My Fiancé's Scandals Never End, So I Married His Uncle Instead-Chapter 7: Heartless Old Acquaintance

The moment Summer Sutton stepped into the living room, her gaze immediately fell upon the sofa.

In Port Sovereign’s entertainment industry, a world teeming with stunning women, she might not have been the most beautiful. But she was sensual and alluring, gentle and perceptive. She had clawed her way to the top of her generation, and while the immense resources Kian Sterling provided were a major factor, her own charm and emotional intelligence were indispensable.

The moment the man’s commanding figure came into view, Summer Sutton’s eyes, weary from a long day’s work, instantly brightened. She kicked off her high heels, hitched up the hem of her low-cut evening gown, and sprinted toward Kian Sterling.

"The Ninth Master!"

Her voice was gentle and sweet, her eyes brimming with affection. She eagerly threw herself beside him, twining around his arm like a beautiful, clinging vine.

"The Ninth Master," she murmured, her voice growing even softer. She sniffed lightly at his shirt. "Did Celia give you a new fragrance? I’ve been studying perfumery myself. I’ll have to get some pointers from her when I visit Metropia."

Kian Sterling simply continued to sip the tea Evan Rhodes had prepared, his expression impassive, showing no interest in responding.

Summer Sutton leaned in, ingratiatingly picking up a delicate pastry to feed him.

"I just learned to make these. Try one?"

He pulled away.

"Did you kick up this whole scandal just to force me to come here for pastries?" He glanced at the classic designer necklace on her neck and mocked lightly, "Why aren’t you wearing the one Declan Norwood gave you? A thirty-million-dollar necklace should be enough for you to do whatever you please in your little circle."

He cut straight to the chase, no longer having the patience for even the slightest pleasantry.

Summer Sutton’s eyes reddened. "I had no choice with that scandal. The Sutton Family had people tailing me. If my hand hadn’t been forced, why would I have gone to Young Master Norwood’s private room to hide? It’s perfect that you’re here. He forced that necklace on me. Please, return it for me. I don’t want to have anything to do with him."

"No choice?" Kian Sterling’s voice was chilly and mocking. "After a few years in show business, you’ve certainly learned a thing or two about spouting lies."

He threw the file Evan Rhodes had investigated onto the table in front of her. "You cased the clubhouse half a month ago, specifically chose a time when Declan Norwood would be there, and even leaked your schedule to the paparazzi for a photo op and bought your way onto the trending topics. Summer Sutton, you’re right. You truly had ’no choice’."

With that, he pulled his arm from her grasp and casually brushed away some nonexistent dust.

Summer Sutton’s face paled. She knew he was truly furious, and she was smart enough not to argue. With tears welling in her eyes, she looked utterly pitiable. "I was just desperate. I missed you so much, Ninth Master. You haven’t come to see me in three months."

Kian Sterling had been Summer Sutton’s benefactor for many years.

He used to visit her almost every month, lavishing her with resources, smoothing over her troubles in the industry, and even intervening several times when powerful men in Port Sovereign tried to extort sexual favors from her.

Everyone in the Port Sovereign Circle knew that this beautiful celebrity, Summer Sutton, who seemed to be just dabbling in the entertainment industry, was backed by Kian Sterling, the head of a major conglomerate from the Capital Circle.

As a woman under Kian Sterling’s protection, her path was smooth, and no one dared to cross her.

But human desire is a gulf that can never be filled.

Summer Sutton gradually grew dissatisfied with their clandestine relationship. When she discovered Evan Rhodes had begun vetting socialites in Metropia as potential candidates for the future matriarch of the Sterling Family, her sense of crisis peaked. She resorted to a little trickery, leaking the news that Kian Sterling was keeping her—his little canary—in Port Sovereign.

The story was a trending topic for three whole days.

The news set all of Metropia abuzz, but Kian Sterling watched with cold detachment. He made no move to suppress the scandal, simply allowing it to spread.

But he never set foot in Summer Sutton’s villa again.

Summer Sutton panicked. She bombarded him with calls and messages for days, but Kian Sterling gave her the silent treatment, not deigning to reply with a single word.

