His Perfect Wife Died The Day He Made Her Kneel Chapter 04

His Perfect Wife Died The Day He Made Her Kneel Chapter 04

Chloe’s gaze darkened instantly, and she threw her entire weight against the door to force it shut.

But the owner of the hand possessed far greater strength. The door was relentlessly pried open, revealing Julian Vance’s stern, emotionless face.

“How much longer are you going to keep throwing these tantrums?”

His voice was dead-cold, radiating a deep, simmering frustration. “Can you not manage to be peaceful for five minutes? Why must you cause a scene everywhere you go?”

“Did you come here just to lecture me?”

She locked eyes with him, her expression freezing. “You’re not welcome in this house. Go back to whatever rock you crawled out from.”

Despite being entirely accustomed to her wild, untamed defiance, Julian couldn’t help but feel a surge of genuine anger.

“Apologize to her!” he demanded.

Chloe leaned casually against the doorframe, throwing a dismissive glance toward Evelyn. “She got a beating because she has a filthy mouth. Why the hell should I apologize?”

“Do not make me repeat myself!”

Seeing the tension plunge to an absolute freezing point, Evelyn suddenly intervened. “Julian, it’s fine. I’m okay. I was just clumsy and lost my footing. Please don’t make things difficult for Chloe.”

The disappointment in Julian’s eyes grew exponentially heavier as he looked back at Chloe. “If you possessed even half of your sister’s obedience, we wouldn’t be standing here like this.”

Watching his expression grow increasingly grim, his brows knitting into a furious knot, Chloe suddenly let out a bright, enchanting laugh. “Why don’t you just marry Evelyn instead?”

The moment the words left her lips, both Julian and Evelyn stiffened in absolute shock.

Evelyn’s face flushed a deep crimson as she stamped her foot in mock embarrassment, yet her wide, shimmering eyes couldn’t fully hide the sudden spark of excitement and intense anticipation.

Julian’s pupils shrank fiercely, his face turning as dark as ink as he barked an immediate reprimand. “You are crossing the line, Chloe! Stop spouting nonsense!”

“It seems I have no choice but to send you to a proper deportment academy to learn high-society etiquette. You are coming with me right now!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Chloe snapped, her face hardening as she stubbornly turned her back, trying to retreat into her bedroom.

But Julian clamped an iron grip onto her shoulder. With a powerful yank, he spun her around and pinned her flush against the wall. His deep, piercing eyes locked onto hers with unyielding authority. “You don’t have a choice this time. You are going.”

……

Despite her desperate struggles, she was ultimately forced to attend the high-society etiquette seminar.

The event was hosted at a massive, ultra-luxurious private estate, drawing the sons and daughters of the city’s most elite families.

The moment Julian stepped into the venue, a wave of excited whispers rippled through the crowd.

“Am I seeing things? Is that Julian Vance?”

“The Vance family is practically the gold standard for high-society manners. Why would he need to attend a class like this?”

“It must be for his fiancée. But hey, did you hear? The Sterling family recently brought in an illegitimate daughter. Word is she’s absolutely stunning and a million times sweeter than the eldest heiress.”

Today’s lesson focused on the formal opening waltz for high-society galas. Chloe watched the instructor for a grand total of three minutes before growing entirely bored, resting her chin in her hand as her eyes wandered aimlessly around the room.

Right then, a delicate figure slid into the seat beside her, offering a sweet, melodic laugh. “Chloe, do you mind if I sit here?”

Chloe raised an eyebrow coolly. “Who invited you?”

“My mom said I’ll need to know these things sooner or later, so there’s no harm in learning early. She begged Julian to bring me along too.”

Chloe fell silent for a brief moment before a biting, deeply sarcastic smirk spread across her face.

“She’s probably just terrified you won’t get another chance to throw yourself at Julian, isn’t she?”

“Then again, it makes sense. A shameful, hidden bastard child like you wouldn’t usually even warrant a passing glance from a man of his stature.”

“You…!”

Evelyn’s face contorted with rage. She shot a panicked glance around the room to ensure no one had overheard, and once she was sure they were safe, she hissed in a furious whisper, “I have no idea what you’re talking about! But if you keep slandering me, don’t blame me for getting nasty!”

Chloe rolled her eyes disdainfully, turning away to end the conversation right there.

She had already completely given up on Julian anyway.

Halfway through the seminar, the host took the stage and asked if any volunteers would like to demonstrate the steps.

Evelyn was the absolute first to raise her hand, a calculating glint flashing deep within her eyes.

“Splendid. Miss, you may now invite your preferred partner to join you on the floor…” the host smiled.

Before the host could even finish, Evelyn excitedly raised her finger, pointing directly toward Julian sitting in the VIP waiting area.

“Julian, would you do me the absolute honor of sharing this dance with me?”

The entire ballroom erupted into a frenzy of shocked murmurs.

Everyone in attendance knew that Julian Vance was Chloe Sterling’s fiancé, regardless of Evelyn’s new status as a Sterling heiress.

To make matters worse, this was a traditional gala opening waltz—a dance that required a significant amount of intimate, close-contact choreography.

“What is she trying to pull? Is she openly trying to steal her sister’s fiancé?”

“Yikes. It looks like the rumors are true—the two Sterling heiresses absolutely despise each other.”

“I bet the second Miss Sterling is about to completely humiliate herself. There’s no way a man like Julian Vance would ever accept.”

Julian remained seated in silence for a long, agonizing moment. Then, under the utterly dumbfounded stares of the entire high-society crowd, he stood up and walked directly toward Evelyn.

