Chapter 4

The next morning, the California sun felt cold. I picked up my phone.

First, I called my family's lawyer in New York. "David, it's Sarah Sterling. I need to start divorce proceedings. And I need it done quietly, for now."

Next, Jessica. She was a venture capitalist, sharp and loyal.

"Jess, that joint project your firm was considering with Ethan's company? Pull out. Find a reason, any reason. But do it now."

Jessica didn't ask questions. "Consider it done, honey. Are you okay?"

"I will be," I said.

I spent the day packing, a quiet efficiency I didn't know I possessed. Lily's favorite toys, her clothes, my essentials. I called a moving company for expedited service.

Ethan's things, I instructed them, were to be put into storage. His name wasn't on the lease of our "modest" California house; the Sterling Foundation owned it.

By evening, Lily and I were on a private jet, heading east.

The gates of the Sterling estate in New York swung open. It was grand, imposing, a world away from the life I'd chosen.

Mom and Dad were waiting on the steps.

My mother, elegant as always, rushed forward, her eyes filled with concern. "Sarah, darling." She hugged me tightly, then Lily.

My father, Mr. Sterling, a man whose name commanded respect in boardrooms and charities worldwide, looked at me, his expression unreadable for a moment. Then, his face softened.

"Welcome home, sweetheart," he said, his voice gruff but warm. He hugged me, then scooped Lily into his arms. "We've missed you both."

Later that night, after Lily was asleep in her new room, a princess fantasy my mother had arranged, Dad sat with me in the library.

"I was disappointed when you chose that life, Sarah," he said, swirling brandy in a glass. "But I wanted you to be happy."

He looked at me. "That startup of Ethan's? The seed money came from me. An anonymous investment, channeled through three shell corporations. Those key deals he landed early on? My people opened the doors."

I stared at him, stunned.

"I did it for you, Sarah. So he could provide for you, so you wouldn't regret your choice." He sighed. "It seems my investment didn't yield the right kind of returns."

Tears I hadn't allowed myself to shed finally came. Not for Ethan, but for my father's quiet love, and my own profound stupidity.