Chapter 11

I reached the harbor mansion as the last sliver of sunlight faded. A carriage loaded with crates stood at the back door, where Chloe and her people were already waiting.Livia stood by the carriage, still wearing the crimson gown, gripping the east wing key. When she saw me step down from my carriage, she lifted her chin. "Lady Helena, perfect timing. These are all personal items Cassian gave me. I was just about to take them to my new lodgings."Cassian had moved her into the mansion on the night the engagement ended. In those three days, she had ignored the east wing and taken over my bedroom, removed my mother's portrait, used my mother's silverware, and ordered the servants to call her the lady of the house. Every report the servants brought me went into a ledger. I was waiting for the three-day deadline to settle accounts."Let her take whatever Cassian paid for," I said.Chloe opened the top crate. Inside was my mother's silverware, each piece engraved with the Silver Swallow mar

Chapter 12

The next morning, my stepmother, Cecilia Valeria, arrived at the harbor mansion with my half sister, Thalia Valeria. Since my father's death, Cecilia had styled herself as the matriarch of the Valeria house. Thalia was Cecilia's biological daughter and my half sister through our father.Neither of them asked about the auction. Cecilia slapped a parchment document in front of me."The news that you broke your engagement to Cassian has spread through the entire port.""I had the notice sent out publicly.""And you're proud of that?""At least no more clients will hand him money and then come to my fleet to ship their goods."Cecilia didn't care about clients. She only cared about the Valeria house's reputation."Both families spent so long preparing for the wedding. Now that you've broken off the engagement, everyone will say we chose the wrong man."Thalia chimed in from the side. "If my sister doesn't want to marry him, I will."I looked at her. She was young, drawn to banquets, and at

Chapter 13

The following evening, there was no dance in the Vesta family garden. The long table held no wine, only five-year shipping contracts, trial-voyage ledgers, and over a dozen cargo damage reports.A plainly dressed young woman stood beside Lady Vesta. Her name was Julia Vesta, and she had just returned from another city. She had accompanied her mother out of the auction that night, but without family jewelry, most people there had taken her for a secretary assigned to copy contracts.Lady Vesta did not reveal her identity at once. She simply asked Julia to review the contract terms with me. Julia began with the travel time for the Western Isles route, then asked item by item about crew wages, storm suspensions, cargo-damage compensation, and the cargo capacity we could offer each season.Her questions were thorough, so I opened Daphne's trial-voyage ledger. I answered every question I could confirm on the spot. For figures that still needed verification, I didn't make promises.We were i

Chapter 14

As Chloe and I walked out of the garden, Cassian and Livia were still fighting outside. Merchants who had just left the banquet lingered, and everyone heard the fury Cassian had been holding in for days."The emerald brooch, the auction bill, the Guild allotment we lost over Leon, the Vesta contract. All of it is because of you!"Livia wouldn't take the blame alone. "You're the one who said Lady Vesta was withholding payment. I was just standing up for you! And you're the one who said Helena would never leave you, that even if I sat in her seat and wore her necklace, she'd pay for everything in the end!""I only ever said those things in private. I never told you to say them in front of everyone!""But you never stopped me! Every time I said something on your behalf, you told me I understood you!"I told the coachman to stop the carriage. Their argument wasn't just about one auction. It was about the necklace, the key, the plans for life after the wedding, and who had thought of it fir

Chapter 15

Four years ago, on a night just like this, Cassian had knelt in the rain outside the Valeria gate, begging me to save the Severus ancestral home. Back then, I believed that a man willing to set aside his pride for his family would also remember a kindness.Now he was kneeling in the same spot, holding the silver dolphin necklace up with both hands."Helena, I'm returning the necklace to you."I stood inside the doorway. I didn't have the servants open the gate. "That's not yours to return.""I won the bid.""You haven't paid."Cassian tightened his grip on the necklace and finally revealed his real purpose. "I'll send Livia away. The east wing won't go to her, and I'll replace my secretary. Just restore the engagement, cover the auction bill and the client claims, and we can go ahead with the wedding as planned."He wasn't here to return an heirloom. He was trying to trade something that had never been his for my ships, my clients, my mansion, and my money."What about the plan in your

Chapter 16

One month later, fourteen Silver Swallow flags rose together on the masts lining the harbor.The Severus ancestral home had been appraised and used to settle the auction debt and client claims. The remaining shortfall would be deducted from Cassian's wages over the coming years. Without the fleet, clients, or Guild credit, all he could find was work as a cargo clerk for another merchant house. No one extended him credit on the strength of my name anymore.Livia also lost her position as a secretary. She had used a house seal without authorization, threatened the Guild, concealed an unpaid auction item, and tried to remove property bearing the Silver Swallow mark. No merchant house would trust her with ledgers or a house seal again.All of this was routine information forwarded by the Guild to the Silver Swallow accounting office. I read it once and filed it away. I didn't send anyone to find out where they were living or what they were arguing about now. What they faced was not some ex