Sophia Sterling had just stepped out of the OR when her phone rang. It was Elaine Sterling.
"Grandpa’s throwing a family dinner. Seven tonight. Don’t be late. If Dad says anything after that, don’t look at me," Elaine said, then hung up right away, all high and mighty as usual.
Sophia had been pulling night shifts for two days straight. Tonight was finally her break, and all she wanted was to crawl home and sleep like the dead.
But the old man in the Sterling family loved using "bringing the family together" as an excuse to host these dinners every now and then. And whenever he did, every single Sterling had to show up. House rule.
Even though behind the scenes, the fight between her father and his two brothers had never actually stopped.
So in Sophia’s eyes, tonight should’ve been nothing more than another boring dinner.
She showed up at the old residence on time.
The place was weirdly lively tonight. Dozens of luxury cars were parked inside and out, like someone had gone all out to stage some over-the-top event.
A bad feeling hit Sophia out of nowhere. The second she walked in, sure enough, the villa was packed with guests. Violin music drifted through the air, people stood around with wine glasses in hand, smiling and chatting like it was some perfect little postcard of peace and elegance.
Sophia only felt one thing.
Fake. Flashy. Suffocating.
She realized right away she’d been played. She turned to leave, but Elaine, sharp-eyed as ever, cut her off before she could take two steps.
Elaine was dressed to kill tonight in a pale blue custom evening gown. Her long wavy hair rested behind her shoulders, a glittering set of jewelry around her neck catching the light with every move. She looked radiant, polished, almost glowing.
Compared to Sophia in a T-shirt and jeans, Elaine looked every bit the classy, dazzling socialite.
"Sis, how could you come dressed this casually?" Elaine said, blinking with practiced innocence. "Grandpa specially arranged a matchmaking banquet for us unmarried girls tonight. Everyone here is somebody. I told you three times to dress up properly, but you still came like this. Are you trying to embarrass Dad on purpose?"
She sounded soft, but every word was a little trap.
And just like that, Victor Sterling’s expression darkened.
"You said it or not, you know better than I do," Sophia replied with a cold little laugh, her eyes landing on Elaine like ice.
Still, she clearly had zero interest in arguing over who was right. Before Elaine could clap back, Sophia turned on her heel and headed straight for the buffet area in the hall.
Elaine’s comeback got stuck in her throat. Her face flushed red on the spot.
Sophia couldn’t care less.
She’d been running around all day and she was starving.
The whispers around her kept coming anyway—some mocking how out of place she looked, others already gossiping about the eligible men at tonight’s setup.
"Old Master Sterling really knows how to play the game. He says it's a matchmaking dinner, and boom, half the city's rich young heirs show up."
"Exactly. I heard from my dad that the eldest son of the Blackwood family is coming tonight too."
"The Blackwoods? The top family out of the big four? Didn't people say Mr. Blackwood just got back from overseas, super cold, crazy arrogant, and nobody even knows what he actually looks like? He'd really come to a place like this?"
...
Right then, the doors were pushed open.
Two men in perfectly tailored suits walked in.
The one in front had a pair of flirty peach-blossom eyes, both hands tucked into his pockets. His black suit pants stopped just above the ankle, and the whole vibe screamed rich playboy with zero shame about it.
The man behind him, though, was on a whole different level.
His features looked almost too refined, like they'd been painted with care. The bridge of his nose was high and sharp, and there was a faint tear mole at the corner of his right eye. His gaze swept lightly across the room once before pulling back, calm and distant, carrying that icy, untouchable kind of elegance.
"These two are way too handsome, seriously. Especially the second one. That whole restrained, off-limits vibe? I'm dead."
The gasp came from somewhere in the crowd, and a few more voices followed right after.
There had never been any shortage of bold women in this world. Before long, several had already gone over.
Elaine Sterling was one of them.
Sophia Sterling held her plate and deliberately moved away from the noisy crowd, heading straight for a quiet corner.
Honestly, dressed like this today, there was no way she could compete even if she wanted to. And the truth was, she couldn't care less.
