Chapter 3

It took me just three days to wrap up the divorce.

Having gotten his wish, Chase immediately sprinted to city hall to register his marriage with Lauren.

The Sterling family rewarded his efforts, appointing him executive vice president of their conglomerate—a dazzling leap of status.

Their wedding was a lavish, over-the-top affair blasted all over social media.

I didn't attend. I simply sent them a housewarming gift.

I anonymously compiled an explosive dossier of Chase's parasitic history with my family—complete with screenshots, dates, and receipts detailing how he groveled to my parents and begged me to buy him luxury sports cars and Swiss watches. I blasted it out to every major news outlet and top gossip account on Twitter.

The headline practically wrote itself: The Ultimate Gold-Digging Son-in-Law: Trading Up from the Lins to the Sterlings, Shameless to the Bone.

Overnight, Chase became the city's laughingstock.

His reputation as a mercenary boy-toy was forever cemented.

Lauren threw an absolute fit backstage at their reception, smashing everything in sight, while Chairman Sterling wore a face as dark as thunder.

The moment Chase stepped into the executive suite, he was brutally frozen out by the legacy board members. His VP seat felt like a bed of nails.

Desperate to validate his worth, he hungered for a massive win.

And that was precisely when I handed him the bait.

Leveraging the resources Victoria had placed at my disposal, I orchestrated a high-profile Tech & Digital Art Expo.

Acting as the lead director of Lin Enterprises, I personally sent an exclusive invitation directly to his desk.

The invitation conspicuously highlighted the guest of honor: Victoria Vance.

When Chase opened the envelope, Lauren was in the middle of tearing into him.

"Look at you! You can't do a single damn thing right!

"The entire company is snickering behind my back! Even my dad can't stand the sight of you!"

The moment his eyes hit the name Victoria Vance, his pupils dilated.

"Victoria Vance? The Victoria Vance?" He ripped the card toward him.

"Babe, this is our break! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

"If we can hook a deal with Vance Capital, ten Sterling Groups combined wouldn't even hold a candle to it!"

Lauren was spoiled and reckless, but she wasn't completely blind.

She understood what the Vance empire commanded.

"Do you really think you can pull that off? I heard she's impossibly cold. She looks down on everyone."

"Other men might fail. Not me."

Chase adjusted his silk tie, flashing a predatory grin at his reflection in the mirror.

"Did you forget? This face has always been my skeleton key."

He was utterly convinced that all women were shallow, visual creatures.

As long as he turned on the charm, none could resist.

He was already daydreaming about seducing Victoria, severing his leash to the Sterlings, and eventually grinding the entire Sterling clan under his designer loafers.

The intoxicating fantasy of ultimate power sent adrenaline roaring through his veins.