Chapter 9 - The Queen of QueensOne month later.
The Kane estate looked different now. The heavy iron gates were still there, but the oppressive, terrifying atmosphere had lifted. The old guards who had stood by and watched Vivienne cut my hair had been permanently replaced by men loyal only to Roman and Marcus.
I stood on the balcony of the master bedroom, looking out over the manicured lawns where I had once stood barefoot in the freezing rain.
My hair was growing back, a short, dark pixie cut that made me look fierce, sharp, and entirely unrecognizable from the quiet restaurant manager Roman had met in the alley.
I held Clara Victoria against my chest, her warm breath ticking against my neck.
Roman walked up behind me, wrapping his large arms around both of us. He leaned down, kissing the top of my head.
“The council has finalized the transition,” Roman murmured. “Every asset, every account, every piece of land is now legally held in a trust for her. You are the sole executor until she turns twenty-one.”
“And what about Vivienne and Julian?” I asked, keeping my voice low so as not to wake the baby.
Roman’s grip tightened slightly around my waist. “They were put on a boat to an isolated island in the South Pacific. No phones, no internet, no money. They will live out the rest of their days in absolute obscurity, surrounded by nothing but the ocean. For people who worshiped status and power, obscurity is a worse punishment than death.”
I looked down at the driveway below. A delivery truck from the discount pharmacy in Queens—the one my mother had worked at—was pulling up to the main entrance, delivering supplies I had personally ordered for the estate staff.
I smiled, a genuine, victorious smile.
“They thought a girl from Queens would ruin their bloodline,” I said softly, looking up into my husband’s eyes.
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Roman smiled back, his dark eyes filled with absolute devotion.
“They were wrong,” he said. “A girl from Queens didn't ruin the Kane family. She saved it.”
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