2026-07-31 07:09:30The banquet hall was silent.
No one laughed anymore.
Ryan narrowed his eyes at Ethan.
“What exactly do you mean?”
Ethan didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he calmly walked toward the large dining table.
The expensive dishes had already been served.
Wine glasses sparkled under the lights.
Everything had been carefully prepared.
It was a luxurious celebration.
But Ethan knew…
Behind all the smiles was betrayal.
Ryan crossed his arms.
“I asked you a question.”
Ethan picked up an empty wine glass and gently spun it between his fingers.
“You said this was an anniversary dinner.”
“Five years together.”
“That’s something worth celebrating.”
Ryan smiled mockingly.
“Exactly.”
“So why are you here?”
Ethan looked at Chloe.
“What about you?”
Chloe frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you also think this relationship is worth celebrating?”
She looked away for a moment before nodding.
“Of course.”
Ethan smiled.
“Good.”
“Then I have another question.”
“When exactly did your relationship begin?”
The room became quiet again.
Ryan answered before Chloe could.
“Five years ago.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Ethan nodded.
“It is.”
“Five years ago.”
He slowly looked around the room.
“Interesting.”
One of Ryan’s friends laughed.
“Stop talking in riddles.”
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
Ethan nodded.
“Alright.”
“I will.”
He looked directly at Chloe.
“Five years ago…”
“Weren’t you dating me?”
Chloe’s body stiffened.
Several guests exchanged confused looks.
One woman whispered,
“I thought she was.”
Another nodded.
“They broke up today, didn’t they?”
Ryan laughed loudly.
“So what?”
“People break up every day.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“They do.”
“But here’s what I don’t understand.”
He turned toward Ryan.
“You just said today is your fifth anniversary.”
Ryan’s smile slowly faded.
“So?”
“So…”
Ethan spread his hands.
“If today is your fifth anniversary…”
“And Chloe and I only broke up today…”
“Doesn’t that mean…”
“…she was dating both of us at the same time?”
Silence.
Complete silence.
The smiles on everyone’s faces disappeared.
Several guests slowly turned toward Ryan and Chloe.
One man frowned.
“Wait…”
“He’s right.”
Another woman looked confused.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Ryan’s expression darkened.
“You’re trying to twist words.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I’m only repeating what you said.”
“You announced your relationship has lasted five years.”
He looked at Chloe again.
“And you were still my girlfriend this morning.”
“So…”
“Would someone like to explain?”
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
The guests looked at one another.
Nobody knew what to say.
Ryan forced a laugh.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“The past is the past.”
Ethan smiled.
“It matters to me.”
He reached into his pocket.
Then he placed a small velvet box on the table.
Everyone stared at it.
Chloe’s face immediately turned pale.
She recognized it.
It was the engagement ring Ethan had planned to give her.
Ryan looked at the box with curiosity.
“What’s that?”
Ethan opened it.
A simple silver ring rested inside.
It wasn’t expensive.
But it was polished until it shone under the lights.
Ethan gently touched it.
“I worked overtime for six months to buy this.”
“I skipped meals.”
“I repaired my own shoes instead of buying new ones.”
“I walked to work whenever I could.”
“All because I wanted to give the woman I loved a proper proposal.”
The room grew even quieter.
Some of the guests lowered their heads.
Ryan looked at the ring and laughed.
“That’s it?”
“You sacrificed six months for a cheap ring?”
His friends laughed with him.
But not everyone joined in this time.
A young woman sitting near the end of the table quietly frowned.
She whispered to the man beside her,
“At least he earned it himself.”
The man nodded.
Ryan noticed the change in the room and quickly spoke louder.
“Ethan.”
“You can’t blame Chloe.”
“Love isn’t enough.”
“A woman deserves security.”
“Can you really give her the life she wants?”
Ethan looked at him calmly.
“I used to ask myself that question every day.”
Ryan smiled proudly.
“And now?”
Ethan slowly closed the ring box.
“Now I realize…”
“The problem was never money.”
Ryan frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Ethan looked directly into Chloe’s eyes.
