Chapter 5 - THE RUIN OF REPUTATION
Jackson was released on bail twenty-four hours later.
He expected to find me at home,
crying and ready to forgive.
Instead,
he found the locks changed,
his clothes in trash bags on the driveway,
and a restraining order taped to the front door.
He went to Genesis's house,
but his father,
terrified of the scandal,
refused to let him in.
The Sterling name was already being dragged through the mud.
I hadn't just called the police.
I had called a contact I had at the local news,
a woman who owed me a favor for a story I gave her about a crooked developer.
"Architect Assaulted at High-Society Dinner,"
the headline read.
The photo was of the Sterling mansion,
with the caption detailing the "accident" with the porcelain plate.
The social circles of Hidden Hills were buzzing.
Genesis tried to call me fifty times,
her messages shifting from pleading to threatening.
"You're making a mistake,
Maya!"
she screamed in one voicemail.
"We can make your life a living hell!"
"You'll never work as an architect in this city again!"
I didn't answer.
I was busy meeting with the partners at my firm.
I showed them the news,
the hospital records,
and the restraining order.
"I won't let this affect my work,"
I told them,
my voice steady.
"But I need you to know that Jackson Sterling is no longer associated with me."
They were supportive,
mostly because I was their top earner,
but also because they had always disliked Jackson's arrogance.
"Take the week off,
Maya,"
my boss said.
"Handle what you need to handle."
I didn't take the week off.
I used the time to go to my apartment in St. Paul.
The one they wanted to take.
I walked through the empty rooms,
feeling the weight of my own success.
I had designed the layout,
picked the materials,
and paid for every square inch.
The thought of Genesis Sterling's poisoned presence in these rooms made me shudder.
I realized then that it wasn't just about the apartment.
It was about the boundaries I had allowed them to cross.
It was about the way I had let them treat my life as a communal resource.
I spent the afternoon installing a high-tech security system.
I didn't just want to keep them out.
I wanted them to know that I was watching.
I received a text from an unknown number.
It was Jackson's brother,
Julian.
"Maya,
can we talk?
I'm not like them."
I hesitated,
then deleted the message.
In the Sterling family,
May you like
there were no bystanders.
There were only predators and the people who held the carving knife.
