"Miss Shelby," Linden Jennings began, his gaze fixed intently on her. "May I ask the real reason you suddenly left back then?"

He didn’t actually believe the reason the Shelby Family gave. He never had. After all, it was far too contrived.

’Autumn Shelby got pre-wedding jitters? How was that possible? Anyone could see she had always been looking forward to marrying Seth Quinn. How could she suddenly develop pre-wedding jitters?’

’So, there must have been some other reason for her sudden departure.’

When Autumn Shelby heard him call her "Miss Shelby" instead of "Autumn" like he used to, she felt a little awkward.

’She’d been gone for over a year. Seth Quinn was ignoring her, and now even his friends were distancing themselves from her?’

Autumn Shelby looked at Linden Jennings and said, "Brother Jennings, you can just call me Autumn."

But Linden Jennings just smiled. "What I call you isn’t important. We just want to know why you suddenly left."

Autumn Shelby bit her lip. "I... I had pre-wedding jitters..."

"Is that so?" Linden Jennings was still smiling faintly, but there was a profound meaning hidden within it. "But we want the real reason. A reason you can give Seth to account for your actions."

Autumn Shelby froze, and then two streams of tears slid from her beautiful eyes. "Brother Jennings, I had my reasons, I really did. I loved him so much, how could I possibly leave him for no reason? I..."

"What kind of reason could be so difficult that you couldn’t tell the man who was about to become your husband?" Linden Jennings’s words hit the nail on the head.

Autumn Shelby bit her lip and didn’t say anything more.

Linden Jennings didn’t press her further. The smile vanished from his face as he spoke again, "However, it’s fine if it’s not convenient for you to say. Seth doesn’t actually care. The only reason I asked is my own curiosity. You don’t need to worry about it, Miss Shelby."

River Sterling, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly stood up and snapped at Linden Jennings, "Are you finally done? I really don’t know what there is to talk about! The person who should have left didn’t, but the one who shouldn’t have did. A perfectly good get-together, ruined. What a total buzzkill!"

His tone was extremely unfriendly. Though he didn’t mention her by name, everyone knew he was targeting Autumn Shelby.

Autumn Shelby understood, of course. She bit down harder on her lip, trying to stay calm and hide her embarrassment.

Linden Jennings no longer looked at her. Taking Poppy Vance’s hand, he said to River Sterling and Chase Childs, "Alright, let’s go."

The group walked out of the private room, leaving Autumn Shelby standing there alone. She ground her teeth resentfully, the tears that had been welling in her eyes now completely gone.

...

Clara Grant was pulled out of The Tuberose’s main entrance by Seth Quinn. He then started pulling her toward the parking area, but she broke free and said coolly, "I should get back to the film set."

Seth Quinn frowned and looked back at her. "You don’t have any scenes this afternoon, what would you go back for? You’re hungry, let’s go get something to eat first."

"I ate something upstairs just now, I’m not hungry." Clara Grant twisted away, dodging his outstretched hand.

Seth Quinn looked at his empty, outstretched hand, then said patiently, "If you’re not hungry, then let’s go home."

"Home?" Clara Grant repeated the word softly, a wave of sadness suddenly washing over her. She desperately wanted to scream at him, ’Whose home? Your home with *her*? What do you take me for?’

But in the end, she just puffed out her cheeks and said nothing.

’Would it not be utterly ridiculous for a substitute, a bed-warming tool, to question him like that?’

Her lips moved. "I’m not going."

Seth Quinn’s frown deepened. "You already accepted the gift, are you still angry?"

’Who was it that said the magic trick to making a woman happy was to give her a gift? It was completely useless!’