The Bride Who Bankrupted the Groom

I was actually quite satisfied with my arranged fianc.

After all, Everett Thorne was perfectly built, had a sharp mind for business, and always knew exactly how to behave in public.

I poured every resource I had into him, boosting him until he became the CEO of his family's empire.

But the moment he reached the top, he leaked the secret floor price of our biggest merger to his first love.

When I threw the recording of his betrayal on the desk, he scrambled to explain.

"Vivienne, her family went bankrupt. If I didn't help, she would have lost everything. I swear, it's only this once."

To make up for it, he voluntarily signed over ten percent of his personal shares to me.

I let it slide, thinking that was the end of it.

But the next day, at our engagement gala, right as we were about to exchange rings, Everett's assistant burst in.

"Mr. Thorne, Miss Vance couldn't handle the online hate. She swallowed a whole bottle of pills. She's at the hospital getting her stomach pumped right now!"

Everett's face went pale instantly. He didn't hesitate for a second before sprinting toward the exit.

I called out to him, my voice cold.

"Everett, if you walk out that door today, the engagement is off. And I will make sure the entire Thorne family pays the price!"

He didn't even look back as he disappeared into the night.

1.

The silence in the ballroom was shattered by a sudden explosion of whispers.

Flashbulbs from hundreds of media outlets flickered at once, nearly blinding me.

Microphones were shoved into my face before I could even blink.

"Miss Sterling, how do you feel about Mr. Thorne ditching his own engagement to chase another woman?"

"Miss Sterling, rumors say this was just a business deal and you both had open relationships. Is that true?"

The questions were sharp, nasty, and relentless.

My father, sitting at the head table, slammed his hand down and stood up, his face livid.

He pointed a finger toward the door, but then he clutched his chest and collapsed backward.

"Dad!"

I rushed to his side, signaling the medical team waiting backstage.

"Get the Chairman to the Sterling private hospital. Lock down the news. No visitors allowed."

As my father was carried away on a stretcher, the Thorne elders were already panicking, looking like they had lost their minds.

I turned around, snatched the microphone from the stunned emcee, and tapped it lightly.

The sharp screech of feedback instantly silenced the room.

I looked around with a calm smile, my eyes scanning the faces of those waiting to see the Sterling family fall.

"To our friends in the media, I invited you here today because I have a major announcement."

I snapped my fingers. The massive LED screen behind me flickered to life.

It wasn't a wedding photo of me and Everett.

It was a digital copy of a share transfer agreement, complete with Everett's signature and personal seal.

"This isn't an engagement party. This is the official handover ceremony for ten percent of the Thorne Group's core shares."

The room erupted. Several Thorne executives turned ghost-white and leaped from their chairs.

They started frantically screaming at their subordinates to call Everett.

"Vivienne Sterling! You're insane! This is a stick-up!"

The Vice President of Thorne Corp charged toward the stage, trying to grab the mic.

I didn't even blink.

Two massive bodyguards in black suits appeared instantly, pinning him to the marble floor.

I looked down at his twisted face.

"It's all in black and white. Everett gave these to me voluntarily. How is that a stick-up?"

Right then, the phone in my hand started buzzing.

The caller ID flashed his name: "Everett."

I let out a soft laugh and hit the speakerphone, holding it right up to the microphone.

"Vivienne, haven't you had enough?"

Everett's voice, thick with rage and exhaustion, boomed through the entire ballroom.

"Seraphina almost died! Do you have any idea how much pain she's in?"

"You bought those trolls online, didn't you? You bullied a girl with depression just to force me into a marriage!"

"I'm ordering you to get to the hospital right now and apologize to Sera. Or tomorrow's headline will be about how you drove a woman to the edge!"

The ballroom went deathly silent.

Every reporter was frantically recording this legendary scumbag moment.

I listened to his self-righteous accusations, the corners of my mouth curling into a cold smirk.

"Everett, do you honestly think that every time you turn around, I'll be standing right where you left me?"

There was a pause on the other end, as if he hadn't expected me to talk back.

"What are you talking about? I told you, I'm only helping her this once. The position of Mrs. Thorne is still yours!"

I hung up.

I tossed the phone to my assistant, my gaze cutting through the Thorne executives like a blade.

"Effective immediately, Sterling Group is pulling out of all joint projects with Thorne Corp."

