Chapter 29 Luxury Goods Industry Summit
Taisia's POV
"This is Mr. Hart's decision," he'd said expressionlessly at the time. "He says the Hart family doesn't owe you anything, but doesn't want to see you again either. This money is enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life. Take it and never appear again."
It was an eight-figure check.
A "go away" payment.
At the time, I felt humiliated and wanted to tear that paper to shreds.
But now, it was my only lifeline.
I held it up in front of my father.
The cursing in the living room stopped abruptly.
My father's eyes locked onto that check like a starving wolf spotting meat.
He snatched it from my hand and held it up to the light, examining it over and over again, as if afraid it might be fake.
"Ten million dollars..." he muttered to himself.
My mother, who had looked at me with disgust just a second ago, immediately changed her tune.
She rushed over, grabbed my arm, her face full of fake concern.
"Oh, my poor baby! Look at you, your face is all swollen! Let mommy see! Did they bully you? Those damn country bumpkins!" She pretended to wipe away tears that didn't exist while sneaking glances at the check from the corner of her eye.
I looked at them.
Looked at their two ugly faces, changing in an instant.
I felt sick.
"This money..." My father walked up to me holding the check, the anger on his face replaced by calculation. "First thing tomorrow morning, I'll put it into the company to keep the bank off our backs."
"No." I spoke up, my voice quiet but clear.
They both froze.
"What did you say?" My father frowned.
"I said no." I looked at him, repeating each word clearly. "This is my money."
"Your money?" He looked at me like I'd just told him the world's funniest joke. "Taisia, have you completely lost it? You're my daughter. What's yours is mine! This money belongs to the Kateson family!"
He reached out his hand toward me, looking so entitled, as if what I held wasn't a ten-million-dollar check but loose change I should give him after buying coffee.
I looked at him, then at the woman beside him who had wanted to tear me apart a second ago but was now gripping my arm tightly, afraid I might run away.
My biological mother.
She suddenly screamed and pushed my father aside.
Had she finally found her conscience? Was she going to leave my money alone?
But the next second, she threw herself on me and started wailing.
"Taisia! My poor daughter! How can you talk to your father like that? We're family!"
She hugged me, smearing tears and snot all over my expensive coat.
"The company is your father's life's work, and it's your home too! If the company goes under, we'll be homeless! Can you bear to watch your mom and dad beg on the streets?"
She cried like her heart was breaking, as if I wasn't just refusing to use my own money to save their company, but had personally bankrupted them myself.
"Family? Just now, who was calling me an idiot and telling me to get out? Who said they didn't have a daughter like me?"
My mother's crying caught in her throat.
"I... I was just upset! You came from my own body—how could I really not want you!"
Came from her body?
My biological father straightened his messy collar and walked toward me, even forcing what could be called a "kind" smile onto his face.
"Taisia, let's talk." He said, "Don't be so impulsive. I was just too anxious earlier."
I looked at him warily.
"Okay, I admit it—this money is yours. You have the right to decide how to use it." He spread his hands, acting all reasonable. "But, my daughter, have you thought about it? Ten million sounds like a lot, but if you just keep it, what can it do? Buy a few bags? A few outfits? Then what?"
He was like the snake that tempted Eve.
"But if you invest it in the company, it's different. We can use this money to keep the bank happy and restart the production line! The company can be saved! Taisia, this is your chance!"
"My chance?" I laughed coldly.
"Yes! Your chance! Haven't you always wanted to beat Selena? Why do you think she's so successful? Because she has the Hart family backing her! She has money!"
"Once Kateson Corporation comes back to life, you won't be that abandoned poor thing anymore! You'll be the heroine who saved the entire family! Then, holding company shares, what won't you have? What's Myrdal? There'll be men a hundred times better than him lining up to court you!"
The picture he painted was like a huge, glittering bait.
Heroine.
Beat Selena.
Those words spun in my head like a spell.
I hate Selena.
I hate that she took everything from me.
My parents, my home, my status... and now even Myrdal threw me away like trash because of her damn family.
Why?
Why was she born with everything while I have to beg for scraps like a dog?
If...
If I could save Kateson Corporation...
If I could get back on my feet, become richer and more powerful than her...
I looked at my father's expectant face, then down at the check in my hand that would decide my fate.
My heart started pounding wildly.
Selena's POV
Royce Sterling.
I looked at the thick folder Anna had placed on my desk, my fingertips tapping lightly on the cover.
From his birth to every elite school he attended, to every brutal acquisition he'd completed after taking over Sterling Group.
This man's life story read like a cold business war movie.
He had no friends, only business partners.
He had no hobbies, only conquest and victory.
He was a born predator—calm, ruthless, and extremely arrogant.
And now, this predator had set his sights on me.
"The engagement stands."
"The game has begun. I make the rules."
What he said in the hospital stairwell echoed in my head like a curse.
That bastard.
He thought that just because he had something on me, he could cage me up like a canary?
I picked up my design pen from the desk, scratching irritably at the paper.
No.
I couldn't let him lead me around by the nose.
I needed to take back control.
Just then, Anna knocked and walked in.
"Miss, the invitation to the Monaco Global Luxury Industry Summit has arrived."
She placed a gold-embossed card on my desk.
"The summit will be held next week. All the top luxury group CEOs and chief designers from around the world will attend."
My eyes fell on the invitation.
Global Luxury Industry Summit.
This was the industry's highest-level event, and a battlefield without gunsmoke.
All the old giants would showcase their latest designs and technology there, cementing their industry positions.
And emerging designers would give everything they had, trying to grab a piece of the pie.
"Will Sterling Group people be there?" I asked.
"Yes." Anna nodded. "Mr. Sterling's name is on the keynote speaker list."
I looked at the invitation and smiled.
Perfect timing.
Just when I was wondering how to break the deadlock, the opportunity delivered itself to my door.
Royce Sterling wants to play games?
Wants to watch me play the role of fiancée?
Fine.
Then I'll move this game to a bigger stage.
A stage where the whole world is watching.