Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
On our third wedding anniversary, I brought my husband the keys to a limited-edition Maybach.
Instead of celebrating, he kicked open the private dining room door with his pregnant secretary in his arms, slamming divorce papers into my face:
"You barren, washed-up bitch. Other than throwing your old man’s dirty money at me, you can't even give me a son to carry on the Sterling name! Watching you cling to that wedding ring makes me sick!"
His buddies in the private booth burst into laughter, waiting for me to break down in tears.
I took a slow sip of my red wine, raising my glass toward him.
"You're right, Julian."
I really can't get pregnant.
"Too bad the micro-camera on your tie clip has been live-streaming this to your entire company gala for the last ten minutes."
……
The smug grin on Julian Sterling's face froze.
"Chloe Vance, what the fuck are you talking about?!"
Before he could lunge at me, the phone in his pocket buzzed uncontrollably.
He pulled it out. The executive WhatsApp group was already flooded with over ninety-nine notifications.
[Is Mr. Sterling out of his mind?! What is playing on the main screen at the gala?!]
[Holy shit! He's hugging Evelyn Moore and trash-talking his wife! Over a thousand employees and all our business partners are watching!]
[Mr. Reynolds from Apex Capital went pale. He just walked out!]
Julian snapped his head up, glaring at me with eyes that wanted to rip me apart.
The buddies who had just been roaring with laughter were now completely white-faced.
Someone scrambled to kill the audio system in the booth, while others were already shuffling toward the door, looking for an exit.
Julian’s business partner, Mark Dawson, was the first to jump up, his voice trembling.
"Julian, are you insane? Do you have any idea the lead investor from Apex Capital is literally in the room right now?!"
Amid the chaos, I was the only one who remained calm.
I methodically cut a piece of my steak, lifted it to my mouth, and chewed slowly.
"Take it easy, Julian."
I even took the time to point it out.
"You have lipstick on your mouth. Tangerine shade. Evelyn is wearing crimson today."
Julian flinched violently.
Next to him, Evelyn Moore’s delicate face lost every trace of color.
She clutched her stomach, tugging weakly on Julian's sleeve.
"Julian... my stomach hurts... our baby..."
She was playing the victim card to deflect the heat.
Julian instinctively moved to support her—his usual heroic knight act.
I set down my fork and dabbed my lips with a cloth napkin.
"Evelyn, I actually picked up your ultrasound report from the clinic last week."
"It says you're twenty-three weeks pregnant."
"Yet you only joined Sterling Group fourteen months ago."
I looked up, meeting Julian’s ash-gray face.
"Julian, do you want to do the math?"
The room fell into a suffocating, dead silence.
Even Evelyn’s quiet sobs cut off instantly.
Julian was completely stunned.
With a roar of fury, he knocked over the bottle of red wine on the table.
"Chloe Vance!"
The wine splashed across my dress, blooming into a dark, ugly stain.
I didn't even blink.
My phone screen lit up on the table. A text from our receptionist popped up on SnapChat:
[Chloe! The gala is in total shambles! Two major clients are on the phone canceling their contracts! Sterling Group’s after-hours stock is already in free fall!]
A second later, Julian's phone shrieked.
It was his mother, Beatrice Sterling.
The moment he answered, her hysterical screech echoed through the room.
"You idiot! You humiliated our entire family at the gala! Everyone saw it! Make that bitch cut the live stream right now!"
The reality finally hit Julian. The blood drained from his face, leaving behind pure, unadulterated terror.
I stood up, brushed the wine off my skirt, and picked up my clutch.
As I walked past him, I paused and whispered in his ear:
"I'll take the divorce papers."
"Though I doubt you can afford the payout anymore."
His entire body turned to stone.
I walked to the door, pulled it open, and glanced back at the terrified Evelyn.
"By the way, the ultrasound report had one more detail."
"You're having a girl."
"Congratulations. Looks like you failed your mission to give him a son, too."
The door swung shut behind me, sealing the room in total panic and dread."Chloe, are you ready?"
At two in the morning, Logan Hayes called. His voice was steady and calm, as always.
I had returned alone to the penthouse I shared with Julian, standing in the dark, empty living room.
"I’ve waited three years. Isn't that long enough?"