The venue instantly exploded with gossip.

“Julian actually agreed?! While Chloe is literally sitting right there?!”

“What the hell is going on? Has the Vance family shifted their gaze? Are they planning to switch the marriage alliance to Evelyn instead?”

“Well, one is a spoiled, hostile brat, and the other is a sweet, submissive angel. If I were Julian, I know exactly who I’d choose.”

Under the intensely envious glares of every young socialite in the room, Julian gently took Evelyn’s hand and led her into a flawless, graceful waltz.

Evelyn flushed a deep, beautiful crimson whenever she made a minor mistake, but under the glowing crystal chandeliers, it only made her look more breathtakingly delicate and radiant.

Before the song could even reach its conclusion, Chloe found herself suffocating under the bizarre, mocking stares surrounding her. Slipping out of her seat, she quietly exited the ballroom.

Out in the grand corridor, she sat sideways on a marble windowsill, silently watching the golden hues of the sunset.

A few moments later, Evelyn came strolling out, delicately gathering the fabric of her expensive gown, her face glowing with pure smugness.

“Jealous, dear sister?” Evelyn purred.

“Oh, please don’t misunderstand. I simply wanted to share a harmless dance with Julian. But wow, he truly is incredibly captivating, isn’t he? So devastatingly handsome, and his movements are just so wonderfully gentle…”

Leaning in close to ensure Chloe couldn’t possibly miss it, she tapped the delicate floral crown resting on her head. “Julian hand-wove this just for me. You should have seen how jealous everyone else was.”

Chloe slowly turned her head, looking at her with dead eyes before spitting out a single word, “Get out.”

Evelyn’s smile stiffened for a fraction of a second before she dropped her innocent act entirely, her face twisting into a sharp, mocking sneer. “Are you truly that dense? Julian doesn’t love you anymore. The fact that he openly accepted my invitation right in front of your face was his way of telling the entire world that I am far better suited to be Mrs. Vance than you could ever hope to be.”

Chloe finally shifted her entire body off the windowsill, locking a cold, unreadable gaze onto her for several seconds before a strange, eerie smile spread across her lips.

“The name on the official betrothal contract is mine, and the woman who will wear the wedding dress is me. If I refuse to step aside, the Vance family cannot simply change their minds on a whim.”

“You want to be Mrs. Vance so badly? Then drop to your knees and beg me.”

Evelyn’s face twitched violently, her composure completely shattering as she flew into a vicious rage. “What do you have to be so proud of?! You’re just a pathetic creature whose mother died and left her completely unloved! My mother successfully stole our father’s devotion, and she can just as easily make him disown you completely! Just you wait. The Sterling fortune will belong entirely to my mother and me soon enough, and you’ll be nothing but a discarded piece of garbage that nobody wants or cares about!”

The smile vanished from Chloe’s face instantly, her eyes boring into Evelyn with a terrifying chill. “Say that one more time.”

Intimidated by the sudden, murderous aura radiating from Chloe, Evelyn instinctively took a frantic step back. “W-what do you think you’re going to do?”

Chloe’s gaze turned predatory and vicious. In a flash, she lunged forward and grabbed Evelyn by the throat. “I’m going to strangle you to death.”

Evelyn screamed in panic, thrashing wildly as she tried to break free.

Chloe pressed her advantage, delivering a brutal kick straight to Evelyn’s stomach. Before Evelyn could even pull herself off the floor, Chloe brought the heel of her shoe down, stamping it heavily onto her face. “Don’t you love playing the pure, innocent angel?”

“Let’s see how pure you look once I rip every stitch of clothing off your body and expose the filthy, disgusting whore you are to the entire crowd!”

With that, she grabbed the collar of Evelyn’s outer jacket, preparing to tear it away.

“Ah!”

Evelyn was terrified out of her wits. She scrambled backward frantically, completely blind to her surroundings, until she hit the edge of an elevator shaft that was clearly marked as undergoing maintenance.

“You’re completely insane,” Evelyn hissed, her brows furrowing as a bizarre, unsettling grin crept back onto her face. “If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you.”

“My dearest sister… Julian doesn’t belong with someone like you. Since you refuse to let go willingly, allow me to lend you a helping hand.”

The next split second, Evelyn’s unsettling smile widened, and she threw herself completely backward, plummeting straight into the dark shaft.

A blood-curdling scream cut through the air, followed by the sickening, heavy crunch of a body impacting the concrete below.

Julian came rushing into the corridor, alerted by the commotion. The moment his eyes took in the scene, they went wide with a murderous, frantic rage. “How did she fall down there?!”

Chloe shrugged nonchalantly. “I kicked her down.”

“What?!”

Julian lost his mind with fury. Lunging forward, he grabbed Chloe by the collar, shaking her violently as he roared at the top of his lungs, “Are you completely out of your goddamn mind, Chloe?! Do you have any idea that you could have just killed her?!”

She merely let out a dull grunt, turning around to walk away. “If she dies, she brought it entirely on herself.”

“I am so deeply, profoundly disappointed in you!” Julian snarled.

“Oh, please. I disappoint you every single day. Add it to the list.”

Julian’s face turned a dangerous, terrifying shade of dark. Every word he spoke seemed to be forcibly ground out from behind his tightly clenched teeth.

“Guards! Detain her! From this moment on, she will drop to her knees and press her forehead to the ground with every step! She will crawl all the way to the entrance of this estate to beg Evelyn for forgiveness!”