The double doors of the Sterling mansion swung open, revealing Harlan Sterling himself. His face lit up with a wide smile the mont he saw Eryx.
"Eryx," Harlan greeted, stepping forward with open arms. "What a surprise. Please, co in."
Eryx didn’t return the smile. He stepped inside without hesitation, the faint click of his shoes echoing against the marble floor. The house slled of fresh polish and subtle power, but none of it slowed him down.
"I won’t take up your ti," Eryx said sharply, scanning the space ahead of him. "Where’s Valerie?"
Harlan’s smile faltered ever so slightly. "Valerie? She’s... I don’t really know. She’s old enough for to monitor her whereabout."
"I’m not here for small talk," Eryx cut in, his voice cold. "I know what she did. And unless she wants this to get much uglier than it already is, I suggest you bring her out. Now."
The silence that followed was thick. Harlan’s jaw tightened, his charm beginning to crack around the edges.
Harlan let out a slow breath, brows furrowing just enough to mimic concern. "Eryx... what’s going on? You show up without notice, demanding to see my daughter like it’s so kind of ergency. At least tell what this is about."
Eryx’s eyes didn’t waver. "Don’t play dumb with . Valerie hired n to crack my skull that night, and I know she’s the one who pushed my wife at the restaurant."
Harlan blinked slowly, his mouth twitching as if to deny it, but Eryx didn’t give him the chance.
"She was the only one there who wasn’t invited. You think I wouldn’t notice that?"
Harlan gave a tight, unconvincing smile. "That’s a serious accusation, Eryx. You’re talking about attempted assault, maybe worse. Are you sure you’re not... letting emotion cloud your judgnt?"
"I don’t have the luxury of emotions when soone tries to kill and nearly kills my wife in the process," Eryx snapped. "I ca here for one reason. Tell her to co down and face . Or I’ll take everything you’ve built and burn it to the ground."
The older man’s smile faded.
"You know I can," Eryx added, voice cold. "And you know I will."
Harlan’s jaw tightened before he let out a heavy sigh. "I don’t know. She’s not coming ho since last night."
Eryx stared at him, unreadable. "You expect to believe you don’t know where your own daughter is?"
"I’m telling you the truth," Harlan replied, raising his hands slightly as if to appear sincere. "I haven’t seen her. She didn’t co ho."
A pause stretched between them, long enough for Harlan to start fidgeting under Eryx’s gaze.
Eryx didn’t blink. "Then I don’t have a choice but to lure her out."
Harlan’s eyes narrowed. "What does that an?"
"It ans I’ll go public. I have everything.... hospital reports, CCTV footage from the restaurant, and evidence of the n who jumped . And I’ll make sure every dia outlet gets a copy."
"You wouldn’t dare," Harlan growled.
Eryx stepped closer, his voice low and even. "Try ."
"You’d drag your wife into this ss? She’s still recovering, isn’t she?"
Eryx’s stare sharpened. "Don’t pretend to care about my wife."
He straightened his sleeves calmly. "This will hit your company. Your investors. Your reputation. And Valerie’s na will be at the center of it."
Harlan’s mouth opened, but no words ca.
Eryx stepped back toward the door. "You have until sunset. After that, I won’t hold back."
The door shut with a firm thud behind him.
Harlan let out a deep sigh and slowly turned his eyes upward, where he caught a glimpse of Valerie peeking from the second floor. His voice was low and sharp. "You settle this. I don’t care how... just make sure it doesn’t affect ."
Valerie quickly pulled her head back and disappeared from view.
Upstairs, she dropped onto the edge of her bed, her knees bouncing, nails digging into the corners of her lips as she chewed nervously. Her thoughts spiraled. Eryx had proof, and now her father was no longer on her side. No one was.
Her eyes darted toward her phone.
"Think, think, think..." she muttered.
And then she rembered.
That photo.
The one she’d asked soone to secretly take in the hospital parking lot, where Eryx, looking down at her with a tense expression, while she reached toward his shoulder, pretending to pick sothing off his shirt. With the right caption and the right narrative, it could change everything.
Her fingers trembled as she scrolled through her phone until she landed on the photo. She stared at it for a mont.
Valerie chewed on her nail, breathing uneven. She used to believe that no matter what happened, she’d be the one standing beside him in the end. That even if he didn’t love her now, he would eventually, after all, everyone, even his grandmother, had expected it. It was always supposed to be her.
So why was she the one hiding? Why was she the villain in this story?
"He owes ," she whispered bitterly, convincing herself. "He was supposed to choose ."
Her heart burned and it demanded payback.
After a few monts staring at the photo, Valerie didn’t hesitate. She attached the photo and typed out her ssage, fingers trembling and her lips widened with a smile, of course not from guilt, but from anticipation.
"Eryx Grantham forced to terminate the pregnancy. He didn’t want it to affect his perfect little marriage. I was just a mistake he wanted to erase."
She added a broken heart emoji for effect. Pathetic, but effective.
Her lips curled as she hit send.
The dia would devour it. Sympathy for the scorned woman. Outrage for the poor, betrayed wife. All she had to do was play the victim long enough. And they would eat it up, every lie, every twisted word. People wanted a villain. She just gave them one.
Let them gasp. Let them hate him.
If Eryx wanted to humiliate her by loving soone else, she’d make sure the world saw him as the coward he really was.
If she couldn’t have his love, she’d burn what was left of his na.
He made her feel invisible. Now she’d make sure Lunara felt the sa.
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