Back to the Gutter

My fianc tried to force a drink down my throatknowing full well Im allergicjust to impress his little pick-me assistant.

Watching him defend her sparked something primal. I grabbed a full decanter of liquor and smashed it right across his forehead.

Blood mixed with the expensive spirits, dripping down his face. I stared him dead in the eye.

"Since you care about her so much, you can drink the rest of this for me."

He seems to have forgotten he was just a bastard son until I pulled him out of the gutter. That decanter was a wake-up call.

Chapter 1

When Julian opened his mouth, I realized he had actually lost his damn mind.

I am not a patient woman.

But tonight was supposed to be his night. The victory gala.

Hed been grinding for six months to close the Hudson deal. He hadn't slept properly in weeks.

This win didn't come easy.

I didn't want to burn it all down on a night like this.

So when he walked in with that young assistant clinging to his arm? I bit my tongue.

When he flirted with her right in front of the board members? I looked away.

But now?

He was demanding I down a decanter of vodka just to make that pick-me girl giggle. Me. The woman whose throat closes up into anaphylactic shock if I even smell alcohol.

No.

I was done playing the supportive fiance.

The heavy crystal decanter shattered against Julian's temple.

Glass exploded. A jagged red line split his perfect forehead.

Blood and clear liquor streamed down his face in a grotesque cocktail.

"Oh my god! What are you doing?!"

Kaylees drunkenness evaporated in a split second.

She lunged forward, frantically trying to wipe the blood from his face. Her manicured nails clumsily pressed a shard of glass deeper into the wound.

"Fff!"

Julian hissed, his face draining of color as the pain hit.

I didnt even look at her.

I picked up a napkin. Methodically wiped the splash of alcohol from my fingertips.

Then I flicked the crumpled napkin at Julians chest.

"Youre the fianc. You take the drink."

Julian clamped his mouth shut, letting the blood sting his eyes.

He remembered who I was.

And exactly who he was without me.

The gala was dead. The room had gone silent. Remaining here would just make me a spectacle.

I grabbed my clutch.

"Excuse me."

I turned to leave, but a hand shot out to block my path.

It was the kind of desperate grab of someone who didn't realize they'd already lost everything.

"You aren't going anywhere! You assaulted Julian. Im calling the cops!"

Kaylee stood there, chest heaving. The alcohol was gone, but the bratty, unchecked entitlement remained.

"Kaylee. Get back here."

Julians voice was a low growl, strained with pain.

"She hit you! We can't just let her"

"I said. Get. Over. Here."

Julians fists were white-knuckled. He forced the words through gritted teeth.

She stomped her foot, a petulant child denied a toy. She pointed a shaking finger right in my face.

"So what if you have a ring? Hes a person, not some designer dog you keep in a purse!"

"You jealous old bit"

My patience evaporated. The back of my hand connected hard with her cheek.

"Point that finger at me one more time," I whispered, leaning in close. "And Ill snap it off."

Chapter 2

Id clocked the assistant before.

Kaylee.

Young. Fresh. Vibrating with the kind of manic energy I grew out of years ago.

The first time I saw her, my circle made the usual jokes.

"Aren't you worried keeping something that pretty around him? What if he gets ideas?"

I told them no.

I trusted Julian.

Not out of love. Out of logic.

We aren't a fairytale. We are a merger. A strategic alliance cemented in boardrooms, not bedrooms.

Julian is the illegitimate son, the family stain. He knows better than anyone that he needs the prestige of my name to survive in this town.

I didn't think he wouldn't cheat. I knew he dared not to.

But I underestimated the sheer audacity of the male ego.

He secured one big contract, and suddenly he thinks hes the king.

He let a few people call him "Mr. Donovan" and forgot hes just a stray dog I rescued from the gutter.

Fine.

Ill remind him.

Julian cupped Kaylees face in his hands.

She was trembling, terrified into silence, tears tracking through her foundation.

Julians face twisted. Genuine pain.

The vein in his temple throbbed against the skin, thick and angry.

"Leighton, youve gone too far!"

I arched a brow.

Too far?

I haven't even started.

Kip and Rafferty, sensing the show was hitting its climax, finally stood up from the VIP booth.

"Woah, come on now. Don't fight over an outsider."

"Yeah, you guys are making a scene. Its embarrassing."

Technically, they are our mutual friends. We grew up together.

