Everyone in Manhattan’s elite circles knew Silas Sterling had a girl he kept on a pedestal. She was spoiled, entitled, and utterly arrogant. Even on our wedding day, she showed up in a white gown that mirrored my own, making me look like the punchline of a joke. I stayed silent until my family and I systematically dismantled Silas’s empire and drove him into bankruptcy. Only then did that girl crawl to me on her knees, begging for mercy. I looked down at her with a cold smirk. "Weren’t you the one dying to be his bride?" I asked. "Well, I hope you both enjoy each other’s company in federal prison. Till death do you part." 1 As I began my walk down the aisle, I saw her. She was standing on the mezzanine balcony of the ballroom, draped in a white silk gown that mirrored my own. She looked down at my fiancé, Silas Sterling, with eyes brimming with tears. And Silas? He was looking right back at her, his expression filled with a longing that made me, the actual bride, look like a circus act. Beside me, my father’s hand tightened on my arm, his knuckles white. I placed my hand over his, forcing him to stay calm. The whispers from the pews were like static in the air: "Who is that girl? Showing up to a wedding dressed as the bride? Where’s the class?" "Don't you know? That’s Chloe, the ward Silas raised for eighteen years. They’re... 'close'." "Everyone knows she’s obsessed with him. The only reason Silas chose Elena Vance is because his mother forced his hand to secure the Vance family merger." Under the icy glare of the Sterling matriarch, Silas finally, reluctantly, tore his eyes away from the balcony. Chloe was eventually pulled back into the shadows by a bridesmaid, forced to change into a cocktail dress before being ushered to a seat. I marched forward with a dignified smile—the perfect picture of the "refined heiress" Mrs. Sterling Senior demanded. In front of the priest and the city’s elite, I let Silas slide the ring onto my finger. I watched Chloe’s eyes turn a deeper shade of red with every word of the vows. Silas looked miserable. I looked amused. Oh, you’re heartbroken? I thought. Let me give you something real to cry about. Before the reception could even begin, I grabbed Chloe’s hand in front of a group of socialites. I flashed a wide, beaming smile. "You must be Chloe, right? From today on, you can call me Mom." The surrounding guests froze for a heartbeat before several of them muffled their laughter. I maintained my "gracious" expression, looking at her with faux maternal warmth. "They say a daughter is a father’s first love," I added, my voice dripping with sugary malice. "Looking at the two of you, I can see that's true in more ways than one!" Chloe looked like she had been stripped naked in the middle of Times Square. Her deepest, dirtiest secret had just been paraded in front of everyone she wanted to impress. She turned and bolted out of the hall in a fit of hysterical tears. Silas tried to follow her, but I clamped my hand onto his arm with a grip like a vice. "Husband," I whispered, the smile never leaving my face. "For the sake of the multi-million dollar merger between our firms, I suggest you stay and finish the toast." He glared at me, his face twisted in a silent snarl of rage. But he stayed. He didn't have a choice. 2 The wedding was a "success," at least for the stock market. Silas was immediately buried in the overseas expansion project we had launched together. He didn't have time to play peacemaker between his new wife and his "little girl," so I had to handle her myself. When I arrived at the Sterling estate for the first time as its mistress, I found my designer luggage sitting on the wet grass of the front lawn. Chloe was standing in the grand doorway, arms crossed, looking down her nose at me like she owned the place. I grew up as a Vance. My family’s staff didn't even breathe without my permission. When my personal assistant saw the suitcases on the grass, her hand literally twitched. I held her back. I stepped out of the car, leaned down, and picked up an emerald necklace that had spilled out of one of my bags. I stood up and looked at Chloe with a playful glint in my eye. "Do you have any idea how much this insurance premium costs?" Chloe scoffed. "Only peasants care about the price of jewelry. I have drawers full of stuff Silas bought me. Do you want some of my hand-me-downs, Elena?" I didn't say a word. I just looked at my assistant. She didn't need a verbal command. She stepped forward and delivered a backhand so sharp the sound echoed off the limestone pillars. Chloe stumbled back, clutching her face in disbelief. "How dare you?" she shrieked. My assistant sneered. "Know your place. You’re talking to a Vance." Following my nod, the staff pinned Chloe down, forcing her to her knees at my feet. I reached down and tilted her chin up with one finger, admiring the shock on her pampered face. Then I slapped her. Twice. Hard. This was a gated community. The houses were close. The sound of the blows brought the neighbors out onto their balconies. I didn't care. I let out a light laugh. "Listen to me, Chloe. I know Silas has babied you for a decade. But I’m the woman of this house now. You want to marry him? Get in line. But until you do, you’re under my thumb." "Keep acting out, and I will break you every single time until you learn to sit." Chloe tried to scream a curse at me. I slapped her again, making sure her lip bled. Suddenly, someone came sprinting from the neighboring lawn. "Elena! Stop it! She’s just a kid!" I turned to see Greg Montgomery, the neighborhood playboy, grabbing my wrist. I didn't hesitate. My free hand swung around and connected with his face, too. As he stood there, stunned and clutching his cheek, I hissed: "Greg, mind your own business. Chloe is a legal adult. If you want to play house with her, do it on your own time. This is a family matter, and frankly, you don't have the bank balance to interfere." His face turned beet red. "The Vance Group just acquired thirty percent of your father’s firm," I reminded him. "If you want to keep your trust fund, I suggest you go back inside." He went silent. I looked at my staff. They grabbed Chloe by the hair and dragged her into the house like a bag of trash. 