Chapter 9: The Broken Prince
While Maya secured her throne in the sky, Marcus Sterling was drowning in the dark.
His penthouse apartment was a disaster zone of shattered whiskey bottles and overturned furniture. Marcus sat on the floor, staring blankly at the wall. In forty-eight hours, he had lost his best friend, his wife, and his entire worldview.
His phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.
He ignored it. It buzzed again. And again.
Finally, he swiped to answer. "What?" he croaked.
"Marcus, darling. It’s me."
Marcus froze. Eleanor. "How are you calling me? You're in federal holding."
"I have friends, Marcus. Powerful ones," Eleanor’s voice was sickeningly sweet, laced with a venom only he could hear. "I know what happened this morning. I know your father bowed down to that little waitress. They stole your inheritance, Marcus. Everything that was supposed to be ours."
"You tried to kill my father!" Marcus screamed, tears welling in his eyes. "You tried to kill me!"
"I tried to free us!" Eleanor snapped back, dropping the sweet act. "Arthur was never going to let you lead. And now? Now he’s handed the keys to a stranger. He threw you away, Marcus. Like garbage."
Marcus stared at the shattered glass on the floor. His chest heaved. He wanted to hang up. He wanted to hate her. But her words were twisting the knife of betrayal he already felt in his gut.
"I can fix this," Eleanor whispered. "I can get it all back for you. But I need you to do one thing for me. Tonight."
"What?" Marcus asked, his voice breaking.
"Go to your father's private study. Behind the portrait of your grandfather, there is a biometric safe. Arthur added your fingerprint when you turned eighteen. I need you to open it, take the black ledger inside, and bring it to a man named Victor Thorne."
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"Victor Thorne?" Marcus shuddered. "Dad hates him. He said Victor was a monster."
"Your dad is the monster, Marcus," Eleanor purred. "It’s time to take our family back."