When I was fifteen, my father bought into The Summitthe most exclusive gated community in the state. The kind of place where the neighbors don't just have money; they have the power to collapse economies.

We all ended up in the same zip code.

But "friends" is a stretch.

Nobody wants to see Julian fail more than they do.

They never accepted that the bastard son of a mistress could ever sit at their table.

They aren't peacekeeping. Theyre pouring gasoline.

Kip turned to me, swirling his drink, his voice dripping with condescension.

"Men need their distractions, Leighton. Having a little 'confidante' is normal. If you get this jealous over a little flirting, how are you going to handle marriage?"

Rafferty chimed in, clapping a hand on Julians shoulderheavy, patronizing.

"Hes right. You know how Leighton gets. Just apologize to the Princess. You know youre nothing without her backing."

Julians jaw tightened.

The shame hit him in waves. I could see it in the way his eyes darkened.

Normally, hed just swallow the insult. Hed laugh it off.

But tonight is different.

Hes drunk on victory and vodka.

I just smashed a decanter over his head.

And now, hes watching the woman he "loves" clutch her bruised cheek because he couldn't protect her.

The humiliation is choking him. Hes reached his breaking point.

Chapter 3

He swept his arm out, trying to regain some semblance of masculine control. He pointed a shaking finger right at my nose.

"Leighton, you apologize to Kaylee right now, or I swear Ill"

Three strikes. Fast. Hard.

My palm burned with a satisfying heat.

I watched the red handprints bloom on Julians already battered face. I curved my lips into a smile that didn't reach my eyes.

"Or youll what? Call off the wedding?"

Julian choked.

The silence stretched. He opened his mouth, but the words died in his throat.

Call off the wedding.

He doesn't have the guts to say it. He knows the cost.

But while Julian hesitated, Kaylee decided to be the hero.

"Fine! Consider it cancelled! You only look down on him because hes a bastard, right?"

She stepped out from behind him, chin high, voice shrill enough to shatter glass.

"Well, Ive got news for you, Princess. It doesn't matter who his mother was! Who says an illegitimate son cant run an empire?"

The air left the room.

Absolute, suffocating silence.

Julian wasn't brought into the Sterling fold until he was thirteen. The family spun a narrativehe was the youngest son, kept away for schooling. It was a carefully curated lie.

Only the inner circle knew the dirty truth.

But this wasn't a family dinner. This was a victory gala.

Julian had invited rivals, competitors, and press to witness his rise.

And now, thanks to his little cheerleader, his biggest secret was broadcast on a loudspeaker.

Julians face went from red to a deathly, ash-gray. He looked around the room, seeing the realization dawning in the eyes of his competitors. The whispers starting.

I actually laughed. A sharp, barking sound.

I don't know where he found this clown, but shes the most efficient saboteur Ive ever seen.

Kaylees face flushed. She realized too late that the room wasn't applauding her brave speech.

She shrank back behind Julian, gripping his jacket, but kept yelling at me.

"Don't act like you care! We all know this is just a business merger. You don't love him!"

"Where were you when he was lonely? Where were you when he was hurting? Do you have any idea how much he suffered? I was the one who held him through the dark times!"

She looked so proud of herself. The suffering martyr.

I looked at her flushed, tear-streaked face and felt nothing but boredom.

She thinks "struggle love" is a badge of honor.

Fine.

If they love the struggle so much, Ill give them a lifetime of it.

I shoved Kip aside as he tried to block my path.

Under the hungry gaze of every vulture in the room, I delivered the verdict.

"You want out? You got it. The engagement is off, Julian."

I stepped closer, lowering my voice so only the three of us could hear the fatality of it.

"The Hudson Project collapses tomorrow. The stock price tanks by noon. Chairman Donovan will disown you before dinner."

I smoothed my dress.

"Welcome back to the gutter, you ungrateful bastard. Enjoy the poverty."

Chapter 4

I didnt go home to cry. I went straight to the war room.

The top floor of Sterling Tower was blazing with light.

I sat at the head of the mahogany conference table, watching my executive assistant flip through the projections.

"Ms. Sterlingsorry, Leighton. Weve leaked the scandal. Based on the current sentiment analysis, theres an 80% chance the Hudson Group will void their contract with Julians firm."

The Hudson Project.

I set that deal up three years ago. Back then, I was new to the throne, cautious. The project was too risky for me to swallow alone, so I fed it to Julian.

If he won, we both won.

If he failed, hed be buried, and Id walk away with clean hands.

