My Husband Announced Our Divorce in Front of 300 Wealthy Guests and Introduced His Mistress as His Future Wife—Then I Signed One Name That Made His Mother’s Smile Disappear. / Chapter 66 / 130

Chapter 66 - The Moon Pool of the Leviathan

The Grand Saloon was illuminated by the flickering light of an enormous bronze chandelier, casting deep shadows across twenty elderly men and women seated at a semi-circular mahogany bench. At the center of the tribunal sat Lord Arthur Sterling, a man whose skin resembled parchment stretched over bone, his ancient eyes cold and lifeless as polished obsidian.

On the floor below them, Richard Vance was barely recognizable. His bespoke tuxedo was torn and stained with grease; his face was swollen, his hair matted with blood. Beside him, Victoria Vance sat collapsed against the iron grating, her expensive emerald necklace ripped from her throat, her designer gown ruined. Sloane Avery was curled into a ball nearby, trembling uncontrollably, her hands bound behind her back with plastic zip-ties.

"The court will note the arrival of the claimant," Lord Sterling rasped, his voice sounding like dry leaves scraping across a tombstone. He did not look at Alistair; his gaze was fixed entirely on me. "Eleanor Whitaker. You have moved fast, child. You have dismantled thirty years of Vance mismanagement in less than twenty-four hours. But in doing so, you have accumulated their debts along with their equity."

"I inherited nothing from the Vance family," I said, stepping firmly to the center of the hall, the heels of my boots echoing sharply against the iron plates. "I reclaimed Whitaker assets that were stolen through fraudulent misrepresentation and an illegal marriage contract engineered under coercion."

"A marriage contract signed under our auspices cannot be dissolved by a civil judge in Manhattan," a woman seated to Sterling’s right declared. Her hair was silver, woven into an intricate crown, her accent aristocratic and dismissive. "Under the maritime charter of this Conclave, the Vance family’s insolvency triggers total forfeiture. You hold the accounts, Eleanor, but we hold the debt instruments that can freeze those accounts indefinitely. Unless, of course, you offer satisfaction."

Richard looked up then, his swollen eyes finding mine. "Eleanor... please," he choked out, tears cutting tracks through the grime on his cheeks. "Tell them. Tell them I gave you everything back! Tell them I signed the waivers! Mother made me do it... she told me you were weak, she said you'd never find the ledgers..."

"Silence the cur," Sterling ordered casually.

A guard struck Richard across the shoulders with a heavy baton, sending him sprawling face-first onto the grate. Victoria let out a broken, pathetic shriek—the same woman who, only weeks ago, had sneered at me across a mahogany dining table and told me I was a charity case elevated far above my station.

"Look at them, Eleanor," Sterling whispered, leaning forward. "The proud House of Vance, reduced to offal. We are prepared to release them to civil custody. We will even drop our challenge to your Level Seven seizures. All we require is one thing."

"And what is that, Sterling?" I asked coldly.