Chapter 4 - The Golden Box Beneath the Debris
The elite guests stood frozen like statues, completely terrified by the raw display of strength and authority from the exiled son.
Clara slowly managed to stand, holding Lucas’s jacket tightly around her shoulders as she watched her brother with tears of awe.
Victoria groaned in humiliation, struggling to lift herself up from the puddle of spilled champagne and broken crystal shards.
As she violently pushed herself away from the shattered mahogany table, her elbow struck an ornate hidden compartment beneath the decorative bar.
A heavy, velvet-lined mahogany jewelry box slipped from the damaged shelf and tumbled through the air.
It hit the hard marble floor with a sharp crack, the brass hinges snapping completely off upon impact.
The lid bounced away, spilling sparkling diamonds, gold chains, and velvet pouches across the stained patio.
However, none of those precious jewels drew Lucas’s attention.
Sliding across the wet floor, coming to a halt directly at Lucas’s combat boots, was a thick, ivory parchment envelope.
It was tied with a braided black silk cord and sealed with heavy crimson wax that gleamed under the afternoon sun.
Lucas’s heart stopped for a single, agonizing beat as his eyes recognized the distinct, intricate symbol pressed into the crimson wax.
It was the personal signet crest of his late father, Arthur Sterling, depicting a crowned falcon holding a balance of justice.
It was a seal Arthur used exclusively for his most classified, life-altering legal and personal declarations.
Lucas slowly bent down and picked up the envelope, the cold parchment sending a familiar chill straight down his spine.
The moment Victoria caught sight of the envelope resting in Lucas’s wet hands, the color drained completely from her face.
Her arrogant, vicious expression vanished, replaced instantly by sheer, unadulterated terror.
She scrambled forward on her hands and knees, ignoring the sharp glass cutting into her palms, her eyes wide with frantic dread.
“NO! PUT THAT DOWN! THAT IS PRIVATE PROPERTY!” she shrieked, her voice cracking into a desperate wail.
“DON’T YOU DARE OPEN THAT ENVELOPE, LUCAS! IT BELONGS TO ME!”
Chloe, still whimpering on the ground with a swollen face, looked at her mother in total confusion, never having seen Victoria so completely terrified.
Richard tried to push himself up from the broken wood, his face purple from lack of breath, but he too froze when he saw the ivory paper.
Lucas looked from the screaming woman on the ground down to the wax seal, his intuition screaming that he held the key to his father’s sudden death.
The guests began to murmur among themselves, recognizing the desperate panic radiating from the woman who claimed to own everything.
“Why are you shaking, Victoria?” Lucas asked in a voice as cold as the depths of winter.
“If this is merely personal property, why does my dead father’s crest make you look like a condemned criminal standing before the gallows?”
Victoria lunged forward to snatch it, but Lucas stepped back effortlessly, raising the document far beyond her reach.
With deliberate, theatrical precision, Lucas slid his thumb beneath the heavy crimson wax.
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SNAP.
The ancient seal fractured into a dozen pieces, breaking the silence of the garden and shattering Victoria’s stolen kingdom forever.
