Chapter 4

With money in hand, he rented a lavish penthouse apartment and even moved his mother and younger brother from his old town, claiming they were there to 'help' Scarlett with the house. Yeah, right.

He then started parading Scarlett around to visit family friends and business acquaintances, hoping she'd bat her eyelashes and beg for contracts.

My old friend, Mr. Sterling, even sent me a video.

"Mr. Sterling, you've known me my whole life, you have to help us this time! Liam and I aren't asking for much, just a third of the contracts you usually give my mother's company."

"Mr. Sterling, honestly, my mom's just been single for too long. She can't stand to see me happy, and she's intentionally trying to sabotage Liam. Trust me, if you partner with us, Liam will cut you a much better deal than she ever would."

Beside her, Liam, in his slick gold-rimmed glasses, sat there, looking utterly confident, like he'd already won.

"Mr. Sterling," he chimed in, "we're all smart people here. You give me a leg up now, and when I become the CEO of Vance Corp, you'll be my most valued client."

Mr. Sterling just smiled, saying he'd "consider it," then had his secretary escort the persistent Scarlett out.

But Scarlett clung to the door frame, still pleading with Mr. Sterling, promising that once they weathered this storm, she'd give him five percent of Vance Corp in company shares.

Watching the video, seeing her red-rimmed eyes stubbornly offering Mr. Sterling ten percent of the company, my heart burned with fury, but I felt no pity.

I had already spoken to Mr. Sterling, along with all my other trusted clients. No one would be doing business with that opportunist. He truly thought he could use my name to make a fortune? Dream on.

Besides, Vance Corp was already entirely in the trust, and Ryan Vance was the designated beneficiary.

My secretary continued to track their situation, and I listened silently to her report.

A month passed with no contracts, and the harsh realities of life quickly caught up to them. Rent and utilities were due, and the two employees they'd hired needed to be paid.

Liam's mother, believing her son had become a big-shot CEO, went on a spending spree. She bought five gold bangles, rings for all ten fingers, and a mountain of "health" and beauty products. All told, it was easily over forty thousand dollars.

You might ask where she got so much money. Well, Liam, eager to show off, had linked his PayPal to his mother's, telling her to buy whatever she liked. He had no idea his penny-pinching mother, who used to haggle over pennies, would suddenly be dropping tens of thousands without batting an eye.

When Liam and Scarlett went to the supermarket to buy groceries, the card was declined – insufficient funds. A frantic call revealed they were overdrawn by six thousand dollars.

When Scarlett and Liam rushed home, they found Caleb, Liam's younger brother, with his bleached blonde hair and lazy grin, glued to his phone, racking up charges on a game.

Scarlett lunged forward, snatching the phone and smashing it on the floor. "Do you have any idea that's our startup money, yours and Liam's?! Who gave you permission to blow it on games?!"

Seeing his broken phone, Caleb shoved Scarlett hard in the chest. "You bitch, it's my brother's money! What's it to you?! Who the hell do you think you are?!" He raised his hand and slapped Scarlett across the face.

Mrs. Miller quickly pulled back her youngest son, who was about to strike again, and then said in a mocking tone, "Well, well, I guess you just can't marry a rich girl! No respect for elders, just smashing things before you're even officially family. Do I, your future mother-in-law, even exist to you?"

Scarlett, I was told, froze on the spot, clutching her stinging face. Growing up, no one had ever laid a hand on her, especially not a man.

Scarlett was about to explode, but Liam grabbed her, pulled her into his arms, and dragged her into their room.

From behind them, Mrs. Miller's voice dripped with disdain. "Liam, you need to teach her a lesson today, or she'll walk all over us! A woman with no manners like that, how can she be worthy of you?"

For the first time, the couple had a screaming match about money inside their room. Liam ranted about the hardships his mother and brother faced, subtly blaming Scarlett for embarrassing them in public.

Scarlett, however, was dumbfounded, staring at the man she had so wholeheartedly trusted. She'd been hit, and he hadn't defended her. Instead, he was accusing her of only caring about money, telling her to prioritize family above all else.

A few hundred thousand dollars used to be mere pocket money to Scarlett. Now, that money wasn't just cash; it was the foundation proving she wasn't wrong, the starting point of her 'true love.'

But Liam kept going on and on about his mother and brother's struggles. In that moment, something inside Scarlett began to crumble.

Finally, Liam went to boil an egg for her swelling face, then softened his tone and coaxed her. "Scarlett, you're from a noble family, you know? My mom and brother, they feel inferior. They're afraid you look down on them."

"You smashed Caleb's phone today. How can they possibly stay here now without losing face? If word gets back home, they'll say I married a shrew!"

"From now on, take out your anger on me. Hit me, yell at me, whatever you want, but you have to give them some respect." He even raised his hand and lightly slapped his own face, starting to play the victim. "It's all my fault for being useless, for not making more money and putting my wife in such a tough spot."

"I swear, from now on, all my money goes to you, my dear. You'll be in charge of everything."

Eventually, under Liam's sweet talk, Scarlett's anger subsided.

The next day, she, the new "head of the household," actually sold the diamond necklace I'd flown to the US to bid on for her eighteenth birthday, just to fund Liam's business.

Liam perked up, sensing an opportunity. I knew it was time to bait the hook and reel him in.