Chapter 33

Chapter 33

POV: “Corinna”

The sunbeams made their way through the cracks of the bay window; the dark curtains that blocked

them out were nothing under its power.

I twitched in my sleep, the light behind my eyes pulling me from my dream. I shifted my head to the

right, breathing in deeply. The light, however, was stubborn.

It followed me, and I groaned. flipping onto my stomach and burying my head in the pillow.

I had never been a morning person. Necessity had forced it upon me, but as my consciousness

surfaced from sleep, I counted the days in my head.

Friday. It was Friday morning. I had no responsibilities, so I could sleep in until 10:00.

If the stupid sun would let me rest.

Mornings were the worst.

I yawned, still half-asleep as I pulled my pillow over my head, blocking out the rays of the morning sun

filtering through the curtains of the window.

I sighed in relief, my body relaxing as I slipped right back into sleep. I could’ve slept the day away.

If it wasn’t for the alarm I’d set last night ringing incessantly,

“Ugh!” I threw my pillow, hearing it thump against the wall as I sat up in bed, grumpily. I fished for my

phone on the nightstand, wincing at the sudden light from the screen as I shut off the alarm.

There was an unseen text message on my phone that caught my attention.

1 frowned, sitting up in bed as I opened it up.

“Girl, don’t look at the news, Leila texted me.

“Why? Did my father do something stupid again?’ I wrote back, rolling my eyes. It wouldn’t have been

the first time my father had gotten himself into trouble.

He wasn’t a good man or even a good father, but he was better than none at all. Adelaide took that for

granted. Just another thing I hated about her.

‘Not exactly, came the reply.

“Then what?”

Finally, she texted back with a link to a news article. Wasting no time, I clicked it, and my jaw dropped

open.

*Damon Steyn and Adelaide Hildebrand Elope before wedding!

I scrolled down to read at a fast pace.

Two days before their official wedding. Damon Steyn, the son of CEO Dalton Steyn of Steyn Industries,

and Adelaide Hildebrand, the first daughter of the old Hildebrand lineage, were caught leaving the Las

Vegas Chapel dressed in wedding attire Thursday night.”

You’ve got to be f*cking kidding me. They really went and got married? In Vegas of all places?!

The photo was of Damon dressed in a suit, a massive grin on his face as he carried Adelaide in his

arms, both of their cheeks

aglow with a tint of pink.

I sneered at the wedding dress Adelaide had on. It was too pretty for someone like her. She deserved

to wear rags, and now she’d done this?

They did this to upstage us, I knew it. Who did they think they were?

*D*mn it!” I snapped, raising my phone to throw it at the wall, but I stopped, calming myself. We still

had time.

I could fix this.

I dialed Ashton’s number, tapping my nails on the hard plastic of the phone impatiently as it rang.

After three rings, it cut off.

“This is Ashton Steyn. Leave your name and number and I will-”

“Sh*t!”

I glowered at the phone, not even knowing where Ashton was. Probably with that wh’re of his.

Right when I needed him, he was gone again. Typical Steyn. Always gone when they were needed.

Thinking of who else to call. I dialed the number of my grandmother. The old bat had always disliked

me, but years of sucking up to her were about to pay off.

The phone rang and rang then cut off abruptly.

No answer.

Of course. She was probably in on this too. She had always loved Adelaide more than me.

I gnawed on my bottom lip, the panic growing inside of me. I couldn’t let Adelaide win. I couldn’t let

them do this to me.

I gritted my teeth and did what I should have done all along. I dialed my mother’s number.

It picked up on the first ring. I could always depend on my mother to be there for me.

“Hello?” came her sugary sweet voice.

“Mom,” I said, hurriedly, “I just woke up and saw the news, and that b*tch eloped with Damon already!

She’s completely undermined my wedding!”

“I know,” my mother said coldly. “She’s as crafty as her mother was.”

“What do I do? Maybe we should back off,” I said, full of doubt about our strategy. “If I try anything more

here-”

“Quiet, Corinna!” she snapped sharply. I fell silent, my voice cutting off immediately. I felt like a child

being scolded-like I always did with my mother. She had an extraordinary ability to make me feel so

small.

“You can’t let her win anything. Not even the smallest victory. This is what we’ve been working towards

for years,” my mother spat. “That boy, Damon. You did what I told you?”

“Yes,” I frowned. “He still wants me. I made sure of it.”

“Then use him,” my mother said and chuckled deviously. “Don’t stop until you ruin her.”

“Yes, Mother,” I sighed.

“Love you, baby. Make sure to give me an update once you destroy her.”

“Love you, too.”

The call ended with a click, and I ran a hand through my messy hair. Everything wasn’t lost. I could still

do this.

My confidence, however, was wavering. I knew Damon had been in love with Adelaide since we were

children. She was the only one that didn’t know how he’d felt

But I always made sure Adelaide hated him. Whispering in both of their cars to keep them apart,

sabotaging any attempt of kindness from them.

Ashton was easy to manipulate, but Damon was a wild card. He was difficult to predict. He’d always

been the smarter of the

two brothers.

But one thing was clear. He still wanted me.

His behavior a couple of weeks ago proved that. But even if he wanted me, he loved her. I curled my

arms around my knees, anger, and jealousy swirling around until I felt sick with it.

How could I use Damon to fix this mess?

Then an idea, a sick, cruel, horrible idea, filled my mind. I smirked, my plan beginning to take shape.

I didn’t need Damon to sleep with me. I just needed Adelaide to think he wanted to. I’d been making

her believe lies about him all our lives; what was one more?

I could just imagine now how her face would twist up in despair-the desolate look in her eyes as she

realized that no one in this world was on her side.

She was going to get what was coming to her, one way or another.

But if this was going to work. I had a few things to take care of

I grabbed my phone, dialing one last number. It rang a few times before it picked up. The voice of my

unassuming sister came through the tone.

“Hello?”

“Addie.” I said, brightly. “I just saw the photos. Congratulations.”

“What do you want, Corinna?”

Her voice was deadpan. She was not in any sort of mood to be friendly with me.

Fair enough.

I didn’t want to be friendly with her either.

I smirked at the wall, gloating already as I said, “I really just wanted to congratulate you. Your ceremony

really suited you. Eloping with Elvis. Isn’t that every girl’s dream?”

I heard her sigh on the other end of the phone. “If you’re just going to insult me, I’m going to hang up.

Goo-*

“No!” I shouted, hurriedly, interrupting her next sentence. I bit my bottom lip, swallowing my pride. It

tasted sour as always as I forced a smile on my face even if she couldn’t see it.

Play nice, Corinna. Just get her to do it.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I just wanted to know if you could come over this evening,” I said,

making my voice as light and airy as possible.

“Why?”

She sounded suspicious, and I rolled my eyes.

“I need your help with my wedding planning.” I lied, smoothly. “Grandma said I should ask you.”

As the phone went silent, I was afraid she wasn’t going to buy it, that she’d hang up, and this would all

be for naught.

Lucky for me, Adelaide was rather gullible.

“Fine. I’ll be over around eight,” she said hesitantly.

“Oh, thank you,” I said, smirking. “You won’t regret it.”

“I’d better not. See you then. Bye.”

Even as she hung up, the giddiness 1 felt didn’t leave.

Step one was a success.

It’d been so easy to get her to come to me, I was almost surprised.

But I needed to focus.

Now, it was time to move to phase two.