Shadow of the Crown

Chapter 9: The Impossible Bid

The auction floor of 'The Vault' felt more like a courtroom where the sentence was always death. High-back velvet chairs were filled with men in shadow and women dripping in blood-money jewels. At the front, the Prime Minister of Eldoria—a man whose face was etched with the weariness of a thousand bribes—sat in a throne-like seat.

Xander led Eleanor to a private booth, his hand never leaving the small of her back. Below them, Stephanie sat with her father, her eyes never leaving Eleanor. She was whispering into the older man’s ear, her gestures sharp and frantic.

"She’s telling him I’m a fake," Eleanor whispered, her lips barely moving as she stared at the stage.

"Let her," Xander replied, his gaze fixed on the Prime Minister. "By the time they gather enough evidence to prove you aren't a shipping heiress, I’ll have what I came for. Just keep your head up. I look bored. Look like the world belongs to you."

The auctioneer, a man with a voice like grinding gravel, stepped to the podium. "Lot 44. The Sovereign Ledger. Encrypted archives of the Crown’s private transactions from 2020 to 2025."

A hush fell over the room. That ledger didn't just contain numbers; it contained the names of every official the Queen had bought. It was the ultimate leverage.

The bidding started at ten million. It climbed to fifty within seconds. The Prime Minister looked on with a smug grin, knowing his mistress—the Queen—ultimately controlled the ledger's fate.

"Eighty million," a voice called out from the back.

"One hundred million," Stephanie’s father shouted, clearly trying to win back Xander’s favor through power.

Xander didn't even lift his paddle. He waited until the room went silent at one hundred and twenty million. Then, he stood up, pulling Eleanor with him so the entire room had to look at them.

"The Prince bids... what, exactly?" the auctioneer asked, his hand trembling.

"I don't bid in currency," Xander’s voice rang out, cold and absolute. "I bid for the return of the Southern Port. All of it. The routes, the guards, and the silence of the Eratas Syndicate."

A gasp erupted. He was bidding a territory he had just lost—a bluff of such magnitude it was suicidal.

Stephanie stood up, her face twisted in a sneer. "He’s lying! He doesn't have the Southern Port. My father’s men took it yesterday! And that woman beside him? She’s a nobody! A witness he picked up from a beach!"

The Prime Minister stood, his eyes narrowing. The guards in the room unholstered their weapons. The air in the room turned electric with the threat of a m******e.

Xander didn't flinch. He turned to Eleanor and whispered just loud enough for the front row to hear. "Tell them, darling. Tell them who your father met with in London last night."

Eleanor felt the cold sweat on her spine. She had no idea who her "father" was supposed to be. But she looked at Stephanie, then at the Prime Minister, and leaned into the lie with everything she had.

"He met with the Interpol Commissioner," Eleanor lied, her voice steady and mocking. "And if this ledger isn't in Xander’s hands in the next five minutes, the Southern Port won't belong to the Syndicate or the Queen. It will belong to the federal government."

The silence that followed was deafening.