Chapter 15 49 % - 1 回 X TORREN'S POV The boardroom was quiet except for the sound of my voice echoing off the walls . I was halfway through the pitch , laying out our expansion plans in Jakarta , when the door slammed open . Everyone turned . Mico burst in , sweating like a sinner in church and holding a tablet with both hands like it was on fire . " Sir ! " he said , panting . " You need to see this . Now . " I raised a brow . " Mico , I'm in the middle of a million - dollar presentation . You better have a damn good reason for- " He shoved the tablet into my hands before I could finish . I scowled and took it , fully ready to fire his ass in front of these foreign bastards . Then I saw the headline . " Ephraim Lambert Engaged to Heiress Therese Calderon . " My mouth went dry . My grip tightened on the tablet . " Calderon ? " I muttered . The name hit me like a punch . I remembered hearing it once … no , twice . At a political gala years ago . Some diplomats whispered about Duke Rafe Calderon , like the man was a ghost or a myth . Royals . The old money kind . Not just rich , but dangerous . Mico leaned close and lowered his voice . " Sir … she's one of them . Therese . She's Duke Rafe's eldest daughter . The one who vanished . The one who walked away from all of it . " My spine locked . " What ? " " She was supposed to marry some heir in Spain . The whole alliance thing . But she ran . They disowned her . She disappeared . And she married … you . " The investors stared . I couldn't hear what they were saying anymore . The words felt like static . I raised a hand to signal the meeting was done . I stood up , still gripping the tablet like it would bleed answers . I walked straight into my office . Mico followed and closed the door behind him . " Give me everything , " I said . " I want her entire bloodline laid out on my desk . And Lambert's too . I'want photos . I want dirt . I want the truth . " He opened a folder and laid it all out . There was Therese - not the pale little mouse I used to bark at in the kitchen - but a girl in pearls , standing beside her father at some gala . Hair pinned up . Back straight . Smile calm and deadly . He Left Me for Dead , Now He Beas Me for Mercy 1/3 13.1 % 22:09 Sun , Aug 10 - 49 % X She was radiant . Perfect posture . Eyes sharp . " She was never ordinary , " I whispered . Mico added quietly , " She had full honors in university . Fluent in three languages . Piano prodigy . She was even photographed with the Duchess of Montereale . That's how high her status was . Then she vanished from records eight years ago . After she chose you . " I sat down hard in my chair and looked at the photo again . " I had a diamond ," I said , voice rough . " And I traded her for Ruby . " Mico stayed silent . I poured myself a glass of whiskey . My hand trembled as I drank it . " What else did I not know about my own wife ? " I muttered . The glass clinked against the desk , and I stared at the screen . She had returned as something else now . Not my wife . Not my victim . She was power in a silk dress . And I knew I had made the worst mistake of my life . ** Mico returned the next day looking like he hadn't slept . He was holding a thick - ass folder , heavier than the last one . His knuckles were white around it and his expression already told me I wasn't gonna like whatever was inside . I was slumped on the couch in my office , shirt half - buttoned , still tasting last night's whiskey in my throat . My head was pounding like a drum and I had poured myself another glass just to feel human . But it just sat there on the table . Untouched . Mico stood in front of me and cleared his throat . " You're not gonna like this , sir , " he said and gently placed the folder down like it was a loaded gun . I rubbed my temples and leaned forward . " Mico , just get to the point . My head's splitting and I don't have the patience for dramatic buildup . " He opened the folder and started talking . " Ephraim Lambert , " he said . " One of the Five Old Blood families . They've been running shit from behind the scenes for generations . Billionaires . Monarch - tier power . No front - page scandals . No political enemies . Clean and terrifying . " I looked up at him . " You're saying he's one of those ? " Mico , nodded . " Yup . The Lamberts used to be the Calderons ' fiercest allies . Way back . There's a photo here , " he flipped a page , " Lambert's grandfather shaking hands with Rafe Calderon in '86 . Geneva summit . Backroom alliance deals . Hidden property mergers . Quiet wars no one even knew happened . " I leaned back , slowly . My stomach twisted as I asked , " So this isn't a marriage ." 2/13 44.4 % 22:09 Sun , Aug 10 49 % 田 0 X He shook his head . " No , sir . This is a revival . It's the Old Blood reuniting . Think monarchy chess , not some fairytale shit . This isn't about love . This is power reconstruction . " I stared at the photos . One showed Ephraim standing at a marble podium , flanked by men in tailored suits . Another was a blurry aerial shot of some island estate . Private landing strip . Armed guards . Helicopters on standby . " Jesus ," I muttered . " She's not crawling back … she's storming back . With firepower . " Mico didn't speak . He just let it hang in the air like a warning . I picked up the glass and finally drank , but my hand shook so bad it nearly slipped from my fingers . The burn down my throat was nothing compared to the one spreading in my chest . I kept staring at the folder . All this time , I thought she was this soft thing . Quiet . Fragile . A background wife . Turns out she was royalty . And now , she was armed with a king . 22:10 Sun , Aug 10