Chapter 3: The Crest of Fire
Etched into the skin at the base of Hazel's neck was a distinct, elegant birthmark shaped perfectly like a five-pointed royal crown, intertwined with a crescent moon.
Eleanor’s champagne glass slipped from her hand, crashing violently onto the marble floor. Catarina... the name echoed in her mind like a death knell. Twenty-two years ago, the Grand Duchess Catarina of the House of Romanov-Vance had tragically disappeared during a political coup in Eastern Europe along with her newborn daughter. Eleanor had been a distant lady-in-waiting to the Duchess, and she had secretly betrayed them, stealing a massive portion of their offshore bank accounts to fund the launch of the Carrington banking empire.
She had spent two decades convinced the royal baby was dead. But that birthmark was genetically unique to the Romanov-Vance bloodline.
"No... it's a fake! It's a fraud!" Eleanor shrieked, her aristocratic poise completely shattering as she stumbled backward into her friends. "She’s a scam artist! Security, arrest that waiter and this girl immediately! They are trying to rob us!"
"The only thief in this room is you, Eleanor Carrington," Leo said, stepping forward as he pulled a encrypted satellite communications device from his tuxedo jacket.
Suddenly, the grand glass doors of the ballroom were kicked open. A team of twelve heavily armed federal marshals, accompanied by agents from Interpol, marched into the room, their boots clicking sharply against the marble.
"Eleanor Carrington," the lead Interpol agent announced, flashing a high-level international warrant. "You are under arrest for grand treason, international money laundering, and the illegal seizure of the Romanov-Vance crown assets."
May you like
"You can't do this! I am a Carrington! This is my house!" Eleanor screamed, her face twisting into a mask of pure, ugly panic as the heavy steel handcuffs clicked tightly around her manicured wrists, ruining her sparkling silver gown.
As Eleanor was dragged down the center aisle of her own ballroom, her wealthy friends quickly stepped back, turning their faces away in disgust, completely abandoning her to save their own reputations.
