Chapter: Chapter 71The master suite of the Blackwood estate looked like the backstage of a chaotic Parisian runway, buried beneath piles of garment bags, linings, and ribbons.Tracy stood before the mirror, turning her hips side to side as two terrified seamstresses knelt at her feet, pinning the hem of a gown. It was a confection cut low across the bosom with a train that swept across the hardwood like a peacock's tail. A set of emeralds—plundered straight from the Blackwood vault in the basement—hung around her neck, each stone cold against her collarbones."Pull the waist tighter," Tracy snapped, slapping the younger seamstress's hand away with a nail. "I am supposed to look regally pregnant, not bloated like a common farm girl.""Miss Vance, if I take it in another inch, the boning might snap against your ribs," the woman stammered, trembling under Tracy's glare."Did I ask for your medical opinion, you useless rat?" Tracy hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Pin it. And charge the remaining bala
Last Updated: 2026-09-07
Chapter: Chapter 70Rosemarie"No, I don't want to leave Mommy!" Leo protested, clinging to me like a burr."Leo, sweetheart," Clara spoke with gentle, cheerful firmness, crouching down to his eye level. "Buster and Barnaby are in the kitchen, and they stole a whole basket of warm biscuits off the counter. Can you go run in there and make sure they don't eat all the berry jam while I help your mom carry the basket?"Leo sniffled, looking between Clara and my steady, smiling face. "You promise you're just carrying the basket?""I promise, my brave boy," I assured him, cupping his cheek with a hand that I forced to stop trembling. "Go save the jam. I'll be inside in two minutes."He hesitated, wiped his wet nose with his sleeve, and reluctantly ran up the grassy path toward the cottage door.The very second the screen door clicked shut behind him, the smile completely slid off my face.My body slumped forward against Clara's shoulder, a ragged, shuddering breath tearing out of my chest as the cold sweat br
Last Updated: 2026-09-06
Chapter: Chapter 69RosemarieI just wanted him to have one normal day.Tomorrow evening, the convoys would roll out, the cameras would flash under the glass dome of the Grand Sovereign Pavilion, and I would be stepping right into the viper pit of high society. The regional council, Tracy, the whispers of the lords—it was going to be an ugly, chaotic circus. But today, the world was quiet.I spread out a blanket over the bank behind Clara's cottage, setting down a basket filled with sandwiches, apples, and berry tarts. The lake was flat as a mirror, reflecting the morning sky, and the crisp autumn wind carried the scent of wet cedar and pine needles.Out by the shallows, Leo was skipping stones across the water, his face scrunched up in deep, serious concentration."Look, Mommy! Watch this one!" he yelled over his shoulder, rearing his arm back.He whipped the stone forward. It skimmed the surface once, twice, three times before sinking with a tiny plink."Three skips!" Leo squealed, jumping up and down
Last Updated: 2026-09-06
Chapter: Chapter 68RosemarieThe northern fortress had ceased to look like a mountain stronghold. By midday, Tyson had turned the entire western parlor into a salon.Racks of gowns were wheeled across the floors, accompanied by armed couriers carrying boxes filled with diamonds, emeralds, and platinum collars. Three of the capital's most sought-after stylists fussed over fabric swatches, murmuring about silhouettes, corsetry, and seasonal tones."Miss Wilton, this crimson velvet piece with the high collar and crystal-encrusted cape would dominate the pavilion floor," the lead stylist, a woman with silver glasses, suggested, holding up an extravagant, embroidered gown. "It has full sleeves and a structured neck. It conceals everything and projects imperial modesty."I looked at the fabric, shaking my head with a faint scoff. "Take it away.""Or this navy chiffon?" another assistant offered, holding up a dress with layers of ruffled silk designed to swallow my frame whole. "It gives you tremendous volume,
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 67TysonI was leaning over the terminal in the command wing when Garrett walked in, holding an envelope embossed with wax and the crescent seal of the high territories."Official courier from the capital just delivered this to the outer gate, Alpha," Garrett said, setting the letter down on the edge of the terminal. "The Lunar Consortium Gala. Two weeks from Friday at the Grand Sovereign Pavilion."I broke the wax with my thumb, pulling out the parchment.The Annual Assembly of Regional Alphas, Sovereign Lords, and Territorial Executives.Every year, the high nobility and corporate tycoons gathered under the glass dome of the Pavilion to negotiate cross-border mining rights, sign territory treaties, and parade their wealth like peacocks in front of the regional media. It was usually an unbearable circus of hollow smiles, overpriced champagne, and elderly council members pretending they still had the teeth to bite."The intelligence reports out of the southern capital say Tracy Vance has
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 66RosemarieI had forgotten what it felt like to have my mind truly work.For months, my thoughts had been entirely consumed by the throbbing in my skull, the sick terror of coughing into tissues, and the constant, degrading humiliation Rex and his mother subjected me to. Sitting around feeling like a fragile, dying patient was slowly suffocating me from the inside out.Today, surrounded by bookshelves and stacks of archives in Tyson's library, I finally felt like myself again.I adjusted my glasses, flipping between the manifests and the ledgers with a pen in hand. It took me less than two hours to spot the bleeding wounds in the Carrillo mineral corridor."Unbelievable," I muttered under my breath, circling a column of transit fees with aggressive strokes. "They weren't just being careless; they were practically handing money away to third-party escorts who weren't even patrolling the high passes."There were three loopholes draining the syndicate's margins. First, the valley freight
Last Updated: 2026-09-04
LOGIN
