Chapter 144 No Mistresses Allowed

Chapter 144 No Mistresses Allowed
Emma's POV:

"Emma, are you hungry?" Alexander's voice was low against my ear as he carried me to the dining table.

My stomach growled in response before I could answer. The spread before me was ridiculous—pasta with rich meat sauce, garlic bread, roasted vegetables, and wine. My mouth watered instantly.

"Starving," I admitted, eyes locked on the steaming plate of Italian pasta. After the marathon sex session we'd just had, I was practically ready to faceplant into the food.

Alexander's lips curved into that wicked smile that still made my pulse jump. "Good. Then you can just look at it for now while we continue..."

"You've got to be kidding me," I groaned as he carried me back toward the living room.

By the time Alexander finally had mercy on me, I could barely summon the energy to eat. We'd christened nearly every surface in the apartment—bedroom, study, dining room, living room—all bore the evidence of our enthusiasm.

I sat at the dining table, fork in hand, trying to focus on the delicious food rather than my aching muscles. After a few bites, my eyelids grew impossibly heavy. The next thing I knew, I was being carried again, this time into the bathroom where Alexander gently washed me before tucking me into our bed.

When I woke up, the apartment was spotless, as if our activities had never happened. I found Alexander in the study, reviewing documents on his laptop. When he noticed me approaching, he shifted slightly without looking away from the screen, lifting one arm in invitation.

I slid into his lap, and his arm wrapped around my waist automatically. "Financial reports?" I asked, noticing the spreadsheets and graphs displayed on the screen.

"Mm-hmm," he murmured, opening a summary document. "Take a look, Mrs. Sterling. See how much money we made this quarter."

My eyes widened at the figure on the screen. Holy shit. I knew Alexander was good at making money, but seeing the actual numbers was something else entirely.

"Jesus Christ, Alex," I whispered. "That's... a lot of zeros."

He chuckled, his chest vibrating against my side. "It's been a good quarter."

I traced my fingers along his jawline, feeling the slight stubble there. "Alex, with this kind of money, I'm surprised you don't have several mistresses stashed away in different cities."

His fingers stopped typing. "Your mind works in the strangest ways. Why would having money automatically mean having mistresses?"

I shrugged. "All those business events you attend—I doubt everyone brings their actual wives."

"You're right," he admitted, closing his laptop to give me his full attention. "Most bring their secretaries or company VPs. Very few would dare bring a mistress to meet me."

"When I first returned from Italy to take over Sterling Group, a few executives had brought their mistresses to meetings. Every single one of those companies was promptly removed from Sterling Group's partner list."

"I believe that someone who can't be faithful to their spouse won't be reliable in business either," he explained. "Business is about relationships. If you bring a mistress to a business dinner, it shows the entire company culture is compromised. I don't give those people opportunities."

I nodded, somewhat surprised. "You actually care about that stuff?"

Growing up in high society, I'd seen plenty of marriages that existed only on paper. I'd even witnessed men who brought their mistresses home to live under the same roof as their wives.

I'd never admitted it, but I'd wondered what I would do if Alexander ever had someone else on the side.

"When you choose to get married, you should be loyal to that marriage and to your wife," Alexander said firmly. "You don't need to worry about me having anyone else, Emma. Just be my wife and do whatever you want to do."

The way he looked at me—like I was the only woman in the world—made my heart skip.

"The Sterling family has a tradition of marrying once and never divorcing," he continued. "It's been passed down through generations. That's why my second brother refused to divorce Vivian for so long."

"That's also why he asked to be removed from the family registry."

I frowned. "Wait, I have a question about that. If the Sterlings have this tradition, and your brother divorced Vivian, why is he still in the family? Doesn't that break the rules?"

Alexander's smile turned enigmatic. "No rules were broken."

"What? But didn't they sign divorce papers?"

"They signed papers, yes, but those had no legal standing. They were just for show. The other documents were properly notarized."

I stared at him, trying to process what he was saying. "I still don't get it."

"When I was preparing my brother's divorce papers, I discovered something interesting," Alexander explained. "Robert and Vivian's marriage certificate was fake. Vivian was never officially part of the Sterling family."

"The certificate was fake?" I echoed, my brain struggling to keep up. "So they were never legally married?"

"Exactly. How can you divorce someone you were never legally married to in the first place?"

My head spun with this revelation. "Who did this?"

"My father. When Robert wanted to marry Vivian because of the baby, my father had already investigated her background. He knew what kind of person she was, so he arranged for a government official to create marriage certificates that were never entered into the system."

"Only my father and that official knew. When the official died years later, only my father remained with the knowledge. Whenever they needed to use the marriage certificate for something, my father would pay to have it handled discreetly."

I sat in stunned silence, finally understanding. Robert and Vivian's relationship had never been legally valid.

"When I was preparing the divorce papers, I consulted my father and learned the truth. I decided to keep it secret, at least to protect my brother from potential scandal. So we created those divorce papers for show."

Jesus, how deep did these high society waters go?

Alexander laughed, pulling me closer. "Don't overthink this. We got our marriage certificate together, remember? The Sterling family didn't even know about it when we applied."

He was right.

"Do Megan and Justin know about this?" I asked.

"Yes. The family told them once they were adults. Because of everything Vivian did, they felt ashamed, but she's still their mother. They don't hate her, but they keep their distance."

Alexander's expression grew serious as he looked at me. "Emma, you should be prepared. Justin doesn't dislike you, but he definitely doesn't like you either. Be careful when dealing with him. I don't know him well enough to say if he takes after Vivian, so just be cautious."

I rolled my eyes at his concern. "You're overthinking this. By rank, I'm his aunt. In terms of fighting skills, he's a rookie. In terms of intelligence, he can't outsmart you. Besides all that, her mother is already—"

I stopped abruptly, realizing what I was about to say.

"I know you did it," Alexander said softly, stroking my hair.

I froze.

"You knew? Why didn't you ask me about it?" I questioned, surprised by his calm acceptance.

"The Phoenix Family's donna operating in Italy? That's your territory. Would I dare question you?" he replied with a small smile.

"Wait a minute!" I suddenly jumped off his lap as realization hit me. "Your people saw my people taking Vivian? That means Isabella's security measures were sloppy! I need to yell at her!"

I raced back to the bedroom to make a call, leaving Alexander in the study.