Chapter 3

3

Within a week, I’d turned every rule in the Sterling estate upside down.

On the first day, the maids didn't dare sit at the table. Mrs. Sterling had always forced them to eat in the kitchen. I placed a pot of slow-roasted brisket in the middle of the dining table and pulled out the chairs.

“Dinner’s ready,” I called down the hall. “Everyone.”

The two maids exchanged panicked looks and didn't move.

“When I say everyone, I mean you too.”

Mrs. Sterling sat on the sofa, her wrist still dramatically bandaged. She glared at me, but her lips were pressed into a thin line. She was scared. She’d realized her daughter-in-law was truly capable of anything.

“This is absurd... servants eating with the family... if word gets out, the Sterling reputation―”

“Who’s going to tell?” I set the silverware down and looked at her. “Mrs. Gable? Mrs. Chen? Or the ladies from your Wednesday bridge club?”

Her face went pale. “How do you know about―”

“Your phone password is your son’s birthday. You forgot to lock it when you were busy texting insults about me the other night.” I picked up her phone from the coffee table. “I saw what Mrs. Gable replied. She said, ‘That girl from the wrong side of the tracks is a handful, isn't she?’ She isn't your friend; she’s laughing at you. Think about that.”

Mrs. Sterling’s mouth hung open. I tossed the phone back.

“Eat.”

On the third day, Finn’s business partners came over. One was a man in his forties in a bespoke suit, oozing unearned superiority. He referred to me as “Finn’s little helper” and smirked. “Sianna seems a bit... different lately?”

“Different how?” I asked, pouring him a drink.

“More vocal, perhaps?” he said, his tone polite but his eyes full of condescension. He clearly thought I belonged in the background.

I set the bottle down and looked him in the eye.

“That’s because I used to stay quiet to keep you comfortable. Now, I don't care if you're comfortable.”

His hand froze on his glass.

“Eat your food and keep your opinions to yourself,” I added.

He opened his mouth to retort but caught Finn’s eye. Finn hadn't defended me, but he hadn't corrected me either. He was watching me with an intense, dark fascination that was growing by the day.

On the fifth day, I overhauled the Sterling family’s vendor list. Seven of their long-term suppliers were distant relatives of Mrs. Sterling. Their prices were sky-high and their quality was garbage. No one had dared touch them before because they were her people.

I printed the ledgers and dropped them in front of Finn that afternoon.

“Seven companies. Five years. You’ve overpaid by fourteen million dollars. The money didn't come from the estate―your mother was siphoning it from your personal accounts to cover her relatives' tracks.”

Finn flipped through the pages, his face darkening with every line.

“How did you get access to this?”

“I told you, I can do anything. Including an audit.” I opened his laptop. I’d already changed the admin password; he’d tried to guess it three times and failed. It was now my birthday.

“You have a week to handle this. If you don't,” I said, closing the ledger, “I will.”

He looked at me for a long time. Then he said something he probably hadn't said to anyone in his life.

“I wish you’d been like this from the start.”

“It’s not too late,” I said, pushing the ledger toward him. “Sign.”

He signed it without hesitation.