My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 21: His Moments
This was a private chat group for perfumery enthusiasts. The screening process for new members was strict, and it was filled with high-level Perfumers and raw material suppliers. While everyone chatted freely, they had a tacit agreement to never reveal their real-world identities. Celia Sterling loved to browse the group in her free time.
The person who posted the screenshot was the group owner, [T-Rex Perfume]. From his day-to-day chatter, one could piece together that he was likely the Crown Prince of some beauty and cosmetics conglomerate in Seraphina.
He was in charge of vetting all new members, so not only did he know everyone’s real identity, but he was also friends with most of them on WeChat.
And the screenshot he had just dropped like a bombshell in the chat was from the WeChat Moments of the group’s wealthiest "final boss."
The final boss’s WeChat ID was [Rivermoon].
As it happened, Celia Sterling also had this mogul’s private WeChat. In fact, she was the one who had personally recommended him for the group years ago.
Celia Sterling exited the group chat window, opened her friends list, searched, and pulled up that WeChat name.
The other person’s profile picture was a gleaming golden Brightmoon in the night sky.
Celia could no longer recall when she had added him. Thinking back, it might have been ten years ago or more. WeChat had just come out then. Celia, finding it novel and going through a rebellious phase where she was glued to her phone, added anyone and everyone. Later, she even used the "Shake" and "People Nearby" features, adding who knows how many random friends.
Later, she started deleting batches of strangers she rarely contacted. Adding and deleting, deleting and adding... after so many years, Celia could no longer trace how she’d even added this mogul, Rivermoon.
But the two had never met, and they rarely ever contacted each other.
As for why he had remained on Celia’s friends list for over a decade without being deleted—
This mogul controlled the most top-tier fragrance resources and had eighty-six high-end raw material bases distributed across the globe.
From a perfumer’s standpoint, Celia felt she could call the man "Father."
After staring at the Brightmoon profile picture for a few seconds, Celia tapped into his Moments.
The latest post was the same *malatang* picture from the group chat, posted 23 minutes ago.
The photo was taken casually, but the packaging was exquisite and high-end. The phone’s camera also had an automatic beautifying filter, making the resulting image look very appealing.
Celia’s gaze shifted to the caption. ’His girlfriend’s lipstick?’
Celia’s fingers itched. She couldn’t resist opening a chat window and sending him a message:
Cece: [Finally in a relationship? Congrats]
After sending it, she went back to browsing his Moments.
Besides the latest *malatang* post, this "Father" figure of a mogul had a few other posts on his Moments, and they were quite interesting:
An empty corner of a wall, with a few scattered rose petals. Caption: [I was just away on a business trip, and the rose I’d had my eye on for so long was dug up and taken.], Posted: Three years ago
A casually snapped photo of a small stray cat’s back. Caption: [The banquet was lively. The back she showed me was cold.], Posted: Two years ago
Under the sun, a tall, slender man’s shadow covers a Red Jade Pearl plant. Caption: [She likes Red Jade Pearls, she likes younger men. As for me... am I past my prime?], Posted: One year ago
The cover of a gift contract for a private jet. Caption: [The groom isn’t me, but I’m paying for the honeymoon trip. What bad luck.], Posted: Six months ago
A photo of the pitch-black night sky, showing a corner of a silent, cold floor-to-ceiling window. Caption: [I want to gouge out the moon. Force its love.], Posted: Three months ago
...
Following the timeline, Celia’s imagination ran wild, piecing together all sorts of cheesy melodramas from the few posts. All traces of sleepiness vanished.
A few minutes later, her WeChat went DING.
Rivermoon: [Congratulations to you too]
Celia was baffled for a moment. ’Congratulations to me too? What’s there to congratulate me for?’ She sent two question marks in a row.
But he didn’t reply again.
「Jade Orchid Manor.」
At one in the morning, standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Silas Norwood, dressed in a bathrobe, slowly logged out of his alternate account with his slender fingers. In the deliberately dimmed light of the night lamp, his amber eyes were indistinct, tinged with a faint smile.
The next day, Celia didn’t see Silas Norwood’s reply until she woke up.
Silas: [Good night] 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
The message had been sent at four in the morning, when she was already fast asleep. ’Silas Norwood... he can really stay up late, can’t he?’
She got out of bed and went downstairs. Kian Sterling wasn’t home.
The housekeeper thoughtfully brought her breakfast. "Chairman Sterling took a call and went out. He told me to remind you to eat well, Miss."
"Where did he go?" Celia asked casually.
The housekeeper thought for a moment. "Judging by the accent, it was a client from Port Sovereign."
Since it was about work, Celia didn’t inquire further.
After breakfast, she drove to the office.
When she arrived at the company building and got out of her car, a figure standing by the flowerbeds near the entrance blocked her path.
Celia took two steps back. "Declan Norwood, what are you doing here?"
Declan Norwood stood before her, his head slightly bowed as he looked down at her. His voice was very hoarse. "I heard you went to the Norwood Group yesterday. Why didn’t you stop by my office for a visit?"
Celia shook her head gently. "Declan, it’s not appropriate for us to meet privately anymore."
Declan didn’t speak, just listlessly kicked at the pebbles by his feet, looking utterly dejected.
Celia then noticed he had changed his hairstyle. His previously handsome and wild chestnut-colored, subtly layered hair was now cut very short. His clothes were no longer the rock-and-roll style he used to favor, but a simple set of casual wear. He was, however, still wearing that skull necklace, and he had a few more earrings.
"You’ve changed your look," Celia mused. "You seem a bit more mature."
"Well, I’ve suffered the painful loss of my beloved. It’s a bit hard to accept." Declan’s tone was self-deprecating, still laced with a devil-may-care attitude. "I learned it online—cut your hair to cut off your feelings."
Celia’s tone paused. "So now... are they cut off?"
"It didn’t work." The expression in Declan’s charming eyes was complicated, and his whole demeanor had a certain brokenness to it. "I still miss you a lot."
Celia was at a loss for words.
Declan looked at her for a while, then gave a wistful smile. "Cece, I’m leaving."
Celia hummed in acknowledgment. "Where to?"
"Solisia. Besides our family’s mines, we also have oil fields there. My dad arranged for me to go and manage things."
"Oh. That’s good."
Declan looked at her, his eyes gradually welling up with moisture, but he immediately suppressed it. He gave a slight smile. "It’s not a permanent post. I can still come back for a visit every ten days or so."
Celia was silent for a moment. "Then when the time comes, your uncle and I will throw you a welcome-back party."
Declan couldn’t smile anymore. He stared at her blankly, the gloom in his charming eyes deepening, and said through nearly gritted teeth, "You just love to twist the knife, don’t you."
He spun around abruptly and left.
Celia watched his retreating back, feeling annoyed. Her mood for work was completely ruined. She immediately dialed Quinn Sinclair’s number. "Come shopping with me."
"Not working today?"
"Skipping for a day," Celia said. "I need to unwind."
"If you want to unwind, what’s the fun in shopping?" Quinn Sinclair hooted. "Let’s go to a club, find some male models. I dare you, do you have the guts?"