3 Chloe wasn't related to Silas by blood, but he had raised her since she was a toddler. Their dynamic was sick. Her bedroom was literally connected to his through a shared walk-in closet. The house staff whispered that Silas liked to stay close in case she had "nightmares." I laughed when I heard it. "So," I said to the head housekeeper, who was looking at me with pure terror. "I’m the third wheel in my own marriage? Is this a group project?" The housekeeper knew I wasn't someone to mess with. By that evening, every single one of Chloe’s belongings had been moved to a guest suite in the basement. I watched the boxes go down, my expression cold. I didn't care what Silas did in his spare time. But if Chloe thought she could scream in my face and get away with it, she was delusional. Silas came home that night, clearly tipped off that his "princess" was being mistreated. At the dinner table, I sat elegantly in a silk robe, sipping soup. When I set a bowl down for Silas, he looked at me, let out a disgusted scoff, and swiped the bowl off the table with his forearm. The scalding broth splattered across my hand. Across the table, Chloe’s eyes lit up with malicious joy, though she quickly masked it with a fake, worried pout. "Does it hurt?" Silas sneered. "Not as much as Chloe’s face hurts after you attacked her this morning. Do you think you’re untouchable just because of your last name, Elena?" Chloe stood up, playing the peacemaker. "Uncle Silas, please... don't fight. It was my fault." I slowly stood up. The "gracious wife" mask was gone. I looked Silas dead in the eye and delivered a bone-shattering slap across his face. "Silas Sterling," I said, my voice like a whip. "I gave you the benefit of the doubt. But don't you dare think for one second that I’m the kind of woman who takes hits." The ring on my finger had caught his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. Chloe screamed and rushed to his side. "Silas! Are you okay?" I didn't stop. I grabbed the porcelain dinner plate and smashed it onto the floor. A shard flew up and nicked Chloe’s eyelid. She shrieked, covering her eye. My security team stepped in, forming a wall between me and an enraged Silas. I picked up a sharp piece of porcelain from the floor. 4 Silas tried to lunge at me, but he couldn't get past my guards. "ELENA! STOP!" he roared. I ignored him. I looked at my assistant and nodded. She stepped forward, grabbed Chloe’s arm, and held it steady. Before Chloe could even realize what was happening, I used the porcelain shard to carve two quick lines into her cheek. Nothing deep, just enough to leave a permanent reminder. Chloe wailed, backing away in horror. I stood there, smoothing out my robe, and picked up a glass of Cabernet. I raised it toward Silas. "Silas, if you were smart, you wouldn't have married me. You need the Vance money to keep your company afloat, and as long as I'm the one paying the bills, I run the house." "Chloe is a houseguest. If she insults me again, I’ll make sure she’s deaf or blind by morning. Do I make myself clear?" I set the glass down and walked upstairs without looking back. While we were fighting, my staff had already called Silas’s mother. They told her Chloe had staged a coup and that Silas was helping her bully me. Since the Vance-Sterling merger was the only thing keeping their family out of the tabloids, Mrs. Sterling Senior was terrified. By the time I reached the top of the stairs, her private car was already in the driveway to pick me up. I left with my staff and spent the next two weeks at the Sterling family estate. Mrs. Sterling spent the entire time apologizing to me, plying me with heirloom diamonds to make sure I didn't tell my father to pull the funding. I played the "broken, dutiful wife" perfectly. 5 I stayed at the family estate until Silas finally came to beg me to return. My brother had "accidentally" mentioned to Silas during a board meeting that he was looking into other investment opportunities. Silas knew what that meant. When we finally returned to the villa, the layout had changed. The housekeeper had replaced the modern furniture with the heavy, antique pieces I preferred. It felt like a fortress. I took off my coat and smiled at the butler. "Where is Chloe?" Before Silas could speak, the butler bowed. "Miss Chloe moved into a private apartment downtown. She said she didn't want to disturb your peace." I raised an eyebrow. "She moved to the Chelsea District?" I asked. The butler hesitated. I smirked. "Isn't that building known for housing 'kept women'?" I laughed. "Silas, really? You’re making it look so tawdry. People will talk." "Poor Chloe. Her reputation in the city is going to be ruined. She’ll never find a decent husband now." Silas’s face was a map of humiliation. He and I were both sharks; we knew exactly what the move meant. He wanted her where I couldn't touch her, but in doing so, he had effectively branded her as his mistress. I didn't care. I spent the next month systematically taking over the house. I fired the staff loyal to him. I audited the household accounts. I made sure every person under that roof knew who held the checkbook. By the time Chloe came back for a visit, the house was a Vance stronghold. She had been quiet lately, focusing on her senior year at the New York School of Design. Silas had spent millions to get her in, despite her mediocre grades. He even promised her a trip to Paris once she finished her thesis. At dinner, Chloe was back to her old tricks, whining about how "hard" her design project was. Silas was cooing over her, promising her the world. I couldn't help it. I let out a sharp laugh. Chloe snapped. "What’s so funny? Do you think my education is a joke?" "I think your grades are a joke," I said smoothly. "That’s an Ivy-equivalent school. Do you really think you got in on talent?" My assistant chimed in with a smirk: "Our lady graduated summa cum laude from Oxford. She actually knows what a library looks like. Unlike some people who buy their way through." I looked at Silas. He looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole. He had kept Chloe in a bubble, making her believe she was a genius. I just enjoyed watching the bubble pop.
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