"You're trending number one on Twitter and Ins: #CEOShamesWifeAtGala. Over twenty million impressions in forty minutes."
Logan paused. "Sterling Group's three main institutional investors just sent a joint demand for an emergency audit."
"Good," I murmured softly.
I hung up and walked into the walk-in closet.
It was packed with suits, ties, and cufflinks I had personally picked out for Julian.
Every single one had been ironed and pressed by my own hands.
Three years of memories flooded my mind.
On our wedding night, Julian had cupped my face and whispered tenderly: "Chloe, you're the only one for me in this lifetime."
Back then, I had just rushed home from abroad. My father, Arthur Vance, had suffered a massive stroke. The company was in turmoil, and my uncle, Donald Vance, was circling like a vulture.
My mother had passed away early, and I was all alone.
Julian was the only warmth in my life.
I reached deep into the back of the closet, pulling out a hidden black folder.
Inside was all the evidence I had spent three years gathering.
The first page was a toxicology report.
The conclusion: my infertility was caused by the prolonged ingestion of a chronic sterilizing compound.
And that compound had been mixed into the daily organic wellness tonics that my mother-in-law, Beatrice, personally made for me every morning.
Three months ago, when I first received this report, I felt completely numb.
Around 3:00 AM, the front lock clicked.
Julian stumbled in, reeking of alcohol.
He didn't come to see me. He locked himself straight in the study and began making frantic calls.
The once-arrogant CEO was now groveling on the other end of the line.
"Mr. Reynolds, please, just give me another chance..."
"Director King, after all these years of friendship..."
He sounded so pathetic I barely recognized him.
At 4:00 AM, the doorbell began buzzing incessantly.
Beatrice stormed inside, wrapped in a lavish mink coat.
Without even looking toward her son in the study, she charged into my bedroom and raised her hand to slap me.
"You miserable bitch! You're trying to ruin this family!"
I didn't flinch.
Just before her palm landed, I caught her wrist in a vice grip.
I squeezed hard enough to make her gasp in pain.
"Beatrice, I drank your special tonics for three whole years. I didn't waste a single drop."
Beatrice’s face instantly lost all color.
"What... what tonics? I don't know what you're talking about!" she stammered defensively.
I flung her hand away and tossed the lab reports, along with the certified test logs of the samples I had secretly saved, right onto the bed.
Page after page, spread out under her eyes.
"Every single one has a forensic timestamp and a seal from an accredited lab."
"Care to guess how many years in federal prison this gets you?"
She completely collapsed onto the rug.
The study door flew open.
Julian rushed in. When his eyes caught the reports, his face went paper-white.
He stared at his mother in absolute disbelief.
"Mom... is this true?"
Beatrice finally broke, breaking into loud, hysterical wails.
"I did it for you! She couldn't give you a son! What was going to happen to the Sterling family line?!"
I had no interest in watching their twisted family drama.
I walked to the foyer, put on my trench coat, and grabbed the black folder.
I looked back one last time at the home I had maintained for three years.
The spotless hardwood floors, the floral arrangements, the breakfast ingredients in the fridge I had prepared for him tomorrow morning.
My eyes burned slightly, but not a single tear fell.
"My lawyer will deliver a revised version of the divorce settlement tomorrow."
I opened the front door.
A man was standing outside in the hallway.
Logan.
He leaned against the wall, the collar of his black wool coat turned up against the midnight chill.
Seeing me step out, he asked no questions. He simply turned and opened the car door for me.
Julian chased me to the doorway. The moment he laid eyes on Logan, his pupils contracted sharply.
He recognized him instantly.
Logan Hayes. The founder of Abyss Legal.
The most ruthless divorce attorney in high society, a man who had never lost a single case."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."You're awake?"
I opened my eyes to find myself in an unfamiliar bedroom.
It wasn't the hotel, nor was it the penthouse I had shared with Julian.
Logan walked in, carrying a mug of warm water.
"You crashed right after sending that email last night. I brought you back to my place."
I sat up, rubbing my temples.
After hitting 'send,' the accumulated exhaustion and tension of the last three years had hit me like a freight train.
Monday morning, 9:00 AM sharp.
Every single board member of Sterling Group received an anonymous email.
