Chapter 4: The Unexpected Interference

The entire lobby of the Sterling Tower erupted into chaos. Flashbulbs went off in a blinding frenzy as dozens of news cameras spun away from the main stage, aiming their lenses directly at the woman shouting from the back of the hall.

​"It's Gwen Vance!" a reporter yelled over the noise. "The missing heiress of the Vance family!"

​Chloe felt as if all the air had been violently sucked out of her lungs. Her eyes widened in utter disbelief as she stared at her older half-sister. Gwen looked thinner, her eyes frantic and hollow, but the sharp, manipulative curve of her lips remained exactly the same.

​"She's lying!" Julian Hayes shouted, regaining his footing on the stage as a cold, desperate smirk spread across his face. "Listen to her! She has proof that Lucas Sterling fabricated this whole engagement!"

​Uncle Julian Sterling immediately pointed toward the back security line. "Let her through! Let the witness speak!"

​Chloe’s heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. "Lucas..." she whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she clutched his arm tightly. "How does she have the contract? We just signed it last night!"

​Lucas didn't panic. His expression remained completely stoic, his dark eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits as he observed Gwen pushing past the hesitating security guards. The possessive grip of his arm around Chloe’s waist tightened, grounding her amidst the storm.

​"Stay calm, Chloe," Lucas murmured in a low, authoritative tone that only she could hear. "Look at me, not at her."

​Gwen marched down the center aisle, holding the thick brown envelope tightly against her chest like a shield. The reporters parted like the Red Sea, recording her every move.

​"This engagement is nothing but a corporate stunt!" Gwen declared loudly as she reached the bottom of the stage, looking up at Lucas with a mix of fury and fear. "Lucas Sterling bought my sister! He used her mother’s medical condition to force her into a six-month fake fiancée contract!"

​Gasps echoed through the massive marble hall.

​"A fake contract?!" a journalist shouted. "Miss Vance, is this true?!"

​Julian Hayes stepped down from the stage, extending his hand toward Gwen with an eager, victorious expression. "Hand over the envelope, Gwen! Show the media and the Sterling board the truth!"

​Gwen glared at Julian for a split second, her eyes flashing with a strange, hidden resentment, before she turned her gaze back to Lucas. She pulled out a stack of paper from the envelope and raised it high in the air.

​"Here is the document signed by Chloe Vance last night at the Sterling estate!" Gwen yelled, her voice trembling with emotion. "Look at it! It clearly states—"

​"It clearly states that my legal team drafted our official prenuptial and cohabitation agreement," Lucas interrupted smoothly. His deep, thunderous voice cut through her shouting with absolute ease.

​Lucas didn't wait for anyone to react. He casually reached into his inner suit pocket, pulled out a sleek silver remote control, and pressed the center button.

​BZZZZT.

​Instantly, the massive high-definition LED screens behind the main stage—which were previously displaying the Sterling Corporate logo—flickered and switched inputs.

​Instead of a document, a high-resolution video began playing on the giant screens.

​The crowd went completely silent as the audio blasted through the lobby’s surround sound speakers.

​“Where is Julian?” Chloe’s voice echoed clearly from the video player.

​“Oh, Chloe?” the flirty voice of Julian’s secret mistress giggled on screen, accompanied by time-stamped surveillance footage of Julian Hayes entering a luxury hotel suite with another woman just two days ago.

​The video cut to a recorded phone call log and bank statements from last night:

​“I told you last week, my family’s funds are tied up in real estate. I can't keep throwing cash at your mother's hopeless hospital bills. We're done.”

​A collective gasp of disgust rippled through the hundreds of reporters present.

​"What... what is that?!" Julian Hayes turned pale as ash, staring at the screen in pure horror as his private infidelity and cold abandonment of his ex-fiancée were broadcast live to the entire nation.

​"That," Lucas said, stepping forward with an air of absolute dominance, "is the real reason why my fiancée cut ties with your pathetic family, Hayes."

​Lucas then turned his cold, piercing gaze directly onto Gwen, who stood frozen at the foot of the stage, her hand holding the papers slowly dropping to her side.

​"And as for you, Gwen," Lucas continued, his voice dropping into a deadly, quiet register that made everyone in the room hold their breath. "The papers in your hand are an outdated draft stolen from my private office three years ago—the same night you embezzled four million dollars from the Sterling Foundation and fled the country."

​Gwen’s breath hitched. "N-No... that's not—"

​"Security," Lucas commanded calmly into his lapel microphone. "Execute the active warrant for the arrest of Gwen Vance. And inform the police that Julian Hayes is being named as a primary co-conspirator for harboring a federal fugitive."

​Four heavily armed private security officers immediately surrounded Gwen and Julian!

​"Wait! No! Unhand me!" Julian shrieked, struggling frantically as steel handcuffs clicked tightly around his wrists in front of a hundred flashing cameras. "Chloe! Tell them to stop! Chloe!"

​Chloe stared down at her ex-fiancé and her treacherous sister being dragged away in utter humiliation. For the first time in years, she felt a surge of pure, unadulterated triumph.

​Lucas turned to face Chloe, stepping between her and the chaotic crowd. He reached out, gently cupping her jaw with his large hand, lifting her chin so her eyes met his dark, intoxicating gaze.

​"You did well, my love," Lucas whispered, his thumb caressing her cheek.

​Before Chloe could register what he was doing, Lucas leaned down and pressed his lips firmly against hers!

​The reporters went wild, the sound of camera flashes blinding them as Lucas kissed her passionately right on live television!

​Chloe’s eyes widened in shock, her pulse soaring through the roof as the heat of his lips sent an electric jolt straight down her spine. But just as she felt herself melting into his kiss, Lucas pulled back slightly, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered a chilling revelation:

​"Don't get too comfortable, Chloe... because the person who gave Gwen that fake contract was sitting in this room all along."