Not once.
Humiliation the things I did with that stranger.
My father guided me into my seat beside Uncle Zeke and Uncle Cole. On our side of the table, the Thorne name sat like it still meant something.
No one spoke.
A Sovereign Council aide stepped forward and placed a gold tablet at the center. The surface lit instantly, projecting heraldic markings in crisp, floating detail.
Marcellus.
Crow.
Arthenon.
Risvalin.
My stomach tightened hard enough to hurt.
The aide read in an official voice, trained to sound neutral while detonating lives.
“By invocation of the Sovereign Codex, the Crow Dynasty—Regional Seat of Villain—will merge full rights with Madeline Elizabeth Thorne, daughter of Marissa Thorne and Marcus Thorne, of the Thorne Dynasty.”
The words didn’t land like a sentence.
They landed like a collar clicking shut. My pulse stuttered. I needed to know who I had been sentenced to. The statement continued without mercy.
“Vincent Tobias Crow, heir of Tobias Crow and Abigail Crow, steward of Villain Capital and guardian of the Dominion District, is named dynasty-partner.”
My eyes snapped to the projection, then back again, like repetition could force it to change.
Vincent Crow.
Dynasty-partner.
My hands started to shake. The trembling embarrassed me more than the news. I locked my fingers together under the table until the pressure hurt.
My father pushed to his feet so abruptly his chair scraped. The sound echoed through carved wood like a protest that didn’t matter.
“This—” His voice cracked on the first word, anger scraping over grief. “—is the first time my daughter is hearing this.”
Damius didn’t flinch. His tapped his ring once against the table. Once.
“It is the only outcome.”
Uncle Zeke leaned forward, hands planted on the table as if he could physically hold the line. “The Thornes were not informed. You backdoored this engagement through a debt no one knew existed.”
Nikolai answered smoothly, voice calm enough to be insulting. “It was not backdoored. It was invoked. The Marcellus debt predates most modern dynasty contracts.”
Uncle Cole’s jaw flexed. “And you used my niece.”
“She was the asset the Marcellus tied to their merger,” Nikolai replied. “We accepted what was owed.”
The word asset made my skin crawl. It was accurate. That was the worst part. Men at these tables always spoke like that when they thought daughters couldn’t hear.
“I wasn’t told any of this,” My own voice surprised me with how steady it sounded.
Damius smiled faintly, as if I’d said something charmingly irrelevant.
