Chapter 990

"Did you think I orchestrated their engagement? Let me spell it out for you: Delilah made that happen all on her own. Quinn is completely obsessed with her now; he won't marry anyone else. Take a good look in the mirror. You hopped into his bed after three months. No wonder men don't respect you. Let me teach you a lesson— men only want what they can't have. Have you never heard of playing hard to get?"

Alastair's vicious tirade left Maeve entirely shattered. She never imagined Quinn was the one actively pushing to marry Delilah, but her brain refused to accept it.

"I'll go ask Quinn myself."

She didn't believe a word of it.

"Get back here!" Alastair roared at her back.

Maeve ignored him and threw open the door, only to freeze. Two massive guards stood blocking the exit like brick walls. Just then, Mrs. Sterling rushed in, her voice trembling violently as she looked at Alastair. "Alastair, please, let's just talk this out."

Alastair glared at her with pure disgust.

"I'm disciplining my daughter. Who told you to come in? Get the hell out."

The moment Maeve saw the guards, all the fight drained out of her. The traumatic shadows of her childhood roared back to life, and her legs gave out, dropping her to the floor. The guards roughly hauled her up and forced her into a chair. The beating she anticipated didn't come. The two men stepped outside, standing guard on either side of the door like executioners.

Maeve stared at Alastair, looking as lifeless as a broken doll.

"What? You've been gone for two years and you think you've grown a spine? You think you can challenge me now?"

Maeve's face was ashen, her lips completely bloodless.

"Dad, I didn't."

"You didn't? If you didn't, then get your ass back to Layne and stop humiliating yourself here. You can't do a single thing right. What use are you to me? You're not even half the woman Wren is. She's already managed to infiltrate Hawthorne Everhart's inner circle And look art, you I give you three years, and you actually just waste three years screwing around without a single piece of leverage to show for it.

Let me make this crystal clear: if you don't get results soon, forget Quinn. I will marry you off to whoever the hell I choose, and you will comply. Useless people do

not have a place in the Sterling family. Do you understand me?"

It was impossible to tell if Alastair was talking to Maeve or the sobbing Mrs. Sterling hovering in the doorway. He knew she wouldn't leave Back when he first married into the Lyndon family, he had to grovel and play the obedient son-in-law. Now that he held absolute power, the person he despised most was Mrs. Sterling.

He did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. No one could stop him.

He loathed his wife, and he resented the two daughters she gave him. But at least Wren was smart enough to read the room and never challenged him directly. That was why he dispatched Wren to target Hawthorne Everhart. Whether Maeve or Wren succeeded, the Sterling family stood to gain massive power.

Mrs. Sterling stood outside, shaking so hard she could barely stay on her feet.

Maeve clutched her swollen, burning cheek. The sight of the guards had completely broken her spirit; Alastair didn't even need to threaten her anymore. She didn't dare breathe out of line.

"Maeve, the world is full of men. Once you finish my mission, whatever kind of husband you want, I will buy for you. When the Everharts are destroyed, whoever you want in Greenvale, I will arrange it."

But Maeve clung to her delusions, a desperate spark in her eyes. "I don't want anyone else. I only want Quinn."

Alastair violently swept everything off his desk. The files and pens crashed to the floor.

"I'm warning you, don't test my patience. Take a page out of Delilah's book. Look at how she plays the game. She knows exactly how to survive in this house and how to get exactly what she wants. She's a hell of a lot smarter than you; she knows how to read a room. Look at the state of you. Look at those cheap clothes. Did the Sterling family starve you? If you're not going to get the job done, just stay with Layne and stop bringing your pathetic face in here to humiliate yourself."