Call Me Mrs. Sterling

Jessica was losing her mind in the family SnapChat group, bragging that she was about to marry into a billion-dollar dynasty and then had the nerve to demand I hand over the old mansion my parents left me as her wedding gift.

Her mother Barbara piled on, sneering that I was a twenty-nine-year-old woman destined to die alone, that no one would ever truly love me, and that I deserved to rot in the gutter for the rest of my life.

What they didn't know was that I had just officially registered my marriage to the man who runs that entire empire.

I watched the mother-daughter duo lose their minds in the group chat, then turned and leaned back into my husband's arms.

"Honey," I said, "your son's yacht is too loud. Take it away from him."

The next day, at Jessica's billion-dollar engagement party, I slowly raised my left hand. The diamond on my ring finger blazed under the lights.

"Be a good girl." I said. "Call me Mom."

The family group chat was blowing up, with messages flooding in at ten per second.

My cousin Jessica had posted several sets of photos.

In the pictures, she was wearing a couture gown, standing on the deck of a luxury yacht, surrounded by champagne, roses, and a foreign band playing violins.

[Girls, Julian absolutely insisted on throwing me some yacht bachelorette thing. The rental alone is over a million a day. He's so extra.]

The relatives swarmed in like sharks smelling blood. The screen filled with shameless flattery.

[Oh my gosh, Jessie is so lucky! That's the Sterling family the richest family in the east city!]

[Jessie was always gorgeous. She was born to be a trophy wife!]

[Once Jessie becomes the mistress of Sterling family, don't forget to scoop us poor relatives up!]

Barbara was absolutely high on herself.

[Everyone celebrate! Our Jessie's engagement party is at The Peninsula Hotel next week come soak up some of that Sterling family's luck!]

Then Barbara tagged me directly.

[@Katherine Kate, your little cousin is marrying into a billion-dollar family and you can't even be bothered to say a word?]

I was in the middle of examining a set of architectural restoration blueprints when my phone started buzzing nonstop. I glanced at it.

Before I could respond, Barbara's next message popped up.

[Actually, I need to talk to you about something. Jessie's marrying into the Sterling family, and her wedding gift can't be cheap. That old mansion your parents left you the one downtown you need to sign it over to Jessie. The Sterling family have high standards. Jessie needs assets in her name to hold her ground in that family.]

I stared at the screen and laughed despite myself.

That mansion was the only thing my late parents left me. Why on earth would I give it away as a wedding present?

I typed two words.

[In your dreams.]

The group went silent for exactly one second.

Then Jessica jumped in, dripping with condescension.

[Kate, why are you so selfish? If I marry well, I can take care of you too, you know. You're already twenty-nine you're going to die alone with nobody loving you. You don't even have a real job, just messing around with old bricks and broken walls all day. My mom set you up with that village mayor's disabled son the other day and you actually turned him down?]

Barbara followed up immediately, her tone pure acid.

[Exactly! Who do you think you are, some kind of princess? That mansion is wasted on you. Give it to Jessie so she has something to stand on. You're almost thirty, and you're going to die alone no one will ever truly love you. Stop being so picky! You'll never even get close to a family like the Sterling family in your lifetime!]

I read the words on the screen, cold and utterly unmoved.

What they didn't know was that I hadn't just gotten close to a family like the Sterlings. I had walked straight through the front door and welded it shut behind me.

I turned off the screen and sighed.

A pair of hands lean, with defined knuckles reached from behind me and wrapped around my waist. Arms folded me into a warm embrace that smelled faintly of cedar.

"What's with the sigh? Who upset my wife?"

His voice was deep and unhurried, with a lazy edge to it.

I leaned back into him and held the screen up so he could see it.

"Your son," I said. "He's throwing a party on your yacht to impress his girlfriend. It's giving me a headache just looking at it."

Edward Sterling. The richest man in the east city. The true power behind Sterling Group. He was also my legal husbandwe had just registered our marriage yesterday.

He scanned the photos on the screen, then let out a short, cold laugh.

"Using my stuff to show off. Pathetic."

He picked up the phone and dialed.

"Walter dock the Victoria. Send it in for maintenance. Right now."

He hung up, then dipped his head and pressed his lips lightly to my ear.

"Done. I fly to London tomorrow for a merger meeting. Back in three days. While I'm gone if anyone gives you trouble, throw money at them. It's on me."

The warmth of his breath made me tuck my chin down instinctively.

"Got it, Boss Sterling."

The next day, I had no intention of going to Jessica's engagement party.

Then I got a call from the nursing aide at the hospital.

Grandma had taken a turn for the worse. She'd been asking for me.

Grandma was the only family member I had left in this world and the only person in the Cole family who had ever genuinely loved me.

I threw on a white button-down and jeans, grabbed my bag, and rushed to the hospital.

When I got to her room, her bed was empty.

