LOGINFor three years, she was nobody. No name worth remembering. No money worth counting. She was just Jason Sterling’s quiet, invisible wife—the woman his world walked past without a second glance. That was exactly how Jasmine Vance wanted it. On their third anniversary, she found him where he shouldn’t have been—with the woman he’d sworn was “just family.” She didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. She just smiled, pulled out her phone, and let the world watch. By morning, Jason Sterling’s empire had a crack in it. By the end of the week, it was rubble. Only then did people start asking the real question. Who exactly is Jasmine Vance? Because powerful men don’t fall that fast. Not unless someone very specific wants them to. And somewhere in the shadows, a man who has always known the answer to that question is finally stepping into the light. He never once saw her as a nobody. He knew exactly who she was. And he had been waiting for the day she finally stopped hiding.
View MoreJasmine
The background jazz music was soothing as it wafted through the large dining hall. I found myself humming along until… “Another glass of the Dom Pérignon, Madame Sterling?” the waiter asked in a thick French accent, tilting the bottle. “Mr. Sterling is delayed, but there is no reason the night cannot begin.” I looked at the empty chair across from me. Jason was forty minutes late. It wasn’t the first time, but tonight was very special to us. I really wanted to believe tonight would be different. “Yes, please,” I said, forcing a polite smile. I took a sip, the cold champagne bubbling against my throat. It tasted expensive, the kind of vintage my father used to stock by the crates in our winter estate. But I had spent three years pretending to be amazed by Jason’s upper-middle-class lifestyle, letting him believe he was introducing me to a world I couldn’t otherwise afford. It turned sour the moment I looked around the room. In the corner booth, a young couple was holding hands over a candle, whispering and laughing. Near the door, a man walked in with his arm wrapped tightly around a lady’s waist, pulling her close. My chest ached. Three years ago, Jason and I were just like them. Starry-eyed, holding hands, completely obsessed with each other. We married within six months. Today was supposed to be our third anniversary. We should have walked in here together, with his arm around my waist, just like the couple sitting in the corner. My eyes wandered to them. They were leaning so close to each other that they were almost touching noses. I stared at them with dazed eyes, completely sucked in, until my phone beeped loudly. I blinked, pulling myself back to reality. My heart did a quick, hopeful flutter as I grabbed my bag. I expected a text saying, ‘I’m downstairs,’ or ‘Stuck in traffic.’ It wasn’t from Jason. It was an unknown number. Unknown: You look very fine tonight, Mrs. Sterling. It’s a shame Jason is balls deep in another woman right now. Sienna Suites, 104 West Lane. Penthouse B. I froze. Instantly, the warmth of the restaurant vanished, replaced by a wave of cold goosebumps that broke out across my arms. A violent spike of nausea hit me. My head spinning, I swept a panicked glance around the dining room, terrified that someone was watching me, laughing at me. But the waiters kept gliding past with silver trays, and the lovey-dovey couples remained locked in their perfect, smiling worlds. My mind raced. I clutched my bag, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold it. This can’t be real, I told myself. Jason is cold; he’s arrogant, but he would never do this. Can he? I couldn’t sit there for another second. I stood up, abandoning the bubbling champagne, and rushed out into the humid night air. The drive across the city was a blur. Neon lights smeared across the windshield as tears burned behind my eyes. My grip on the steering wheel was trembling, the tires screeching as the car veered recklessly over the lane lines. I gasped for air, but my chest felt locked behind iron bands. I had given up everything for him. My family’s staggering wealth, my status, my inheritance—I had walked away from it all and accepted a vow of poverty to prove I loved a man who was currently throwing me away like trash. I had endured his mother’s snide remarks about my lack of a family pedigree. I had let his friends look down on me as a penniless nobody. When I finally pulled up to the Sienna Suites, I felt completely hollow. I entered the lobby, legs wobbling. I approached the reception desk and mumbled the words, half-expecting the lady to turn me away or call security. “I’m here for… Penthouse B. Jason Sterling.” Instead of looking confused or asking for identification, the receptionist smiled. It was a wide, brilliant, rehearsed smile that sent a shiver down my spine. It felt surreal, as though I had stepped into someone else’s nightmare. I actually pinched the flesh of my inner arm to force myself awake. “Ah, yes, Mrs. Sterling,” she said cheerfully, sliding a sleek black card across the counter. “Our guest has been expecting you. Here is the master key card.” Expecting me? I didn’t breathe a reply. I snatched the plastic with a clammy hand and hurried toward the elevator. The ride up was dead silent, save for the thumping of my own pulse roaring in my ears. Ding. The doors slid open directly into the penthouse. I didn’t even have to look. The noises hit me first. A low, breathless giggle, followed by a heavy, familiar groan. I knew that groan. I had heard it a thousand times in the dark of our own bedroom. It was him. But the high-pitched, desperate whimper that followed didn’t belong to me. It belonged to Victoria—his stepsister. The very woman I had spent months feeling insecure about. Every time I had brought her up, Jason had scoffed, calling me crazy, telling me it meant nothing. My heart plummeted straight into my stomach. I took unsure steps forward, my heels making no sound against the soft, plush carpet. The double doors to the master bedroom were wide open. They were right there on the bed. Jason’s tailored suit jacket was discarded on the floor; his shirt was torn open, his pants pulled down around his thighs. They hadn’t even had the decency to fully undress. Victoria was straddling him, her silk dress bunched