Chapter 1
I flat out refused to acknowledge her, saying I didn’t know them, but the woman blew her top.
“Damn it, I’m doing you a favor by letting this lady pay! You dare disrespect the Sterling Group in Veridian City? You looking for trouble?”
Before I could even speak, she got even more arrogant.
“Do you even know who I am? I’m Leo Sterling, the CEO of Sterling Group’s wife! Scared now?”
I froze for a second, then called Leo Sterling directly.
“Heard you have another wife at the company?”
…
The second I hung up, the woman absolutely lost it.
She snatched my phone and smashed it on the floor.
“Still calling people, huh? I’m telling you, you won’t walk out of this restaurant tonight!”
“Stop it!”
My childhood friend, Riley Blackwood, instantly pulled me behind her.
“Is this all the Sterling Group’s people have for manners? Randomly stopping people from paying, and then getting physical?”
Riley’s words made the woman’s face flush crimson.
“Manners? In Veridian City, the name Sterling Group is manners!”
“I’m telling you to pay, I’m giving you a golden opportunity, got it?”
“You want to talk rules with me? My word is the rule!”
A humorless laugh escaped my lips. I looked up at Vanessa Reed.
“No matter how big the Sterling Group is, I’m pretty sure they didn’t teach you to block people and extort money, did they?”
Vanessa sneered, hands on her hips, looking like a total menace.
“I’m letting you pay because I’m giving you a chance to social climb! Plenty of people are lined up, begging to pay my bill, and I wouldn’t even look twice at them!”
“A chance to social climb,” huh?
Since when did my Kingston family need to social climb off anyone in Veridian City?
I glanced at my friend, her face darkening.
She, a high-society heiress from Capitol City, never imagined she’d be bullied like this by some minor Sterling Group VP in Veridian City.
Vanessa scoffed, waving a hand towards the door.
“Let me tell you, in Veridian City, I, Vanessa Reed, am the rule! Get these two idiots who have no idea who they’re messing with and hold them down!”
The words barely left her mouth when seven or eight bodyguards in black suits swarmed in, instantly surrounding us.
Riley instinctively pulled me further behind her, her eyes blazing.
But there were too many of them. Before she could even make a move, two bodyguards had her arms pinned down.
“Riley!” I started to rush forward, but then felt a sharp blow to the back of my neck. My vision instantly went black.
Through a haze, I saw Riley struggling, cursing, “Bastard!” before someone landed a punch on her cheek. Blood immediately welled up at the corner of her mouth.
I was held down on the ground, forced to watch as Vanessa raised her foot and kicked Riley in the stomach, all while cursing.
“You dare meddle in my business? Today, you’ll learn that the Sterling Group is not to be messed with!”
The bodyguards’ fists rained down on me, dull pain spreading through my body in waves.
Riley had only come here to visit, and now she was caught up in this inexplicable mess.
I hoarsely yelled,
“Vanessa Reed, I am Chloe Kingston, Leo Sterling’s legal wife!”
I pointed to Riley, who was still pinned down beside me.
“And she’s Riley Blackwood, from the Blackwood family in Capitol City! Let us go now, and this can still be over!”
At that, Vanessa’s foot froze mid-air, then she burst out laughing.
“Leo Sterling’s wife? Blackwood family? Are you two out of your damn minds from being hit too hard?”
The people at her table behind her also started laughing.
“Who doesn’t know Mr. Sterling’s wife is VP Reed?”
“This person really has the nerve to show off, saying whatever she wants.”
“Blackwood family? Capitol City? I’ve never heard of them. She probably just made it up to scare us.”
Vanessa leaned down, grabbing a handful of my hair, her eyes vicious.
“You say you’re his wife one more time, and I’ll rip your mouth apart.
I’m going to show you what’s real and what’s fake.
Only I can call him Leo, and only I am his woman.”
Riley, pinned to the ground by bodyguards, blood still trickling from her mouth, spoke with a mocking tone,
“Chloe Kingston, Chloe Kingston, so you got married for nothing, huh?
She’s openly claiming him right in front of you, and you, the actual wife, are here looking like a walking joke?”
Her words caught me off guard for a moment, then I smiled too, but my laugh carried a hint of malice.
Vanessa was still yanking my hair. Suddenly, I violently turned my head and bit down hard on her wrist.
She shrieked in pain, her grip loosening instantly.
Using that momentum, I slammed my knee into the groin of the bodyguard behind me.
While he doubled over in pain, I grabbed a nearby beer bottle and smashed it over the head of another bodyguard.
By the time Vanessa reacted, I had lunged at her, my balled fist striking her face.
She was stunned by the sudden counterattack, stumbling back two steps, nose instantly gushing blood.
“You dare hit me?!” Vanessa was both shocked and enraged. She reached out to claw at my face, but I grabbed her arm and slammed her to the ground.
I straddled her, raining down punch after punch.
The few Sterling Group employees were desperate, drunkenly rushing forward to pull me off.
“You dare hit VP Reed? You have a death wish!”
