The next second, the brocade box was in her hand. ’I’ll just keep it as a memento,’ she thought. ’At the very least, it’s a testament to the fact that something happened between me and Seth Quinn.’

Besides, she genuinely liked the earring—not for its hefty price tag, but simply for its small, delicate, and beautiful design.

Seeing her take the brocade box, Autumn Shelby couldn’t help but cry out, "Clara Grant, what right do you have to accept Seth’s gift—"

Before she could finish the word, Seth Quinn cut in with a cold bark, "Autumn Shelby, since when do you, an outsider, have any say in matters between me and my woman?"

’So her name is Autumn Shelby!’ For a moment, Clara Grant thought the name sounded very familiar, but right then, she didn’t have the mental energy to dwell on it.

Rebuked so harshly by Seth Quinn, Autumn Shelby flushed with humiliation. He had been cold to her before, but he had never yelled at her like this—especially not in front of so many people, and certainly not in front of Clara Grant.

She murmured his name uneasily, "Seth..."

Clara Grant slowly rose to her feet. She looked at Autumn Shelby calmly and said with a detached air, "Miss Shelby, I’m sorry, but this is a gift to me from Seth Quinn. Accepting it is my decision. It has nothing to do with whether I have the ’right’ to or not."

Then, she gave a slight nod to everyone in the room. "Excuse me, I’m going to head out."

With that, she avoided looking at Seth Quinn and started to walk around him toward the door.

But she had barely taken two steps before someone grabbed her arm from behind.

She didn’t turn around, but she knew who it was.

"I’m leaving with you," Seth Quinn said. Then, without another word, he pulled her away, giving her no chance to break free.

"Seth!" Seeing that he was leaving, Autumn Shelby immediately tried to follow, but Chase Childs blocked her path.

Humiliated and angry, Autumn Shelby yelled at Chase Childs, "Chase, get out of my way!"

Chase Childs said nothing, but he showed no intention of moving aside.

"Miss Shelby, I’d stop if I were you." Although Poppy Vance knew Autumn Shelby, they weren’t close. And frankly, she didn’t like her.

"Can’t you see how into each other they are? Are you trying to be the world’s most awkward third wheel?"

Autumn Shelby’s first instinct was to snap back, but she thought better of it and held her tongue.

"Into each other? No, that’s impossible! How could Seth be into another woman? You all know! He and I... for so many years! So many years!"

As she spoke, tears welled up in Autumn Shelby’s big, watery eyes, threatening to spill over. She already had a face that inspired pity, and at this moment, she looked utterly and heartbreakingly pathetic.

Poppy Vance, however, just frowned and let out a barely audible scoff. ’She was so aggressive with Clara just a moment ago, and now she’s putting on this pathetic act for us? Give me a break.’

It wasn’t just Poppy; no one else in the room felt any sympathy for her. After all, she was the one who had abandoned Seth Quinn right before their wedding, leaving the country without so much as a word.

The official reason from the Shelby Family was that Autumn had a case of cold feet and needed to go abroad to clear her head and calm her nerves.

But even so, was that any reason for her not to say a single word to him herself?

Besides, Seth hadn’t called off the engagement the moment she left. He gave her time—a full three months.

But she didn’t return by the agreed-upon time, and only then did Seth announce their engagement was over.

She was gone for more than a year, and now that Seth Quinn has finally met a woman he likes, she suddenly reappears!

"Miss Shelby," Linden Jennings began, his gaze fixed on her, "can I ask you what the real reason was for your sudden departure?"