Chapter 286

Stella Johnson had stayed up all night. She barely closed her eyes, just kept staring at her phone, hoping for a message from Charles Hart. But nothing came. Not a single word. She gave a bitter smile, but before she could think more, a pop-up lit up her screen. "Breaking! Rich Man’s Stand-in Love Ends Badly" Her heart gave a violent jolt. She instinctively tapped into the trending search. The moment she saw the photo, she froze on the spot. Grace Carter was hanging affectionately on Charles’s arm. Both of them were smiling softly, close, intimate—too close. It felt like her brain just short-circuited. Her vision blacked out for a moment, and her knees nearly buckled. “Why… why is this happening…” She mumbled like she was in a dream. Tears streamed down her cheeks, splashing onto the phone screen and blurring that image that was crushing her world. The comments were even worse, each one like a dagger. "So it’s true, Stella's always been just a stand-in. I actually thought she and Charl