Chapter 55: Chapter 56: The Heart’s Knot Dissipates
The flight was smooth, but even with noise-canceling headphones, Cecilia Sterling wasn’t asleep—just feigning it with her eyes closed.
Beside her, Gideon Hale casually looked over a script, but he kept glancing at Cecilia Sterling out of the corner of his eye.
’She doesn’t recognize me?’
’She actually doesn’t recognize me!’
’I’m a top-tier celebrity, sitting right beside her, and she has the audacity to just fall asleep without a care in the world?’
"Hello, Mr. Hale. It’s time for our meal service. This is the first-class menu. What would you like to eat?"
The flight attendant appeared suddenly, kneeling beside him to present the menu and asking with a warm smile.
Just as Gideon Hale took the menu, he saw Cecilia, who had been resting with her eyes closed, slowly sit up straight. "Are they serving the meal now?"
"Yes, Miss Sterling. Please wait a moment. I’ll take your order after Mr. Hale is finished."
Cecilia nodded and instinctively glanced at Gideon Hale, only to find him looking at her as well.
Even though he was wearing sunglasses, Cecilia could still sense the complicated look in his eyes.
’He seems to really mind that I don’t recognize him.’
"You go ahead and order first."
Gideon Hale suddenly handed the menu to Cecilia, a gesture indicating ’ladies first.’
Cecilia didn’t stand on ceremony. She took the menu, gave it a quick scan, and said, "I’ll have the chicken soup with wonton noodles, please. And an iced lemon tea."
"Of course, Miss Sterling."
Gideon Hale took the menu back and immediately returned it to the flight attendant. "I’ll have the same as her."
The flight attendant looked surprised for a moment, but she kept her smile fixed. "Of course, Mr. Hale."
Seeing this, Cecilia couldn’t help but give him another look. Gideon Hale, however, just lowered his head and resumed his pretense of reading the script.
Cecilia arched an eyebrow slightly but paid him no further mind, turning to gaze out the window. The sun was setting, casting a beautiful, gilded glow upon the edges of the clouds.
"You really don’t recognize me?"
The low question came suddenly from beside her, his tone laced with a hint of indignation.
Cecilia wanted to laugh but held it in.
"Sorry," Cecilia said, turning her head. "I’m a little face-blind. I’m not very good at remembering people."
The term "face-blind" immediately struck a nerve with Gideon Hale.
The one thing celebrities fear most is a lack of distinctiveness. For Cecilia to say she was face-blind and couldn’t recognize him was tantamount to saying Gideon Hale’s looks were unremarkable.
But he had been named one of "Cathay’s Twenty Most Handsome Faces" by the media—number four, no less. How could he possibly lack distinctiveness?
Beneath his mask, his mouth opened and closed, but he ultimately gave up, defeated. As a top-tier star, he couldn’t bring himself to forcibly introduce himself to someone. ’It’s just too humiliating!’
After finishing the bowl of hot food, Cecilia finally started to feel a bit drowsy. They flew the rest of the way in silence, and she only woke up, bleary-eyed, when the landing announcement came over the speakers.
"Dear passengers, we will soon be landing at Veridia City International Airport..."
The plane descended smoothly and began taxiing on the runway. Just as Cecilia was about to switch her phone off airplane mode, she heard a sudden commotion erupt from the economy cabin behind her.
Before she could react, a swarm of young women flooded into the first-class cabin. Some held up phones, others wielded cameras, and in an instant, the aisle was completely clogged.
They were screaming and snapping photos wildly, their target none other than the man beside her, Gideon Hale.
"AHHHH, GIDEON! GIDEON!"
"Oh my god, you’re drop-dead gorgeous! Gideon, can you take off your mask and look at the camera?"
"Gideon, are you in Veridia for a brand event? I’m going to be on your flight tomorrow, too! My name is Mia, do you remember me?"
"Gideon, I love you so much!"
The behavior of these sasaeng fans was so wild it left Cecilia completely stunned. She had seen videos of this kind of thing online, but witnessing it up close was a different level of shock.
’So he’s Gideon Hale!’
Cecilia’s memory returned. She remembered seeing him a few days ago at the press conference for *Heavenly Destiny as Phoenix*. He really was one of the hottest top-tier male actors in showbiz today.
Some of the sasaengs at the front were deliberately pressing forward, trying to push up against Gideon Hale and make physical contact.
Gideon Hale, however, seemed long accustomed to this kind of scene. He simply lowered his head, his expression blank, completely ignoring the frantic fans.
"The plane is still taxiing! Please return to your seats and sit down!"
"I need everyone to return to their seats! Do not disrupt order on the aircraft!"
The flight attendants’ calls for order fell on deaf ears, having no effect whatsoever. Before long, members of his management team forced their way through the wall of people to his side. The moment the plane came to a complete stop, they shielded him and escorted him off.
Before he left, Gideon Hale shot one last, deep look at Cecilia. Seeing the stunned expression on her face, he felt a surge of smug satisfaction.
’See? You might not know who I am, but plenty of people do, and they’re crazy about me.’
Cecilia, however, only found the whole scene baffling and disrespectful.
Once the sasaengs had chased Gideon Hale off the plane, the first-class cabin finally returned to a state of calm. The purser repeatedly apologized to the other passengers, but such incidents were commonplace. Whenever a major celebrity was on a flight, it was bound to happen, and there was little the crew could do.
She glanced down and noticed the piece of paper he had autographed for her had fallen into the crack of the seat. Cecilia picked it up and looked at it again. This time, she could finally make out the traces of his name in the signature.
She casually folded it and tucked it into her bag. ’The drama fanatic Estelle Goodman might be a fan of his.’
「Veridia City, Eastgate District, Fairview Gardens.」
Standing at her front door, Cecilia’s heart pounded faster than it ever had before, as if it were about to leap out of her throat.
Light seeped through the peephole. As Cecilia stared at it, she could almost see her mother’s face in a daze.
She raised a hand that trembled uncontrollably and knocked gently on the door.
"Is that you, Ethan?"
Her mother’s voice drifted from inside the apartment, and a moment later, the door swung open.
The moment Jasmine Sterling saw her daughter standing outside, she froze. For a long moment, she simply stared, unblinking, at her daughter’s face, as if trying to confirm that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
"Mom."
Cecilia’s voice trembled as she spoke the word, and tears began to stream down her cheeks without her even realizing it.
That single word, "Mom," made Jasmine Sterling’s body tremble. Then, as if the realization was just dawning, her eyes filled with excitement and joy.
"Cecilia... you’re back..."
In that instant, Cecilia could no longer hold back. Endless longing and self-reproach washed over her as she stepped forward and threw her arms around her mother, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her daughter, always so stubborn and strong, was now as fragile as a child in her arms. Jasmine Sterling couldn’t help but let her own tears fall like rain. The unspoken apologies and the year of longing suppressed in her heart were finally, at this moment, set free.
"Cecilia, don’t cry. It’s Mom who let you down."
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