Chapter 1

Jessica was losing her mind in the family SnapChat group, bragging that she was about to marry into a billion-dollar dynasty — and then had the nerve to demand I hand over the old mansion my parents left me as her wedding gift.

Her mother Barbara piled on, sneering that I was a twenty-nine-year-old woman destined to die alone, that no one would ever truly love me, and that I deserved to rot in the gutter for the rest of my life.

What they didn't know was that I had just officially registered my marriage to the man who runs that entire empire.

I watched the mother-daughter duo lose their minds in the group chat, then turned and leaned back into my husband's arms.

"Honey," I said, "your son's yacht is too loud. Take it away from him."

The next day, at Jessica's billion-dollar engagement party, I slowly raised my left hand. The diamond on my ring finger blazed under the lights.

"Be a good girl." I said. "Call me Mom."

The family group chat was blowing up, with messages flooding in at ten per second.

My cousin Jessica had posted several sets of photos.

In the pictures, she was wearing a couture gown, standing on the deck of a luxury yacht, surrounded by champagne, roses, and a foreign band playing violins.

[Girls, Julian absolutely insisted on throwing me some yacht bachelorette thing. The rental alone is over a million a day. He's so extra.]

The relatives swarmed in like sharks smelling blood. The screen filled with shameless flattery.

[Oh my gosh, Jessie is so lucky! That's the Sterling family — the richest family in the east city!]

[Jessie was always gorgeous. She was born to be a trophy wife!]

[Once Jessie becomes the mistress of Sterling family, don't forget to scoop us poor relatives up!]

Barbara was absolutely high on herself.

[Everyone celebrate! Our Jessie's engagement party is at The Peninsula Hotel next week — come soak up some of that Sterling family's luck!]

Then Barbara tagged me directly.

[@Katherine — Kate, your little cousin is marrying into a billion-dollar family and you can't even be bothered to say a word?]

I was in the middle of examining a set of architectural restoration blueprints when my phone started buzzing nonstop. I glanced at it.

Before I could respond, Barbara's next message popped up.

[Actually, I need to talk to you about something. Jessie's marrying into the Sterling family, and her wedding gift can't be cheap. That old mansion your parents left you — the one downtown — you need to sign it over to Jessie. The Sterling family have high standards. Jessie needs assets in her name to hold her ground in that family.]

I stared at the screen and laughed despite myself.

That mansion was the only thing my late parents left me. Why on earth would I give it away as a wedding present?

I typed two words.

[In your dreams.]

The group went silent for exactly one second.

Then Jessica jumped in, dripping with condescension.

[Kate, why are you so selfish? If I marry well, I can take care of you too, you know. You're already twenty-nine — you're going to die alone with nobody loving you. You don't even have a real job, just messing around with old bricks and broken walls all day. My mom set you up with that village mayor's disabled son the other day and you actually turned him down?]

Barbara followed up immediately, her tone pure acid.

[Exactly! Who do you think you are, some kind of princess? That mansion is wasted on you. Give it to Jessie so she has something to stand on. You're almost thirty, and you're going to die alone — no one will ever truly love you. Stop being so picky! You'll never even get close to a family like the Sterling family in your lifetime!]

I read the words on the screen, cold and utterly unmoved.

What they didn't know was that I hadn't just gotten close to a family like the Sterlings. I had walked straight through the front door — and welded it shut behind me.

I turned off the screen and sighed.

A pair of hands — lean, with defined knuckles — reached from behind me and wrapped around my waist. Arms folded me into a warm embrace that smelled faintly of cedar.

"What's with the sigh? Who upset my wife?"

His voice was deep and unhurried, with a lazy edge to it.

I leaned back into him and held the screen up so he could see it.

"Your son," I said. "He's throwing a party on your yacht to impress his girlfriend. It's giving me a headache just looking at it."

Edward Sterling. The richest man in the east city. The true power behind Sterling Group. He was also my legal husband—we had just registered our marriage yesterday.

He scanned the photos on the screen, then let out a short, cold laugh.

"Using my stuff to show off. Pathetic."

He picked up the phone and dialed.

"Walter — dock the Victoria. Send it in for maintenance. Right now."

He hung up, then dipped his head and pressed his lips lightly to my ear.

"Done. I fly to London tomorrow for a merger meeting. Back in three days. While I'm gone — if anyone gives you trouble, throw money at them. It's on me."

The warmth of his breath made me tuck my chin down instinctively.

"Got it, Boss Sterling."