My best friend stole my boyfriend, so I turned around and seduced her ultimate, unattainable crush of ten years—Felix Sterling. Early the next morning, I fled the scene on trembling legs, only to find my ex-boyfriend standing outside the door. He had been there all night. With bloodshot eyes, he looked at me and asked, "Then what was I to you?" I wrenched my hand out of his grasp. "When you were busy betraying me with my best friend, did you ever stop to think about what I was to you?" Behind me, Felix Sterling’s face was a mask of pure, terrifying ice. 1 Felix’s grip was bruising. Instinctively, I pushed against his chest. He hovered over me, his alcohol-flushed eyes locking onto mine. "Do we stop, or keep going?" His low, slightly raspy voice brushed across my skin like rough velvet. The heat radiating from his palms was impossible to ignore. The voice in my head tore at me, flashing a million reasons to back out, but in the end, I gritted my teeth, grabbed Felix’s tie, and pulled him down into a fierce, desperate kiss. As my consciousness began to blur, his lazy, amused voice echoed above me. "Poor thing. You make it look like I’m the one bullying you." 2 Felix Sterling was truly a force to be reckoned with. I cursed him under my breath, my hands shaking as I slipped my clothes back on. I had to get out of there before he woke up. But the moment I pushed the heavy oak door open on jelly-like legs, I froze. Preston Cole looked up through a cloud of cigarette smoke. His eyes were rimmed red, filled with a heartbroken, resentful agony. The ground around his feet was littered with cigarette butts. He had actually stood out here all night. I clutched my purse tight, pretending I didn't see him, and turned to walk away. Preston lunged forward, grabbing my arm. "Scarlett, don't you owe me an explanation?" "An explanation for what?" I frowned, trying to shove his hand off. "You’re hurting me." "Hurting you? My fucking heart is bleeding, Scarlett!" Preston roared. "You doing this... what the hell am I to you?" I looked at him coldly and let out a harsh laugh. "When you were sleeping with my best friend behind my back, did you stop to think about what I was to you?" He deflated instantly. His eyes watered, and he frowned in agony. "I was drunk! I swear I don't know how it happened. I don't even like her, Scarlett. I only love you." "Scarlett, you can't use this to get back at me. Do you know you're just ruining yourself?!" "Enough, Preston." I ripped my arm out of his grip. "It was only after I slept with Felix that I realized being with you was what was actually ruining me." He tried to follow me. I spun around and slapped him hard across the face. "Get lost, you piece of trash." 3 I was so angry I’d put my entire body weight into the slap. The momentum made me stumble backward. I crashed into a solid, muscular chest. A familiar, burning heat wrapped around my waist. Along with that familiar scent came a flood of chaotic, intimate memories. I looked up, caught in Felix’s dark, bottomless eyes, and my face instantly caught fire. I lowered my gaze, embarrassed and guilty, not daring to look at him again. "Felix Sterling!" To Preston, Felix’s appearance was like throwing a match into a powder keg. Preston pulled his fist back and swung wildly at Felix’s face. Felix smoothly pulled me behind him. He blocked Preston's punch with one hand and drove his foot straight into Preston’s knee. "I'd advise against throwing a tantrum here," Felix said coldly, glancing at a hotel concierge rushing toward us. I didn't want to cause a scene. I tried to run, but Preston scrambled up, reaching for my wrist. Felix beat him to it, pulling me tightly against his side. "I’m taking you home." "Let go of her! Scarlett is my girlfriend!" Preston stood with his fists clenched, desperate to fight but completely outmatched. "Preston, we broke up." His face contorted, looking utterly devastated. "Scarlett, does it have to be like this?" I didn't answer. Felix simply dragged me away. 4 "What do you want?" Felix lit a cigarette, his dark eyes looking down at me. "I want you to destroy Preston Cole. He and Tara betrayed me. I want them to suffer." Felix’s gaze was heavy. "You’ve got the wrong guy." In the end, he only wrote me a check. For the next month, he vanished completely. Recently, though, his name was plastered all over the news. Every headline was about his upcoming engagement. And his fiancée was none other than my ex-best friend, Tara. After pining for him for a decade, she was finally getting her wish. Ten years ago, our three families were old money equals, closely tied socialites. Unfortunately, my family’s business collapsed. Tara’s family took a minor hit, leaving only the Sterling family at the absolute pinnacle of high society. Countless women threw themselves at the Sterling empire. I have no idea what manipulative tactics Tara’s family used, but they actually got Felix to say yes. A marriage alliance of this magnitude—how could I possibly miss it? The venue was extravagant. The Sterlings had invited the city's most elite, along with a swarm of media. Perfect. The more people, the better. Up on the grand stage, Tara’s smile was