CHAPTER 5

Clara Montgomery POV

The ride to Montgomery Headquarters was quiet. I stared out the window, watching the familiar glass skyscraper get closer and closer. I used to think of that building as a symbol of my family’s pride. Now, it just felt like a monument to their greed.

Beside me, Alexander was perfectly still, his eyes fixed on his tablet. He didn't look nervous at all. Why would he be? He wasn't the one about to face a room full of hungry reporters and a furious father.

"Are you ready?" he asked, not looking up from the screen.

"I'm terrified," I admitted honestly. "But I'm more angry than scared."

Alexander finally turned his head to look at me. A corner of his mouth ticked upward. "Good. Use that anger. Don't let them see you blink."

The SUV pulled up to the private VIP entrance at the back of the building. Alexander’s security team opened the doors instantly, forming a human wall around us as we walked inside. We bypassed the main lobby and headed straight for the grand auditorium on the second floor, where the press conference was already underway.

As we approached the heavy wooden double doors of the auditorium, I could hear the muffled sound of Julian’s voice booming through the sound system.

"We ask the media to respect our privacy during this difficult time," Julian was saying, his voice dripping with fake emotion. "Clara was heartbroken when she collapsed this morning. The doctors say it’s severe exhaustion from all the wedding stress, but I promise everyone, our love is strong, and the merger will still happen as soon as she recovers."

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. The absolute liar. He was standing up there, pretending to be a grieving, devoted fiancé, while my stepsister was probably watching from the wings, laughing at how easily they were fooling the public. They really thought they could just rewrite reality to save their stocks.

I looked at Alexander. He gave me a single, sharp nod.

"Let's show them how recovered you are," he murmured.

Two of Alexander's largest bodyguards stepped forward and threw the heavy doors open. The loud bang echoed through the packed room, instantly cutting Julian off in the middle of his sentence.

The auditorium went dead silent. Hundreds of heads turned toward the back of the room.

Alexander held out his arm, and I slid my hand through it. Together, we walked down the center aisle. The security guards cleared a path through the sea of reporters, pushing microphones and cameras out of our way.

For a few seconds, nobody even clicked a camera. They were all too shocked to move. I was supposed to be in a hospital bed, but here I was, looking completely stunning in a designer green dress, walking arm-in-arm with my father’s biggest business rival.

Then, the first camera flashed. Within two seconds, the entire room exploded into a blinding frenzy of white light and shouting. Reporters were jumping out of their seats, screaming questions at us.

Up on the stage, Julian looked like he had just seen a ghost. His face went completely pale, his mouth hanging open as he stared at me. Next to him, my father slammed his hands down on the podium, his eyes bulging with rage. In the front row, I saw Sienna. She had stood up, her fingers gripping her purse so tightly her knuckles were white, her eyes full of sheer jealousy as she looked at my dress, my makeup, and the man beside me.

We reached the front of the stage. Alexander didn't stop. He led me right up the steps, stepping onto the platform as if he owned the entire building.

"Clara!" Julian stammered, taking a step toward me. He tried to reach out and grab my hand. "What are you doing here? Who told you to leave the hospital? And why are you with Sterling?"

Before his fingers could even touch my sleeve, Alexander stepped forward, completely blocking Julian from me. Alexander was a full head taller, his broad shoulders making Julian look incredibly small and pathetic. The air in the room instantly turned heavy and cold.

"Get your hands off my wife," Alexander said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried across the entire room through the open microphones on the podium.

The reporters went absolutely wild. The shouting grew twice as loud.

"Wife?!" Julian yelled, his voice cracking. He looked past Alexander at me. "Clara, what is he talking about? We were supposed to get married today!"

I stepped out from behind Alexander, standing right next to my new husband. I raised my left hand, making sure the massive ten-carat emerald diamond ring caught the bright stage lights. The flashes from the cameras focused entirely on my finger.

"The wedding with you was off the moment I found you and Sienna in the VIP lounge yesterday, Julian," I said, my voice clear and steady. I turned to look at the reporters, speaking directly into the cameras. "Julian Vance is a fraud. He never cared about me, and he certainly doesn't care about my health. He and my stepsister were having an affair behind my back, planning to steal my mother's inheritance."

Gasps echoed through the room. I could see the reporters furiously typing on their phones and shouting to their live-stream crews.

My father marched over, his face purple with anger. "Clara! Shut your mouth right now! Security, remove this girl and Alexander Sterling immediately!"

But none of the building's security guards moved. They were all looking at Alexander’s men, who were standing at the base of the stage like an immovable stone wall.

Alexander stepped up to the main podium, casually pushing Julian out of the way. He leaned down toward the microphone, his expression entirely bored, as if he were just announcing a minor weather update.

"As of midnight last night, Clara Montgomery became Clara Sterling," Alexander announced smoothly. "The Montgomery-Vance merger is officially dead. Sterling Enterprises will be launching a hostile takeover of the Vance shipping routes starting at the opening bell tomorrow morning. If you have shares in their company, I suggest you sell them now."

Julian looked like he was about to faint. He dropped into a chair behind him, his eyes blank with horror. My father looked like he was having a heart attack, staring at the flashing cameras that were capturing his ultimate humiliation.

Alexander turned to me, offering his arm once again. I took it, holding my head high. We walked off the stage and back down the aisle, completely ignoring the chaotic screaming of the press behind us.

As we reached the exit doors, Alexander looked down at me with a dangerous, satisfied smile.

"Welcome to the family, Mrs. Sterling," he said, pushing the doors open to the outside world.