Chapter 3: The Queen Unveiled
The room was so quiet you could hear the heartbeat of the chandelier crystals. Mark, pinned to the floor by two massive guards, gasped. "Grand... granddaughter? That’s impossible. She’s an orphan! She has no family!"
Elena stood up straight. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, but her eyes weren't filled with fear anymore. They were cold, hardened steel. She straightened her torn gown, every movement calculated and graceful. She looked down at the man who had tormented her, who had spent months gaslighting her into believing she was worthless.
She leaned down, her lips brushing his ear.
"You didn't marry a pauper, Mark," she whispered, her voice a chill wind. "You married the heir to the Sterling Empire. You just never bothered to check my birth certificate because you were too busy counting the money you thought you were stealing from me."
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She stood up and looked at her grandfather. "He tried to force me to sign away the family holdings, Grandfather."
The old man raised his cane, pointing it at Mark. "Liquidate him."