“The problem was that she had already chosen someone else.”
Chloe bit her lip.
She wanted to argue.
But she couldn’t.
Because it was true.
Long before today…
She had already fallen for Ryan’s wealth.
She simply hadn’t told Ethan.
One of the guests finally spoke.
“Chloe…”
“Were you really seeing Ryan while you were still with Ethan?”
Everyone looked at her.
She opened her mouth.
But no words came out.
Ryan immediately stepped forward.
“Enough.”
“This is between us.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You made it public.”
“You invited all these people.”
“You wanted them to laugh at me.”
He slowly looked around the room.
“So now…”
“They deserve to know the truth.”
Several guests nodded unconsciously.
The mood had completely changed.
Ryan realized he was losing control.
He slammed his wine glass onto the table.
“Fine.”
“So what if she chose me?”
“I can give her everything.”
“You couldn’t even afford dinner.”
“I gave her designer bags.”
“I bought her jewelry.”
“I gave her a luxury apartment.”
He walked closer to Ethan.
“What did you ever give her?”
Ethan smiled.
“My loyalty.”
Ryan laughed.
“And look where that got you.”
“It got me here.”
Ryan frowned.
“What?”
Ethan calmly met his eyes.
“Standing in front of a man who had to steal another person’s girlfriend to feel superior.”
A few people at the table couldn’t help lowering their heads.
The words hit harder than anyone expected.
Ryan’s face turned bright red.
“You…”
Before he could continue, the banquet hall doors suddenly opened.
Everyone instinctively turned toward the entrance.
The hotel manager hurried inside with several staff members.
His eyes immediately landed on Ethan.
Without hesitation…
He walked straight toward him.
Then…
To everyone’s complete shock…
He bowed deeply.
“Good evening, Mr. Cole.”
“I’m terribly sorry for not recognizing you sooner.”
“You should have informed us that you were coming.”
The entire banquet hall froze.
Ryan’s confident smile disappeared instantly.
Chloe stared at Ethan in disbelief.
One question echoed through everyone’s mind.
Why was the manager of the Starlight Grand Hotel bowing to Ethan?
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 109: Legacy Reawakened
The blue screen flickered.It was unstable.Unlike the flawless interface Ethan had relied on throughout his journey, this one was fractured.Tiny cracks spread across its edges as though the system itself had suffered tremendous damage.The familiar mechanical voice spoke again.It was weaker than Ethan remembered.Yet…He smiled.After everything that had happened…It still sounded like home.Legacy System…Emergency Restoration… 7% Complete…Warning… Core functions unavailable…Reason… Legacy sacrificed during the Final Convergence…Ethan’s heart pounded.“So…”“You survived.”The screen remained silent for a moment.Then…A new sentence appeared.Correction…This unit did not survive.This unit… was remembered.The words struck him harder than any attack ever could.Remembered.Not rebuilt.Not repaired.Remembered.The blue screen slowly continued.Human belief…Shared memories…Legacy fragments carried within countless lives…Emergency reconstruction successful.Ethan finally un
Chapter 108: The Sky Breaker
The crack spread across the blue sky.It didn’t happen all at once.Thin fractures crawled outward like veins across glass, stretching from one horizon to the other.Each new crack released a faint silver light.The peaceful meadow beneath Ethan’s feet trembled.Birds that had been singing moments before suddenly took flight.The gentle breeze vanished.An unnatural silence swallowed the world.Ren’s small hand instinctively reached for Ethan’s.His fingers were trembling.“They found us.”Ethan looked down.“Who?”Ren swallowed.“The ones who don’t want us remembered.”Another deafening roar echoed overhead.This time…It was closer.The sky shattered a little more.Chunks of blue light drifted downward before dissolving into countless glowing particles.Ethan had seen worlds collapse before.He had watched stars disappear.Yet…There was something uniquely terrifying about watching the sky itself come apart.Not because it looked destructive.Because it looked…Wrong.Like reality w
Chapter 107: The First Face