Her only plan was simple: eat till she was full, then go home and crash.
But the crowd that had gathered around the men suddenly broke apart the next second.
From a distance, Sophia heard Elaine say in an annoyed voice, "What is Grandpa even doing? He let some broke nobody in too? So what if he's handsome? Is he here to find some rich woman to keep him?"
See? This was exactly how these people were.
So shallow it was almost funny.
Sophia wasn't even surprised anymore. She took a bite of cake. It was way too sweet, making her frown at once, so she turned and walked back toward the food area to pour herself a glass of water.
That was when the man walked over.
He didn't look sideways at anyone. Calm as ever, he picked up a piece of steak and placed it on his plate, then took the knife and fork from the side and began cutting into the meat with unhurried ease.
His fingers were long, the joints clean and distinct. Even something as ordinary as cutting steak looked absurdly elegant in his hands, like he wasn't handling dinner at all, but finishing off some carefully crafted piece of art.
The second people found out the man was basically a nobody, the women in the hall got way meaner with their comments.
"He sure knows how to fake it. Bet this poor guy’s never even had steak before, huh?"
"Seriously. The second he walked in, he went straight for the food. What, has he not eaten in days?"
"Not gonna lie, his whole vibe actually matches Sophia Sterling pretty well. Both of them look like they crawled out of poverty, total broke-energy."
Sophia, who had just taken a sip of juice, nearly choked on it.
She lifted her eyes and looked straight at the woman trash-talking her. It was Vivian Sterling, her uncle’s daughter.
Vivian didn’t look embarrassed at all about getting caught. She just covered her mouth and put on that fake "oops, I forgot" face. "Oh wow, I totally forgot you were here too, Sophia. We sisters finally get together once in a blue moon, we’re just joking around. You’re not seriously mad, are you?"
Sophia curled her lips and smiled, light and easy.
She was seriously beautiful to begin with—bright eyes, white teeth, clean features. The moment she smiled, it was like there was light flickering in her eyes, and somehow she outshone every woman there in expensive dresses without even trying.
Vivian froze for half a second.
Sophia had already stepped forward and, without a word, splashed the juice in her hand right across Vivian’s face.
"Sophia Sterling, are you insane?!" Vivian’s voice shot up on the spot.
Juice dripped down from her hair onto her champagne-colored gown. Her carefully done makeup blurred and ran with the liquid. Eyes wide, face stiff, she looked absolutely wrecked.
Sophia put on an innocent, startled expression too. "My hand slipped and spilled juice on you, sis. We hardly ever see each other, right? You’re not gonna get mad over something this tiny, are you?"
That one sentence shut Vivian up cold.
Around them came a few low chuckles from the men watching nearby.
Vivian glared at Sophia so hard it looked like her eyes might spit fire. Grinding her teeth, she hissed, "Sophia, just wait till I get home and tell my dad. He’s not letting this go!"
Threats like that had zero effect on Sophia. She let out a cold laugh. "When something happens, all you know how to do is run crying to your parents. You’re already in your twenties—have you ever earned a single dollar on your own? Take away your title as a Sterling family heiress, and who exactly do you think you’d still be better than? Honestly, I’m impressed. In your condition, you still think you’re qualified to look down on other people?"
After saying that, Sophia completely lost whatever appetite she had left and turned to leave.
To be fair, she said all that because she couldn’t stand the money-worshipping atmosphere in this place. It wasn’t like she was trying to defend the man.
But the man’s gaze landed on her anyway, filled with open amusement, like he’d just seen something interesting.
"I’m telling you, Adrian Blackwood, your parents insisted I bring you here for this blind date, and what do you do? You come in here acting like some broke nobody, make a whole scene, and even end up needing some girl to stand up for you. Seriously, after this, how am I supposed to explain any of it to Uncle and Auntie?"
The one speaking was Zachary Ashford, who had come in with Adrian.
As he talked, he casually moved to sling an arm over Adrian’s shoulder, but after Adrian gave him one cool, indifferent glance, he immediately backed off and dropped the idea.
