Chapter 635
The man on the phone remained silent.
Celeste paused for a second before continuing, “First, immediately transfer a billion dollars into an offshore anonymous trust account under my name and sign an irrevocable deed of gift.
“Once the agreement is active, that money is permanently mine, with no clawback clauses whatsoever p>
She had mapped out her escape route.
There was no place left for her in this country.
This massive fortune was her only ticket to a secure, comfortable life under a new identity.
At the same time, she wanted to use his grandmother’s life to test him.
She needed to see just how much he was willing to compromise for his family.
A twisted smile curved her lips, her voice dripping with the thrill of revenge.
“Second, I don’t need you to marry me. But for the next entire year, you are forbidden from reaching out to Sienna.
“You cannot try to win her back, you cannot explain any of your past misunderstandings to her, and you cannot try to make amends.
“On top of that, you must publicly announce that you, Jarred Sterling, have only ever loved me.
“For the rest of your life, even if we aren’t together, you must promise to protect me.
“My position in your heart must always remain above whatever feelings you have for her p>
She knew Jarred too well.
His greatest obsession now, his only salvation, was to make amends to Sienna.
He wanted nothing more than to thaw her frozen heart and heal the wounds he caused.
This demand was designed to sever his path back to her.
A year of complete silence would be enough to kill any lingering affection Sienna had left.
Once the public declaration was made, high society in the Capital would cement her status as Jarred’s one true love.
Even if Sienna eventually stayed with him, she would forever look like the outsider encroaching on another woman’s territory.
She would be forced to live under constant scrutiny and judgment, humiliated and trapped.
More brutally, this would permanently shackle Jarred.
Every attempt he made to care for, Sienna would be tainted as a broken promise to his family. –
He would lose any right to stand proudly by Sienna’s side.
He would be forced to watch the love of his life slip away trapped in a lifetime of regret and unrequited yearning.
Celeste firmly believed he would never abandon his dying grandmother.
To save her, he would undoubtedly submit to all her demands.
On the other end of the line, Jarred had remained stoic through her first condition.
But the moment she laid out the second.
The air went dead silent.
The tension radiating from the speaker plummeted to freezing, suffocating levels.
Almost instantly, Jarred’s voice cut through, harsh and uncompromising.
“Impossible p>
That single word decisively shattered all of Celeste’s twisted fantasies.
She stiffened, her triumphant grin freezing in absolute disbelief.
She had spent days in this lightless bunker, enduring the confinement.
She had genuinely believed Jarred. was just throwing a tantrum and temporarily refusing to see her.
Only now did the brutal reality set in.
He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t being difficult.
He was fundamentally repulsed by her, finding the very thought of looking at her sickening.
Her decade of patience, her supposed sacrifices—they meant absolutely nothing to him.
Just as her sanity threatened to snap.
The man’s chillingly apathetic voice filtered through again.
It was colder than the concrete walls, devoid of any shred of humanity.