Chapter 6 - The Fall of the House of Sterling
By midnight, the mansion was silent again. The caterers had cleaned the ballroom, the decorations were taken down, and Lily was fast asleep in her bed, washed clean and holding her mother's golden locket tightly in her tiny hand.
Adrian sat in his dimly lit home office on the top floor, the glass wall overlooking the city skyline. A crystal glass of scotch sat untouched on his dark oak desk next to a glowing laptop screen.
Across from him sat Mark, his long-time legal advisor and chief operations officer.
"Vanessa’s father has called your cell phone twenty-two times," Mark said softly, leaning back in his leather chair. "He’s begging for a meeting. He claims he had no idea Vanessa was acting this way toward Lily."
"He knew," Adrian said flatly, his eyes fixed on a file detailing the Sterling Group's debt structures. "He enabled her. He thought marrying her off to me would cover up his company’s offshore tax liabilities."
"What do you want to do with the video footage?" Mark asked, holding up a small USB drive containing the full, high-definition security feeds from the ballroom. "Vanessa’s PR team is already telling news outlets that the engagement was called off due to 'mutual differences.'"
Adrian picked up his scotch glass, taking a single, measured sip.
"Release the full, unedited video to every major news outlet and social media platform at 6:00 AM," Adrian commanded. "Let the world see exactly who Vanessa Sterling is when she thinks no one is watching."
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"That will destroy her father's stock price before the market opens," Mark noted, though a slight, cold smile crossed his face.
"Good," Adrian replied. "I want her to watch everything she cared about—her status, her money, her reputation—crumble because she couldn't keep her hands off my daughter."
