Chapter 46 Maintenance
Selena's POV
Something's off.
He wants me to feel sorry for him?
Wants me to soften toward him because of some old lady I've only met once?
Dream on.
This is just another one of his tactics.
A more sophisticated trap, wrapped up in family sentiment.
I picked up my knife and fork and started cutting into the Kobe beef on my plate.
I won't let him win.
"I'll do it." I put a piece of beef in my mouth, chewing expressionlessly. "But I'll treat it as a formal commission. I'll give you a detailed quote—design fees, materials, labor costs, not a penny less. I'll use the best materials, the best craftsmen, because my work is worth that price. Not because she's your grandmother."
I pulled this transaction back onto purely business terms.
I saw that glimmer in his eyes fade.
Good.
This is the distance that should exist between him and me.
He said nothing more, just nodded and continued eating.
This meal—every bite tasted like wax.
Just then, the restaurant manager walked over. "Mr. Sterling, I hope today's dishes were to your satisfaction."
Royce dabbed the corner of his mouth with his napkin and gave a slight nod.
Then the manager turned to me. He bent even lower, his smile even brighter.
"Mrs. Sterling, it's our honor to serve you. I hope you enjoyed today's lunch as well."
Mrs. Sterling?
I jerked my head up, glaring at the manager, then turned my gaze to Royce.
He was raising his water glass, his face completely expressionless, as if Mrs. Sterling were the most normal form of address in the world.
I felt my blood rushing to my head, my hands clenched into fists under the table.
Just as I was about to lose control and throw the glass of water in front of me right at his damn face, my phone vibrated in my purse.
It was Anna.
Saved.
I took a deep breath, suppressing my rage, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth.
"I need to take a call."
Without waiting for his response, I grabbed my purse, stood up, and quickly walked out of this suffocating restaurant.
I needed fresh air.
I needed to breathe air that didn't belong to Royce.
I rushed outside the hotel entrance, stood on the marble steps, and swiped my phone open. "Anna, what is it?"
"Miss," Anna's voice was as calm as always, "the Kateson family's stock dropped another thirty percent after opening today."
Before I could process this news, a shrill, piercing voice exploded nearby.
I turned my head.
Taisia, along with my so-called adoptive parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kateson, were arguing with the doorman about something.
"Selena!" The moment Taisia saw me, like a mad dog whose tail had been stepped on, she immediately turned her attack on me.
She shook off the doorman and charged toward me.
"It's you! It must be you! What did you tell the restaurant people? Why won't they let us in to eat?!"
I couldn't be bothered to answer her stupid question.
I just looked at her coldly, like watching a clown.
"Taisia, dear, don't get angry with her, she's not worth it. Selena, how can you treat us like this? We raised you all these years, and now that you've climbed up the social ladder, you want to destroy us?"
Mrs. Kateson followed over too.
Climbed up the social ladder?
I almost laughed out loud.
They still think everything I have came from a man.
Taisia stuck out her chest arrogantly, showing off a cheap-looking pearl necklace around her neck.
"Mom and Dad specially brought me here to relax. But they said the place was reserved! I know it was you, you bitch, who did this on purpose!"
She deliberately emphasized the words Mom and Dad, her eyes fixed on me, trying to see even a trace of jealousy or pain on my face.
Too bad for her—she saw nothing.
I just felt disgusted.
"So, you got kicked out?" I asked.
"You..." Taisia's face instantly turned the color of liver.
"Using the money from selling off the last of the company's shares to eat at a Michelin restaurant? What touching parental love." My gaze swept over all three of them.
"Shut up!" Mr. Kateson finally couldn't hold back. He pointed at me, his finger trembling. "You ungrateful traitor! Our family must have been blind to raise you all these years!"
"Ungrateful? All those deals I negotiated for the Kateson family, all that money I made—have you forgotten? Oh right, you never believed it. You only believed in this idiot, using your money to buy bags and jewelry."
"You're lying!" Taisia shrieked. "Mom and Dad love me! They regret it now—regret not kicking you out sooner, you fake!"
As she spoke, she affectionately linked arms with Mrs. Kateson, resting her head on her shoulder in a delicate pose.
Mrs. Kateson immediately patted her hand lovingly. "My precious daughter, don't pay attention to her, she's just crazy."
Watching their disgusting display of mother-daughter affection, my stomach churned.
Happy? One facing bankruptcy, one abandoned by her fiancé, the other parasitically dependent on them.
This was truly the world's most ridiculous "happiness."
"Taisia," I suddenly smiled, "have you forgotten why Myrdal dumped you? Because you're worthless now."
Taisia was furious, but she quickly remembered something, and a malicious smile returned to her face.
"What are you so proud of? You just latched onto Royce Sterling, didn't you? You think he's some good guy? He reserved the entire restaurant to keep you locked inside like a mistress—you think that's something to be proud of? You're just one of his many playthings! When he gets bored, he'll throw you away just the same!"
Just as I was about to tell her to shut up forever, a low, familiar voice sounded behind me.
"Whether my fiancée is a plaything or not isn't for you to judge."
I whipped around.
Royce.
I don't know when he came out, but he was standing right behind me.
He'd taken off his suit jacket and wore only a white shirt, the top two buttons undone, sleeves casually rolled to his elbows—the whole look lazy yet dangerous.
He didn't even glance at Taisia. Those deep eyes only rested on me, and then he reached out, naturally wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him.
His gaze finally turned to the three people at the entrance, their faces now deathly pale.
"The Kateson family?" He raised an eyebrow, as if recalling some unimportant information.
He took a step forward, completely shielding me behind him.
"Now, I'll give you a new suggestion."
He looked down at the expensive Patek Philippe on his wrist.
"Get out of my sight. Right now. Or you won't make it through the night."