My Cold-Hearted Husband Wants Me Back
Chapter 146: The Villain He Created?

Chapter 146: The Villain He Created?

The double doors of the Sterling mansion swung open, revealing Harlan Sterling himself. His face lit up with a wide smile the moment he saw Eryx.

"Eryx," Harlan greeted, stepping forward with open arms. "What a surprise. Please, come in."

Eryx didn’t return the smile. He stepped inside without hesitation, the faint click of his shoes echoing against the marble floor. The house smelled of fresh polish and subtle power, but none of it slowed him down.

"I won’t take up your time," Eryx said sharply, scanning the space ahead of him. "Where’s Valerie?"

Harlan’s smile faltered ever so slightly. "Valerie? She’s... I don’t really know. She’s old enough for me to monitor her whereabout."

"I’m not here for small talk," Eryx cut in, his voice cold. "I know what she did. And unless she wants this to get much uglier than it already is, I suggest you bring her out. Now."

The silence that followed was thick. Harlan’s jaw tightened, his charm beginning to crack around the edges.

Harlan let out a slow breath, brows furrowing just enough to mimic concern. "Eryx... what’s going on? You show up without notice, demanding to see my daughter like it’s some kind of emergency. At least tell me what this is about."

Eryx’s eyes didn’t waver. "Don’t play dumb with me. Valerie hired men to crack my skull that night, and I know she’s the one who pushed my wife at the restaurant."

Harlan blinked slowly, his mouth twitching as if to deny it, but Eryx didn’t give him the chance.

"She was the only one there who wasn’t invited. You think I wouldn’t notice that?"

Harlan gave a tight, unconvincing smile. "That’s a serious accusation, Eryx. You’re talking about attempted assault, maybe worse. Are you sure you’re not... letting emotion cloud your judgment?"

"I don’t have the luxury of emotions when someone tries to kill me and nearly kills my wife in the process," Eryx snapped. "I came here for one reason. Tell her to come down and face me. Or I’ll take everything you’ve built and burn it to the ground."

The older man’s smile faded.

"You know I can," Eryx added, voice cold. "And you know I will."

Harlan’s jaw tightened before he let out a heavy sigh. "I don’t know. She’s not coming home since last night."

Eryx stared at him, unreadable. "You expect me to believe you don’t know where your own daughter is?"

"I’m telling you the truth," Harlan replied, raising his hands slightly as if to appear sincere. "I haven’t seen her. She didn’t come home."

A pause stretched between them, long enough for Harlan to start fidgeting under Eryx’s gaze.

Eryx didn’t blink. "Then I don’t have a choice but to lure her out."

Harlan’s eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means I’ll go public. I have everything.... hospital reports, CCTV footage from the restaurant, and evidence of the men who jumped me. And I’ll make sure every media outlet gets a copy."

"You wouldn’t dare," Harlan growled.

Eryx stepped closer, his voice low and even. "Try me."

"You’d drag your wife into this mess? She’s still recovering, isn’t she?"

Eryx’s stare sharpened. "Don’t pretend to care about my wife."

He straightened his sleeves calmly. "This will hit your company. Your investors. Your reputation. And Valerie’s name will be at the center of it."

Harlan’s mouth opened, but no words came.

Eryx stepped back toward the door. "You have until sunset. After that, I won’t hold back."

The door shut with a firm thud behind him.

Harlan let out a deep sigh and slowly turned his eyes upward, where he caught a glimpse of Valerie peeking from the second floor. His voice was low and sharp. "You settle this. I don’t care how... just make sure it doesn’t affect me."

Valerie quickly pulled her head back and disappeared from view.

Upstairs, she dropped onto the edge of her bed, her knees bouncing, nails digging into the corners of her lips as she chewed nervously. Her thoughts spiraled. Eryx had proof, and now her father was no longer on her side. No one was.

Her eyes darted toward her phone.

"Think, think, think..." she muttered.

And then she remembered.

That photo.

The one she’d asked someone to secretly take in the hospital parking lot, where Eryx, looking down at her with a tense expression, while she reached toward his shoulder, pretending to pick something off his shirt. With the right caption and the right narrative, it could change everything.

Her fingers trembled as she scrolled through her phone until she landed on the photo. She stared at it for a moment.

Valerie chewed on her nail, breathing uneven. She used to believe that no matter what happened, she’d be the one standing beside him in the end. That even if he didn’t love her now, he would eventually, after all, everyone, even his grandmother, had expected it. It was always supposed to be her.

So why was she the one hiding? Why was she the villain in this story?

"He owes me," she whispered bitterly, convincing herself. "He was supposed to choose me."

Her heart burned and it demanded payback.

After a few moments staring at the photo, Valerie didn’t hesitate. She attached the photo and typed out her message, fingers trembling and her lips widened with a smile, of course not from guilt, but from anticipation.

"Eryx Grantham forced me to terminate the pregnancy. He didn’t want it to affect his perfect little marriage. I was just a mistake he wanted to erase."

She added a broken heart emoji for effect. Pathetic, but effective.

Her lips curled as she hit send.

The media would devour it. Sympathy for the scorned woman. Outrage for the poor, betrayed wife. All she had to do was play the victim long enough. And they would eat it up, every lie, every twisted word. People wanted a villain. She just gave them one.

Let them gasp. Let them hate him.

If Eryx wanted to humiliate her by loving someone else, she’d make sure the world saw him as the coward he really was.

If she couldn’t have his love, she’d burn what was left of his name.

He made her feel invisible. Now she’d make sure Lunara felt the same.

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