From Broken to Beloved

The two children of the Laurent family were sent to Burg Eltz to be looked after by Daniel and Tiffany. This was a gathering among adults, held mainly to welcome Catherine. Having two small children around would only mean everyone fussing over the kids, leaving little room to truly relax, chat, and enjoy the meal. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Dave’s cooking skills were, after all, no match for Laurent’s. Given that this was a rather formal dinner, Laurent ultimately took charge in the kitchen. Dave stayed outside chatting with Bert and the others. Meanwhile, Lilian and Catherine sat farther away from them—the men’s conversation held no interest for them whatsoever, so the two women simply talked among themselves.

Laurent’s phone, which she had left on a cabinet, suddenly rang. She called out for Dave to answer it for her. Dave walked over, glanced at the caller ID, and immediately hung up.

Puzzled, Laurent asked him,

"Who was it?"

Dave replied calmly,

"A spam call."

Laurent responded with a brief "oh" and returned to the kitchen. Not long after, her phone rang again. Dave hung up once more.

This time, Laurent sensed something was off. She wiped her hands, walked over, and checked the phone herself. Almost immediately, she frowned angrily and shot Dave a glare.

"You’ve gone too far!"

With that, she took the phone and walked away to answer the call. Dave watched her retreating figure, frowned, and followed after her.

The call was from Leonardo—that was why Dave had hung up on him several times.

After exchanging a few polite greetings, Leonardo got straight to the point.

"I heard from Marylin that her engagement ring was designed by Dave’s brother’s girlfriend."

Laurent answered honestly,

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before Leonardo continued,

"Could you give me that designer’s contact information? I’d like to ask her to design a ring for me as well..."

Laurent was visibly surprised.

"You’re having a ring designed for someone? Do you have a girlfriend?"

She had known Leonardo for many years. In the past, he had always been chasing after her. After she and Dave reconciled, Leonardo had finally let go of his fixation on her. Yet over the past few years, she had never once heard of him having a serious or intimate girlfriend of any kind.

"Our relationship hasn’t been defined yet, so she can’t really be called my girlfriend."

Leonardo explained briefly on the other end of the line.

"That’s why I need a ring—to express my feelings and confess."

Hearing that Leonardo had finally found someone he loved, Laurent felt genuinely happy for him.

"That’s wonderful. She happens to be a guest at my place today. I’ll give her your contact information later. If you have any specific requirements, you can discuss them with her directly."

"Alright. Thanks."

After agreeing, Leonardo casually asked,

"How have you been lately?"

Although Leonardo had once been fixated on Laurent for many years, he truly had let go later on—especially now that his heart belonged to someone else.

To Leonardo, Laurent was nothing more than a long-time friend he got along with easily. His question was simply friendly concern, with no hint of ambiguity or ulterior meaning.

"I’ve been pretty well—"

Laurent had barely finished the sentence when an unmistakably displeased voice sounded beside her.

"The guests are still waiting outside. Shouldn’t you start getting things ready?"

She turned around to see Dave standing there with a dark expression. He knew perfectly well that the call was from Leonardo—otherwise, he wouldn’t have deliberately dismissed it as a spam call earlier.

A call from a former admirer—wasn’t that the very definition of a nuisance call?

To Dave, Leonardo had always been something of a rival, regardless of whether he had truly let go of his feelings for Laurent.

So when he saw the two of them talking on the phone for so long with no sign of hanging up, Dave interrupted without the slightest hesitation.

Remembering the guests outside, Laurent had no choice but to say to Leonardo,

"Let’s talk another time. I have guests over today and need to go host them."

"Alright, go ahead. Don’t worry about it."

With that, the call ended.

Ignoring Dave’s gloomy expression, Laurent put her phone away and turned to head outside. She hadn’t forgotten what Leonardo had asked her to do—she still needed to pass his contact information on to Catherine.

Dave stopped her. The moment he opened his mouth, jealousy practically dripped from his words.

"What did he want with you?"

Not wanting him to stew in his jealousy any longer, Laurent told him the reason Leonardo had called.

"He’s got someone he likes. He wants Catherine to design a ring for him so he can confess. So—can you put away that jealousy now?"

Dave raised an eyebrow.

"You’re sure it’s not for you?"

Laurent: "..."

And he called himself a lord—how could his IQ be this low?

They had already gone as far as divorce, yet in the end she had still chosen to reconcile with him. If Leonardo still couldn’t see things clearly or let go, wouldn’t that just be self-inflicted suffering? So how could that ring possibly be meant for her?

Only then did Laurent realize that she had forgotten to ask Leonardo who the girl he admired was—whether she was someone from their social circle. Instinctively, Laurent hoped Leonardo wouldn’t end up dating someone from that circle. It was too chaotic, loyalty was rare, and relationships there never seemed to last.

As a friend, Laurent genuinely hoped Leonardo would find a love that could endure.

Ignoring Dave, whose jealousy had clearly overflowed, Laurent walked straight over to Catherine. Smiling, she said,

"Cici, a friend of mine would like you to design a ring for him. He plans to use it to confess his feelings."

Catherine was quite surprised.

"Really?"

Laurent nodded.

"Yes. He’s an upperclassman of mine from university. He saw the ring you designed for Marylin and really liked your style, so he sought you out as well."

It was, in a sense, a case of coming specifically for her reputation—and Catherine was delighted.

"Of course. I’d be honored."

Catherine always carried herself with humility. As someone who had only recently entered the design world, anyone willing to entrust her with jewelry meant for such an important moment was showing her complete trust. Naturally, she would devote all her talent to the design, striving to let the ring she created add brilliance to their proposal or confession.

Laurent pulled up Leonardo’s contact information on her phone and handed it to Catherine.

"I’ll give you his contact details."

Lilian leaned over to take a look—and immediately cried out in surprise.

"Leonardo?"

"Oh my god—he’s going to confess?"

Lilian could be considered a not-so-subtle fan of Leonardo herself. Leonardo was currently at the height of his popularity—handsome, talented, and one of the rare male stars in the entertainment industry who was low-key and humble. He had practically captured the hearts of all young women.

Of course, Catherine knew who Leonardo was as well. She glanced again at the name saved in Laurent’s phone. It really was Leonardo. Instantly, the pressure hit her full force. She looked back at Laurent and asked again to be sure,

"You mean that big star—Leonardo?"

Laurent nodded.

"Yes. That’s him."

Lilian’s exclamation had already disrupted the calm. Morrison and Bert, who had been chatting not far away, could no longer remain unaffected. Morrison’s reaction was immediate and obvious, while Bert remained outwardly composed.

Morrison stood up at once and walked over to the women, looking at Lilian as he asked,

"Leonardo? What about him? What happened?"

Lilian put on a heartbroken expression.

"Leonardo has someone he likes. And he even wants Cici to design a ring so he can confess."