Ethan simply stared at me, his face completely horrified. "Grandfather's butler?" he stuttered. "Anna, what are you even saying? This is some sort of twisted joke, right?"
Then, he actually attacked me and wrapped his arm around mine. His hold was really tight! He'd never touched me with anything but that forced niceness he always showed. "You're my wife! You're not leaving anywhere until you tell me what the hell is going on!"
Ew, his skin was gross. I stared at his hand on my worn sweater, then back at his frantic face. "Take your hand off me," I stated, my voice really low.
Before he could even blink, the door to the apartment simply clicked open. Two giant men in suits came in and stood there like rocks. Behind them was the man I saw through the window—Arthur, the right-hand man of my grandpa. He's in his late sixties, has this immaculate silver hair, and this sort of quiet elegance that made our shithole apartment seem even worse.
Arthur's eyes scanned the whole room—the sad little meal, the beat-up furniture, and finally, Ethan's hand digging into my arm. His eyes, which are usually so warm, turned to ice.
He gave a little bow. "Miss Sterling. It's good to see you're okay."
He didn't even look at Ethan. It was like he wasn't even there!
Finding out that Arthur addressed me as "Miss Sterling" was the last straw for Ethan. His hand simply slid away from my arm. "Miss. Sterling?" he breathed.
I jerked my arm away and moved toward the door, prepared to leave Anna Vance forever. I didn't even bother to pack. Every last item of clothing in that apartment belonged to a life I desperately wished to forget.
"Wait!" Ethan wailed, his voice completely cracking. "Anna, please! We can work this out, whatever it is. I love you!"
I once lived for those words. Now? They sounded pathetic. I froze at the door and gave him one final look with a cold little smile.
"You labeled me useless trash, Ethan. A drag," I stated, my voice echoing in the empty room. "You're going to find out what it actually feels like to cross a Sterling."
And with that, I walked away and did not glance over my shoulder. Arthur walked step in step with me down the squeaky stairs, with the two bodyguards following closely behind us, like a wall between me and my past.
Wow, that crisp night air was wonderful! It was like I could breathe once more. Arthur stood back and held a cashmere coat open for me, and I stepped into it. It felt so silky and decadent after all the cheap garments I had been wearing. He opened the door of the first Rolls-Royce, and I slipped in. The car was so quiet and comfortable, and it smelled affluent. It smelled like home.
The door closed with a hard thud, and suddenly the world of betrayal was behind us. Arthur climbed inside and sat facing me.
"Your grandfather insisted you see this immediately," he said, all professional again. He produced a luxurious leather folder embossed with my family's silver phoenix crest. "He's been. watching Mr. Vance very closely since the first day."
My heart began racing like mad. I pulled it out. The first couple of pages were just general stuff that I already knew. But then Arthur nodded to a sealed envelope in a rear pocket.
There was my name, written in my grandpa's fancy scribble. My fingers shaking a bit, I opened it.
It wasn't some report. It was just one single piece of paper from a super high-end jewelry store downtown.
It was an insurance paper, dated yesterday, for a crazy expensive diamond necklace called "The Star of Astoria." The price was insane, but that's not what made me gasp. It was the owner's name on the certificate.
Clara Rhodes.
And below that, in the line that stated 'Paid in Full By,' was another name. A name I knew far too intimately. A name that made absolutely no sense.
Kaelen Blackwood.