Chapter 9 - The Trial of Vivienne Kane
Two days later, the rain had finally stopped, replaced by a cold, crisp winter sun that illuminated the snow-covered streets of New York.
The Commission had called an extraordinary session, not in a hidden basement, but in the grand ballroom of the Plaza Hotel—a public display of the changing of the guard.
I stood at the back of the ballroom, wearing a long, tailored black coat that concealed the post-pregnancy wraps around my stomach. My hair was styled into a neat, short pixie cut that looked sharp, modern, and intentional. I was no longer the frightened girl from Queens; I was the mother of the Sovereign.
In the center of the ballroom, surrounded by fifty armed soldiers from every family in the city, Vivienne Kane sat in a single wooden chair.
Her expensive clothes were stained, her face was gaunt, and her hands were bound behind her back with heavy plastic zip-ties. She had been found hiding in a safehouse near the Jersey marshes, abandoned by everyone she had ever tried to control.
Roman stood before her, flanked by Don Carmine and the other heads of the Commission.
"Vivienne Kane," Don Carmine announced, his voice echoing off the crystal chandeliers. "You have been found guilty of violating the sacred compact of the Five Families. You hid the true succession, you attempted to murder a confirmed bloodline heir, and you brought unauthorized violence into the territory of this Commission."
Vivienne raised her chin, her eyes still burning with an toxic, venomous hatred as she looked past Roman and landed her gaze directly on me.
"You think you've won?" she spat, her voice raspy. "You brought a street rat into our palace. She will never understand our ways. She will ruin everything we built!"
I stepped forward, the sound of my low heels clicking sharply against the polished marble floor. The guards automatically parted to let me through, bowing their heads slightly as I passed.
I stopped right in front of her chair, looking down at the woman who had ordered my hair cut and thrown me into the freezing rain.
"I don't need to understand your ways, Vivienne," I said, my voice calm, steady, and completely devoid of fear. "Your ways built a family that eats itself from the inside out. Your ways left you sitting in this chair, alone, with nothing but your pride."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a single document—the title deed to the Kane estate in upstate New York.
"This house, the money, the lineage... it all belongs to Alicia Kane now," I told her, placing the paper on her lap. "And as her mother, I am signing the authorization to seize every single asset you accumulated. You are being stripped of your name. You are no longer a Kane."
Vivienne's face went completely white. "You can't do this... Roman, tell her! I am your mother!"
Roman didn't look at her. He stepped up next to me, wrapping his arm securely around my waist.
"My mother died the moment she put hands on my wife," Roman said coldly. "The Commission has decided your fate. You are exiled to a secure facility in upstate New York. You will have a roof over your head, and you will have food, but you will never see the city light again. You will live the rest of your days knowing that the girl from Queens is running your empire."
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Vivienne opened her mouth to scream, but Marcus and two guards quickly grabbed her chair, dragging her out through the side doors as she wept and cursed our names until the heavy doors slammed shut, silencing her forever.
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