Celestial Strings Tied To You

Chapter 23

Although I don't know how to start, I still bravely applied to different companies and even considered the big four accounting firms. Which I got accepted by one of them.

Life gets better and brighter. I'm finally living the life that I always dreamed of. Until I didn't notice that three years had already passed.

The city lights no longer frightened me. They were simply another constellation... familiar, comforting, a reminder that even when the night changes, the stars remain.

I am an auditor now, working with numbers by day and dreams by night, saving slowly for a house I could call mine. A home built by my own hands, brick by brick.

However, even though I've come this far, I still couldn't help but to think about Vince.

I heard that he moved back to their family’s house, now an architect with his own firm. Yeah, that's how successful he is in just a short period of time. But of course, it's with the help of his parents. I knew because my parents told me... They kept telling me about him because they knew already that we broke up.

Sometimes his name would appear in features online, tagged in photos of ribbon cuttings and award nights. I'd smile briefly, whisper "you did it" like I once did for myself, then close the tab before the ache could grow too loud. But I am truly proud of him.

He had built his world. I am still building mine.

So when my brother invited me to the annual charity ball,  the same one our family used to host, I almost said no. But his voice, pleading and teasing, broke through my hesitance. "Oh come on, Julie. It's my turn to organize. You have to be there. And Vince would be there."

He stopped attending the annual charity ball, too. Just like I did.

I sighed, half-smiling. "Alright. Just this once."

And that's how I found myself walking into the same hall that once held our laughter, now glowing with golden lights and gentle music. The familiar scent of roses mixed with the soft hum of chatter. Everything looked different, grander and brighter, yet somehow, the same.

I caught my reflection in the hallway mirror, and for a moment, I barely recognized myself.

The gown I wore shimmered softly under the golden light. A creamy white satin that flowed like liquid moonlight with every step I took. It hugged my frame just right before cascading down in gentle folds that pooled at my feet. The off-shoulder sleeves draped elegantly, with delicate pearls tracing one side like constellations caught in fabric.

My hair fell freely down my back, long and wavy, dark as midnight, contrasting beautifully against the pale fabric. I didn't tie it, I wanted it to move naturally, to remind myself that even in all this perfection, I was still me.

The soft click of my sandals echoed faintly on the marble floor, simple, nude heels that peeked beneath the hem of my dress every time I walked. I didn't need glitter or gold. The dress already carried enough light.

Standing there, I looked almost celestial. Like someone who had walked out of a dream I once had, the kind of dream where I wasn't just surviving, but finally becoming.

And yet, beneath the elegance and the glow, my heart whispered the truth only I could hear... I am still that same girl who once believed that love was written somewhere between the stars.

I am so busy looking at myself that I didn't realize that someone was looking at me, too. It's like gravity pulling me back to a point I never truly left and my eyes found him. Our eyes met, but he looked away.

He stood by the stairs, talking with my brother, dressed in a black suit that framed him perfectly. His hair was a little longer now, his face more refined, the kind of calm that comes from learning to live with both joy and loss.