What?


    Shanley had finally remembered Sheryl?


    Well, they were childhood friends after all, and Sheryl was attractive and came from


    a good family. Any normal man wouldn''tpletely wipe her from his memory.


    "Shanley—"


    Hearing his words, Sheryl''s eyes instantly welled with red as she took a pitiful, aggrieved step toward him.


    But before she could take a second step, Shanley''s voice rang out again.


    "After all these years, your habit of spouting absolute nonsense hasn''t changed at all!"


    Sheryl stopped dead in her tracks. The crowd''s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them.


    What did he mean by that?


    Shanley didn''t borate. Instead, he walked over and stopped beside Juniper, holding a ss of juice.


    Juniper turned her face away, keeping her hands tuckedzily in her pockets. She didn''t take the ss.


    "It''s mango," Shanley said, lowering his voice with practiced patience. "I have absolutely zero history with her. Let me exin, yeah?"


    Juniper shot him a side-eye, finally taking the juice, and sat down on a nearby chair. Her expression was nonchnt, her posture rxed. From start to finish, she hadn''t given the so-called ''Yardley Princess'' a single direct nce.


    "Shanley, what do you mean?" Sheryl asked nervously, clenching her hands as the crowd stared in confusion.


    "What did you just call me?"


    Shanley looked at Sheryl. Any trace of warmth in his eyes vanished, reced by a chilling sharpness. His voice dropped to a terrifying register. "Years ago, I warned you to watch your mouth and stop running it carelessly."


    "If there''s a next time, you''ll face the consequences!"


    Sheryl trembled, her face draining of color. The memory violently pulled her back to when she was fifteen.


    It had been her first time visiting the Schwartz family with her parents. In the living room, she had crossed paths with Shanley-strikingly


    handsome and radiating aristocratic elegance. Even though they were the same age, he carried the maic aura of a mature man: dignified, aloof, andpletely


    unapproachable.


    And yet, it was impossible to look away. One nce, and he was burned into her memory.


    She had gone there with strict instructions from her parents to make an impression on the eldest Schwartz grandson. If she could win his favor, her future would be secured.


    But who could have predicted the reality?


    Shanley was ice-cold. He was like a fortress of stone-imprable and indifferent. Worse, he was like a dangerous predator; step even slightly into his territory, and his killing intent was suffocating.


    Like that very first time-she had merely called him "Shanley" softly, and he looked as if he was ready to strangle her.


    The boy had red at her fiercely, his voice a cold warning: "From now on, watch your mouth. Don''t speak to me carelessly. Understood?"


    She had been genuinely terrified. But the allure of bing the future Mrs. Schwartz was too intoxicating. She continually risked everything to get closer to him, meticulously crating thesilusion that they were Childhood sweethearts" She made the outside world believe she was the Schwartz family''s chosen bride-to-be.


    Though she had failed to win his heart, that carefully curated "illusion" had skyrocketed the Yardley family''s social standing.


    "Telling you to get lost was the only sentence I ever said to you, wasn''t it?"


    Shanley took a step forward, stopping directly in front of her. He looked down at her coldly, his presence so overwhelming it felt as though it could crush the air out of the


    room.


    "As for you sneaking around nearby to have people secretly snap photos of us together..."


    Shanley showed no mercy, ripping away her facadepletely. "Did you really think


    I didn''t know? I simply couldn''t be bothered to deal with you."


    "I didn''t want to dirty my hands."


    "I..."


    With her meticulously constructed mask shattered, Sheryl grit her teeth. Her voice shook so violently she couldn''t form aplete sentence She never imagined Shanley could be so ruthlessly cruel, trampting her dignity into the dirt for everyone to see.  S


    Other than trying to get close to him, she had never actually done anything to hurt


    him.