The bed was empty.

The aide was in a panic.

"Ms. Katherine Barbara came with a few people and forced her out. Said something about an engagement party. Your grandmother still had her IV line in!"

My head rang like a struck bell. A white-hot surge of fury shot straight to the top of my skull.

Grandma had a serious heart condition. She couldn't handle any kind of stress or exertion.

Had Barbara completely lost her mind?!

I called Barbara immediately. It rang for a long time before she picked up. Behind her voice was the thump of music and the buzz of a crowd.

"Hello? Katherine, finally." Barbara's voice was dripping with self-satisfaction.

"Where is my grandmother? Where did you take her?!" I demanded.

"Oh, keep your voice down. She's Jessie's grandmother too, you know. Of course she had to be here for her granddaughter's engagement. We're in the VIP lounge at the top of The Peninsula."

Barbara let out a dismissive snort.

"You want to see her? Fine. Bring the deed to that mansion. You sign it over today, or you don't see her. That's the deal."

"You're using Grandma as leverage?!"

"Don't be so dramatic. I'm doing this for the good of the family. Now hurry up Julian is about to arrive!"

The line went dead.

I stood there gripping my phone so hard my knuckles went white.

The Peninsula Hotel. A top property of Sterling Group.

I took a slow breath, flagged down a cab, and headed straight there.

The entrance was packed with luxury cars. A red carpet stretched out for dozens of feet, with security so airtight not even a fly could slip through.

I made it as far as the lobby before a guard stepped in front of me.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. The top floor has been reserved exclusively by Sterling Group today. May I see your invitation?"

I didn't have one.

I was reaching for my phone to call Edward's assistant when a sharp voice cut through from the elevator bay.

"Well, well. If it isn't our family's prim little old maid. Can't even get through the front door?"

I looked up.

Jessica swept across the lobby in an obscenely ornate diamond-studded gown and four-inch heels, flanked by a cluster of bridesmaids.

She looked me up and down, her eyes full of contempt.

"Tsk tsk. This is a Sterling engagement party, and you showed up looking like that? Someone might think you're here to collect recyclables."

Her bridesmaids burst into muffled laughter behind their hands.

I looked at her flatly.

"Where's Grandma?"

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"What's the rush? Mom's with her upstairs. Did you bring the deed?"

"I'll ask one more time." I stepped forward, my voice sharp as a blade. "Where is Grandma?"

Jessica flinched slightly at my tone, then puffed herself back up with wounded pride.

"Katherine, what exactly are you so high and mighty about? You think you're still the straight-A golden girl who used to outshine me? Let me tell you something after today, I'm the mistress of the Sterling family. Crushing you would be like stepping on an ant!"

"Is that so?" I sneered.

"The mistress of the Sterling family? You sure have a big imagination."

Just then, a ripple of excitement spread through the lobby.

"Julian Sterling is here! Julian Sterling!"

Jessica's whole face lit up. She shoved past me, gathered her skirts, and fluttered toward the entrance like a butterfly chasing a flame.

"Julian!"

I turned.

Julian Sterling Edward Sterling's only son walked in through the doors in a tailored suit, surrounded by a team of bodyguards. He was handsome, no question. But standing next to his father, Edward, who carried thirty years of power and hard-won authority in every line of his face Julian still had a long way to go.

Jessica hooked her arm through Julian's, practically pressing her entire body against his.

"Julian! What took you so long? I've been waiting for you forever."

Julian patted her hand absently, his eyes sweeping the lobby.

When his gaze landed on me, it stopped.

Julian's brow drew together slightly. Something shifted in his expression confusion, and something close to shock.

He stared at me for a solid five seconds.

Jessica followed his line of sight and went pale.

She dug her fingers into his arm, her voice going shrill.

"Julian, why are you looking at her?!"

Julian shook her off without a word and walked straight toward me.

Every pair of eyes in the lobby swung in our direction.

"Have we met somewhere before?" His tone was unusually polite almost careful.

Jessica came barreling after him, shoved herself between us, and pointed a finger at my face.

"Katherine! Have you no shame?! Did you seriously dress like that just to seduce my fianc?!"

"You're twenty-nine, completely unlovable, destined to die alone and you're going after your own cousin's future husband?! Do you have any decency at all?!"

The lobby erupted in sharp intakes of breath. Whispers raced through the crowd.

"Did she really come here to go after her cousin's fianc?"

"She looks so sweet. Hard to believe she'd pull something like that."

"Twenty-nine and still single she's probably just desperate for money."

I looked at Jessica's face, twisted with jealousy, and found it almost funny.

"Jessica," I said calmly, "do you have some kind of paranoia? The man you think is such a prize? He's nothing to me."

"You dare talk back to me?!"

Barbara must have rushed out of the elevator at some point. She came charging straight at me, raising her hand to slap me across the face.

I grabbed her wrist and shoved it back, hard.

