Chapter 7

Lucien leaned close to Cherise and murmured, "I hope you haven't forgotten that Morgan and I are friends, Ms. Rhode. I'm not the type to stab my friends in the back."

Cherise sat with her back straight. Despite their proximity, she showed no sign of budging. "There's no such thing as eternal friendship in the face of profit. And from what I know of you, you value profit above all else, Mr. Camden."

She was right about that. Lucien had used everything at his disposal to stabilize his position in Camden Group and the Camden family since taking over. Naturally, his fearsome reputation also stemmed from his ruthless methods.

Lucien hadn't expected Cherise to be so calm. He turned slightly to look at her side profile as curiosity filled his eyes. She was a lot clearer-headed than he'd thought.

He straightened up after a long silence and said, "I'll take on your divorce case, Ms. Rhode. What exactly are you asking for?"

His answer was within Cherise's expectations, so she barely batted an eye. She said firmly, "I want you to get me as many of Sterling Group's assets as possible."

She didn't want anything else. Everything Sterling Group had at that moment existed only because she'd built it up with her own hands. What right did Morgan have to use the money she'd earned to please another woman?

He wasn't worthy of that!

Lucien agreed without hesitation and said breezily, "Let me be the first to congratulate you on your newfound single life, then."

With that, he turned and walked away.

Cherise watched him, finally feeling the heavy stone in her chest drop. With Lucien representing her, the divorce case with Morgan would only go in her favor. After all, Lucien had never lost any case that he'd taken on.

…

After the birthday celebration ended, Cherise chatted with Philip for a while longer before driving off. She thought about the empty, lonely place she and Morgan shared and figured she would never return there.

She'd initially been happy and filled with bliss when moving in. Now, however, every second she spent in that place made her stomach turn.

She checked into a hotel, took a quick shower, and went straight to bed.

Cherise was rudely awakened at 3:00 am by her phone, which was ringing off the hook where she'd placed it on the bedside table.

She opened her eyes blearily and reached for it, answering it to hear Morgan's assistant, Calvin Slater, speak urgently on the other end of the line.

He said, "Ms. Rhode, there's trouble. Mr. Sterling got into a brawl with someone at Shaston Avenue, and the paparazzi recorded the whole thing. The people he fought with are now refusing to let him leave. I'm afraid things will spiral out of control if we don't deal with this as soon as possible. Could you come over now?"

Cherise pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling irritated. Her earlier drowsiness had left her. There was no doubt in her mind that Morgan had gotten into this fight for Eloise's sake. She was the only one who would make him lose control like this.

Cherise had dealt with too many similar incidents lately, so she'd grown numb to them.

When she didn't answer, Calvin asked, "Ms. Rhode, are you listening to me? Hello?"

"Send me the location. I'll head there now," she said shortly. Then, she hung up, grabbed her coat from the rack by the door, and strode out.

On her way to the location Calvin had sent her, she checked Twitter's trending searches. In the video of Morgan's fight, his expression was cold as he grabbed a man by the collar and punched him squarely in the face. Every punch that came after that seemed designed to kill.

Despite his opponents ganging up on him and beating him up, he still did his best to shield Eloise behind him. He didn't let any of the other men so much as get close to her.

Cherise had seen enough. She locked her phone, clutching it so tightly that her fingertips turned white. She sneered. Morgan was willing to put his life on the line to keep Eloise safe, huh?

She shut her eyes and leaned back, unable to suppress the annoyance that rose in her. She urged the driver to speed up.

About half an hour later, they pulled up by the roadside. Cherise got out, instantly spotting a familiar figure standing nearby.

Morgan looked nothing like his usual polished self. His shirt was dirty and tattered, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. His right cheek was red and swollen.

A few police officers stood before him, trying to find out what had happened. However, he pursed his lips tightly, holding Eloise's hand as he stood protectively before her.

The police officer in the lead was evidently starting to lose patience due to Morgan's refusal to talk. He said, "Mr. Sterling, if you refuse to tell us what happened, we'll have no choice but to follow procedure in dealing with this.

"Per the law, causing public disturbance, starting and getting into a group brawl, and intentionally harming others can land you in jail for three to five years. If someone is seriously hurt, it could be longer."

At that, Cherise hurried forward and nodded politely at the police officer. She said, "Officer, I'm Morgan Sterling's wife, Cherise Rhode."

He had no choice but to fix his gaze on her as she stood between him and Morgan. He sighed and said, "Ms. Rhode, we need to take Mr. Sterling back with us. I hope you'll give us the necessary cooperation."

"You can't take him." Cherise looked at him calmly. "The matter has yet to be investigated, and I have reason to believe that those men provoked Morgan, possibly even harassing Ms. Lane, who's standing behind him. That is probably what caused him to attack them."

She'd asked someone to get her the full recording on her way there. The video uploaded online had only shown half of the incident—anyone who watched it would think that Morgan had initiated the fight.

However, if he'd only attacked those thugs out of self-defense because they'd harassed him and Eloise, the nature of this matter would be completely different.

Of course, Cherise wasn't doing any of this to salvage Morgan's reputation. It was for Sterling Group's sake. She'd worked hard to get it to where it was, and she wanted to take it all back from him herself.

She held out her phone to the police officer. "Take a look at this."

When the police left with their suspects, the paparazzi standing nearby began to stir. However, Cherise didn't give them the chance to speak. She said bluntly, "Sterling Group will make a public statement on this once the truth is confirmed. If anyone dares to spread false rumors about this online, we won't hesitate to pursue the matter!"

Her tone was firm; her words were a blatant threat.

The paparazzi exchanged looks, not daring to surge forward. The fact that Morgan had gotten into a fight was a scandal that tempted them, but the Sterling family wasn't one they could afford to offend.

Forced to choose between the temptation before them and the rest of their careers, they went with the latter.

When the crowd finally dispersed, Morgan couldn't take it anymore. He swayed on his feet and stumbled forward.

Eloise quickly grabbed him, holding him steady as she traced the wound at the corner of his mouth. Her eyes reddened, filled with heartache as she asked, "Morgan, are you okay? Why were you so reckless? What would I have done if things went wrong with you?"

Morgan forced a wan smile and held her hand tightly, looking like they'd both just survived an ordeal. "I'm just glad you're fine, Eloise. Anyway, I'm still standing, aren't I? Don't worry about me."

Cherise felt her stomach churn as she watched the tender scene they acted out. She turned to Calvin and said, "Take Mr. Sterling to the hospital."