Chapter 217: The Devil Went Viral

The elevator doors on the executive floor of Sterling Global parted with a soft ding.

?Anastasia stepped out into the marketing wing, clutching her tablet, expecting the usual quiet hum of monitors and keyboards.

?Instead, the floor was in pure, unadulterated chaos.

?"There she is!" Sarah gasped from behind a desk.

?"Ana! Oh my god, Ana!"

?Before Ana could take five steps down the polished corridor, half a dozen colleagues swarmed her like paparazzi. Phones were thrust into her face, eyes were wide with shock, and whispered squeals echoed off the glass cubicles.

?"Wait, what is happening?" Ana asked, taking a defensive step back. "Did the Vance quarterly report leak?"

?"Screw the quarterly report!" Mark, a senior analyst, exclaimed, shaking his phone frantically. "Have you looked at the internet in the last twenty minutes?!"

?"Ana, you’re trending number one worldwide!" another girl squealed. "The Devil of Wall Street just got pied with artisan gelato, and it’s the greatest thing to ever happen on the internet!"

?Ana’s stomach dropped straight to her heels.

?She snatched Mark’s phone out of his hand.

?There it was. Uploaded thirty minutes ago on TikTok and cross-posted to Twitter with over forty million views and climbing:

?"SPOTTED: RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE DAMIAN STERLING GETTING HUMBLED BY HIS EX-WIFE IN SOHO!!!"

?The video was crystal clear 4K.

?It captured Damian’s fake, dazzling corporate smile shoving an absurdly huge spoon into her mouth... followed by the sheer, unhinged perfection of Ana lunging across the table and violently smearing chocolate, caramel, and berries all over his lethal jawline. The clip froze right on Damian’s wide, murderous, ice-cream-covered face, soundtracked to a viral comedic audio.

?The comments were scrolling at lightning speed...

?—"HE LOOKS READY TO SUE HER AND KISS HER AT THE SAME TIME I CANNOT BREATHE"

—"That man dismantles Fortune 500 companies for breakfast and she just wiped dairy across his beard like he’s a toddler LMAOOOO"

—"The sheer terror in his eyes when the spoon hit his mouth!"

—"Are they divorced or are they in a toxic rom-com?! Someone tell me!"

?Ana stared at the screen, a hot flush burning up her neck. A mix of mortification and sheer, hysterical laughter bubbled in her throat.

?"Ana, be honest," Sarah whispered in awe, grabbing her elbow. "Are you secretly suicidal, or do you just hold the nuclear launch codes to that man’s life? No one has ever publicly humiliated Damian Sterling and survived!"

"She is Mr Sterling’s fiance... of course she can pull off something like this and still see the daylight tomorrow." Someone else said from behind.

?Before Ana could answer, the air on the floor plummeted forty degrees.

?The chatter died instantly. Phones vanished into pockets. The entire bullpen froze in terrified synchronization.

?Down the main marble hallway, Damian Sterling approached.

?He had changed into a fresh bespoke navy suit, his crisp white collar spotless, his dark hair slicked back with razor-sharp precision. Walking half a pace behind him were Jullian Montgomery and Henry, who was clutching legal tablets.

?Damian’s aura was pure, suffocating thunder. His jaw was set like forged steel, his hands shoved deep into his trouser pockets, radiating enough menace to clear the corridor without uttering a word.

?As he walked past the marketing bullpens, every single employee bowed their heads, suddenly fascinated by spreadsheets.

?Except Jullian.

?Jullian was biting the inside of his cheek so hard it was a miracle he wasn’t bleeding, his shoulders shaking with barely contained laughter as he glanced between his tablet and Damian’s rigid back.

?Damian stopped right in front of Ana’s desk.

?He didn’t look at the trembling staff. His obsidian eyes locked entirely onto Ana, narrowing with dark, lethal intent.

?He pulled his sleek black smartphone from his pocket, flipped the screen toward her face, and tapped the glowing display. The viral video was paused right on his smeared, chocolate-covered snarl.

?"Care to explain, Anastasia?" Damian drawled, his baritone dropping into a quiet, dangerous rumble that made the nearby desks vibrate. "My PR department is fielding calls from Bloomberg, Reuters, and Forbes asking if Sterling Global’s market cap is threatened by dairy products."

?Ana clutched her files against her chest. She looked at his icy, intimidating scowl, then glanced down at the freeze-frame of him covered in sticky gelato.

?A defiant, wicked smirk spread across her lips.

?"Oh come on, it’s not like I planned it. I think your portfolio looks remarkably sweet, Mr. Sterling," Ana whispered back, her hazel eyes dancing with pure mockery. "Bloomberg should upgrade your stock to a buy."

?Beside Damian, Jullian finally lost it, letting out a sharp, choked snort into his fist.

?Damian’s dark gaze cut sideways, shooting Jullian a look promising public execution. Then, slowly, he turned his lethal focus back to Ana. He took half a step into her personal space, looming over her until the shadow of his broad frame blocked out the fluorescent lights.

?"Enjoy your little victory, doll," Damian murmured, his voice so low only she could catch the possessive, velvet growl beneath it. "Because by tonight, you are paying for every single drop of that caramel."

The heavy double doors of Damian’s top-floor executive suite slammed shut, muffling the buzzing chaos of the marketing floor.

?Damian tore off his suit jacket, tossing it onto the leather sofa with dark, agitated grace. He loosened his silk tie, his jaw still tight enough to crack walnuts.

?Across the room, Jullian Montgomery didn’t even bother to hide his amusement. He was sprawled lazily in one of the guest armchairs, pouring himself a generous measure of Damian’s twenty-year-old single malt, laughing so hard he was practically wiping tears from his eyes.

?As the head of Montgomery Capital and an independent titan in his own right, Jullian didn’t answer to the Sterling empire. And as one of the few people who had survived university with Damian and Vivian, he considered it his personal, sacred duty to mock the Devil whenever possible.

?"Forty million views, Sterling," Jullian wheezed, swirling his tumbler. "Forty. Million. In less than two hours! Do you have any idea how many marketing firms would kill for that kind of organic reach? You should put Anastasia on the executive board. Head of Brand Humiliation."

?Damian shot him an obsidian glare that would have melted lead. "Get out of my office, Jullian."

?"Not a chance. I cancelled two merger meetings just to come watch you suffer," Jullian grinned, raising his glass in a mock salute. "The great Damian Sterling, feared across three continents, brought to his knees by a spoonful of salted caramel. The sheer look of betrayal on your face will sustain me for the next decade."

?Before Damian could throw a crystal decanter at his head, the office door clicked open.

?Henry stepped inside, holding a set of real-time market printouts, looking uncharacteristically flustered.

?"Mr. Sterling, there’s something you need to know" Henry began, clearing his throat nervously. "The PR team... Well, they said they didn’t even need to release a statement."