The Stuart family mansion was a mausoleum of old money and even older secrets. As the black sedan—a gift from the Duke's fleet—pulled up to the marble fountain, I felt a strange sense of detachment. In my past life, every time I returned here, I felt like a servant seeking approval.
Now? I looked at the mansion and saw a target.
I stepped out of the car, the heavy black diamond ring on my finger catching the moonlight. It was cold, grounding me against the phantom pains of a future surgery that would now never happen.
"Miss Sophia! You're back!" The butler, an old man who had looked the other way while Julian's men moved my father's furniture out, bowed low. He didn't see the woman who had died in a hospital bed; he saw the heiress who had just caused a scandal at the gala.
I ignored him, walking straight into the study.
The air inside was thick with the scent of expensive cigars and desperation. My uncle, Victor Stuart, was pacing the room, clutching a crystal decanter of whiskey. Sitting on the leather sofa was Clara, her eyes red and puffy, looking like a wilted flower.
"Sophia! What have you done?" Victor roared as I entered. He slammed the decanter onto the table. "Do you have any idea what the board members are saying? You humiliated Julian! You jeopardized the merger! Do you want to see this family ruined?"
I didn't answer immediately. I walked over to my father's old mahogany desk—the seat that Victor had occupied the moment my father's heart stopped. I sat down in the high-backed leather chair, leaning back with a grace that made Victor's face turn a sickly shade of purple.
"Ruined?" I tilted my head, my voice as smooth as silk. "Uncle Victor, you talk about the family as if you haven't already sold it piece by piece to pay off your debts at the underground casinos."
Victor froze. "How... how dare you—"
"I'm not finished," I cut him off, my gaze shifting to Clara. She flinched as if I had struck her. "And Clara... the 'heart condition' you've been using to garner Julian's pity? I hope you enjoyed the performance, because the medical records I've just acquired from the Duke's intelligence network tell a very different story. A story of faked prescriptions and bribed doctors."
Clara's face went from pale to ghostly white. "Sophia, you're... you're mistaken. I'm sick, I—"
"You're sick with greed," I whispered.
[Ding! Target Clara Stuart's Luck is fluctuating! Plundered: +200 Luck Points!]
[Host's Life Force: 180 Hours remaining.]
"Sophia, enough of this nonsense!" Victor stepped forward, his hand raised as if to strike me. "I am your guardian! I have the legal authority to—"
"To what? Sign my life away again?" I raised my hand, letting the black diamond ring catch the dim light of the study.
Victor's hand stopped mid-air. His eyes widened as he recognized the seal. The wolf's head. The mark of the Archduke Klaus. In the imperial capital, having that ring was equivalent to carrying a loaded gun.
"Where... where did you get that?" Victor stammered, his bravado evaporating like mist.
"The Duke and I have come to an agreement," I said, leaning forward, the predatory smile I had learned from Klaus appearing on my lips. "He finds my knowledge of the Stuart Conglomerate very... useful. And in exchange, he's helping me perform a much-needed 'cleaning' of the family tree."
I pulled a folder from my bag—documents I had memorized in my previous life during the long, lonely nights of Julian's ascent. "This is the evidence of your embezzlement of the port maintenance funds, Victor. If this reaches the Council tonight, you won't just be losing your seat on the board. You'll be losing your freedom."
Victor sank into the sofa, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
[Ding! Major Plunder Event! Host has seized control of 'Family Internal Authority'.]
[Luck Value increased to +500! Reward: 'Analytical Eye' (Can now see target's weaknesses).]
"What do you want?" Victor wheezed, looking at me as if I were a stranger.
"Everything," I replied. I stood up, smoothing out my dress. "Starting with your resignation from the board. And Clara... I suggest you start looking for a new 'protector.' Julian Cross is about to find out that his muse is a fraud, and he doesn't handle disappointment very well."
I walked out of the study, the sound of my heels clicking against the marble floor like a ticking clock. I could feel the system humming with satisfaction.
The first domino had fallen. And as I looked out the window at the dark city skyline, I knew that by dawn, Julian Cross would be waking up to a nightmare he couldn't sign his way out of.