"In three minutes, my legal department will serve Thorne Corp with a formal notice for a bankruptcy liquidation countdown."

"The game is over. I'm done playing. I want you all destroyed."

2.

The next morning at 9:30 AM, the market opened.

The moment Sterling Group's divestment notice hit the wires, Thorne Corp's stock went into a freefall, hitting the limit-down trigger instantly.

And Everett, the supposed captain of that ship, was still at the hospital playing hero for his little damsel.

He hadn't even bothered to call the office for a crisis meeting.

In his deluded mind, he probably thought this was just another one of my "little tantrums" to get his attention.

At 10:00 AM, I was sitting in my penthouse office at Sterling HQ, sipping a cup of rare green tea.

The double doors were slammed open.

Everett's mother, wearing five-inch heels and a face full of fury, stormed in.

"Vivienne Sterling! Have you lost your mind?"

She slammed her designer bag onto my mahogany desk.

"Men play around sometimes, so what? Everett just went to check on a poor, sick girl, and you're trying to sink the company?"

"Retract that notice right now. Tell the press you two are fine, or the Thorne family will never accept you as a daughter-in-law!"

I set my teacup down, not even bothering to look at her.

I gave a slight nod to the lawyer standing by the window.

The lawyer stepped forward and slapped a thick folder right into the woman's face.

"Mrs. Thorne, these are the records of your son embezzling company funds over the last six months."

"Specifically, thirty million dollars used to buy a luxury villa in the Hamptons, fully paid and registered under the name of Seraphina Vance."

The woman's screeching stopped abruptly. Her face went ashen.

Her hands shook as she flipped through the bank-stamped statements.

"Just a reminder," I said, finally looking up. "With Sterling pulling its funding, Thorne Corp is officially out of cash."

I stood up and smoothed out my blazer.

"If Everett doesn't put that thirty million back by this afternoon, the feds will be coming to take him in for a very long chat."

"Security, remove this person. From now on, neither Thorne family members nor stray dogs are allowed in this building."

The guards dragged her out while her hysterical screams echoed down the hallway.

At 2:00 PM, Everett finally woke up to reality.

He kicked my office door open.

His eyes were bloodshot, his jaw was covered in stubble, and his tie was hanging loose.

"Vivienne! Are you crazy? Do you know how much money we're losing because of your stunt?"

He lunged at my desk, slamming his palms down.

"Seraphina's depression is back because of you, and all you care about is money!"

"Do you have even an ounce of compassion in your heart?"

Watching him act so noble made me want to gag.

I opened my drawer and threw a medical report at his face.

"Take a look at what your fragile little flower actually swallowed."

Everett froze, subconsciously picking up the paper.

"Last night, Seraphina didn't take sleeping pills. She swallowed a bottle of Vitamin C."

"The stomach pump? She paid a nurse in the ER to put on a show for you."

Everett stared at the words, his breathing becoming ragged.

But his next move showed me exactly how pathetic he was.

He ripped the report into shreds and threw them on the floor.

"Vivienne! You'd even fake a medical report just to frame Sera?"

"She's so kind she wouldn't even step on an ant. There's no way she'd lie to me!"

I looked at the trash on my floor and felt the last bit of human pity leave my body.

I sat back in my chair and pressed the intercom.

"Tell Legal to file the lawsuit."

"Charge Everett Thorne with leaking trade secrets and corporate espionage."

I looked him dead in the eye.

"Get ready for a prison cell, Everett."

3.

Seraphina was even more desperate than I imagined.

When she heard Everett was facing a criminal indictment that could land him in orange coveralls, she panicked.

If the Thorne family fell, her golden goose would be cooked.

She decided to play her last card.

The next day at noon, during the rush of the lunch hour, a black SUV pulled up in front of Sterling Plaza.

Seraphina was wheeled out in a hospital gown, looking pale and fragile.

The moment she hit the lobby, she rolled off the wheelchair and fell onto the hard marble floor, kneeling.

"Miss Sterling! Please, I beg you, let Everett go!"

She sobbed, her thin shoulders shaking as if a breeze would snap her in half.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been in your way."

"If you drop the charges and take him back, I'll disappear. I'll end it all right now, just don't hurt him!"

Employees and passersby stopped to stare. People pulled out their phones to record.

She was trying to use public shaming to force me to back down.

I stood on the second-floor balcony, looking down at the cheap performance.

