novelraw Chapter 21: His Moments
Chapter 21: His Moments
This was a group chat composed entirely of perfumery enthusiasts. The screening process for entry was incredibly strict, its members a mix of high-level Perfumers and ingredient suppliers. While everyone exchanged ideas, they also maintained a tacit understanding to never reveal their real-world identities. Celia Sterling loved browsing the chat whenever she had a free moment.
The person who posted the screenshot was the group owner, [T-Rex Perfume]. From the everyday chatter, one could piece together that he was likely the Crown Prince of a cosmetics and personal care conglomerate in Seraphina.
He was in charge of vetting all new members, so not only did he know everyone’s true identity, but he was also connected with most of them on their private social media.
The screenshot he had just dropped like a bomb in the chat was from the social media feed of the group’s wealthiest member—the final boss, so to speak.
The final boss’s ID was [Rivermoon].
As it happened, Celia Sterling also had this mogul’s private contact information. In fact, she was the one who had personally invited him to the group several years ago.
Celia Sterling exited the group chat, opened her friends list, and searched for the name.
The user’s profile picture was a brilliant, golden moon against the night sky.
Celia Sterling couldn’t recall when she had added him. It had to have been over a decade ago. Back then, the messaging app was still new, and Celia, in a rebellious phase where she was glued to her phone, thought it was the coolest thing. She added everyone she met and even used features like "Shake" and "People Nearby" to connect with countless random strangers.
Over the years, she’d gone through phases of deleting batches of strangers she rarely contacted, only to add more later. After so much time, Celia could no longer trace how she’d ended up connected with the great Rivermoon.
The two had never met in person and barely ever spoke.
As for why he had survived on her friends list for over a decade without being deleted—
This mogul controlled the world’s most premium fragrance resources. He had eighty-six high-grade raw material production sites scattered across the globe.
’From a perfuming perspective,’ Celia thought, ’I might as well call the man ’Daddy’.’
After staring at the bright moon profile picture for a few seconds, Celia tapped into his feed.
The latest post was the same picture of the spicy hot pot from the group chat, posted 23 minutes ago.
The photo looked like a casual snapshot, but the container was clearly exquisite and high-end. The phone’s camera also had a built-in beautifying filter, so the final image was quite easy on the eyes.
Celia’s gaze shifted to the caption. ’Girlfriend’s lipstick?’
Her fingers twitched. Unable to resist, Celia opened a chat window with him and sent a message:
Cece: [Finally dating someone? Congrats.]
After sending the message, she went back to scrolling through his feed.
Besides the recent post about the spicy hot pot, this "Daddy" mogul had several other posts, and they were quite interesting:
A photo of an empty corner, with a few scattered rose petals. Caption: [I go away on one business trip, and the rose I’ve had my eye on gets poached.] Posted: Three years ago.
A casual shot of the back of a small stray cat. Caption: [The party was lively. The back she turned to me was cold.] Posted: Two years ago.
In the sunlight, the shadow of a tall, slender man falls over a Red Jade Pearl plant. Caption: [She likes Red Jade Pearls and younger men. As for me, am I over the hill?] Posted: One year ago.
The cover of a deed of gift for a private jet. Caption: [I’m not the groom, but I’m footing the bill for the honeymoon. What rotten luck.] Posted: Six months ago.
A photo of a pitch-black night sky, with the corner of a dark, cold floor-to-ceiling window visible. Caption: [I want to tear down the moon and force it to be mine.] Posted: Three months ago.
...
Following the timeline of the posts, Celia’s imagination concocted several melodramatic soap operas, completely chasing away her drowsiness.
A few minutes later, her phone chimed with a notification.
Rivermoon: [Same to you.]
Celia blinked. ’Same to you? Same to me for what?’ She fired back two question marks.
But he didn’t reply.
「Jade Orchid Manor.」
It was one in the morning. Standing before the floor-to-ceiling window, Silas Norwood, dressed in a bathrobe, used his slender fingers to slowly log out of his alternate account. In the deliberately dimmed light of the room, his amber eyes glinted with a faint, shadowy smile.
「The next day.」
Celia Sterling didn’t see Silas Norwood’s reply until she woke up.
Silas: [Good night.]
The message had been sent at four in the morning, by which time she was fast asleep. ’Silas Norwood... what a night owl,’ she thought.
She got up and went downstairs, but Kian Sterling wasn’t home.
The butler thoughtfully brought her breakfast. "Chairman Sterling took a call and had to step out," he said. "He asked me to make sure you have a good meal, Miss."
"Where did he go?" Celia asked casually.
The butler thought for a moment. "Judging by the accent on the phone, it was a client from Port Sovereign."
Since it was business, Celia didn’t press for more details.
After breakfast, she drove to the office.
When she arrived at the office building and got out of her car, a figure standing by the flowerbeds near the entrance blocked her way.
Celia took two steps back. "Declan Nash, what are you doing here?"
Declan Nash stood before her, his head slightly bowed as he looked at her. His voice was hoarse. "I heard you went to the Norwood Group yesterday. Why didn’t you stop by to see me?"
Celia shook her head gently. "Declan, it’s not a good idea for us to meet privately anymore."
Declan didn’t say anything, just listlessly kicked at a stray pebble, the picture of dejection.
Celia then noticed he’d changed his hair. The handsome, wild, chestnut-brown textured crop he used to have was now cut very short. He was no longer dressed in his usual rock-inspired style, either, but in simple casual clothes. He was, however, still wearing his skull necklace, and he’d added a few more earrings.
"You changed your look," Celia remarked after a moment. "You seem a bit more... settled."
"Losing the love of your life is a tough pill to swallow," Declan said, his tone self-mocking but still laced with that familiar devil-may-care attitude. "I saw it online—you’re supposed to cut your hair to sever old feelings."
Celia paused. "So, are they severed now?"
"It didn’t work." A complex emotion swirled in Declan’s almond-shaped eyes, giving him a fragile, broken look. "I still miss you like crazy."
Celia was at a loss for words.
Declan watched her for a moment before giving a wistful smile. "Cece, I’m leaving."
Celia hummed in acknowledgment. "Where are you going?"
"Solisia. Our family has mines and oil fields there. My dad wants me to go manage things for a while."
"Oh. That’s good."
Declan looked at her, and his eyes started to glisten with moisture, but he quickly blinked it away. He forced a small laugh. "I won’t be there permanently. I can probably come back for visits every couple of weeks."
Celia fell silent for a moment. "Well, when you do, your uncle and I will throw you a welcome-home party."
Declan’s smile vanished. He stared at her, stunned, the gloom in his almond-shaped eyes darkening as he practically ground out the words, "You just know exactly how to twist the knife."
He spun around and stalked away.
Watching his retreating back, Celia felt a surge of annoyance. Her motivation for work completely evaporated. She pulled out her phone and called Quinn Sinclair. "Go shopping with me."
"You’re not working today?"
"I’m skipping," Celia said. "I need to unwind."
"If you want to unwind, what’s so fun about shopping?" Quinn Sinclair teased. "We should go to a high-end club, find some pretty boys. I dare you."