Sterling, heir to the Bennett dynasty, hides his identity to fulfill an engagement with Jone. Playing a slacker, he secretly saves her company and crowns her queen of the Bay Area — yet Jone dotes only on her fraud of an assistant. When Fidel throws coffee in Sterling's face and Jone dumps him, Sterling calls his father: "They told me to get out." Within hours, Sinclair Group's credit lines freeze and a $30 billion deal vanishes. Jone realizes too late: the "loser" she despised was the god propping her up. Crawling back, she finds Diana at his side. On their wedding day, Jone storms in. Sterling's final blow: "You don't love me. You just miss your stepping stone."
