Chapter 3 - The Morning After
The sun rose over the city skyline, casting a golden glow through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my real home—a penthouse overlooking the financial district.
I hadn't slept a wink.
I sat at the massive mahogany dining table, a cup of black coffee cooling between my hands, watching the morning news on the massive flat screen.
“SCANDAL IN HIGH SOCIETY: STERLING EMPIRE CRUMBLES OVERNIGHT.”
The headline flashed in bold red letters across the bottom of the screen. The news anchor’s voice was breathless as she detailed the FBI raid on the Sterling corporate offices and the shocking arrest of matriarch Olivia Sterling.
The door to the guest suite clicked open.
My mother emerged, wearing one of my plush silk robes, her hair wrapped in a towel. She looked tired, but the color had returned to her cheeks.
My father was right behind her, already dressed in a comfortable flannel shirt and jeans, looking entirely unbothered by the opulent surroundings.
“Well,” my father said, scratching his beard as he looked at the television. “That’s one way to cancel a catering contract.”
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and laughed. It was a weak, shaky laugh, but it felt good.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, standing up to hug them both. “I should have ended it months ago. I shouldn't have let her treat you like that.”
My mother rubbed my back soothingly.
“We only put up with it because we thought you loved him, Clara,” she said softly. “We would walk through fire for you. A little chlorinated water was nothing.”
“But you shouldn't have had to,” I insisted, pulling back. “I thought... I thought if I hid who I really was, I could find someone who loved me just for me. Not for the Devereux money. Not for the power.”
My father kissed my forehead.
“Money doesn't change who a person is, sweetheart,” he said wisely. “It just amplifies it. Ethan was always going to be a coward. Olivia was always going to be a bully. Your money just gave you the power to stop them.”
My phone buzzed on the table.
It was Marcus.
“Good morning, Boss,” his crisp voice came through the speaker. “The markets have opened. Sterling Corp’s stock is in freefall. It’s dropped forty percent in the first ten minutes of trading.”
“And the loans?” I asked.
“Our banks have called them in,” Marcus confirmed. “A clause in their contract allowed immediate repayment in the event of a federal criminal investigation. They are completely illiquid. They don't have a dime.”
“What about Ethan?”
“He spent the night in the lobby of his mother’s lawyer's office. They won't see him because his retainers bounced.”
I looked out at the city below. For eighteen months, I had played the meek, quiet graphic designer. I had bitten my tongue, swallowed my pride, and let them walk all over me in the name of love.
That girl died the moment my parents hit the water.
“Set up a board meeting at the Sterling building for noon,” I told Marcus.
May you like
“They no longer have control of the board, Clara.”
“I know,” I said, a cold smile touching my lips. “But they don't know that yet. I want to see their faces when they realize who really owns them.”