Riley, I don’t know when, had also broken free from the bodyguards. She kicked away an approaching employee and yelled at me,
“Damn it, beat her to death! I’ve never been so humiliated in my life!”
In the chaos, someone grabbed a chair and smashed it onto my back. I grunted, but didn’t stop.
Vanessa screamed, trying frantically to grab my hair.
“Sterling’s people, kill her! I’ll take responsibility for anything that happens, triple bonus!”
The employees swarmed like mad, some pulling my arms, some grabbing my waist, others secretly kicking at my legs.
Vanessa, seizing the moment I was being pulled, suddenly kicked me in the stomach.
I stumbled back two steps, just about to charge again, when I heard voices from the restaurant entrance.
“Everybody stop!” Two people in police uniforms pushed their way in. Seeing the mess, their brows furrowed.
But when their eyes fell on Vanessa Reed, battered and bruised on the floor, their faces instantly changed.
“VP Reed? What are you doing here? What happened?”
One of the heavier officers quickly stepped forward, his tone clearly fawning, reaching out to help Vanessa up.
Vanessa, seeing the police, acted as if she’d found her salvation. She pointed at Riley and me, wailing.
“Officer Jenkins! These two out-of-towners are crazy! Not only did they refuse to pay the bill, but they also assaulted people! Look at me, and my employees, they’re all injured because of them!”
Officer Jenkins glanced at our injuries, clearly dismissing them, and instead sternly yelled at us.
“What do you two think you’re doing? Brawling in broad daylight, and daring to hurt Sterling Group’s people? You’ve got some nerve!”
“She was the one who stopped us from paying first, and she hit us.” Riley, clutching her mouth, spat.
“Nonsense!” Vanessa immediately interrupted.
“I was kindly letting them get a little connection with Sterling Group by paying my bill, but they turned hostile and refused to acknowledge me, and even impersonated my husband’s wife and someone from Capitol City’s Blackwood family.”
Officer Jenkins clearly believed her, pointing to the broken beer bottles and overturned tables and chairs.
“Regardless, you beat people up like this and ruined the restaurant’s property, so it’s definitely your fault!
Let me tell you, in Veridian City, who doesn’t give the Sterling Group some respect?
VP Reed is Mr. Sterling’s person. If you touch her, you’re disrespecting Sterling Group, you’re messing with the rules of the entire Veridian City!”
The other, thinner officer had already pulled out handcuffs and rattled them.
“Less talk, let’s go back to the station with us first!
Oh, and by the way, the bill for VP Reed’s table, plus the restaurant’s renovation fees, medical expenses, and emotional distress damages – you two will cover all of it.
If you then kneel down and apologize to VP Reed, maybe this can still be settled privately.”
“Why should we?” I was so angry I laughed. “She was the one who started the trouble, and you’re just convicting us without even knowing the facts?”
“Why? Because you’re out-of-towners!” Officer Jenkins impatiently waved his hand.
“Here, you follow the rules here! VP Reed letting you pay was her giving you a break, don’t bite the hand that feeds you!”
Riley scoffed.
“I’d like to see if Veridian City’s rules are above the law of the land.”
“Hey, still talking tough, huh!” Officer Hayes stepped forward, trying to cuff me. “Looks like you haven’t learned your lesson!”
I sidestepped, dodging him. He instantly got mad, suddenly pulling out a stun gun and flicking the switch.
“You want to play hardball, huh?” He jabbed the stun gun at me. “Looks like you want to end up in jail!”
A jolt of electricity instantly shot through my limbs. My whole body went numb, and I almost collapsed.
Riley quickly grabbed me, yelling at the officer,
“You dare abuse your authority?!”
“Abuse my authority? I’m performing my duty.” Officer Jenkins also pulled out his stun gun, pointing it at Riley.
“In Veridian City, Sterling Group’s business is big business. You two, who don’t know your place, need to be taught a good lesson in rules!”
Riley grunted as she was zapped, and a burnt smell filled the air.
“You power-tripping pieces of trash… you’ll regret this one day…”
“Regret?” Officer Jenkins laughed even harder, using his stun gun to lift Riley’s chin.
“You two can regret it slowly when you’re locked up and getting beaten every day!”
He turned and smiled obsequiously at Vanessa Reed.
“VP Reed, do you think this is enough? I can add more juice if you like!”
Vanessa watched from the side, looking smug.
“Give them more juice, make them know who’s in charge here!”
Officer Jenkins kicked me, then bowed again to Vanessa Reed.
“VP Reed, could you give us a heads-up? When’s your due date roughly?
My partner and I will definitely prepare a generous gift to congratulate you and Mr. Sterling.”
Officer Hayes also nodded, bending at the waist.
“Exactly, exactly. You have to give us the honor then, let us share in the good news.
Maybe with this opportunity, Mr. Sterling can even give us a leg up.”
Mentioning this, Vanessa smiled. “About four or five months, I had someone check, it’s a boy.”
Vanessa… was pregnant…