Pampering Discarded Heroines Triggers My 10,000x Rebate System

Two minutes later, Arthur led Garrett Sterling onto the terrace.

The acting head of the Sterling Guild looked worn down and exhausted. His navy suit was rumpled, his hair was disheveled, and dark bags hung heavily beneath his bloodshot eyes.

He held a decorative wooden box tightly to his chest, his knuckles turning white.

Garrett stepped onto the terrace and faltered at the sight of Amber sitting gracefully in her chair. Seeing her fully healed, enjoying tea in the sunlight on a fifty-acre private estate, felt like a slap in the face.

”Amber... niece,” Garrett began in a raspy, nervous voice. He stopped five feet from the table and bowed stiffly. ”And Chairman Crawford. Thank you for granting me a few minutes of your time.”

Amber didn’t say a word. She didn’t offer him a seat, and she didn’t greet him. She just watched him in silence.

The silence on the terrace became uncomfortable.

Garrett swallowed hard, sweating through his collar. He stepped forward with trembling hands and placed the wooden box on the marble table. He lifted the small brass latch and pulled the lid open.

Resting on a dark velvet was an antique silver tea set with delicate moonstone patterns.

”I brought this from the old family vault,” Garrett stammered. ”It was your mother’s favorite set, Amber. She brought it with her when she joined the Sterling family.”

Amber looked down into the open box. Her eyes lingered on a small, faint scratch near the spout of the teapot... a scratch she had accidentally made when she was eight years old, having breakfast with her mother before a morning training session.

”I know things were terrible between us,” Garrett said in a pleading voice. ”The creditors were demanding millions, the guild was falling apart, and I was under so much pressure... I panicked. I made awful decisions that I regret every single day.”

He lowered his head, bowing deeply in front of her.

”I came here today to apologize to you, Amber. From the bottom of my heart. The family wants to welcome you back. And Chairman Evren... regarding that twenty-million-dollar delinquent debt ledger... I was hoping we could sit down and find a peaceful solution. We are family, after all.”

Amber stared at the silver tea set for a long moment. Then, she looked up at Garrett.

”My mother died protecting the Sterling Guild,” Amber said softly. ”And when I broke my spine, you locked her tea set in a vault, packed my clothes in plastic garbage bags, and tossed me into the freezing rain.”

Garrett flinched as if struck.

”You didn’t care about family when you signed the papers to hand me over to Prescott like a piece of broken furniture,” she continued, looking directly into his eyes. ”You don’t care about my mother, and you don’t care about me. You only came up this mountain today because Young Master Prescott was thrown into a jail cell, and you know you have no one left to hide behind.”

Garrett’s face went completely pale. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

Evren reached across the table, pulled the wooden box closer to Amber, and closed the lid with a firm click.

”The tea set stays here,” Evren said in a flat tone. ”It belongs to Amber. As for you, Garrett... get off my mountain.”

”Chairman Evren, please,” Garrett begged. ”If you foreclose on those bank notes, Sterling Guild will go bankrupt overnight! Hundreds of people will lose their jobs!”

”You should have thought about those people before you robbed your own niece,” Evren replied coldly. ”And don’t pretend you care about workers. I’m putting fifty million dollars of my personal money into a relief foundation for the city’s workers and hosting a Charity Gala at Horizon Plaza to launch it. Your twenty million dollars means nothing to me. Arthur, escort him out.”

Arthur stepped smoothly between Garrett and the table, gesturing toward the hallway. ”This way, Mr. Sterling. Please do not make me call security.”

Garrett looked at Amber, then at Evren’s cold eyes. Seeing that there was zero mercy for him in this house, Garrett’s shoulders slumped. He turned around without another word and walked quickly off the terrace, keeping his head low.

At the bottom of Victoria Hill, Garrett climbed into the back of his black sedan.

The moment the door slammed shut and the tinted glass separated him from the outside world, Garrett’s pathetic, groveling posture vanished.

His face twisted with fury. Gritting his teeth until his jaw ached, he slammed his fists against the leather seat in front of him.

”Arrogant bastards!” Garrett snarled. ”Treating me like a stray dog... throwing me out like garbage!”

He leaned forward, banging on the driver’s privacy partition. ”Take me to Sector Three. Drive to Lord Alistair’s estate right now!”

The car sped through the city, heading west toward the heavily guarded industrial fortress of Sector Three.

Forty minutes later, Garrett was led past armed clan guards into the private, oak-paneled study of Lord Alistair Prescott.

The room was dim, lit only by a pair of brass desk lamps and the gray light from the tall rain-streaked windows.

Lord Alistair stood near the glass, staring out at his private garrison yard with a glass of whiskey in his hand. On his wide mahogany desk sat four formal rejection notices from the Municipal High Court regarding his son’s bail petitions.

”Lord Alistair,” Garrett said, closing the heavy wooden doors behind him.

Alistair did not turn around.

”My son is sitting in a cold holding cell on commercial terrorism charges,” Alistair said slowly. ”The Mayor rejected every legal motion my lawyers filed today. Why are you bothering me, Sterling?”

”I just came from Victoria Hill, Lord Alistair,” Garrett said, stepping closer to the desk. ”I tried to offer a peace front. They threw me out. Evren is putting fifty million dollars of his personal money into a charity foundation and hosting a massive Charity Gala at Horizon Plaza to rally the entire city behind Apex.”

Alistair paused, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. Slowly, he turned around. His gray eyes were as cold as steel.

”A charity foundation?” Alistair asked in a dry, mocking tone. ”He thinks giving money to peasants will save him from me?”

”It will save him in the courts,” Garrett urged. ”If that gala takes place and Mayor Henderson pushes the trial forward, Apex will take over Sector One, Sector Two, and our remaining foundries. Once Ian is sentenced, Evren will dismantle both of our families piece by piece. If we wait for the legal process, we are finished.”

Alistair looked at Garrett in silence for a long time, taking a slow sip of his drink.

”What are you proposing, Sterling?” Alistair asked coldly.