Chapter 3

"Happy 3rd Anniversary. Thank you for the surprise, darling."

The next morning, I posted an old photo of Julian and me on my personal Instagram.

It was taken the previous year. He was smiling handsomely, and I was leaning into his shoulder, looking radiant and happy.

The comments section blew up instantly.

[What the hell? Is she brainwashed? How can she put up with this?!]

[Stockholm syndrome at its finest! The guy humiliated her publicly and she’s thanking him?]

[Lmao, clown of the year award goes to her.]

Seeing the post, Julian let out a massive sigh of relief.

He immediately ordered his PR team to flood the internet with bots to clean his image.

The hashtag #SterlingCouplePrank soon climbed the trending list.

[It was just a private roleplay joke taken out of context.]

[See? The wife herself says they're fine. Everyone move on.]

The company’s stock miraculously steadied at the opening bell.

Julian called me shortly after, his tone dripping with overdue sweetness.

"Chloe, I knew you loved me the most. Don't worry, I've already taken care of Evelyn."

Listening to his voice through the speaker, a cold smirk touched my lips.

Meanwhile, in a dingy motel room on the edge of town:

Evelyn was frantically dialing an untraceable burner number.

"The plan fell apart! That bitch Chloe blew everything open with the live stream! Julian is questioning who the father is!"

A deep, sinister voice answered from the receiver.

"Don't lose your nerve! You have to have that baby! That child is our only leverage to seize Sterling Group’s shares!"

The voice belonged to Julian’s uncle, Richard Sterling.

At that exact moment, I was sitting on the top floor of an unassuming skyscraper downtown.

This was the shadow headquarters of the Vance Corporation.

Over the past three years, using remote directives and Logan's legal scaffolding, I hadn't just stabilized my father's empire—I had secretly used a shell entity to acquire sixty percent of Sterling Group’s scattered public shares.

I sat at the head of the conference table, facing eight core executives.

"First: freeze all lines of credit to Sterling Group through our banking subsidiaries."

"Second: notify Apex Capital to formally withdraw their Series B investment term sheet."

"Third..."

I paused, my gaze turning razor-sharp.

"Take the transaction records for the South District land deal Julian secured three years ago using my father's connections, and submit them anonymously to federal regulators."

By afternoon, Julian showed up outside the boutique hotel Logan had arranged for me, holding a massive bouquet of red roses and a Cartier box.

"Chloe, I was an idiot. I was a monster."

He bowed his head low, giving an award-winning performance.

"I got you this anniversary gift to make it up to you. Please, stop being mad at me, okay?"

To his surprise, I accepted the flowers and the box, and even let him into the suite.

He tested the waters cautiously.

"So... that live-stream mess got pretty out of hand. Could you... tell your people to help suppress the press?"

I smiled gently, even pouring him a glass of water.

"Since you asked, of course I'll help."

Julian looked ecstatic.

He slipped out to the balcony to call his mother, his voice brimming with arrogance.

"Mom, it's done. She's still the same naive, gullible idiot."

"Get rid of those lab reports right now! Don't leave a single paper trail!"

What he didn't know was that a micro-bug was already planted in the potted plant on that balcony.

Every single word of his call was recorded in pristine quality.

Late that night, I forwarded the audio file to Logan.

Logan replied within seconds: [All set.]

Looking out at the glittering city skyline through the floor-to-ceiling window, I whispered into the quiet room:

"Julian, you used me as a pawn for three years."

"Now, the board belongs to me."

I opened my laptop. On the screen was an email draft ready to go.

Recipient: Sterling Group, Board of Directors.