The trap snapped shut with terrifying, surgical precision.
They weren't fighting the royal decree with swords; they were suffocating it with the very financial machinery Asher owned.
By freezing the assets and calling the debt simultaneously, they nullified Laurence's ability to pay off Starfell's creditors.
The marriage would become legally void, Laurence would be bankrupted and imprisoned for fraud, and the territory would fall into Asher's hands without a single drop of blood spilled.
Victoria let out a sharp, choked intake of breath beside him, her hands trembling violently against her dress. She turned to look at Laurence, and for the first time, her haughty mask shattered completely, revealing raw, unadulterated terror.
She was looking to him.
The coward.
The weakling.
The man without a backbone.
Vance stepped closer, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial, mocking purr meant only for Laurence's ears.