But the board has changed.

I own this seat now. I take the big risks.

There is no morality in business. Burning bridges isn't just a strategy; its an art form. And Julian isn't the only one who knows how to play dirty.

Thirty minutes.

Thats all it took for my PI to strip Kaylees life down to a PDF.

Background: Poverty line. High school dropout. GED. Currently a CNA at Mercy Hospital.

The timeline was sickeningly clear.

A year ago, Julians biological motherthe mistresswas transferred to Mercy for terminal care. Julian visited her in secret.

Thats where they met.

His mother had stage-four stomach cancer. It was ugly. Julian was a wreck.

I understood that pain. I shielded him. I took the heat from his father, Donovan, so Julian could spend those final weeks at her bedside.

I bought him time to say goodbye.

He spent it sleeping with the help.

He kept it quiet. He knew better than to parade his side-piece around before the Hudson deal was signed.

Maybe he thought he was untouchable now. Maybe he thought he had enough leverage to control me.

Hes about to learn that leverage works both ways.

The engagement termination notice hit the wire first.

Thirty minutes later, the photos dropped. Julian. The assistant. The illegitimate status.

My PR team went scorched earth. They flooded the zone.

The internet doesn't give a damn about "true love" when there's a toxic power imbalance and a cheating scandal. They smell blood.

#BoycottSterling started trending. The comments on Julians corporate accounts were a bloodbath.

I swiveled my chair, watching the ticker on the wall screen. Julians stock was nose-diving.

The night is young. Im not in a rush.

But someone else was.

The elevator doors pinged.

My father, Reginald.

I haven't seen him in six months. Hes been too busy playing house with a mistress younger than me.

He was never bright, but her influence has turned his brain into absolute mush.

"Leighton! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He stormed into my office, bypassing security, face purple with rage.

I took a slow sip of my black coffee. I motioned for my team to leave.

Only when the heavy glass doors clicked shut did I look at him.

"Im not 'doing' anything, Dad. Im executing a damage control protocol. Im severing a toxic asset to maximize profit for the family name."

"Bullshit!"

His palm hit my desk, the sound cracking through the silence like a gunshot.

He loves this move.

When I restructured the board? He called me reckless and slapped me.

When I fired the embezzling VPs? He called me crazy and trashed my office.

Here we go again.

"You think you know everything just because youve sat in the big chair for a few years? This isn't a game, Leighton! You don't know how the real world works!"

He leaned over the desk, spit flying.

"Retract the statement. Now. You are coming with me to Donovans house to apologize. Hes been blowing up my phone all night!"

He straightened his tie, dropping the bomb hed been saving.

"And your brother just graduated. Im bringing him into the C-suite to supervise you. I can't let you run this company into the ground with your tantrums anymore."

I stared at him. My pulse didn't even jump.

"Im an only child," I said, voice flat. "Since when do I have a brother?"

Chapter 5

The ceramic mug detonated against the drywall. Dark roast coffee dripped down the pristine white paint like dirty oil, shards of porcelain scattering across the hardwood floor.

Reginalds chest heaved. He pointed a trembling finger at my face.

"Do you have any respect left for your own father?"

I didn't flinch.

Propping my chin on my hand, I locked eyes with him, letting the silence stretch until it was uncomfortable. Then, I asked the question that had been sitting in the chamber.

"Are you doing this for the company, or for your sugar baby?"

Reginalds hand froze in mid-air.

A flush of humiliation crept up his neck, mottling his skin. He looked like a caught teenager.

Julian is calculated.

He knew I was impossible to leverage, so he went for the weak link. Six months ago, he orchestrated a "chance meeting" between his own cousin and my father.

Starr.

Young, pliable, and adept at using her body. An aging narcissist like Reginald never stood a chance. One whisper from her on the pillow carried more weight than twenty years of blood relation with me.

Seeing Reginald struggle for an excuse, I picked up my office line and hit the speed dial.

"Send security to 16 Oakhaven Drive," I said, my voice flat. "Clear the property. Everyone out. Now."

"Understood, Ms. Sterling."

The secretary hung up before I did.

Reginalds eyes bulged, the color draining from his face. "You you cant do that. Thats illegal!"

I smirked, leaning back in my leather chair.

"Dad. You seem to have forgotten something fundamental." My voice dropped an octave. "Everything you think you own is legally mine."

Five years ago, the Sterling conglomerate was bleeding out