Lauren Shaw switched on the TV. By coincidence, the channel was showing the finals of the original design competition she’d just participated in. What had been a grueling twenty-four-hour shoot was now neatly edited into a tidy ninety-minute program.

The scene on-screen happened to be when Eva Snow came looking for her in her room. She had to admit, the show’s producers knew how to stir up drama. They’d singled out just that conversation between the two of them—probably to court controversy. Even though it was nothing but a handful of sentences, if someone with an agenda decided to make a fuss, it could easily stir up needless trouble again.

Lauren Shaw watched for a bit before switching channels.

Her phone chimed. A new message had come in.

Claire Xu: [Sheng Sheng, Ian Lawrence asked me for your contact info, but I didn’t give it to him.]

He was asking for her contact? What sort of mischief was Ian Lawrence planning now?

Her fingers typed rapidly into the chat window: [Why does he want my contact info?]

It wasn’t like there was anything to discuss between them.

As if a thought struck her, she kept typing: [Is he looking to get back at me? Because in sophomore year, I made him lose so much face in front of everyone at school. Maybe he’s back this time wanting to reclaim everything that was ‘his.’]

Claire Xu replied with just an ellipsis, then sent a scratching-head emoji. [You think so too?]

Claire Xu sounded resigned. [Girl, your imagination is really something else!]

Lauren Shaw lightened the mood by sending a cheeky sticker of a kid giggling. [Apparently, he heard from somewhere that you’re with Yvonne Sung these days and that Yvonne Sung isn’t treating you right, so he thinks you’re unhappy and wants to ‘save’ you.] Claire Xu had picked up this bit of gossip from other university friends.

Now that she thought about it, at one of the recent class reunions, she’d mentioned she was getting married soon. Back then, she and Yvonne Sung were preparing to tie the knot. Who could have predicted the mess that followed? Later, she’d officially registered her marriage with Yancy Shaw, but since they hadn’t held a wedding banquet, no one knew her current situation—or that she was no longer with Yvonne Sung.

It wouldn’t have mattered to most, but clearly Ian Lawrence didn’t see things that way. To him, Lauren Shaw was his unattainable “white moonlight”—the one he’d never gotten over after all these years apart.

Lauren Shaw: [He wants to rescue me? Hah, he’s surprisingly nice, but do I look like someone who needs rescuing?]

Right now, Yancy Shaw treated her like a priceless treasure. She was about as far from “unhappy” as anyone could imagine.

It was true—back when she’d been with Yvonne Sung, she was tense and insecure all the time. People always said lovers are like gardeners nourishing flowers: ever since she’d gotten together with Yancy Shaw, she’d felt like a pampered bloom with all the sunlight and water she could ever want.

Claire Xu suddenly mused, [Say, if you’d never met Dr. Shen, and you really did marry Yvonne Sung, and Ian Lawrence was still hopelessly devoted to you, would you ever have left Yvonne Sung to choose him instead?]

That sort of question had simply never occurred to her—because life didn’t work in “what ifs.”

Lauren Shaw stared at the words for a long moment. [I’d choose Yancy Shaw. No matter what, I’d always find my way to him.] Everything that happened, all those perfect coincidences, had been carefully orchestrated by Yancy Shaw. It was never a matter of chance—everything was by design.

She was meant to be his, and he was meant to be hers.

Maybe those three years with Yvonne Sung were a necessary part of her journey: the passage from innocent first love to becoming someone’s wife.

Everyone you meet in life is meant to play a part in your story. Nothing is accidental. You experience what you must, and meet exactly the people you’re destined to meet.

Looking at Yancy Shaw bustling away in the kitchen, Lauren Shaw felt a sudden clarity settle over her.

When Claire Xu read her last message, she couldn’t help but smile. True enough, the way Yancy Shaw looked at Lauren Shaw—as if she was a priceless jewel—no one could compare, least of all Yvonne Sung, that two-timing jerk.

After chatting for a while, Lauren Shaw saw that Yancy Shaw had finished cooking. She put down her phone and went to eat.

“I have to go on a business trip tomorrow. There’s a medical symposium in East China I need to attend.”

Hearing he was heading out of town, Lauren Shaw gazed at him in surprise. “How many days will you be gone?”

“About a week. If things wrap up early, I’ll come back right away.”

She didn’t want to be apart, but work was work—there was nothing she could say.

Lauren Shaw shared the day’s adventures, telling him about helping Claire Xu with her blind date. “I never expected Claire Xu’s date would turn out to be an old university classmate of ours.”

“A blind date?” Yancy Shaw's gaze lingered on her meaningfully.

For reasons she couldn’t explain, that look made her a bit uneasy—so she confessed everything, laying out the whole story in detail.

“Claire Xu’s stepmother set her up. I was worried something might go wrong if she was there alone, so I tagged along. You… aren’t mad, are you?” she asked, searching his face for any sign of displeasure.

Yancy Shaw noticed her empty bowl. He started serving her more food, answering gently, “No. Not at all.”

Lauren Shaw’s tense lips finally broke into a smile, and she continued, “And the funniest part? This classmate once confessed to me at university, but I turned him down. Now, suddenly, he’s been trying to get information about me. I can't help but wonder if he’s trying to get back at me.”

The room fell silent except for the soft burble of the TV, and Lauren Shaw could sense a subtle shift in Yancy Shaw’s mood.

She hadn’t meant to blurt that out. Would he really get jealous?

Seeing that he’d gone quiet, Lauren Shaw’s smile froze just a bit. She desperately wished she could take those words back.

“He’s looking for information about you?” Yancy Shaw’s voice was gentle as ever, not the least bit angry.

Lauren Shaw chuckled. “We were never that close anyway. Back then, I just wanted to focus on my studies and chase my dreams. I wasn’t interested in relationships.”

Yancy Shaw let out a dramatic sigh. “Looks like my wife is just too outstanding—that’s what’s giving your husband a sense of crisis.”

“Are you teasing me?”

“Not at all. I’m praising you.”

Praising her? She didn’t buy that for a second!

After dinner, Lauren Shaw lounged on the sofa watching a fashion show, while Yancy Shaw read quietly beside her.

A while later, Lauren Shaw got up to take a shower.

While she was in the bathroom, her phone—which she’d left on the sofa—rang. Yancy Shaw set down his book and glanced over; it was Lauren Shaw’s phone, and she was showering, so she couldn’t answer. The incoming call was from an unfamiliar number. He figured it was probably Yvonne Sung trying again and, without hesitation, picked up.

There was a moment of silence on the other end before a voice asked, “Lauren Shaw?”

It wasn’t Yvonne Sung. It was Ian Lawrence.

Ian Lawrence had assumed she wouldn’t answer, but when the call actually connected, he couldn’t hide his joy.

Yancy Shaw didn’t say a word. Ian Lawrence went on, “Are you resting already? Sorry to bother you so late, but there’s something I really need to tell you. These past few years, you’ve never left my mind. You might not believe it, but this time I came back, it’s really because I want to be with you.”