Tanner Sterling

Tanner Sterling, a character in the Veil of Secrets book, is the heir to the Sterling family, the son of Pierce Sterling and Margaret Sterling, and the older brother of Bryce Sterling. To the dismay of his family, Tanner was engaged to Kate O'Malley, whom the rest of his family suspected was a gold digger given her working class roots. He makes his first appearance in Chapter 1.

Appearance
Tanner is described as having blond kempt hair and blue eyes. He mostly wears a white dressing shirt, a gray/black business suit, and a black tie.

Personality
Due to his early death, not much of Tanner's personality is known as of yet. He is aloof in most of his scenes, but he appeared angry and hostile when he dragged Kate away by the arm in the first chapter when he discovered her drinking the night prior to their wedding. Despite this, he himself wasn't above cheating on Kate, as he was having an affair with Scarlett.

Biography
Tanner appears in the first chapter as Kate's fiance, coming off as aloof. He gets angry with Bryce when he openly accuses Kate of being a gold digger during the wedding rehearsal. Later that night, Tanner drags Kate away by the arm when he finds her drinking on her last night as a bachelorette, angry at how such behavior might make him look. Kate then disappeared the next morning, during the wedding.

In the second chapter, Tanner appeared upset at the disappearance, unlike his family. It is revealed in the fourth chapter that Kate suspected he was cheating on her (she noted this in her diary). At the end of this chapter, Flynn O'Malley (and possibly Your Character) find him dead aboard the Sterling family yacht, his throat slit.

In the fifth chapter, Scarlett becomes a person of interest as her bracelet is found aboard the yacht. When confronted by Jesse, Scarlett explains the history behind her and Tanner; Scarlett loved Tanner since they were kids, and she secretly resented Kate since she was able to secure a relationship with him. One night, Tanner came to Scarlett's house drunk and depressed after having to fire a dockworker - Tony Rez - who was suspected of theft, and had threatened Tanner's life and beat up his car with a baseball bat. Scarlett exploited Tanner's sadness to seduce him into a relationship, which turned into an affair that had been ongoing. Despite this, Tanner refused to leave Kate.

Veil of Secrets

 * Chapter 1: Missing Persons
 * Chapter 2: Unveiled
 * Chapter 5: The Whole Bloody Affair
 * Chapter 8: ...And Found (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 9: The Rocket's Red Glare (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 10: Collateral Damage (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 11: Lawful Good (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 13: Under the Bed (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 14: The Face of Evil (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 16: All's Well That Ends... (Determinant)

Pierce and Margaret Sterling
Pierce and Margaret are Tanner's parents.

Bryce Sterling
Bryce is Tanner's younger brother. In Chapter 1, Tanner is mad about Bryce's behavior. He didn't approve of Bryce's hatred of Kate.

Kate O'Malley
Kate is his fiancee. His feelings about her disappearance are split, as he shows both concern for her and anger. Kate suspected him of cheating on her, suspicions which were proven true. In Chapter 14, it is revealed that Kate is pregnant with his child.

Grant Emerson
Despite years of their families being rivals, Tanner and Grant are friends with each other.

Scarlett Emerson
Scarlett is Tanner's friend, and was his mistress prior to his death. Scarlett loved Tanner since she was a child; Tanner presumably reciprocated those feelings to some extent as he was willing to start an affair with her.

Trivia

 * His family shares the same surname as Nathan Sterling from The Junior series.
 * Pixelberry announced that at first, it was just pure coincidence. They went on to say that they retroactively realized decided that Nathan and the Sterling's were distant cousins and made it canon.
 * In Chapter 3, it is mentioned that he played Lacrosse when he was younger.
 * His yacht is called Ulysses. Flynn and Naomi find it ironic given that Ulysses was lost at sea. Your Character finds it unsettling given that Ulysses was infamous for cheating on his wife.
 * The name Charles is of English origin and means "free man".
 * The surname Sterling is of English origin and means "of the highest quality" or "pure".