Chapter 4 - My Husband’s Mistress Didn’t Know Who She Was Slapping

Sharp alarms shrieked, and red letters flashed across the screen: DECLINED — CARD FROZEN

Beep!

Three piercing alarms landed on Eden's face like three slaps.

She went wild and began hammering the card against the terminal. "That's impossible! I bought five Birkins this morning!"

Sweat beaded on Howard's forehead. He kept his voice small. "Mrs. Sterling, maybe... we should call the bank?"

"Shut up!" Her sharp nails nearly jabbed him in the face. "There's still ten million dollars of credit on this card!"

The crowd burst out laughing.

"Dressed like a high-society wife, and she can't swipe a hundred grand!"

"Is that card even real?"

Someone snickered. "Oh, what's this? Is the Sterling family going broke?"

Eden, furious, called Yale right away. "Yale, why did my card get frozen? I need money right now!"

The second she hung up, a frantic ringtone started in the corner.

Nathan picked up my phone. The screen was a spiderweb of cracks, and "Yale Sterling" was flashing across it.

I hit answer. His roar came through the line.

"Savannah! What the hell is wrong with my cards?! Unfreeze them! Now! This second!"

I stroked my daughter's forehead. My voice was cold as ice. "Yale, our daughter's hands are broken. I don't have time for you."

"Don't use our daughter as a prop, Savannah! Just fix it, quickly! Or else..."

I cut him off before he could finish.

All these years of letting him shine out front, and he'd actually started to believe he was somebody.

I laughed at myself, bitterly. I'd spent my whole youth on a heartless dog like that.

Yale's calls kept coming, but soon the phone's screen went black. It was finally dead.

I sneered. "Well, the wife of Dawnfrost's CEO can't come up with this little money?"

Eden's face darkened, and she dialed Yale again.

When the call ended, the gloom around her brows vanished and a smug smile curled her lips.

She snorted. "Broke trash. It's just a bank system upgrade. Money? I can have as much as I want!"

Before long, a Maybach came roaring up.

The door opened, and a man in a custom-tailored suit stepped out.

"Mr. Pierce!" Eden's eyes lit up. She swayed over to him, her voice sickly sweet.

A middle-aged man with slick, glossy, combed-back hair strode toward us. "Mr. Sterling sent me with the money."

I studied this unfamiliar face. When had Dawnfrost acquired a man like this?

Whispers rippled through the crowd. "He really did send money. Now that's a real rich family!"

Gordon Pierce respectfully handed over a briefcase.

Eden couldn't wait to pop it open, and her chin shot up in triumph.

"Country bumpkin. Never even seen a black card."

She grabbed a stack of bills and hurled it in my face. The paper's sharp edge sliced across my forehead, and warm blood ran down my cheek.

She sneered. "This little stack? It's too stiff to wipe my shoes with! Only small-time people like you would treat it like treasure!"

Brie, who'd been quiet until now, suddenly flashed a sweet smile. "This cash would make good kindling."

She tilted her head, the picture of innocence. "Ma'am, I'm going to give you a 'gift' too. You'd better hold on to it tight."