It was Evan Rhodes who finally sent a message:

"Miss Sutton, the Boss asked me to inform you that since you’ve broken the rules, your relationship with him is over."

He wasn’t bluffing.

For three straight months, Kian Sterling cut off all her resources. Powerful investors in the industry who had long coveted her began to make their moves. Summer Sutton, after years of living a pampered life, hit rock bottom almost overnight.

To force Kian Sterling’s hand, she had no choice but to create another scandal, this time deliberately choosing Declan Norwood—the notorious playboy set to marry Kian Sterling’s own sister.

His sister was Kian Sterling’s one untouchable weakness.

"Yes, I know you’re angry that I exposed our relationship," Summer Sutton said, her tone cautious now that she finally had him in front of her. "But I heard you’re preparing to choose a wife, that Evan Rhodes gave you a thick file on socialites from the Capital Circle. I refuse to accept it, Ninth Master. Why can’t your wife be me?"

Her eyes, shimmering with unshed tears as she gazed at Kian Sterling, were captivating.

Kian Sterling remained unmoved. His gaze was icy as he rose to his feet.

"I didn’t come here today to listen to your delusions. Summer Sutton, for your mother’s sake, I can continue to support you for another three years. But after today, we will no longer see each other in private."

He reached out and gripped her chin. The gesture wasn’t forceful, but it sent a chill to the very marrow of her bones.

"And another thing. I don’t care who you scheme against, but don’t you dare drag Cece into your games. Otherwise, I’ll send you right back to that den of vipers you call the Sutton Family and let you fend for yourself."

The sordid affairs of the Sutton Family of Port Sovereign had once been a very public scandal.

The family patriarch, Kenneth Sutton, had an affair with their nanny. Blinded by lust, he drove his first wife, Sylvia Lowell, and their legitimate daughter out of the family home. Sylvia Lowell fell into a deep depression, soon became gravely ill, and never recovered. On her deathbed, she entrusted her daughter to Kian Sterling, asking him to manage the eight percent stake in the Sutton Family company that was in her daughter’s name.

The day after Sylvia Lowell’s funeral, Kenneth Sutton married the nanny and brazenly brought home his four illegitimate children. The eldest was six or seven years older than Summer Sutton.

Over the years, those illegitimate children had been relentlessly troublesome, and Kenneth Sutton himself was notoriously shameless. If Kian Sterling hadn’t been holding her shares, the Sutton clan would have eaten Summer alive long ago.

But a few months ago, Kenneth Sutton fell gravely ill. His four illegitimate children began tearing each other apart over the inheritance. Suddenly, the eight percent stake belonging to Summer—who had been under Kian Sterling’s protection for years—became the deciding factor in who would inherit.

In other words, whoever could get their hands on Summer Sutton’s shares would become the next head of the Sutton Family.

And it went without saying that the methods for "getting" those shares would be ruthless and bloody.

And Kian Sterling was the only bulwark standing between Summer Sutton and that bloody storm.

As long as he was willing to protect her, Summer Sutton would be safe.

But if he were to send her back to the Sutton Family himself, it would be a clear signal that he was casting her aside—tantamount to pushing her into hell.

Summer Sutton’s face instantly turned deathly pale. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Without another glance at her, Kian Sterling casually placed the gilt teacup he had just used into Evan Rhodes’s hand.

"Erase every trace of my presence in this villa before dawn."

Without a backward glance, he strode out of the living room, his tall figure disappearing into the night.

His assistant, Evan Rhodes, followed closely at his heels. As they walked away, Evan’s voice drifted back faintly.

"The housekeeper in Metropia sent a message asking what you would like for breakfast tomorrow."

"Make it to Cece’s liking." Kian Sterling’s voice, carried on the night wind, was faint but unmistakably gentle. "She’s gotten thinner recently."

"I hear she’s been trying to lose weight like the other socialites..."

"Nonsense."

Their figures receded, and their voices faded into silence.

Hitching up her gown, Summer Sutton chased after him to the main gate. She stared at his elegant, cold back, hearing the fond exasperation in his voice as he spoke of his sister. It was a profound tenderness she had never once experienced in the more than ten years she had been with him.

She was silent for a moment, then made a phone call.