Chapter 1

June 15th. Seven days until the wedding.

Victoria Vance stood before the floor-to-ceiling mirror inside the private salon of an ultra-luxury bridal boutique.

In the reflection, a bespoke white lace wedding gown hugged her waist to perfection, flaring out into an exquisite train.

"Ms. Vance, this dress looks as if it were sculpted specifically for you,” the boutique manager praised with a warm, polished smile. "Mr. Sterling truly has impeccable taste.”

The corner of Victoria's mouth curved into a faint smile. But before she could speak, her phone vibrated violently inside her designer handbag.

The caller ID displayed the name of her lead legal assistant: Thomas.

Victoria swiped to accept. "Talk to me.”

"Attorney Vance,” Thomas's tone was urgent, "Ten minutes ago, a charge was processed on your primary Black Card authorized supplementary card at St. Mary's Private Hospital. Amount: $45,000. Transaction classification: Premium VIP Psychiatric Intervention and Inpatient Pre-authorization.”

Victoria's gaze sharpened. "Who is the authorized signatory on the slip?”

"Julian Sterling,” Thomas answered swiftly. "And according to internal hospital records, the admitted patient is Chloe Bennett.”

At the mention of that name, the remaining warmth in Victoria's eyes evaporated completely.

Chloe Bennett—Julian's ex-girlfriend who claimed to suffer from severe depression and had left for Europe two years ago.

In exactly seven days, Victoria and Julian were supposed to walk down the aisle.

And right now, her fiancé was holding her black card, footing the astronomical bill at an exclusive private hospital for his ex.

"Ms. Vance, shall I adjust the train for you?” the manager asked, stepping forward with tailored pins.

Victoria raised a hand, stopping her in her tracks. Her voice carried no hint of hysteria; it was cold, composed, and as detached.

"No need.”

Victoria unzipped the hidden closure along the spine of the dress. Without a second thought, she stripped off the six-figure haute couture gown.

The manager gasped, "Ms. Vance? The gown—”

"I don't want it.”

Victoria changed back into her structured charcoal-grey blazer, snapping the cuff links into place with practiced precision. She retrieved her phone and dialed Julian directly.

It rang twice before he picked up.

Julian's voice filtered through the speaker, layered with the distant echoes of a hospital corridor, sounding rushed and slightly impatient.

"Victoria? Listen, I'm handling an urgent corporate matter right now. Just decide on the wedding gown yourself and charge it to the card.”

"Julian,” Victoria cut him off, her tone deadpan. "Where are you right now?”

There was a momentary pause on the line.

Julian cleared his throat unnaturally. "In... in an emergency board meeting at the office. Why?”

Victoria let out a cold, sharp laugh.

"A corporate meeting in the diagnostic wing of St. Mary's Psychiatric and OB-GYN department?”

Victoria pulled her iPad from her tote, her fingers flying across the screen.

"Swiping my Black Card to drop $45,000 on Chloe—is that your idea of an urgent corporate matter?”

The line fell into a dead silence.

Then, Julian's voice turned icy, laced with the defensive anger of a man caught red-handed.

"Victoria, Chloe just got back to the country. Her clinical depression relapsed, and she's a suicide risk. She has no one else here. I'm simply covering her emergency medical fees as an old friend. Do you really have to be so petty and bean-counting about everything?”

"First,” Victoria said, pushing open the glass door of the bridal boutique and walking straight toward her black luxury sedan, "using my money to play savior for another woman isn't generosity—it's embezzlement.”

"Second, that supplementary card was authorized under the strict legal assumption of joint pre-marital operational expenses. You breached the agreement.”

Julian panicked. "Victoria, Chloe is lying in a hospital bed crying her eyes out. Can't you show a shred of basic human empathy? We're getting married next week, is it really worth ruining our relationship over a small sum of cash?”

"Save your empathy for the police. I don't run a charity.”

Victoria slid into the driver's seat, ignited the twin-turbo engine, and tapped her earpiece.

"That card is linked to the pre-marital escrow trust account we reserved specifically for the wedding. Transferring trust funds to a third party without authorization is not only a material breach of contract, but also a direct violation of law—constituting breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of funds. I've already notified the escrow bank to freeze the account and submitted a formal application to revoke your authorization.”

"You—” Julian gasped, his breathing ragged with fury. "You froze my card over a trivial matter like this, Chloe's admission paperwork isn't even finished.”

"That sounds like a personal problem, Mr. Sterling.”

Victoria's voice was pure ice. "By 8:00 PM tonight, clear every single one of your belongings out of my penthouse. Furthermore, the wedding is off.”

"Victoria, have you lost your mind! Cancel the wedding? Do you honestly think the Vance family or your little boutique law firm can survive without the financial backing of the Sterling Capital Empire!” Julian roared through the phone.

The corner of Victoria's lips curled into a razor-thin, mocking arc.

"Julian, you seem to be severely confused about one thing.”

She pressed the audio recording button on her dashboard console and spoke with terrifying calm.

"It was never me relying on Sterling Capital. If I hadn't spent the last three years restructuring your toxic debt, Sterling Asset Management would have gone bankrupt three years ago.”

Without waiting for a response, Victoria ended the call and tossed his number into her block list.

Her screen lit up with a fresh email notification from Thomas.

[Draft Complaint Generated: Named Defendants — Julian Sterling / Chloe Bennett]

Victoria glanced at the screen and tapped ‘Approve and File'.

"Since you two love playing emotional drama,” she muttered, looking out at the open highway, "let's see how you enjoy settling the legal tab.”