t lose your mind!”

“Have you forgotten how desperately you pursued Lila five years ago?”

“So many suitors came to propose, and you chased them all away!”

“If not for marrying her, why risk your life taking on the hardest mission, nearly dying for it?”

“Lila waited five long years for you—how can you forget her?”

But by now, I understood.

Adrian truly had lost his memory.

He had forgotten his promise to marry me, and instead had fallen for someone else.

The room was tense with silence.

Everyone watched me closely, fearful of my reaction—

after all, the last person who crossed me now lay beneath a mound of weeds on his grave.

Adrian, oblivious to the danger in the air, pressed his forehead to the cold floor.

“Please, Master, grant us your blessing.”

My father gave a chilling laugh. “Blessing?”

“Then who will bless my daughter, who waited five years?”

Before anyone could respond, I had already cocked the gun and pressed it to Adrian’s forehead.

His eyes softened with pain as he looked at me.

“Lila, should I kill him for you?” my father asked.

“If Adrian dies, your five wasted years won’t become a laughingstock in others’ mouths.”

Gasps echoed through the hall.

Everyone knew my father wasn’t joking.

For his treasured daughter, the jewel of his eye,

he would truly kill Adrian without hesitation.

But I only smiled, pushing my father’s hand away.

“Forget it.”

That single word swallowed every expectation and bitterness of my five years of waiting.

I turned to the girl behind him.

Since the moment my father drew his gun, she had gone pale as a frightened rabbit.

I smiled faintly at her.

“Congratulations, sister-in-law.”

My gaze dropped to her rounded belly.

“The last time I saw you, you were ready to give up on life. And now—already carrying a child.”

Shock rippled through the room.

Even my father’s six apprentices looked stunned.

“Junior sister, you know this woman?”

Yes. I knew her.

Stella Ray.

Even her name—I was the one who gave it to her.

Years ago, after losing her parents, she nearly fell victim to a gang of thugs.

I brought my men and saved her.

Later, she picked up half a bottle of pills from the street, ready to end her miserable life.

I told her it was better to live, however hard, than to die.

I told her:

“Never believe the world is all darkness. There will always be something, someone worth cherishing.”

But now, she gazed at me with tear-filled eyes, clutching her belly, and collapsed to her knees.

“Sister, I’ve wronged you. I never knew my boyfriend was your fiancé. But it was you who told me—this world still holds people worth cherishing. I found him. He’s my life now. Please forgive me—I can’t give him back.”

Adrian looked at her in shock, something flickering in his eyes.

“Stella, she’s the one who saved you?”

Stella nodded frantically, clinging to him.

“But I’ve betrayed my sister…”

I had no interest in their pitiful display.

Turning, I walked away.

My father quickly followed.

“Lila, what are you thinking?”

“If you still love Adrian, memory loss or not, even if he were crippled, I’d make him obey you.”