Every step echoed inside Ethan’s helmet.Crunch.Crunch.Crunch.The lunar dust compressed beneath his boots as he followed the countless footprints stretching toward the enormous black doorway.Mission Control remained connected through his communicator.“Ethan, your oxygen levels are stable.”“Heart rate elevated, but within acceptable limits.”Dr. Brooks’ calm voice filled the silence.Professor Orion spoke next.“Distance to the structure: four hundred meters.”“Proceed carefully.”“I will.”Ethan answered.He never took his eyes off the doorway.The closer he came…The larger it became.From orbit it had looked massive.Standing beneath it…It was overwhelming.It rose into the endless darkness above him like a mountain carved from midnight.Its surface reflected nothing.Not sunlight.Not stars.Not even Ethan himself.It was as though the doorway refused to acknowledge reality.Back on Earth…Sophia stood inside Mission Control.Her hands remained folded tightly together.She h
Chapter 106: The Man Who Walked Through Silence
By sunrise…Ethan had made his decision.He would go.Not because he trusted the beings beyond the black doorway.Not because he believed they meant no harm.But because he had seen something in the message that no one else seemed willing to acknowledge.They had asked.Twice.First…May we speak?Then…One may come.An enemy didn’t ask permission.An enemy simply invaded.Whatever waited beyond that door…It wanted to be heard.Whether that was a blessing or a trap…Only one way existed to find out.The launch facility came alive before dawn.Floodlights illuminated the enormous launch pad while engineers hurried around the silver shuttle.Unlike the bulky spacecraft used during the early years of space exploration…This one had been built after the Seven Days.Human technology had advanced dramatically with knowledge recovered from the Architects.Its engines were cleaner.Its shields stronger.Its navigation system could cross the distance between Earth and the Moon in less than th
Chapter 105: The Invitation
No one celebrated.Although the footprints had stopped appearing…Although the black doorway had remained closed…Not a single person inside Mission Control believed the danger had passed.If anything…The silence felt heavier.It was the silence of two strangers looking at one another across a great distance.Waiting.Wondering who would speak next.Dr. Elena Brooks stood beside the communications console, replaying Ethan’s transmission.“My name is Ethan.”“You asked if you could speak.”“You can.”She listened to it three more times before finally muting the speakers.“I’ve worked in aerospace for seventeen years.”She slowly shook her head.“I spent my entire career preparing for first contact.”She smiled weakly.“I never imagined it would begin with… permission.”Professor Orion nodded.“Neither did I.”Hours passed.The black doorway did not move.The Moon remained quiet.Scientists continued monitoring every satellite, every telescope, and every sensor aimed toward the far sid
Chapter 104: Beyond the Black Door
The three knocks echoed through Mission Control.Slow.Steady.Deliberate.Every person in the room froze.No one spoke.No one breathed.The sound wasn’t coming from the speakers anymore.It seemed to resonate through the walls themselves.Three knocks…Yet it felt as though something enormous had struck the fabric of reality.Then…Silence.Emergency lights flickered back to life.Rows of monitors rebooted one after another.Technicians hurried to their stations.“Power is returning!”“I’m reconnecting to the lunar station!”“Signal stabilizing!”Dr. Elena Brooks leaned over one of the consoles.“Get me visual confirmation.”The largest monitor flashed.Static filled the screen.Then the image cleared.Everyone stared.The giant black doorway still stood on the Moon’s far side.Exactly where it had been before.Silent.Motionless.Almost…Innocent.Kai slowly let out the breath he had been holding.“I hate doors.”Lyra looked at him.“You hate everything.”“I especially hate mysteri
You may also like
WAR GOD'S REVENGE
Ardy-sensei98.9K viewsWISH TO BE RICH
South Ashan80.0K viewsThe Ruthless Son-in-law
Bella Starr140.9K viewsBuilding My Life
Anderson José156.7K viewsThe Pauper heir rises
Gift121 viewsRed Mist Jakarta: Second Chance
Gema12 viewsThe Dragon’s Weakest Rider
Ayra Ruthie 164 viewsThe Quiet Heir
Memegold155 views