Attached were three explosive files:
First, records proving Julian had embezzled twenty million dollars in corporate funds to buy luxury real estate and cars for his mistress, Evelyn.
Second, a complete, airtight audit trail of bribery behind the South District land acquisition.
Third, an official ownership disclosure—an entity named Vance Capital had consolidated a 60.7% stake in Sterling Group, making it the absolute majority shareholder.
The entire boardroom erupted.
"Julian Sterling! Sixty percent of this company is in an outsider's hands, and you, the CEO, had no clue?!"
At the emergency board meeting, a veteran director slammed his glass down so hard it shattered.
Sweat poured down Julian's neck. He frantically called his CFO and chief counsel, but no one could uncover who was pulling the strings behind Vance Capital.
While he was spiraling, a notification pinged on his phone.
An anonymous text with an attached photo.
The picture showed Evelyn walking intimately into an OB/GYN clinic with a strange man, who had his arm gently wrapped around her waist.
Julian's hands shook uncontrollably.
He stormed out of the boardroom and drove straight to Evelyn’s apartment, throwing the printout into her face.
"Who the hell is this guy?! Is this baby even mine?!"
Panic flashed across Evelyn's eyes before she dropped to her knees, crying hysterically.
"Julian, that's my cousin! He was just escorting me to my appointment! Don't let someone drive a wedge between us!"
Her eyes darted around. For the first time, Julian didn't believe a word coming out of her mouth.
An even bigger bomb arrived courtesy of Logan’s legal team.
An asset investigation report on Julian’s mother, Beatrice.
Under her name were three hidden properties she didn't even know were registered to her, alongside an offshore account holding tens of millions.
Every cent had been funneled from Sterling Group’s accounts disguised as renovation fees and consulting costs.
Attacked from both sides, Julian rushed home and got into a screaming match with Beatrice.
Pushed to the brink, Beatrice snapped:
"I took that money to pay off your useless younger brother's gambling debts in Vegas! Who are you to judge me?!"
Julian froze.
He had no idea his favorite younger brother was an addict at the blackjack tables, or that his mother had been draining company funds to fill a bottomless pit.
His family, his career, his love life—everything collapsed within twenty-four hours.
As he sat amidst the ruins, his secretary tapped nervously on the door.
"Mr. Sterling... there's a woman in the lobby. She claims to be the controlling owner of Vance Capital and wants to see you."
Thinking he had found a lifeline, Julian bolted downstairs like a madman.
In the company lobby, the entire staff had gathered, standing in dead silence.
In the center of the crowd stood a woman in a tailored black suit.
Her presence was commanding, her eyes piercingly cold.
Behind her stood Logan Hayes and four elite corporate litigators.
That woman was me.
Chloe Vance.
Julian stumbled back a step, refusing to believe his own eyes.
My heels clicked against the marble as I walked past him and straight into the executive boardroom behind him.
I took the seat at the head of the table—the seat that had belonged to him.
I slid a file across the mahogany surface toward him.
"Julian Sterling, allow me to introduce myself."
"I am the sole controlling owner of Vance Capital, and the only heir to the Vance Empire. Chloe Vance."
"Did you honestly think you married the broke, helpless daughter of a washed-up businessman?"
"The seed money my father gave you to start this company wasn't even worth a rounding error on one of Vance Corporation’s projects."
The room was pin-drop quiet.
Every board member sat frozen in shock.
Someone nervously searched the Vance Corporation on their phone—its market cap was two hundred times larger than Sterling Group.
And I was the heiress who had vanished from high society three years ago.
Julian’s knees buckled. He had to grab the edge of the table to keep from collapsing to the floor.
His own words echoed in his ears—*leeching off your daddy's dirty money*, *can't even give me a son*, every insult he had ever spat at me...
Every syllable was now cutting into him like a razor.
I stood up, looking down at him. There was no hatred in my eyes—only absolute indifference.
"Julian, I'm not here for revenge."
"I am here, as the majority shareholder, to call an extraordinary board meeting."
I surveyed the room.
"I propose the immediate removal of Mr. Julian Sterling from his position as Chief Executive Officer."
"All in favor, raise your hands."
The second my words landed:
Every single director in the room raised their hand. Except Julian.
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
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