Before I could call security to toss her out, a Maybach screeched to a halt outside.

Everett didn't even close the car door before sprinting inside.

When he saw Seraphina shivering on the floor, his eyes went red with pain.

"Sera! What are you doing? You're supposed to be in bed!"

He scooped her into his arms and glared up at me as I walked down the stairs.

"Vivienne, are you happy now? Do you have to drive her to the grave to feel satisfied?"

He stood up and shoved me hard.

I was in heels and wasn't expecting it. I stumbled back, my ankle slamming against the edge of a marble step.

The cut on my leg from the galaDwhere I'd stepped on a broken glassDtore open. Blood started soaking into the carpet.

Everett glanced at the blood for a split second, then looked away.

He turned and picked Seraphina up, cradling her like a treasure.

"Vivienne, you're not just suing me; you're a monster for trying to kill her like this."

His voice was cold.

"I know you've been eyeing the South Bay development project."

"Well, I'm not backing down. Thorne Corp is taking it. I'll show you what happens when you cross me!"

He carried her out like a hero in a bad movie.

I stood there, looking at the blood on my leg, and started laughing softly.

The South Bay project? That was the grave I'd dug specifically for him.

Over the next two weeks, Everett went feral.

He drained every cent of Thorne Corp's liquidity to bid for the South Bay project.

The board members fought him, telling him that moving cash now was suicide.

But Everett was arrogant. He secretly mortgaged his mansions and his remaining shares.

At the auction, Everett bid twice the market valueDan insane priceDto win the development rights.

When the hammer fell, he turned to me and flashed a mocking gesture.

He thought I'd be devastated. He thought I'd be crying.

I wasn't.

I raised my glass of wine and toasted him from across the room.

In my eyes, he was already a dead man walking.

4.

After winning the South Bay bid, Everett threw a victory gala that was sickeningly over-the-top.

He booked the penthouse of a seven-star hotel and sent invites to every socialite and news outlet in the city.

He even sent one to me.

His assistant dropped it at my front desk with a handwritten note: "Come see what real love looks like, and watch yourself lose."

The night of the gala, I showed up in a custom scarlet gown and diamond-crusted heels.

I didn't look like a loser. I looked like a queen.

The room went quiet the moment I walked in.

Everett was standing on stage with Seraphina, who was wearing a diamond the size of a grape.

He had just proposed to her in front of everyone, signaling that she was the new queen of Thorne Corp.

Everett's eyes widened when he saw me, but then he smirked.

He walked over, holding a glass of champagne like a king.

"Vivienne, I'm glad you came. It shows you're finally accepting reality."

He looked down at me, his tone dripping with fake pity.

"If you get down on your knees right now and apologize to Sera in front of everyone..."

"Maybe I'll give you a ten percent cut of the South Bay profits. For old times' sake."

Seraphina leaned into him, acting all sweet.

"Vivienne, he's just trying to help. You should just humble yourself. Men don't like women who are too bossy."

I looked at the two of them and laughed.

I checked my watch.

"Right on time."

Everett frowned. "Time for what?"

Suddenly, the romantic video playing on the giant screens behind them glitched.

The screen flickered and then displayed a government geological report with a heavy red stamp.

The bold black letters read: SOUTH BAY SITEDSEVERE CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION. TOXIC LEVELS EXCEED SAFETY LIMITS BY 100X. PERMANENT BAN ON ALL COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT.

The room went silent.

The smile on Everett's face froze. His champagne glass slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor.

"What... what is this? This is a lie!"

Then, the phones of the Thorne executives started screaming.

"Mr. Thorne! The banks just froze our credit lines!"

"Mr. Thorne! The contractors are demanding immediate payment. We're out of cash!"

"The IRS just walked into the accounting department!"

One disaster after another hit him like a freight train.

His knees buckled. He looked at me, trembling.

"You... you set me up?!"

He lunged at me, his eyes bloodshot.

My bodyguards stepped in instantly, one of them kicking him straight to the floor.

I walked over and looked down at him as he groaned.

I raised my hand and slapped his arrogant face as hard as I could.

The sound echoed like a gunshot in the silent hall.

"It's not a setup, Everett. It's a funeral."

I leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"Your nightmare is just getting started."

Right then, sirens wailed outside.

Federal agents and police cars pulled up to the hotel entrance in a swarm of blue and red lights.