Did the Sterling Family go to the hospital to look for me again
The film crew knew Avery Hayes was a doctor, but before she'd shown up on set, nobody had been sure which hospital she worked at. The second Leo Foster opened his mouth, it clicked for everyone.
"Holy crap," Maya Laurent gasped, staring at Avery. "You're a doctor at a top-tier teaching hospital and you're out here filming a show?"
It was *the* top-tier teaching hospital. You didn't just walk into a job there.
Avery offered a tight smile but didn't say anything.
"Don't change the subject," Leo said, nudging Maya aside.
He leaned in, his eyes wide with a puppy-dog curiosity that didn't quite match his gossipy tone.
"The news just said a doctor got assaulted, but no one knows the details. I heard the Sterlings were behind it, though. So, what really happened?"
Avery's lips twitched, but it wasn't a smile. "I know a little," she said, her voice turning cold. "That gentleman, Bryce Sterling, was overcome with grief after his wife's miscarriage, so..."
"Ha!" Leo cut her off with a sharp laugh. "Now *this* is some serious tea." He scoffed. "What wife? Bryce isn't even married. And if I'm not mistaken, the one who had the miscarriage was his brother's wife. You know, Sterling the Mangy Dog."
Leo looked like he'd just been handed the winning lottery ticket of gossip, his expression a perfect storm of disdain and morbid curiosity. The information he'd just dropped landed like a bomb, and even Avery, the person at the center of the whole mess, was caught in the blast.
"What did you just say?" Avery's voice was sharp, her casual demeanor gone in an instant. "That woman isn't Bryce Sterling's wife?" That couldn't be right. "The hospital's legal department looked into it. She's definitely his wife."
The hospital wouldn't make a mistake like that. If they had, their legal department was a complete joke.
But Leo was just beaming, clearly having no interest in protecting the Sterling family's reputation.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you. You're not in our world, so you wouldn't know this stuff. The Mangy Dog's wife was Bryce's college classmate. They dated for a while, broke up, and three years later, she married his brother. After the wedding, she and Bryce just... kept fooling around.
It's been going on for years."
He shrugged. "It's not exactly a secret in our circle."
"Whoa." Maya's mind was blown. "Are all you rich people this messy?" She'd thought the entertainment industry was wild, but this was a whole other level of drama.
"What's with that look?" Leo snapped, annoyed. He grabbed a script off the table and playfully covered her face with it. "You think everyone's like the Sterlings? My family isn't."
As the two of them started goofing around, Avery sat quietly to the side, her dark eyes drifting toward the filming equipment nearby. She pressed the cup of water to her lips but didn't drink, her mind racing. A moment later, she looked back at Leo.
"You said Sterling the Mangy Dog vowed to cause trouble for the doctor," she said, her tone casual again, but with a new edge. "He and Bryce are supposedly close, but he's the one who got cheated on. Why would he want to get revenge for his brother?"
Now *that* was interesting. If his own wife was having an affair with his brother, you'd think he'd want Bryce locked up for as long as possible. What was this guy playing at?
"God knows what that psycho is thinking," Leo said with a shrug. "But he definitely put the word out."
"I'm not from Westlake City," Maya chimed in.
"Is the Sterling family really that powerful here? I mean, it's a top-tier public hospital. Even if they're influential, they wouldn't dare go too far, would they?"
Despite everything she'd seen, she still couldn't quite believe someone would openly pick a fight with a public institution.
"Oh, Maya, you're so naive," Leo sneered. "And who said the Mangy Dog was going after the hospital?"
Maya paused, her confusion obvious.
"A single doctor, though?" Owen Bowen added, his tone indifferent. "If the Sterling family really decides to make her life hell, what's she going to do?"
Avery's gaze swept over the three of them before landing back on Leo. "There's always a way," she said, a pointed look in her eyes. "How do you know that doctor doesn't have a way to handle them?"
Connections, she thought, were everything. This kid, who seemed like nothing more than an unreliable rich boy, actually knew a hell of a lot. If he hadn't brought it up, she never would have pieced together the real drama inside the Sterling family.
"Enough talk," Leo announced. "My scenes are wrapped, and I'm heading back to New York tomorrow. I might invest in some short dramas later. Maya, Owen, you two have a ton of followers, so you'd better show up and support me. I don't want to lose money."
Owen answered without missing a beat. "As long as the pay is right, we can talk."
Maya nodded. "Exactly. Business is business. Pay me enough, and I'm there."
Leo waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry, I won't short you."
"Why didn't you invite me?" Avery asked, a small smile playing on her lips as she glanced at him. Of the three people there, she was the only one left out.
Leo just laughed and smoothly changed the subject. "You? We'll talk after you pass the bar exam."
He knew that once she passed the bar, if she really decided to step into the entertainment industry, her value would skyrocket.
Dexter had already put in a word for her with Julian Shaw, the head of Stellar Media.
The plan was for Julian to make contact once she was in New York.
By then, she'd be way too expensive for some low-budget short drama.
"How about we all grab dinner tonight?" Leo offered.
"Sure," Maya said. "But Director Duke and Mr. Reed aren't here."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Why would we invite them? If my uncle Dexter was here, I wouldn't even be able to eat, let alone touch my fork."
Avery and Owen just looked at each other, floored. Now that was the kind of confidence that only came with serious connections.
After chatting a bit longer, Leo went to get the car, and the four of them headed downtown.
He seemed to know Westlake City well, driving them straight to The Pinnacle Club.
Avery realized the restaurant wasn't far from the hospital.
She decided she'd just head home after dinner instead of returning to the set.
Thinking of home made her frown. She mentally calculated her brother Cole's work schedule and realized he'd started his night shift rotation two days ago. She could probably stop by the hospital after dinner to see him. She needed to know if the Sterlings had been back looking for her.
Just as she was thinking it, her phone rang. It was Cole.
Avery excused herself and stepped out of the private room, leaning against the dark glass window at the end of the corridor as she answered.
"Avery, where have you been?" The call connected and Cole's voice came through, high-pitched and strained.
She hadn't told him she was filming. He'd assumed she was still at home. If he hadn't stopped by her apartment on his way to work and noticed the place looked half-empty, he never would have known she was gone.
"I took a small role in a drama. I'll be done in three days," she explained, her focus sharpening. "Cole, is something wrong?" She could hear the panic simmering under his words.
"Filming?" He sounded stunned, as if he couldn't imagine her acting.
For a second, he seemed to forget why he'd called.
"Okay, look," he said, his voice dropping back to normal, though the urgency was still there.
"After you finish, don't come back to the hospital. Go back to our hometown for a while. Just wait until this case is resolved, then come back."
The dim light of the hallway cast a pale glow on her face, but her eyes were slowly turning to ice. She heard what he wasn't saying.
"Did the Sterling family come to the hospital looking for me again?"