Chapter 3 - THE TERMINATION OF A FRAUDULENT EMPRESS
Victoria Sterling pushed herself off the refrigerator, her face twisting into an ugly, mask-like sneer as she watched the emotional tableau unfold on her kitchen floor.
“Oh, spare me the daytime soap opera melodrama!” Victoria snapped, crossing her arms over her chest with a harsh, bitter laugh that sounded like shattering glass.
“You’re really going to fall for this pathetic, calculated scam, Nathan? A common maid drops a sob story about a one-night stand from four years ago, coaches a brat to call you daddy, and you’re just going to throw away our entire engagement over kitchen trash?”
Nathan slowly stood up from the floor, keeping little Lily cradled safely in his left arm while gently steadying Grace with his right hand, guiding them both toward the plush velvet chairs by the breakfast nook.
Once they were seated safely out of harm's way, Nathan turned around.
The transition in his demeanor was instantaneous and terrifying.
The broken, weeping father vanished in a fraction of a second, replaced entirely by the ruthless, cold-blooded billionaire CEO who had crushed corporate competitors twice his size without blinking an eye.
Nathan walked across the kitchen floor toward Victoria, his footsteps echoing like slow, heavy drumbeats of doom.
“Victoria,” Nathan said, his voice dropping into an arctic, razor-sharp register.
“Take off the ring.”
Victoria scoffed, tossing her head back with defiant arrogance.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Nathan. I’m not taking off anything. We are getting married in two weeks, my father’s shipping conglomerate is merging with Cole Logistics next month, and you are not going to humiliate me over a dirty, bleeding maid and her bastard child!”
Nathan stopped two feet away from her, pulling a small black velvet box from his inner jacket pocket—the very box containing the ten-carat flawless diamond engagement ring he had presented to her six months ago.
He didn't open the box.
He simply held it out toward her chest.
“If you don't take the ring off yourself in the next three seconds, Victoria,” Nathan said, his voice terrifyingly steady, “I will have my bodyguards remove it with a pair of industrial wire cutters, along with every single piece of jewelry, designer dress, and luxury vehicle my money ever purchased for you.”
“You can’t do that!” Victoria shrieked, panic finally cracking through her arrogant facade.
“My father will sue you into the stone age! The board of directors will mutiny! You’ll lose billions in public relations fallout!”
“Try me,” Nathan challenged softly, his eyes boring into her soul with lethal intent.
“My father owns sixty percent of the voting shares in your family’s shipping conglomerate, Victoria.”
“With one single phone call to my legal department right now, I can foreclose on your father’s primary debt liabilities, bankrupt his entire corporate portfolio, and have your family evicted from their Palm Beach mansion before the sun sets tonight.”
Victoria’s breath hitched.
She stared at Nathan’s face, searching for a bluff, a flicker of hesitation, or any sign of weakness.
She found nothing.
The man standing before her was an absolute monster of wealth and power, and she had just handed him the weapon to destroy her entire existence on a silver platter.
With trembling, claw-like fingers, Victoria reached down to her left ring finger, yanked the ten-carat diamond ring off her skin with enough force to scratch her knuckle, and shoved the expensive jewelry violently into Nathan’s open palm.
“You’ll regret this, Nathan Cole!” Victoria spat out, tears of pure rage and humiliation springing to her eyes.
“You’re choosing a dirty maid and a bastard over the elite of this city! You’ll rot alone!”
“Get out,” Nathan commanded quietly, turning his back on her as he tossed the ring box onto the kitchen island.
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Victoria didn't wait for a second invitation.
She grabbed her designer handbag off the counter, turned on her high-heeled shoes, and sprinted out of the kitchen toward the front foyer, her panicked footsteps echoing through the grand corridors of the Cole estate until the heavy oak front door slammed shut behind her with a resounding crash.
