THE SPITEFUL BRIDE: Marry To Rival's Son novel Chapter 60

Chapter 60

The word hung there like a trap, dipped in poison.

Heir?

A flicker of amusement passed through Stefan’s eyes, but i was gone before it could settle.

Of course. Jeremiah still believed everything had a price, that people were pieces he could move around a board. And he’d made a mistake to think he was just another pawn waiting for the right offer.

This man right here, still hasn’t realize that he Stefan, was no longer someone who could be manipulated or dismissed. Not anymore.

He turned, slowly, with cold precision in every movement. When he faced him again, the room shifted with unspoken tension.

“Say that again,” Stefan said with a cold low voice. One that sounds like a warning, not a request.

Jeremiah straightened, clearing his throat like he was about to bestow a gift. Too blinded by pride to realize Stefan wasn’t a prey.

“I’ll name you heir,” he said. “The company, the estate, the shares. I’ll give you 50 percent of it. But you have to let go of that Mayer girl. She’ll only taint our legacy, and you know it.”

Stefan didn’t speak immediately, he just looked at him without blinking. Jeremiah Sterling was really losing himself in this game of power.

Then, slowly, he stepped forward. One step, then another.

He stopped in front of him, close enough that Jeremiah had to tilt his chin slightly to meet his eyes. Stefan gaze was sharp and unreadable.

“I built myself from scratch,” he said, each word deliberate “You think this empire matters to me? That I need it? I’ve worked for every damn thing I own. Bled for it. Starved for it. And you….” he laughed under his breath, cold and short, “you think I’d give up my wife for some title from a man who didn’t even claim me?”

Jeremiah’s jaw tensed. “Watch your tone, boy.”

“No,” Stefan shot back, eyes sharp. “You don’t get to call me ‘boy.’ I was a boy when you left my mother, pregnant and alone, because Annabelle had the connections you needed. You left her, and never looked back. You didn’t lift a finger when she struggled. You had no right them. You have no right now.’

>>

The air was thick now. Like two lions circling the same territory. Pride, power and bloodlines clashing in silence.

He gave a quiet, humorless laugh before putting on a stoic look. “You’re decades too late.”

Jeremiah’s mouth tightened. “You’re letting emotion cloud your judgment.”

Stefan tilted his head slightly, as if studying him. With an emotionless look. Jeremiah doesn’t deserve anything from from him.

“No,” he said. “I’m seeing clearly for the first time. I’ve seen men like you my whole life, ones who confuse control for power. Who mistake loyalty for obedience.”

He stepped back now. Straightened his cuffs. Calm as ever.

“You want to name me heir?” he said with a scoff, like it was one of the funniest thing he’d heard for a while.

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00 HE DIDN’T SAY A WORD GUT THE WAY HE HELD HER HAND SAID IT ALL

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He turned, walking toward the door.

The click of his shoes echoed through the silence like a slow metronome of finality.

“Stefan,” Jeremiah said sharply.

He stopped, but didn’t turn.

“Be careful,” Jeremiah warned, something darker slipping into his voice. “The world you live in now, it has rules son.”

Stefan spoke without looking back. “So do I,” he said. “And one of them is simple: don’t touch what’s mine.”

And then he walked out, and headed towards where Mia was waiting.

Mia sat quietly, eyes flicking toward the door still waiting for Stefan. Sienna had gone to get something from her room, Stefan grandma had already retired to her room to rest.

Leaving her alone with Annabelle, the both of them acted like neither was around. Not after how disrespectful Annabelle was to her before.

But, Annabelle wasn’t done.

“Why hasn’t Stefan asked me to be mother of the day?” Her voice was laced with sugar and venom.

Mia looked up slowly, gaze cool, as though Annabelle had just grown horns and a tail.

“Why don’t you ask Stefan when he comes out,” she replied, calm and unbothered. “I think he’s in a better position to answer that.”

Annabelle clicked her tongue. “Tch, tch.” A mocking sound “Now I see why your father chose someone else to head his company instead of you.”

That hit Mia exactly where Annabelle wanted it to, but she’d be damned to let Annabelle see her hurt. Her face remained calm, she didn’t even flinch, nor did she blink. She just smiled.

“I just hope,” Annabelle continued, voice silk and spite, “you don’t end up like that poor woman who raised Stefan. Ended up a junkie, didn’t she? What a waste. Poor soul”

Mia slowly turned her head. The amusement in her gaze vanished, replaced by fire. Does this woman have a shame at all? Or a conscience? She and Jeremiah were really meant for each other.

“I dare you,” she said, her voice low, sharp. “Say that again” Annabelle smirked, but said nothing.

Mia stood, straightening slowly, walking toward her with quiet purpose.

“The woman you just spat on,” she said, voice trembling with restraint, “raised Stefan without a husband. Without wealth. Without a single helping hand. And she did a damn good job.”

She stepped even closer, eyes locked on Annabelle’s.

“Because while Jeremiah left and got married to you because of your daddy’s money, that woman built a man. Not a puppet, not a coward in designer shoes. A man with backbone, with character. Stefan is loyal, he’s kind and trustworthy.”

She gave a sharp and icy smile.

“Three things that Daniel never managed to be, even once.

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60 HE DIDN’T SAY A WORD BUT THE WAY HE HELD HER HAND SAID IT ALL

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She stressed the last words with precision.

“And unlike you, I don’t need a title to prove anything. Because I’m not fighting for a crown, I already have a man that doesn’t need my dad’s money to marry me”

Mia raised her head up after hearing a sound. She froze, surprise to see Stefan standing at the edge of the step watching her. Something stormy in his gaze, like he’d been listening. Two step upward stood Jeremiah, watching with the same gaze.

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