Chapter 20 - THE NEW EMPRESS REIGNSOne year later, the New York social season was in full swing, and the Mayfair Grand ballroom was once again hosting the annual Winter Charity Gala.
Six hundred people filled the room, surrounded by crystal chandeliers, expensive champagne flutes, and the quiet, glittering hum of high society.
I stood near the center of the ballroom, wearing a backless, midnight-blue silk gown that commanded every eye in the room. On my right stood Mason, laughing quietly with a group of international investors, and on my left stood Julian Vance, now officially the Managing Director of Hartwell Global Acquisitions, whose arm rested securely against my waist.
Across the room, a young corporate climber tried to catch my eye, offering a nervous, polite smile.
I didn't smile back. I simply looked at him with the cold, absolute authority of a queen who had survived every trap, crushed every rival, and claimed an empire.
My phone buzzed in my clutch.
I glanced down at the screen. A single, final legal notification from the federal prison system:
Inmate Preston Hale: Transfer to maximum security completed. Sentence serving year 1 of 15.
I locked the screen, slipped the phone back into my bag, and raised my champagne flute to toast the room.
They used to think my family’s support would survive anything.
They were wrong.
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My family didn't just survive. We conquered.
And the crown was never leaving my head again.
