I ended the call and picked up the heavy brass key from the desk. Turning toward the window, I looked back at the sprawling mansion sitting on the hill, illuminated by the flashes of lightning in the night sky. Up on the second-floor balcony, the lights were bright, and I could see the faint silhouettes of Gavin and Celina celebrating their stolen victory with expensive champagne.

They thought they had stripped me of everything. They thought they were celebrating the end of a dynasty. But as I turned the key in my hand and stepped out of the gatehouse to meet Arthur’s approaching car, I knew that the real game hadn’t even begun yet—and by tomorrow afternoon, Gavin Barrett would finally understand the true cost of his ambition.