Lucian Sterling

Seraphina POV

He looked at me with renewed interest as he weighed my words in his mind.

"Do you really understand what you're asking of me?" He asked.

"I do."

"I'm not sure you do." He said flatly. "You are asking me to co-sign your finances on the same night your sister allegedly tried to poison you. Is that right?"

"Yes." I replied. "I want a legal wall between my accounts and anyone in my family who might decide to 'help manage my affairs' after tonight and this is where you come in."

"Me?!" He asked, surprised.

"Yes, you have a name that's known by everyone so lawyers can't push you around so if my parents try to freeze my trust, or install a conservator, or sign away my shares while I'm 'recovering' from tonight's incident, they'll see your name and it'll scare them off."

My parents, despite how much I love them, are not very attentive when it comes to matters concerning their children and this is obvious by how they handled Evelyn's treatment of me so if I am to turn the tables on her and my trash fiancé, I have to stand up for myself.

Something in him sharpened, he set his drink down on the railing without even touching it, his eyes looking over the balcony before turning back to look at me.

"For someone whose sister allegedly tried poisoning, you've thought about this in good detail." He said. "Are you sure you're being honest with me?"

"Yes I am Mr. Sterling, do we have a deal or do I take this information to whoever else stands to gain from watching the Sterling succession fall into chaos? I hear the Marchetti family would pay quite handsomely for it."

I wasn't going to do that since the CEO of the Marchetti Group is a very untrustworthy and scummy individual.

He had recently sold out three separate partners the moment it benefited him but from Mr. Sterling's frown, I saw that he had taken the bait.

"You're either very brave or very stupid, walking in here threatening to sell information to my rivals while asking me to guarantee your finances at the same time?"

I could feel the anger in his voice which caused my pulse to jump and heat rose up my neck.

I looked anywhere but at him and silently admonished myself for reacting at all.

"I am neither of those things." I replied, my face calm despite how I felt. "I am just negotiating.”

Mr. Sterling gave a half smile as he heard that.

"Fine. Send me everything you have on my grandfather's condition, whatever proof you're sitting on, by the end of the week. Once it's been verified, I'll have my legal team draft the guarantor agreement."

"That's wonderful." I said happily.

"But I'm curious about something," he began. "There are other wealthy people in the gala that you could've approached to sign a piece of paper for the right price so why come to me exactly?"

Hearing his question made me think. I couldn't very well tell him that five years of watching people lie to my face had sharpened something in me that trusted him on sight, so I settled for the next best thing.

"I came to you because you were the only one that didn't lie to me once even by omission."

He gave a wry smile.

"Be careful Miss Peterson, most people I do business with find that quality of mine extremely inconvenient." he said as I turned to leave.

I paused at the door, "Most people do not plan on making enemies very soon like me and since I need someone who won't flinch, you are the perfect candidate."

I left him on the balcony with that and closed the door behind me before walking back to the hall.

I had gotten one ally. It wasn't much, but it was more than I'd had at this exact point in my last life, and that alone felt like a step in the right direction.

I made it back to the ballroom just as the cake was being wheeled out. It was a huge cake with my name written on it in gold script.

Evelyn had come back too. She was wearing a back up gown that must have been prepared by a member of the staff for this kind of emergency.

"There you are!" She said with a huge smile on her face. "I have looked everywhere for you." she added, holding my arm a bit too tight to be a display of affection.

Frankly speaking, I was impressed by her acting. If I hadn't experienced my last life, I would've been fooled. How exactly does she lie so easily and cover it up so fast?

I recognized this too, the tight grip dressed up as affection. She wasn't checking if I was alright, she was checking whether I'd slipped away to cause trouble. She suspected something. she just didn't have proof yet.

"I just needed air." I responded with a smile of my own.

She looked at my face no doubt to see if I was being honest but when she couldn't clean anything, she left my hand and walked towards Julian who had still refused to say a word to me today.

I laughed in my heart as I wondered how I couldn't see him for who he is in my past life.

The rest of the party passed in a blur as several people made small talk with me and I smiled politely.

One ally wasn't nearly enough. If I wanted to actually break my sister and reclaim what was mine, I needed proof, real, undeniable proof, not just memories only I could see. I needed something I could hand to lawyers and journalists and boardrooms.

It came to me in a very unexpected way.

Near the edge of a terrace and hidden behind a pillar, I heard the soft nervous voice of our family accountant Mr Holloway.

He was arguing with someone over the phone.

"I told you, I can't keep adjusting the entries without Robert noticing eventually," he said, his voice conveying his frustration which caused me to open my eyes wide.

So the missing capital that was blamed on my supposed incompetence and erratic decisions was something he was guilty of?

To think he said I disappointed my parents in my last life with a straight face despite being guilty of the crime I was accused of.

I felt cold rage settle in my chest.

No, this won't happen this time