Chapter 92

Afterward, the Foster family had used its connections to find a driver willing to falsely confess to being behind the wheel—a man who desperately needed money for a family member's medical treatment.

Even now, that man was still serving the prison sentence meant for Ryan.

"This... this..."

Victoria's head buzzed.

She had always known Ryan wasn't a good person. She had even vaguely heard that he had bullied someone back in high school.

But before Ryan had his legs broken, she had never known the bullying had been anything like this.

And she certainly hadn't known he had killed someone with a car.

Victoria mechanically turned another page.

This time, Charlotte Whitmore's name appeared.

When Charlotte was in middle school, she had grown jealous of a beautiful classmate who consistently outperformed her academically. She had people spread vicious lies about the girl online, including sexually degrading rumors. The harassment eventually became so severe that even the girl's parents lost their jobs.

The girl later developed severe depression and, on one occasion, nearly took her own life.

Her family had enough money to leave the country with her. Even now, she was still receiving psychiatric treatment overseas.

"Finished?"

Richard tapped his fingers against the desk.

Each measured sound landed like a funeral bell against Victoria's chest.

"Who you choose to associate with is your business."

Richard's own father had never interfered with his friendships, so Richard had never intended to dictate Victoria's either.

There was only one condition.

Her friends needed to be decent human beings.

He leaned forward slightly.

"If you knew what they had done and chose to overlook it because their families were useful connections, then that is something I will not tolerate."

Victoria felt cold all over.

"I really didn't know. I swear. If I knew, then may I—"

"You haven't known these people for a day or two."

Richard cut her off calmly.

"Did you ever conduct even the most basic background check or risk assessment on them? You'd heard Ryan had done something bad in high school. Did it ever occur to you to find out what?"

"I—"

"You didn't want to know because you thought his family background mattered more."

Richard looked at her.

"You're an adult. You're entitled to your own judgment. You can stand by your choices."

His voice remained even.

"And I'm entitled to disagree with them."

The executives still in the office barely breathed.

They all knew Richard's standards. He had no objection to people being sharp, aggressive, or even ruthless in business. But if someone lacked basic character and judgment, he would never trust them with serious responsibility—least of all as his successor.

"And there's something else."

Richard indicated the documents in Victoria's hands.

"You arranged an internship in the investment division for a younger relative from the Sterling family."

Victoria closed her eyes briefly.

"She has very good qualifications—"

"Her practical experience is concentrated in marketing and data analytics."

Richard's expression barely changed.

"The investment division handles portfolios worth tens of billions and makes decisions capable of affecting entire markets. Her current qualifications are not enough for that environment."

A faint, humorless smile touched his lips.

"This is not somewhere people come to collect favors or coast on family connections. Putting someone into a position before their abilities match its responsibilities is unfair to her, unfair to the team, and irresponsible with the company's assets."

He paused.

"There are plenty of positions within Sterling Consortium that would suit her current experience. Marketing. New-business incubation. Even strategic analysis at headquarters would give her room to learn."

Richard looked directly at Victoria.

"Did none of those possibilities occur to you?"

His gaze sharpened.

"Or did you simply decide that one internship didn't matter, and that with your name, arranging it was no more than a small favor?"

Victoria fell silent.

There was no safe answer.

The first would make her look incompetent.

The second was worse.

"That's enough."

Richard turned away from her.

"Jonathan."

Jonathan Reed lowered his head slightly.

"Sir."

"Notify the board and Human Resources."

Richard's voice was calm.

"Effective today, Victoria Sterling is suspended for the next five years from internships or employment in any of Sterling Consortium's core business divisions."

Victoria's face went white.

Five years.

For five years, she wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the Consortium's core operations.

She was only a year away from graduating from Westbridge University.

According to the future she had planned for herself, she would continue into graduate studies in finance while gradually moving into Sterling Consortium's core businesses and gaining experience alongside senior management.

By the time she completed her master's degree, she intended to have several major projects worth tens of billions behind her and a real foothold inside the Consortium.

From there, she would prove that she wasn't simply Richard Sterling's daughter.

She was the person he could trust with everything he had built.

That was the recognition Victoria had always wanted.

No one in their social circle questioned Victoria's position as Richard Sterling's daughter. Richard had never married, and the circumstances surrounding her early childhood were rarely discussed.

Victoria herself had never seen any reason to question it. She had spent most of her childhood overseas under her mother's care.

From her earliest memories, she had been surrounded by the best private tutors, nutritionists, nannies, and security personnel money could buy. Materially, she had never lacked anything.

Nor had she grown up starved for affection.

There had always been people around her to guide her, comfort her, protect her, and care for her.

That was why she had never particularly craved Richard's love.

What she wanted was his recognition.

When Richard visited her as a child, she mostly remembered feeling nervous and wishing he would leave sooner. She had always been more comfortable with her nannies and teachers.

But she had spent years believing that if she became exceptional enough—if she could prove herself more capable than anyone else in the Sterling family—Richard would eventually see what she had spent her whole life trying to prove.

No one was more qualified to inherit what he had built.

Not merely as his daughter.

As his heir.

And now?

The future she had spent years building in her head was collapsing.

No.

She couldn't let it end here.

Among the younger generation of the Sterling family, her academic record was the strongest. She had earned admission to an elite university on her own merits and won its highest scholarship through her own ability.

Maybe...

Maybe this was simply an extreme test from her father.

Yes.

That had to be it.

Victoria drew a deep breath.

Her memories of her grandfather had grown vague over the years. She remembered mostly a frightening old man with a terrible temper.

But she had heard enough about the Sterling family—and about the kind of father Richard himself had grown up with.

The old man had been cold and iron-fisted, showing little warmth toward either of his sons. According to the stories, when his temper erupted, he could even become physically violent.

Richard's older brother had suffered from a serious congenital illness and died young, yet even his relationship with their father had reportedly been bitter.

If her grandfather had treated a seriously ill son that harshly, then perhaps this was simply how the Sterling family raised its heirs.

 

Perhaps Richard was testing her the same way.