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Chapter 5: The Showdown

I collapsed onto the sofa, my whole body slumping as if physically exhausted. I had been trying to hold onto my armor, but now that I let go, my whole body began to tremble.

My phone rang. It was my mother sending a high-definition picture. A copy of the prenuptial agreement appendix, black letters on white paper, featuring the elegant, legally binding signature of Harrison Sterling.

My nuclear weapon was now fully loaded in my hands.

Immediately afterward, my father called me. He proudly announced that the massive mansion was officially for sale. Lawyer Davis himself was handling the rapid paperwork and immediately put the lowest, most aggressive market price upfront. As soon as the news broke on the elite real estate networks, the phones of several agents rang incessantly. Everyone knew this price was practically giving a twenty-million-dollar property away for cash.

“The bank accounts have also followed your instructions,” my father added, his voice gleeful, mixed with determination. “Everything is frozen. The black credit card Harrison gave you cannot be used anymore. As for the luxury sports car he gave you, I had someone drive it back to my estate. It’s locked in my secure garage. The key is in my hands.”

“Well done, Dad,” I smirked, my voice cold and decisive.

“Oh, and you will love this,” Dad’s voice deepened, carrying a faint, proud smile. “That arrogant brat, Harrison, called me directly. He said you were being very stubborn. He said you were causing a childish scene, and that you had to immediately go back to him and apologize, otherwise you would have to bear the consequences.”

“And what did you say?”

“Hmph,” my dad scoffed. “I stopped him right away and told him straight up: If he’s so tough, he can come find me. And that’s not all. His old man, Chairman Sterling, also called me to show fake concern. His words were roundabout but nothing short of a corporate threat. He said that young people shouldn’t make a fuss, lest it affect the multi-million-dollar cooperation between our two families. He even ordered me to ‘advise’ you to behave.”

“Advise my ass,” my father growled protectively. “He thinks the Sterling family can mold and squeeze us however they want? Does he really think the Hayes family is that easy to bully? Daughter, do not be afraid. Your father is here to back you up. You won’t fall apart even if you play with fire.”

“I know, Dad,” A warm, powerful feeling welled up in my heart. “Thank you. You and Mom should be careful these days. Do not let them intimidate you.”

“Wait until I’ve dealt with this,” my father promised. “I’ve weathered every storm and rough sea in the corporate world. I’ve been through it all.”

Just as I hung up the phone, the security doorbell rang incessantly. The loud, aggressive chiming carried an undeniable, hostile pressure.

Looking through the high-definition security screen, I saw Harrison standing outside.

He had changed out of his wedding tuxedo and was now wearing a simple, dark, expensive designer outfit. But his handsome face was so incredibly gloomy and enraged it looked like a thunderstorm. On his left cheek, the red, swollen handprint from my violent slap was still clearly, beautifully visible.

Behind him, two tall, imposing men in black suits, wearing earpieces, stood like two statues guarding him. His private security detail. Clearly, he had not come with good intentions this time.

I gently smoothed my messy hair, adjusted the wrinkled lace hem of my wedding dress, and took a deep breath.

What had to come, has finally come.

I pressed the electronic unlock button. The heavy, intricately patterned mahogany door opened.

Harrison entered the house, his entire body exuding a dark, oppressive, furious aura. The two bodyguards followed closely behind, standing right at the door to block my exit.

His dark gaze swept violently across the living room, stopping on me. I sat silently on the white leather sofa, looking disheveled in my wedding dress.

His eyes grew darker and colder, reaching an extreme, terrifying level of menace.

“Vivienne,” Harrison said, his voice hoarse and icy. “Have you caused enough trouble for one day?”

I looked up at him, not saying a single word.

“Come with me back to the estate. Now,” he ordered, still using that familiar, oppressive, commanding tone. “The wedding reception is not over yet. The guests are still waiting at the hotel. We are returning to complete the ceremony and save face.”

“What just happened,” Harrison continued, his jaw tight, “I can be generous and pretend it never happened.”

“Pretend it never happened?” I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard my ribs ached, as if I’d just heard the funniest, most delusional joke of the century. “What is your face made of, Harrison? Solid titanium? You must have zero shame.”

His face immediately darkened, turning pale with fresh anger. Perhaps the arrogant billionaire had never been mocked so directly, so viciously, in his entire pampered life.

“Vivienne,” he took a threatening step forward, his tall figure imposing, the physical pressure overwhelming. “I will say it again. Come back with me immediately. Do not force me to take physical action.”

Behind him, the two massive bodyguards simultaneously moved forward, cracking their knuckles, clearly threatening to drag me out by force.

“Take action?” I raised my eyebrows, calmly facing his furious gaze. Looking at his icy eyes, I felt absolutely no fear. “What’s going on, Harrison? The great CEO is ordering his bodyguards to tie up the bride and force my head down to the altar? Or are you planning to directly assault me right here in the living room?”

I pointed a delicate finger to a high corner of the living room, where a tiny, high-tech security camera was mounted, almost unnoticed.