radiant. Felix wore his usual cold, detached expression, looking down at everyone like ants. It was only when his eyes landed on me that a crack appeared in his icy facade. The smile vanished from Tara’s face. She glared at me like a hawk, glanced at Felix, and immediately signaled security to drag me out. But it was too late. The guests and the cameras had already noticed me. I stood right in front of the flashing bulbs, smiled softly, and pulled out an ultrasound printout. "Felix, I brought your child to congratulate you on your engagement." My voice wasn't loud, but it was enough. The crowd erupted into absolute chaos, every camera lens zooming in on my flat stomach. "You cheap bitch! You seduced my fiancé! Have you no shame?!" Tara shrieked. "How dare you try to ruin my engagement!" Tara slapped me with everything she had. My ears rang instantly. Amidst the screaming and flashing cameras, Felix grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the ballroom. 5 Felix’s mansion was terrifyingly quiet. For a second, I genuinely thought he was going to strangle me to death and no one would ever know. His grip was brutal. He choked me until I couldn't speak, leaving me to thrash and push against his chest. Just as I was on the verge of passing out, he let go, throwing me to the floor. "Felix, a dozen cameras watched you drag me out of there. If I die here, you can't explain it away." I instinctively curled my arms protectively over my stomach. His frown deepened. He made a call, summoning his private doctor to draw my blood. The results were undeniable. I was pregnant. He couldn't shake this off. "What do you want?" he asked, the exact same question from a month ago. "You are not allowed to marry Tara. Also, I want you to destroy Preston." Felix pulled out a cigarette. He was about to light it, but suddenly remembering something, he snapped it in half. His voice dropped an octave. "Scarlett, I already gave you my answer." "But the stakes are different now." I stood up, took his hand, and pressed it flat against my lower abdomen. "Felix, don't you want a real family? I can give you one." His parents had died when he was young, and his grandfather raised him. Despite possessing infinite wealth and supreme status, deep down, he harbored a desperate craving for family. Felix’s eyes darkened, and he pulled his hand back. "Scarlett, you know I despise being calculated." "It's just a child. What makes you think you're the only one who can give me one?" I tilted my head, kissed the back of his hand, and chuckled softly. "But I'm the only one you gave a chance to, aren't I?" Over the years, countless women had tried to climb into his bed and use a pregnancy to secure their status. But Felix never gave a single one of them the opportunity. Except me. 6 Felix and Tara’s engagement fell through. Even though he didn't publicly acknowledge my status, he tacitly allowed me to keep the baby. As part of the deal, he lent me his resources to go after Preston. He wouldn't do it himself; he just wanted to watch how far I could push Preston on my own. That was fine by me. It gave me plenty of room to operate. Tara tracked me down again. The second she burst through the door, she lunged at me, grabbing my hair and yanking violently. "You bitch! You stole my fiancé! You're shameless!" "It's all your fault! He was finally starting to accept me! Why did you have to show up?!" "Shut your mouth!" I slapped her hard across the face. "I only did this because you seduced my boyfriend! If you loved Felix so much, why did you set your sights on Preston? I treated you like my sister all these years, and you played me for a fool." Tara’s face turned ugly. "We just had too much to drink. I wasn't trying to steal him from you." "Oh, really? Tara, you’ve always looked down on me, haven't you? When my family went bankrupt, you were thrilled." "You could never beat me at anything. Finally, you found a way to step on my neck. You gave me charity, pretended to be my best friend—it was all just to satisfy your own twisted superiority complex." "All these years, watching me struggle made you so happy. But then, I found a boyfriend who treated me like a queen, and you couldn't handle it. You got jealous." "Do you think Preston is a good guy? Please. He only hooked up with you because he wanted to exploit your family’s resources." "You two hypocrites. You deserve each other." "What a shame. Everything you thought you were going to have is being taken away by me." Tara went absolutely feral. By the time the guards dragged her out, she was screaming a string of vile curses. When Felix heard I was involved in a physical altercation, he rushed home, his face dark, and forcefully dragged me to the hospital for a full workup. "Relax. Your kid is tough as nails," the doctor assured him. His jaw had been clenched tight the entire time. Only when the tests confirmed the baby was perfectly fine did he finally exhale. Felix genuinely cared about the child in my womb. I took his hand and placed it on my stomach. His movements were stiff, but his expression softened significantly. He looked expectant. "The doctor said the baby needs to feel both mommy and daddy's presence. They