up around her waist. I stood paralyzed in the shadows, watching her back arch, her fingers tangled in his dark hair as she rode him. The sickening wet sounds filled the room. I couldn’t see her face, but Jason’s face was framed perfectly by the headboard. His eyes were locked on her with a look I hadn’t seen directed at me in years. The shock hit me like a physical fist to the gut. The suffocating mix of betrayal, rage, and grief tightened around my throat, choking out my air. I wanted to scream. I opened my mouth to tear the room apart. But no sound came out. And then, as the initial shock settled, I felt myself go very still. The violent shaking in my hands stopped entirely. The chaotic panic evaporated, replaced by a cold, razor-sharp clarity. The three-year test was officially over. And Jason Sterling had just failed it. I stood perfectly straight, my shoulders dropping as my face smoothed into a flawless, emotionless mask. Slowly, calmly, I reached into my designer bag and pulled out my phone. I opened the camera app, framed the sweating, writhing couple perfectly in the lens, and hit the button to unlock the live feed to my family’s network.Jasmine“We’re meeting someone,” Sebastian said, his voice cutting through the sudden silence in the car. He reached forward and entered a series of coordinates into Laura’s GPS.Laura glanced at the screen, her brow furrowing as she navigated a tight turn. “The Glasshouse? Sebastian, that place is going to be packed at this hour. Anyone could see us.”“That is exactly the point,” Sebastian replied smoothly. He leaned back against his seat, completely relaxed. “They’ve spun a dozen different lies about Jasmine on television. If we waste time refuting them, it just becomes an endless back-and-forth with the press. We don’t deny the rumors. We give them something bigger.”Laura and I both turned to look at him at the exact same time, our faces blank with confusion.“Huh?”“Wait, let me get this straight,” Laura said, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. “You want us to let people believe she was terrible to her in-laws when they were the ones treating her like absolute garbage?”“
SebastianA few minutes. That’s all it took for her to walk out of that bedroom and completely derail my train of thought.I was staring at an old framed photo of her on the cabinet, sandwiched between her parents, when she cleared her throat, making me turn around. The words I’d been ready to say died instantly in my throat.God, you are smoking hot!That was the first thought that came to mind. But it wasn’t the only one; the thoughts that followed were far nastier. It took every last bit of restraint I had to keep my hands in my pockets and stop myself from grinning like a creepy maniac as I ogled her.She was wearing a simple, light sundress with a flannel jacket, her dark hair pulled back into a messy bun, with loose strands framing her beautiful face. I felt instantly drawn to her.I took a step toward her. Then another. The distance between us shrank until I was towering over her, close enough to hear the hitch in her breathing, close enough that I was only inches away from her
JasmineI panicked.My brain completely short-circuited as I looked from Sebastian’s immaculate charcoal coat to the half-eaten chicken wing in my hand. With a desperate, undignified gulp, I forced the mouthful of popcorn down my throat, nearly choking in the process.I frantically scanned the room for somewhere to hide the evidence, finally dropping the bone back into the greasy takeout box with a dull thud.“What the hell are you doing here?” I managed to get out, my voice a muffled squeak as I grabbed a napkin and aggressively wiped the sauce from my lips.Laura immediately sidestepped Sebastian, marching right into my space with her hands on her hips. She didn’t look remotely sorry; she looked ready to throw hands.“What am I doing here? What are you doing here, Jasmine? You ghosted me for seven days! Seven! I’ve been calling your security line, but Marcus keeps answering with the exact same response every single
JasmineThe television screen glowed in the quiet of my living room.“...an exclusive, heartbreaking sit-down with Eleanor Sterling, widow of the late Arthur Sterling,” the anchor’s sympathetic voice rang out.I sat completely frozen on the edge of the sofa. I could feel Marcus’s grounding presence behind me. His arms were folded across his chest, his eyes fixated on the screen.The camera cut to Eleanor. She didn’t look like the fierce, calculating woman I knew from all my years of being married to Jason. Her hair was tied back in a low ponytail. She wore a simple, ill-fitting black dress. She looked frail. Her makeup was dull, her eyes were red, and she held a crumpled handkerchief in her trembling fingers.Right next to her sat Jason. He was holding Eleanor’s hand, his head bowed, his shoulders shaking slightly as if he were fighting back tears of his own.“I can no longer remain silent,” Eleanor wept, her voice cracking. “The public sees Jasmine Vance as a victim, but the truth wi
Jasmine“What do you mean, you own it?”Victoria was the first to find her voice. Her flawless high-society composure had completely cracked, her face twisted into a look of ugly, frantic confusion.I didn’t answer right away. I let the silence stretch across the massive ballroom, enjoying the tens
Jason“Smile, Jason,” Victoria hissed under her breath, her fingers digging into the sleeve of my tuxedo. “The cameras on the left are watching us.”I loosened my jaw, plastering a stiff, practiced smile across my face as we walked down the red carpet of the Grand Imperial Gala. Flashbulbs went off
Jason“Are you that dumb, Jason?” Eleanor screamed. This was the first time I had seen her in a state of disarray. She was always perfect, not a hair out of place. Now, her clothes were damp, and her hair was sticking to her forehead as she paced the marble floor of the foyer. The storm outside was
JasmineThe car was still on the inside, but outside, it was the complete opposite. The rain lashed against the bulletproof windows, blurring my view of the city.And then I finally broke.The cold mask I had worn in the penthouse and on the driveway crumbled. I pulled my knees to my chest, buried












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