Chapter 30: The Purge

 

The living room of the Sterling Estate was usually a place of warmth and light. Today, it felt like a courtroom execution.

Twelve staff members—maids, the chef, the gardener, the driver—stood in a line. They kept their heads down, trembling. The air was so thick with tension it was hard to breathe.

Sebastian sat in his wheelchair in front of them. He wasn't yelling. He wasn't throwing things. He was peeling an orange for Harper.

His movements were slow and deliberate. Peel. Peel. Peel. The citrus scent filled the room, eerily masking the smell of fear.

Harper sat beside him, holding her bruised wrist. She wanted to say something, to tell him to stop scaring them, but one look at his face silenced her. His eyes were dead. Void of any emotion. This wasn't her boyfriend. This was the King of Sterling Corp.

"The stairs," Sebastian said softly, placing a slice of orange into Harper’s hand. "Someone put marbles and oil under the carpet."

He looked up at the line of staff. "Who was it?"

Silence. Someone sobbed quietly—the young kitchen maid.

"No one?" Sebastian wiped his hands on a napkin. "Liam."

Liam stepped forward from the shadows. He held a tablet. "I checked the network logs," Liam announced, his voice sharp. "Ten minutes before the accident, a large encrypted file was sent from a device inside this house. And five minutes ago, a bank transfer of $50,000 was cleared in an offshore account."

Liam walked down the line, stopping in front of a middle-aged woman. It was Martha, the housekeeper who had worked here for five years. The one who always smiled and made extra soup for Sebastian.

"Martha," Liam said coldly. "Why did you buy a burner phone yesterday?"

Martha’s face turned grey. Her knees buckled. "I... I didn't..."

"We tracked the signal," Liam showed her the screen. "The phone is in your pocket right now."

Martha collapsed onto the floor, wailing. "I had no choice! My son... he has gambling debts! They said they would kill him! They offered me money... they said just to scare her! They promised she wouldn't die!"

"Scare her?" Sebastian laughed. It was a dry, humorless sound. "If she hadn't grabbed the rail, her neck would have snapped."

He rolled his wheelchair forward, stopping inches from Martha’s face. "Who paid you?"

"I don't know!" Martha cried, grabbing the wheel of his chair. "It was a man! He called me! He knew about my son! Mr. Sterling, please, have mercy! I've served you for five years!"

Harper turned her head away. She couldn't watch. It was heartbreaking, but it was also terrifying. Betrayal from someone they trusted.

Sebastian looked at Martha’s pleading hands on his wheelchair. His expression didn't change.

"You traded my life for $50,000," Sebastian said coldly. "Actually, you traded her life. Which is worth infinitely more than mine."

He pulled his wheel back, breaking her grip. "Liam. Call the police. Attempted murder."

"No! Please! Sir!" Martha screamed as the bodyguards dragged her out. Her screams echoed in the hallway until the heavy oak doors slammed shut.

The room fell silent again. The remaining eleven staff members were shaking, terrified they would be next.

Sebastian looked at them. "You are all fired."

Gasps rippled through the line. "Sir? We didn't do anything!" "We are innocent!"

"I know," Sebastian said calmly. "But I can't trust you anymore. I can't sleep at night wondering if the chef poisoned my soup or if the driver cut my brakes."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Liam will give you each three months' severance pay. Pack your things. Be gone by sunset."

---

[The Empty House]

By 6:00 PM, the villa was empty. No maids. No chef. No gardener. Just the cold, echoing halls.

Harper sat on the sofa, looking at the empty house. "You fired everyone," she whispered. "Who is going to cook? Who is going to clean?"

"I don't care," Sebastian sat beside her, taking her injured hand to inspect the bruise. "I'd rather live in a pigsty than live with snakes."

He kissed her wrist tenderly. "Does it hurt?"

"A little." Harper looked at him. "Sebastian... Martha said a man called her. Do you know who it is?"

Sebastian’s eyes darkened. "I have a guess." "Only one person in my family uses gambling debts to manipulate people. Only one person benefits if I stay crippled or if I die."

"Who?"

"My Uncle. Shen Yuanfeng."

Harper gasped. "Your own uncle?"

"He manages the company's overseas accounts. If I return to power, I'll audit the books. He's scared."

Sebastian let go of her hand. He stared at his useless legs. "I've been playing defense," he muttered. "Hiding in this house. Building walls. Hoping they would leave me alone." "But today... they touched you."

He looked up, a fire burning in his eyes that Harper had never seen before. "I'm done hiding."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to pay my Uncle a visit."

"Now?" Harper asked. "But... you're in a wheelchair. If you go to his territory..."

"That's exactly why I'm going," Sebastian smiled, a sharp, dangerous smile. "He thinks I'm a cripple. He thinks I'm weak. He thinks sending a maid to scare you will break me."

He turned his wheelchair toward the home gym. "Harper. Get the car ready." "And call Dr. Ryan."

"Why?"

Sebastian stopped at the door of the gym. He looked back at her over his shoulder. "Because tomorrow, I'm going to walk into the Board Meeting."

Harper’s eyes widened. "Walk? But you can only stand for 30 seconds!"

"Then I will use every single second," Sebastian said, his voice ringing with absolute conviction. "Thirty seconds is enough to kill a King."