On my wedding day, my younger sister threw champagne in my face

By Tuesday afternoon, the scandal had detonated across the country.

The raw conservatory footage had gone massively viral, amassing over thirty million views across social platforms. The narrative had completely flipped. Lily’s Instagram was bombarded with hundreds of thousands of scathing comments branding her a scheming homewrecker and a sociopathic parasite. Major luxury brands that had previously sponsored her lifestyle immediately issued public statements severing all ties.

Mark’s startup was dropped by every venture capital firm overnight, leaving him with eight million dollars in personal debt that he had guaranteed against the expected merger with my assets.

I was sitting in my newly furnished corner office in the Manhattan headquarters, sipping hot green tea, when the front reception intercom buzzed.

"Miss Sterling, there is a young woman in the lobby demanding to see you. She doesn't have an appointment, and she’s causing a major disturbance."

I looked toward the panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Central Park. "Send her up. But keep two security officers outside my door."

Two minutes later, the double doors of my office swung open.

Lily stumbled in.

She looked unrecognizable. The carefully curated, flawless golden girl was gone. Her hair was greasy, tied in a hasty bun; her designer jacket was wrinkled; and her face was streaked with running mascara. There were dark, frantic circles under her eyes.

"Grace!" she cried out, lunging toward my desk, only to be blocked by the two burly guards who stepped silently into her path. "Grace, make them let me through! Tell them who I am!"

"They know who you are," I said calmly, not even bothering to look up from the document I was reviewing. "They are doing their job."

"You have to call off the hounds, Grace!" Lily shrieked, her voice shrill with hysterical terror. "The reporters are camped outside the estate! They threw coffee at my car! The fashion brand cancelled my contract, and Mark... Mark is going insane! He’s breaking things in the house! He screamed at me that I ruined his life!"

I slowly put my gold fountain pen down and finally raised my eyes to meet hers. "Didn't you? You wanted him, Lily. You told me three days before the wedding that he was your true soulmate. You threw wine in my face and told me that everything I had belonged to you. Well, now he's yours. Along with his eight million dollars of unsecured debt."

Lily fell to her knees on the plush Persian rug, weeping violently, clasping her hands together in desperate prayer. "I made a mistake! I was jealous, okay?! You were always the smart one! Dad always bragged about your grades, your promotions, your deals! I just wanted something that was yours! Just release the press statement! Tell them the video was edited! Tell them you forgive us!"

"Get off the floor, Lily," I said, disgust dripping from my tone. "You look pathetic."

"I'm your sister!" she screamed, clutching at the hem of her sleeve. "Blood is thicker than water!"

"Blood is just biology," I answered, standing up and towering over her kneeling figure. "You didn't care about blood when you tried to leave me penniless and humiliated on national television. You wanted a war, little sister. You just didn't realize that in a war, the weaker army gets slaughtered."

I gestured to the guards. "Remove her from the premises. If she sets foot in this building again, have the NYPD arrest her for criminal trespassing."

As the guards dragged her out by her arms, Lily's sobbing transformed into a demonic screech. "You're going to pay for this, Grace! Mark will destroy you! He has things on you! You hear me?! He's going to ruin you!"