Chapter 11 - The Shadows of New York
While the Crownridge Valley celebrated its newfound freedom, thousands of miles away in a glass-walled penthouse overlooking Manhattan, the tremors of Alaric Blackthorn’s downfall were sending shockwaves through the corporate elite. For decades, the Blackthorn Family Trust had operated as an untouchable syndicate, funneling millions through dummy foundations and political lobbies. Now, with the true heir, Rowan Mercer, dismantling the ancestral monopoly from the mountains, the board of trustees in New York panicked.
At the center of this panic was Victoria Vance, Alaric’s ruthless corporate proxy and the managing director of the Trust. Seated at a massive mahogany conference table, she stared at encrypted financial reports showing millions in frozen assets and land deeds reverting automatically to valley cooperatives under ancient royal succession laws.
"An orphan," Victoria spat, crushing a crystal glass in her manicured hand. "A nobody from the snowbanks has dismantled three generations of corporate empire in a single month."
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Her chief legal counsel, a nervous man named Sterling, adjusted his tie. "The traditional courts are recognizing the bloodline decree recovered from the archive, Ms. Vance. The Crown Eagle's appearance at the estate validated his lineage beyond legal challenge. If Rowan comes to New York to claim the primary corporate holdings, our entire portfolio collapses."
Victoria’s eyes narrowed into cold, calculating slits. She stood up, walking toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the glittering metropolis. "Then we don't wait for him to come to us. If the mountain boy thinks he can play king, we will show him how a modern empire crushes a peasant."