can sense it." I leaned my head gently against his shoulder. "Can you come over more often? To spend time with me and the baby?" 7 Felix didn't answer me, but from that day forward, he came over every single day. "You poached Summit Corp's contract?" I almost choked on my food when he asked. He frowned, handing me a glass of water. "Yes." Felix had given me executive authority over one of his shell companies. Summit Corp was a subsidiary of Preston's family empire, where their business interests overlapped. So, I handed him my first gift. "Is that a problem? You promised I could do this." "You said you only wanted to destroy Preston, but you're using my name to sabotage the Cole family's corporate operations. Scarlett, what are you trying to pull?" "I just want to destroy Preston." His intense gaze made me uncomfortable. I stood up, using nausea as an excuse to leave the table, but he grabbed my wrist. "Is Preston really the only one you want to destroy?" His sharp, penetrating eyes seemed to see right through me. "Just because Preston cheated, you’re taking it to this extreme? Scarlett, I don't like women who lie to me." He was squeezing my wrist so hard it bruised. I looked at him with teary eyes, crying out in pain. He loosened his grip slightly, but it was clear that tears weren't going to get me out of this interrogation. "I want to destroy the entire Cole family, not just Preston." He watched me, silently demanding I continue. "I was never truly in love with Preston. My plan was to marry him to infiltrate the Cole family. But when Tara pulled her stunt, I used it to pivot to you. I wanted to borrow your power to destroy them." "Reason?" "The Cole family killed my adoptive parents. Preston's father killed my adoptive dad in a DUI, then used his money to bury it. When my adoptive mom refused to accept the hush money, his men beat her so badly she suffered severe internal injuries. Without money for treatment, she slowly withered away and died." "I was too young back then to do anything. But when I ran into Preston years later, it felt like God telling me to get my revenge." He stared at me in silence. I knelt on the floor in front of him, crying and begging for a long time, until I finally earned his tacit approval. 8 My tactics against the Cole family became increasingly ruthless. From poaching contracts at the start, I escalated to maliciously blocking their supply chains. Rumors that the Sterling empire was targeting the Coles spread like wildfire. Businesses that were allied with the Coles severed ties out of fear of offending Felix. Those who already disliked the Coles took the opportunity to kick them while they were down. Negative press surrounded the Cole family endlessly, and their assets were frozen or targeted. Using the Sterling name, I even coordinated with the banks to cut off the Cole family's corporate loans, effectively strangling their lifeline. Like a fish on a chopping block, the Cole family was being scaled alive, thrashing desperately in a boiling pot. During one of my prenatal checkups, I ran into Preston. He looked haggard. Through the crowd, his eyes burned with a painful, feverish intensity. "Are you really pregnant with his child?" When his eyes landed on my slightly swelling stomach, his clenched fists began to shake. I smiled. "Weren't you standing right outside the door that night?" "Why?!" He grabbed my arm in a frantic panic, only to be shoved back immediately by my bodyguards. "Why are you with Felix Sterling? Do you love him? Do you care about him?" "What about me? We were together for so long. Just because I drank too much and made a stupid mistake, we can never go back?" I watched him lose his mind, watched him become hysterical, and asked him only one question: "Since you were standing right outside that night, why didn't you stop me?" He stared at me, too ashamed to speak. "Because you were terrified of Felix. You were terrified of the Sterling empire. So you abandoned me. Since you did that, why couldn't I abandon you?" He looked thoroughly humiliated. "So, you never loved me. Are you really out for my family's blood? Have you been targeting us this whole time? Was that your goal when you approached me, and your goal when you approached Felix?" I looked at him with pity, refusing to offer even a shred of the affection he was so desperate to see. His expression finally twisted into absolute despair. "Scarlett, I have a secret to tell you. Can you make them leave first?" "What secret?" "You’re destroying the Cole family because of what happened to your adoptive parents. But what you don't know is... the person you actually have a blood feud with is someone else entirely." He sounded so incredibly serious. After a long moment of thought, I agreed to speak with him alone. My two bodyguards refused. They wanted to intervene, but given my pregnancy, they didn't dare use force. They could only step back to call Felix. When Preston and I walked to the intersection, he looked like he wanted to say something, but his eyes darted to an approaching van. Before I could react, a sharp pinch hit my neck, and everything went black.
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