Chapter 1: The Betrayal

ISABELLA

"To Isabella and Caspian!" My father, Victor Sterling's voice boomed as he raised his glass of champagne. "May your future be as bright as your present."

I don't know if today is the best day of my life, but I'm thrilled. I'm engaged to the man I've admired since grade school, and now, in our twenties, our families have arranged a marriage. It was intended as a business arrangement, but for me, it's everything I've ever wanted—to marry Caspian Thorne.

Everything seemed perfect.

I smiled at Caspian, but his eyes were distant. Following his gaze, I saw him staring at my cousin, Danica. 

Danica, with her pretty, luscious face and perpetually haughty attitude, had always been distant from me. However, I’d seen her at every family event like this. Her mother is my mother’s sister. But since my mother died, her mother has been rumored to be my dad’s mistress for a decade. I’ve chosen to remain blind to it; as long as my father is happy, what can I do?

Danica is Caspian’s newly hired secretary. She isn’t as well-off as my family, which is why she was so happy to get the job and has been by my fiancé’s side constantly.

Danica smiled at me, then lowered her head when she saw I wasn’t returning the gesture. 

I didn’t like her. 

She excused herself and left the party.

Despite the obvious red flags, I tried to ignore them. I continued dancing with Caspian in the middle of the crowd. “So, we’re finally getting married…”

Caspian replied, his voice cold, “You always get what you want, Isabella.” He shook his head at me.

“Caspian, I didn’t ask for this engagement, okay? This is a family business, remember?” I smiled at him, though it felt strained. “I know you’re not ready yet, but we’ve known each other for a long time. What’s the problem?”

“You,” he said, his voice laced with resentment. “You are my problem, Isabella. You always get what you want, while I can’t get what I want.” He turned and left me standing there, alone in the middle of the crowd.

I always get what I want. But what happened now? Everything is tearing me apart. Because this morning, when I woke up, my father's company and reputation were splashed across the headlines.

"Sterling Financial Scandal: Embezzling Millions."

I felt like everything crumbled before me. I stood, mind blank, on the 31st floor, gazing at the city's frenetic traffic. I couldn't shake the question: what will happen to us now?

Then my phone rang, and I answered immediately. 

It was my father. "Honey, no matter what, don't speak to the media. Avoid them! I've got this under control."

"D-Dad…" I whispered, my voice barely loud.

"Isabella, listen to me," he said, urgency tightening his voice. "You have to leave your condo now. Our family driver will take you back to the mansion."

I nodded, tears welling in my eyes. "O-Okay," I hung up the call with a heavy sigh. My hands trembled as I frantically packed my belongings into a suitcase. With a heavy heart, I dragged the luggage out of the room.

The driver was waiting for me at the entrance. He helped me load my things into the car. I tried calling Caspian repeatedly, but he didn't answer. My heart pounded with a terrifying fear: would the scandal make him hate me?

Mr. Joe, please take me to the Thorne Residence,” I commanded.

The driver obeyed. 

I desperately needed to see Caspian, to seek his support in this crisis. 

But as I approached, my eyes widened in disbelief. “No, it can’t be… Not here.” 

He was standing at the entrance of his house with Danica.

My brow furrowed, my gaze locking onto Danica before shifting to Caspian. “We need to talk, Caspian.”

He crossed his arms, his expression cold. “If you want to talk, you can do it right here, right now.”

“Caspian, I need your help. I don’t know what’s going on with the news, the scandal, but my family desperately needs your family’s support.”

"Help?" Caspian's voice was a low, dangerous growl. "You want help? After what your family has done?" He gripped my arm, his fingers digging into my skin. 

“Let go of me, Caspian! You’re hurting me!” 

"Investors are screaming for their money, Isabella. Millions, maybe billions, are gone. Because of your father." He spat the word. "You think you can just waltz in here and ask for help? You have no idea what you've done."

Then Danica, my so-called cousin, interrupted, “Let her go, Caspian.”

Caspian released my arm, and I gasped as the pain radiated through me. Red marks bloomed on my skin, and my eyes burned with unshed tears. 

“And who do you think you are, Danica?! You’re just his secretary! You have no right to tell him what to do!”

Danica gave me a half-smile. “Oh, you’re such a fool, Isabella. You’ve been blind forever. Are you really that naive?”

“Uh, that’s why your mother’s been milking my father all these years, right? I choose not to act, but I see everything. You’re a family of gold diggers!”

Danica smiled, a cruel twist of her lips. “Your family is ruined, and so are you.”

My gaze snapped to her, anger boiling within me. I lunged forward, intending to slap her, but Caspian shoved me back, pointing a finger at me. “Never lay a finger on Danica!”

I scoffed, wiping away my tears, a bitter laugh escaping me. “So, after all this time, you and Danica… this is what’s been happening? Flirting behind my back? I should have seen it coming!” I ripped off my engagement ring, my heart-shattering. “It’s over, Caspian! We’re finished!”

I turned my back on them, but Caspian grabbed the back of my arm and said, "Oh, maybe you forgot that now your family owes millions of dollars to the Thorne family! I'm sure my father will try to fix this issue, but darling, you owe big time! How can you pay that, huh? So, we're not finished yet, Isabella." 

I yanked his hand away and walked away from them, my heart broken. I had been so strong, yet I collapsed inside the car, sobbing heavily in pain. I couldn’t help but think that the only man who could help me was the one who would betray me in the end.

The engagement was over.

When I arrived at the mansion, everything was so quiet. My father’s bodyguard walked toward me, but the head maid stopped him and said, “It’s not the right time—”

“She needs to know,” the bodyguard replied.

I glanced at them, confusion written all over my eyes. “What’s happening?”