Chapter 5

"Seraphina, are you insane? You've gotten addicted to acting like Mrs. Julian, like a rich heiress?"

"What divorce! My wife has always been Chloe."

Julian gritted his teeth, trembling. He was in too deep now, forced to keep up the lie.

I crossed my arms, watching them like a spectator at a comedy.

Around me, quite a few people subtly changed their demeanor, becoming more respectful towards me.

Their whispers, in the now quiet room, were remarkably clear:

"Seraphina also has the surname Sterling. Could it be that Chloe is actually the mistress?"

"I heard the real Sterling heiress is very low-key. Isn't Chloe's outfit, covered in logos, a bit too deliberate?"

Hearing this, Chloe's smile faltered, and she glared at me furiously:

"Seraphina, I have an Oxford Law PhD. How dare you, a high school dropout with no real smarts, utter such outrageous claims!?"

"I'm calling Grandfather Arthur Sterling right now to show you how a professional handles multi-million dollar cases!"

Seeing her so confident, those opportunists started observing again.

"Seraphina, I can't believe how calculating you are. You know Mr. Sterling is notoriously hard to reach, yet you provoked Chloe into calling him in front of everyone!"

"No wonder we almost fell for your tricks, what cunning tactics!"

"Since you claim you handled those multi-million dollar cases, then show us proof."

"I ask you, is your name listed as the client on *any* of those cases?"

My heart sank.

No wonder Julian always sweet-talked me into putting the cases under his name, claiming it was to build a reputation for Sterling & Associates.

It was all for this day, to steal everything from me and give it to Chloe!

My identity as Miss Sterling, my status as Mrs. Julian, my Oxford PhD (which he knew I was pursuing), even the cases I handled for him—he wanted to steal it all!

I laughed self-deprecatingly. How blind was I to have loved such a scumbag for five years?

Seeing my silence, the entire room full of sycophantic lawyers began to attack me:

"Talks a big game, but can't produce a shred of evidence! Pathetic, stop pretending!"

"This crazy dog, impersonating Miss Sterling and biting at everyone, get the security to throw her out! She's disgusting!"

A few sleazy men exchanged lewd glances and started to surround me:

"No need for security. We'll drag her out and teach her a good lesson ourselves, then she'll be docile!"

Meeting their naked gazes, I felt a chill run through me and trembled as I backed away.

Julian frowned slightly, a hesitant look on his face.

"It's just a little lesson to make her remember. We're all lawyers in this city, nobody will go too far."

Hearing this, Julian seemed to be given a green light, and turned his head, no longer looking at me.

A bald man, Frank, grabbed my wrist, his eyes lingering on my chest.

I used all my strength to yell:

"Let go!"

"I am the granddaughter of Arthur Sterling, the wealthiest man in the city! Dare to touch me, and you'll regret it!"

Everyone present froze for a second, then burst into uproarious laughter!

"That's hilarious! The little housekeeper is really getting into her acting!"

"You know what, with a scream like that, she almost has the demeanor of an heiress!"

Frank tugged me, dragging me out, while two other men seized the opportunity to grope me.

"Alright, alright, go ahead and act like the rich man's granddaughter. Just let us have some fun."

Tears in my eyes, I looked at Julian and screamed:

"Julian!"

"Stop them right now! My family, the Sterlings, can help your family rise, and we can also make you disappear overnight!"

Julian turned to look at me, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

He simply said, "Oh."

"Seraphina, blame your bad luck. The daughter of a servant should not dream of being Mrs. Julian, should not dream of replacing Chloe."

Frank, hearing this, became even more brazen, his hand reaching into my blouse and fondling me wantonly.

"Mr. Arthur Sterling has arrived!"