Barbara wobbled on her heels and went down.

"Help! She hit me!" Barbara wailed from the floor, making a scene for anyone who would watch. "This pathetic, loveless old woman just assaulted me!"

"Security!" Jessica was screaming now, pointing at me like I was a fire that needed to be put out. "Get her out of here!"

Two broad-shouldered guards closed in from both sides.

"Ma'am, you need to leave the premises. If you resist, we will remove you by force."

I ignored the guards. My eyes stayed locked on Barbara.

"I'll ask one last time. Where is my grandmother?"

Barbara dragged herself off the floor, seething.

"You want the old woman? Fine. She's in a storage room on the top floor. You don't sign, you don't see her."

My blood ran cold.

A storage room. Grandma's heart couldn't take a room with no ventilation. What was Barbara thinking?!

I turned and lunged for the elevator.

Both guards grabbed my shoulders and pinned me back.

"Let go of me!" I struggled.

"Throw her out!" Jessica shrieked. "Don't let her trash the Sterling family's space!"

Julian stood off to the side, frowning, visibly torn about whether to step in.

"Hold on," he finally said.

"Julian! You're taking her side?!" Jessica's eyes filled with tears on the spot.

Julian didn't look at her. He looked at me.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're making a scene at my engagement party. That's not okay. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

I stared at him at that cool, effortlessly superior expression and suddenly I smiled.

I stopped struggling. Smoothed out my shirt where it had been grabbed.

"Julian," I said. "Are you sure you want to throw me out?"

His jaw tightened when I used his name directly.

"I don't care who you are. Nobody causes a scene on Sterling family. Security escort her out."

"Alright," I said quietly. "Fine."

I raised my left hand slowly and held my ring finger inches from his face.

"Open your eyes and look carefully."

The diamond caught the lobby lights and threw brilliance in every direction.

The room went dead silent.

Julian looked down.

And froze.

It was an enormous diamond ring.

The cut was flawless it fractured the lobby lights into a thousand tiny shards of fire. And along the inside of the ring, engraved in clean letters, were two names.

Edward. Katherine.

The color drained from Julian's face. White, then gray, then a sickly green.

He couldn't stop staring at the ring. His lips trembled slightly.

"This this isn't possible"

Jessica hadn't read the engraving yet. She'd just watched Julian's face collapse.

She lunged forward and grabbed for my hand.

"Oh, please, Katherine where'd you get a fake ring? Did you seriously think this little stunt would get Julian's attention?!"

Barbara crowded in beside her.

"Has to be a fake! What kind of woman would go this far just to claw her way up? What are you all standing around for get her out of here!"

Julian reached out and pushed Jessica away from me. Hard.

Hard enough that she stumbled and fell.

"Julian" Jessica stared up at him from the floor, disbelief all over her face.

He didn't look at her. With both hands trembling, he lifted my left hand and brought it close, eyes fixed on the names engraved inside the ring.

He read them for what felt like a full minute.

Then he looked up at me, and there was nothing in his expression but shock and complete bewilderment.

"You you" He couldn't get a sentence out.

I looked down at him, my voice cool.

"Can't read anymore?"

I stepped closer.

"Legally speaking, I'm your father's wife." I let that land. "Which means I'm your stepmother."

"So." I tilted my head. "Do you still want to throw me out?"

The lobby detonated.

The collective gasp was ten times louder than anything before it.

"She married Edward?!"

"The Edward Sterling? That ruthless, untouchable man?!"

"That's not possible how is that possible?!"

Jessica, still on the floor, let out a shriek.

"That's a lie! Absolute lie! You're a fraud, Katherine! Where did you get that fake ring?! Why would Chairman Sterling ever look twice at a woman like you some loveless, lonely nobody?!"

Barbara found her voice too.

"She's trying to sabotage Jessie's wedding! Showing up with a prop ring! You could go to prison for this!" She spun toward Julian. "Call the police! She's delusional!"

Julian didn't respond to either of them.

He pulled out his phone. His fingers were unsteady.

The lobby held its breath.

The call connected.

"Alfred" Julian's voice came out dry and hollow. "Did my father get married?"

Whatever Edward's personal assistant said on the other end, Julian's face went completely bloodless.

His hand dropped slowly to his side.

"It's true," he murmured.

"What?" Jessica scrambled up and grabbed his arm.

Julian turned to look at her. His eyes were unreadable complex and faintly disgusted.

"She is, in fact, my father's lawfully wedded wife."

Jessica went rigid like someone had cut her strings.

Barbara's jaw went slack, her eyes wide and glassy.

I didn't have time to enjoy any of it. I pushed Julian out of my way.

"Move. If anything happens to my grandmother because of this, I will make every single one of you pay."

I shoved into the elevator and hit the top floor button.

As the doors closed, I heard the lobby erupt behind me louder than anything that had come before.