Chapter 4: The Vipers Uncoil
By the time Ethan returned to the Connecticut estate, Vivian was long gone, but the war had only just begun. The morning papers were plastered with shocking headlines, completely spinning the events of the previous night. Vivian’s family, armed with endless wealth and ruthless PR teams, had launched a massive smear campaign against Clara.
"CRAZED MAID ASSAULTS BILLIONAIRE FIANCÉE IN EXTORTION PLOT," the front page of the New York Post screamed in bold black letters. Ethan slammed the newspaper down on his granite kitchen counter, his blood boiling at the blatant, malicious lies. Vivian was painting herself as the victim, claiming Clara had attacked her with the hockey stick in a jealous rage.
His phone rang incessantly, an endless stream of panicked board members and bloodthirsty journalists demanding a statement. Ethan ignored them all, dialing the number of the most aggressive, high-powered family lawyer in Manhattan. "I need you to file an emergency custody order and a restraining order against Vivian Sterling," Ethan barked into the receiver.
Meanwhile, across the state in a luxury penthouse, Vivian paced furiously across Persian rugs, screaming at her legal team. "I want that maid destroyed, and I want that bastard child placed in the foster system permanently!" she shrieked, throwing a crystal vase at the wall. "No one embarrasses the Sterling family and gets away with it."
May you like
Her father, a former military general turned corrupt politician, sat calmly on a velvet sofa, smoking a thick Cuban cigar. "Relax, Vivian. We own the judges in this county, and we control the media narrative," he said smoothly. "By the time we are done with Clara, she will be begging to go to prison just to escape the public humiliation."
They were planning to use Clara’s poverty against her, painting her as an unfit, dangerous mother who lived in squalor. They had already bribed a corrupt social worker to file a fraudulent report claiming Lily was severely neglected. The Sterlings didn't just want to win; they wanted to utterly annihilate anyone who stood in their way.