“I forgot to tell you,” I smiled sweetly. “Every nook and cranny in this twenty-million-dollar house is under active surveillance. 360 degrees. No blind spots. And it uploads audio directly to a secure cloud server. If CEO Sterling wants to add some violent material to tomorrow’s sensational news headlines, please, feel free to grab me.”

I tilted my head mockingly. “I’ve even thought of a great title for the press. Young Master of the Sterling Family Fails at His Wedding, Angrily Orders Bodyguards to Assault His Fiancée. Or maybe: Dark Secrets of the Wealthy: Substitute Bride Refuses to Marry, Groom Goes Berserk. Which headline do you prefer? Which do you find more shocking?”

Harrison’s fists clenched so tightly at his sides that the veins bulged violently on the back of his hands. He glared at me, his dark eyes like knives, wanting to tear my flesh into pieces.

“What do you want?” he gritted his teeth, enunciating each word with pure venom.

“What do I want?” I stood up. I walked slowly toward him. I looked him straight in the eye. The handsome face that had once captivated me entirely now only held a disgusting, pathetic pretense.

“Harrison, that should be my question to you,” I whispered lethally. “You calculated your approach to me. You played the role of a devoted romantic for three years. You acted out a deep love affair using me as a shadow for a dead girl, cherishing me in the palm of your hand, deceiving me every single day.”

I took another step, my voice rising in volume. “Now that the play is completely over, and your sick role is ruined, you don’t even think of kneeling down to apologize to me! You don’t beg for my forgiveness! Instead, you bring armed men here to threaten me, trying to force me to come back and continue acting as your prop! Do you think I, Vivienne Hayes, was born a fool? Do you think I am just a toy worth manipulating in the palm of your hand?!”

My voice wasn’t loud, but each word echoed in the empty living room like heavy hammer blows striking straight down on glass.

Harrison’s expression changed constantly—angry, humiliated, and deeply struggling as his sick obsession was exposed to the very core.

“That message was fake,” he tried to deny it, but his tone was no longer as firm or commanding as before. “Vivienne, my feelings for you are real.”

“Madeline,” I interrupted clearly, enunciating the dead girl’s name with absolute precision.

Harrison felt as if someone had pressed the pause button on his entire reality. All his manipulative words choked in his throat. His body convulsed slightly, the color draining from his face completely.

That stunned, horrified expression was even better than when I slapped him in front of the crowd. His eyes grew wide and dry. He looked at me with a look of pure horror, even revealing a hint of actual, visceral fear.

“How… how do you know?” he whispered.

“Does it matter?” I lifted my lips into a cold, terrifying smile.

I picked up the beige file folder I had taken from the study off the glass coffee table, shaking it gently in front of his face.

“What matters is this,” I said. “The valuable, ugly little treasure hidden in the locked drawer of your desk, Harrison. The password was Madeline’s date of birth, wasn’t it?”

His face instantly collapsed in sheer panic. He instinctively reached out to snatch the file back.

I was fully prepared. I stepped back sharply, clutching the file folder securely to my chest. “Do not touch me!” I shouted. My voice was as sharp as a razor.

His hand froze mid-air.

“Harrison,” I looked directly into his ashen, terrified face, enunciating each word. “We are finished. Now, take your muscle and get out of this house immediately. Otherwise, I will gladly give away this so-called ‘deep affection’ and all the pathetic information about your dead ‘White Moonlight’ to the press. Or better yet, I will send it directly to your father’s corporate rivals.”

I smirked. “I think Wall Street will be extremely interested in the secret, psychotic infatuation of the young master of the Sterling family.”

Harrison’s body swayed slightly. His eyes remained fixed on me. The fear and anger in his expression gradually transformed into something incredibly dark, chilling, and murderous.

“Vivienne,” his voice was hoarse and low, carrying a bone-chilling, lethal coldness. “You are playing with fire.”

“Playing with fire?” I looked straight at him, my chin held high, absolutely not backing down. “Harrison, from the moment you decided to use me as a substitute, that fire was already lit. Now, I am just throwing gasoline on it to make it burn even more fiercely.”

“Okay,” Harrison hissed, a sound of profound humiliation and helplessness. “Let’s see who will be burned to ashes in the end.”

We faced each other in tense, suffocating silence. The atmosphere was so thick with hatred it felt like it could choke us. The two bodyguards behind him also clearly felt the murderous aura; their bodies instantly tensed, ready to strike at any moment.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly. Harrison gently closed his eyes. When he opened them, the intense, chaotic waves of emotion in his dark eyes had been forcibly suppressed, leaving only a deep, bottomless, icy screen.

“Very good,” he pulled the corners of his lips into a smile completely devoid of any warmth. “Vivienne, you truly underestimated me. Just wait and see.”

After saying that, he didn’t bother to glance at me again. He turned around on his heel and strode away with a body full of dark, murderous intent. The two bodyguards immediately followed closely behind him.

BANG!

The large front door slammed shut so violently that even the massive crystal chandelier on the ceiling shook.

I fell heavily onto the sofa, my whole body completely exhausted, my silk shirt soaked with cold sweat. I knew this was just the prologue. The actual war between me and Harrison had officially begun, and he absolutely wouldn’t let it go. The powerful Sterling family certainly wouldn’t either.

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