Audrey Hughes was a true heiress, born into a prestigious and wealthy family. Her grandfather was the shipping magnate of ritopia, her father a real estate tycoon, and her brother a high-ranking governnt official. The standing her family had built over generations gave her a natural, undeniable air of authority.
She was usually reserved, but when she truly lost her temper, her intimidating presence was enough to make one’s heart pound in terror without even having to look her in the eye.
The driver had already reached for his phone, but after hearing Audrey Hughes’s words, he guiltily put it back.
The car headed toward The Elysian.
This was another one of Victor Sterling’s "hos" besides Arcadia Heights. Few in their social circle knew that this man, who projected the image of a good husband to the world, had slept with woman after woman in the beds of The Elysian.
Audrey Hughes knew the passcode to The Elysian and was well aware of her husband’s filthy affairs. But she never ca to catch him in the act. Firstly, she was too proud and felt it was beneath her dignity. Secondly, Victor Sterling now held complete control over the Sterling Group, and he also had his hands in many of her father’s businesses. Their lives were too deeply entangled. If they were to truly separate, she would likely be the one to suffer the most. To protect the interests of her son, Ezra Sterling, her only choice was to endure it.
But today, she simply couldn’t take it anymore.
"Do you have a lighter?" Audrey Hughes asked the driver as she got out of the car.
"I do."
"Give it to ."
"Ma’am, what do you need a lighter for?"
"Give it to !" Audrey Hughes snapped.
Terrified, the driver quickly pulled a lighter from his pocket and offered it to her with both hands.
Audrey Hughes took the lighter, walked to the main entrance, and calmly keyed in the passcode to enter.
After entering, she didn’t turn on any lights. She went straight to the second floor, heading for Victor Sterling’s bedroom.
The bedroom door was unlocked. Inside, Victor Sterling was sound asleep, holding his new mistress in his arms. The sound of Audrey Hughes pushing the door open woke the woman. She lifted her head from Victor’s embrace, but before she could even react, she saw a flicker of fire tossed onto the bed. The bedding was instantly ignited, and the flas flared up.
"AH!" the woman shrieked. With no ti to find her clothes, she fled naked into the bathroom.
The noise jolted Victor Sterling awake. Seeing the burning bedding, he was so terrified that he rolled right off the bed, ass-naked.
"Victor Sterling, after all the despicable things you’ve done, how can you still sleep so soundly?"
In his panic, Victor Sterling saw Audrey Hughes and cursed, "You set this fire? Are you insane? Put it out! Put it out!"
The woman in the bathroom wrapped herself in a towel, filled a basin with water, and ran out to extinguish the fire. The servants downstairs heard the commotion and rushed up. The fire was quickly put out, but Victor’s bed, the scene of his endless debauchery, was burned to a crisp.
Seeing the situation calm down, Victor Sterling’s new "canary" imdiately ruffled her feathers and postured in front of Audrey Hughes as if she were the lady of the house.
"Where did this crazy bitch co from? Arson is a felony! Believe it or not, I’ll call the cops and have you arrested!"
Audrey Hughes didn’t even deign to glance at the woman. She sat upright in the main seat of the living room, her sharp gaze fixed on Victor Sterling. Impatiently, Victor said, "Get out!"
The canary, thinking Victor was backing her up, crossed her arms and beca even more imperious. "He told you to get out! Didn’t you hear him?"
Victor Sterling put a hand to his forehead and turned to glare at the woman. "You idiot! I was telling *you* to get out!"
The woman was deeply aggrieved, but she didn’t dare defy her sugar daddy. She found her coat and ran outside.
The living room fell silent.
Victor Sterling suppressed his rage, straightened his collar, and walked over to Audrey Hughes. He knelt and took her hand.
"Why are you so angry today?" he asked shalessly. "You haven’t bothered about this for over a decade. I thought you’d gotten used to it. If you don’t like it, I’ll stop seeing other won, okay?"
Audrey Hughes raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.
"I don’t care if you catch so filthy disease or die in the arms of another woman! But I’m warning you, if you dare to harm my son, I will drag you down with , even if it ans we’re both utterly destroyed!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Stop pretending! I know you were behind the car accident with Ezra’s girlfriend!"
Victor Sterling touched his split lip, a result of her slap. He stood up and looked at her coolly. "What nonsense are you spouting? What Ezra’s girlfriend? What car accident? I think you’re really losing your mind!"
"Ezra just rejected the blind date you arranged for him yesterday, and today his girlfriend gets into an accident. How could there be such a coincidence in this world?" Audrey Hughes rushed forward and grabbed Victor Sterling by the collar. "How could you be so ruthless? That’s the person Ezra loves! That poor girl is still so young!"
"I’ve looked into that girl. Her family is from the countryside, her parents divorced long ago and have since remarried and had other children. She’s a dirt-poor nobody. In the ti she was with Ezra, he provided her with fine food and drink, took her traveling everywhere, and even bought her bags and a car. She’s already enjoyed all the luxuries she was ever going to." Victor Sterling’s tone was contemptuous, implying that even if Chloe Kerr died, it wouldn’t be a loss.
"What do you an, ’she’s already enjoyed all the luxuries’? Are you admitting you did sothing to her?"
"I haven’t admitted to anything. What I an is, those few months that country girl spent dating Ezra were surely happier than her entire twenty-odd years before that!"
"Is other people’s lives so worthless to you? Have you forgotten that you’re from the countryside too? If it weren’t for , if it weren’t for my family, would you be where you are today? What gives you the right to stand there so smugly and pass judgnt on other people’s lives?"
Victor Sterling hated it most when Audrey Hughes brought up how he had relied on the Hughes Family’s help to make his fortune. His anger beca visibly palpable. "Audrey Hughes, I’ll say it again: I’m not passing judgnt on anyone’s life. If you want to pin a murder charge on , then show so proof. Otherwise, don’t bla for finding a way to shut you up!"
"Are you threatening ? A kept man like you dares to threaten ? I’d like to see you try to shut up right under my father’s and my brother’s noses! Are you going to kill too?"
Those two words, "kept man," completely struck a nerve with Victor Sterling. He raised his hand to slap Audrey Hughes, but before his palm could reach her face, his rapidly descending hand was caught in a powerful grip.
Shane Sterling had arrived.
Shane Sterling, his face ashen, gripped Victor Sterling’s wrist tightly, shielding Audrey Hughes like a bulwark.
Victor Sterling grew even angrier. "You’re taking her side? I’m your father!"
Shane Sterling shoved Victor Sterling aside without a word, put an arm around Audrey Hughes’s shoulders, and led her away.
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