Chapter 40 Super Large Order
Selena's POV
I picked up my phone, wanting to send Anna a message to come get me.
But then I saw the email she'd sent in the early morning hours.
The subject line read—[URGENT! Massive Anonymous Order!]
I opened the email.
"Miss, we've received an anonymous commission through Credit Suisse. The client wants to order a complete set of 'Chimera' high jewelry, including a necklace, earrings, bracelet, and a ring with a center stone over fifty carats. Total quote... five billion dollars."
Five billion?
Looking at that number, I felt my breath catch.
This wasn't an order—this was throwing money around.
"The client requires the finest black diamonds and royal blue sapphires, with the design theme 'The Queen's Conquest,' and demands completion within three months. A deposit of one billion dollars has already been transferred to our designated third-party escrow account."
"The Queen's Conquest"?
What an arrogant name.
But I liked it.
If this order went through, it wouldn't just establish "Project Chimera" completely—it would give me enough capital to stand up to any force I didn't want to deal with.
Including Royce Sterling.
Anna wrote at the end of the email: [The client's only additional condition is that they want you, Miss Astraea, to personally oversee the entire design and production process. I'm trying to investigate the client's identity, but their security level is extremely high.]
Five billion.
Whoever was behind this was definitely no ordinary person.
"Send me the design concept sketches and all specific requirements from the client immediately," I replied to Anna's email.
In less than a minute, I received an encrypted file on my phone.
I opened it, and design sketches and mood boards flashed across the screen.
Black diamonds, deep blue sapphires, extremely demanding cutting requirements, setting methods...
My finger suddenly froze.
On a design detail drawing of the necklace clasp, I saw an extremely subtle pattern.
A stylized emblem made up of the letter "S" and an eagle's wing.
Sterling.
I felt my blood rush to my head all at once.
Royce Sterling!
That bastard!
I slammed my phone down on the table with a sharp crack
What the hell was he trying to do?
Who did he think he was? Using money to humiliate me? Using a massive order to buy me off?
What did he take me for? Someone who could be bought with money?
"The Queen's Conquest"?
Who did he want to conquer?
I was shaking with anger. I grabbed my phone and called Anna directly.
"Miss?"
"Send it back. Return that damn order! Give back every cent of the deposit. I don't want to see anything related to this order!"
"But, Miss... this is five billion..." Anna's voice was full of confusion and shock.
"I won't say it twice. And don't bother me with anything else until I've dealt with things in Monaco."
I hung up directly, then threw the damn phone into the couch cushions.
A mere five billion, and he thought he could buy me off?
Or was he trying to humiliate me?
I needed to calm down.
I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the Monaco scenery outside—those luxurious buildings and yachts now looked like a pile of meaningless garbage to me.
Royce Sterling.
First, he tied me down with a marriage arrangement, and now he wanted to use money to control my career.
He wanted to hold everything about me tightly in the palm of his hand.
I would never let him succeed.
I turned back to the dining table, picked up the still-warm croissant, and bit into it hard.
I would make him understand that I, Selena Hart, was not a woman he could manipulate with money and power.
I ate the entire breakfast expressionlessly and finished the last sip of coffee.
Then I walked into the bedroom and picked out the most sharp-looking black suit from my luggage.
Just as I'd changed and was preparing to leave this "gilded cage," the doorbell rang.
I took a deep breath.
I knew it was him.
I walked to the door, didn't bother looking through the peephole, and pulled it open directly.
Royce Sterling stood outside.
Today he wore a dark gray bespoke suit, a crisp white shirt, paired with a navy blue tie. His hair was perfectly groomed, and his face wore that formulaic, impeccable smile.
In his hand was an elegant white gift box tied with a lavender ribbon.
Seeing me, he didn't seem at all surprised that I was already dressed to go out.
"Good morning, Selena." His voice was low and steady. "Looks like you rested well."
I wasn't interested in small talk.
"The show's over, Mr. Sterling. I don't think there's anything left between us that needs pretending."
"Pretending?" He raised an eyebrow, as if he'd heard something amusing. "I never pretend. I told you, I want you to be my wife. That's never been an act."
"Really?" I laughed coldly. "Then isn't this five-billion-dollar wife invitation a bit cheap?"
The smile on his face faltered slightly.
Clearly, he hadn't expected me to figure it out so quickly.
But he soon recovered that expression of having everything under control.
"Seems you're fairly satisfied with my 'sincerity.'"
"Satisfied?" I sounded like I'd heard the funniest joke of the century. "Royce, do you really think money can do anything? You think you can buy everything with money? Including my designs, my person, my dignity?"
It was the first time I'd called him by his full name.
He looked at me, and in those deep eyes, there was finally a flicker of emotion.
Not surprise, not anger.
But something deeper—like the excitement of a hunter seeing his prey finally bare its claws.
"Dignity isn't given by others—it's earned by yourself." He stepped forward, closing in on me, that familiar cedar scent invading my breathing again. "And you deserve the best."
"So this is your idea of 'the best'? Using an order to turn me into a designer working for you?"
"No," he shook his head, the curve of his lips deepening. "It's making you a queen who serves only me."
Crazy.
This man had completely lost it.
Ignoring the shock and disgust on my face, he simply glanced at the Patek Philippe on his wrist.
"It's getting late. My grandmother is still waiting for us."
He handed me the gift box.
"Get in the car, my fiancée."