Chapter 4

Now that Adrian had let Sienna’s things be moved in, he was no longer making even a token effort to spare Claire the humiliation.

He was letting everyone watch her lose her place in that house. Letting them watch Mrs. Sterling be replaced, piece by piece.

But even if she was divorcing him...

Even if Adrian could not wait to give Sienna, his former would-be sister-in-law, a rightful place at his side...

Claire would not let herself be shamed like this before the marriage was even officially over.

She walked in without hurry, calm enough to make people uneasy, and looked over the movers. Then she lifted a hand and pointed to the newly delivered furniture one item at a time.

“These are expensive,” she said. “Take them back out. Sell them secondhand if you want. You’ll still make a decent profit.”

The movers had only come for a paycheck.

The moment they heard they could keep the furniture, they perked up at once. Grinning, they started moving the pieces back outside without a second thought.

Ethan tried to stop them, but he was too late. Furious, he pointed at Claire and shouted, “Who do you think you are? My mom bought those for my sister-in-law. You think you get to decide? My brother’s going to kick you out!”

Claire understood immediately.

So it was not just Adrian.

Vivian Sterling was behind this too.

She looked down at Ethan and said, each word crisp and clear, “Fine. Tomorrow I’ll go to your school and tell all your classmates you’re helping your brother sleep with your cousin’s wife. I’ll tell them the Sterling family thinks cheating is perfectly respectable. Since you admire Sienna so much, I’ll make sure everyone knows it. How does that sound?”

The words hit hard.

Claire had never spoken to him that way before. She had always tolerated him, always indulged him. For a second Ethan could only stare at her, stunned.

His face turned bright red.

“You’re vicious. Disgusting. You wouldn’t dare!”

Claire gave a faint shrug.

See?

People loved to say children were innocent, too young to understand cruelty.

That illusion vanished the moment the blade turned toward them.

Who said adults had to keep giving ground just because the other person was a child?

The shouting must have carried, because Vivian walked in with a dark look on her face.

“What’s going on?”

Then she turned to Claire and frowned. “It’s almost ten. Why are you still standing around? The meals aren’t ready. What am I supposed to eat? What is Sienna supposed to eat?”

Something lodged sharply in Claire’s throat.

She understood nutrition. During the one week each month she stayed at the Sterling estate, she had personally planned the family’s meals and herbal tonics. Every dish was adjusted for someone’s health, someone’s preferences, someone’s condition. She used to wake before five every morning so everything would be ready before work.

Then the meals would be sent out to the ancestral home for Madam Sterling, the eldest branch, the second branch, and the rest.

Including Sienna’s share.

Back then, Vivian had always treated Sienna especially well. Claire had told herself it was because Sienna was competent, beautiful, and knew how to win over elders.

But now...

Hadn’t the signs always been there?

Vivian had known from the beginning that Sienna was the woman Adrian had never let go of. That was why she had favored her so openly. And after Sienna’s fiancé went to prison, Vivian had started pushing things along more directly, in ways subtle and not so subtle.

For a whole year, Claire had cooked for her husband’s mistress without knowing it.

Like a fool, spun in circles for everyone else’s amusement.

They had never respected her. Not once.

She no longer saw any reason to hold back.

“If your lives depend on me staying,” she said evenly, “then die.”

Vivian’s face darkened at once.

She stared after Claire in disbelief.

Even the maids nearby looked shaken.

Had Claire finally lost her mind over Miss Cole? How could she say something so vicious, so outrageous, to her own mother-in-law?

Vivian recovered quickly. Her lip curled with contempt.

“So vulgar. So petty. And she thought she could keep a husband with that kind of temper. Ridiculous.”

Claire dropped off her luggage, then went straight to the hospital where she had worked for the past four years and handed in her resignation.

She had chosen that mediocre hospital in the first place because it was close to Sterling Group.

Now that she was done with the man, there was no reason to keep wasting time there.

She had never been the kind of woman with nowhere else to go.

There were better opportunities waiting for her.

That afternoon, she was supposed to meet Avery for lunch.

Avery had already sent her the address. It was close by.

The moment Claire walked into the restaurant, Avery waved her over and poured her a cup of tea.

“You got the resignation handled?”

Claire nodded. “More or less.”

Avery studied her face. “And when you brought up the divorce, how did Adrian react?”

She was genuinely curious.

A man like that would probably see it as an insult to his pride that Claire had been the one to ask for a divorce first.

Claire watched the steam rise from her teacup and shook her head.

“He didn’t react at all.”

He had not even sat down with her for a proper conversation.

Even after she had finally said she was leaving, he had still gone on treating her as though she did not exist.

Men really were absurd creatures.

They could throw you away without a second thought, yet the moment you walked away first, it somehow became an affront.

Avery clenched her jaw. “Is his heart made of stone? Seven years, and that’s all he has to say?”

Claire did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Her failure was too complete to hide. The ruin of those years lay open in front of her, too naked for pride to cover.

Only she knew what those seven years had cost.

And she had long since run out of tears.

She was no longer the woman who could survive on scraps of Adrian’s affection.

When Avery asked what had finally pushed her to leave, Claire did not hide it. She told her what had happened in the ER.

Avery’s face turned green.

She slapped a hand against the table and shot to her feet. “They did that without even bothering to hide it? Does Sienna have no shame at all? Her fiancé hasn’t even been gone that long, and she’s already sleeping with his cousin? And she’s pregnant?”

It was the first time in Avery’s life she had seen something so shameless.

Claire knew Avery had never been one to lower her voice when she was angry. The hotter her temper ran, the louder she got.

Claire reached out at once and tugged her back down into her seat.

To be fair, Claire did not know every detail of what had happened the night before. She only knew the broad outline from what one of the younger nurses had told her.

She had not even had a chance to examine Sienna properly.

Sienna had clearly looked down on her medical skills and had been on guard around her from the start.

But it was already too late.

A cool, mocking laugh came from behind her.

Claire turned and saw a man standing just beyond the decorative screen.

She recognized him at once.

Damien York. One of Adrian’s very few close friends.

The disgust in Damien’s eyes was unmistakable. He had clearly heard what Avery had just said.

And of course, he assumed Claire was the one spreading the scandal.

“Claire, I didn’t realize you could stoop this low.”

His mouth twisted with contempt. His gaze swept over her from head to toe, and after delivering that single cutting line, he turned and strode upstairs.

He did not give her any chance to answer.

The way he looked at her, as though she were the one in the wrong...

Claire could not help frowning.

Avery was instantly livid. “What the hell is his problem? They’re the ones doing something disgusting, and now they’re scared people might talk? Honestly, someone should hang a banner outside Sterling Group and let the whole city know. If that doesn’t tank their stock price, I’ll call it a personal loss.”

Claire knew that was impossible.

Unless she wanted to make sure she could not survive in this country either.

The Sterling family had too much power. Until she was firmly back on her feet, she had no intention of making enemies recklessly.

She knew exactly how alone she was.

And she still had Ellie to protect.

She was not foolish enough to go that far.

As for Damien, she had no intention of wasting any emotion on him.

Upstairs, Damien pushed open the door to the private room, his expression still cold.

Several people were already seated around the elegantly set table.

At the head, naturally, sat Adrian.

Authority seemed to settle around him without effort, the kind that did not need to be announced to be felt. He turned slightly at the sound.

Beside him sat Sienna.

She smiled at Damien. “Who put you in such a mood?”