Chapter 4

"What about me?"

I slowly took a step toward him.

"Julian, you've lost this game before it even began."

"Bullshit!"

He roared, panic flashing across his eyes.

"Christian King can't beat me! He doesn't know my bottom-line price!"

"Is that so?"

Stopping in front of him, I pulled out my phone and tapped the screen.

Four split-screen feeds appeared in crisp high-definition, showing the study, the living room, the master bedroom...

And the footage from less than an hour ago, showing him and Blair tangled on the office couch.

Julian's breathing instantly caught in his throat.

"You... how the hell are the house feeds on your phone?"

"It's not just the house," I replied nonchalantly, tapping the screen again.

The display switched.

Now showing the executive office suite at Sterling Group headquarters.

Crystal clear, from multiple angles.

"It's your office, your luxury cars..."

Julian's face turned completely ghostly white.

"Scarlett! You psychotic bitch!"

He finally snapped, lunging forward to snatch my phone.

I easily dodged him.

"Crazy?"

"Compared to what you've done, this is nothing."

"You reap the rewards of the resources I hand you on a silver platter, and then bring another woman into our home to screw on the furniture."

"Julian, you're the sick one here."

Trembling with uncontrollable rage, his lips quivered.

Right then, my phone rang.

It was Christian.

Right in front of Julian, I tapped the speakerphone button.

"Mr. King, working late?"

Christian's deep, amused voice echoed through the hallway.

"Just reviewing Julian's bidding proposal. Nicely put together, but unfortunately..."

Julian's entire body stiffened, his eyes fixed in horror on my phone.

I smiled, seamlessly picking up Christian's thought.

"Unfortunately, we've already anticipated every single backup plan he has."

Christian let out a low chuckle.

"Precisely. Scarlett, I'm starting to believe that partnering with you will be the smartest decision of my life."

"So, regarding tomorrow's bidding conference... will Mr. Sterling show up?"

I cast a cold glance at the pale, ruined man before me.

"Don't worry."

"Julian won't be attending the auction tomorrow."

"He's going to personally gift wrap the South District project and hand it straight to you."

The other end fell silent for a beat before Christian's satisfied response came through.

"Splendid. I'll await your good news."

I hung up.

For the first time, sheer pleading desperation surfaced in Julian's eyes.

"Scarlett... I was wrong..."

"I don't care about the South District land anymore..."

"Take down the cameras, delete the footage, please... let's just go back to the way things were."

Go back?

I crouched down slowly, meeting his eyes at level.

"Julian, you still don't get it, do you?"

"The South District land and your ten percent equity are just the appetizers."

"Starting tomorrow,"

"I'm going to make sure Sterling Group's stock isn't worth a single cent."