Chapter 5 The Glass Queen
601 Words
The private jet banked over the jagged peaks of the Iron Mountains, the morning sun reflecting off its sleek, matte-black wings. Inside the cabin, the air was cool and smelled of expensive leather and white tea.
Elara—no longer the "nameless stray"—didn't look out the window. She was focused on the holographic tablet in front of her, swiping through the quarterly earnings of Solstice Global, the multi-billion dollar conglomerate she had built from the ground up using her father’s ancient resources and her own ruthless business mind.
She looked different. Her hair was no longer wild; it was styled in intricate, sharp braids adorned with gold cuffs. She wore a beautiful violet gown with with gold shimmer and long train that contrasted beautifully with her deep mahogany skin. Around her neck sat a single, priceless pendant: the Solstice Star.
"Mommy? Are we there yet?"
Elara’s gaze softened instantly. Sitting across from her was Leo. At five years old, he was already a force of nature. He wore a miniature version of a violet and gold designer suit, but his honey-gold eyes—the only thing he’d inherited from a father he’d never met—were wide with excitement.
"Almost, Leo," Elara said, reaching out to ruffle his curls. "We’re just landing for the Summit. Remember what we talked about?"
"Stay close to Silas, don't show my Spark unless it’s an emergency, and don't talk to strangers," Leo recited with a mischievous grin.
"Especially the ones who look like they think they own the world," a deep voice rumbled. Meanwhile in the grand ballroom of the Blackwood Estate was draped in white silk and gold lilies, the air thick with the scent of expensive champagne and the desperate forced laughter of the Silverledge elite. On the surface, it was a celebration—the fifth anniversary of Alpha Caspian Blackwood and his Luna, Lydia Thorne.
But beneath the surface, the pack smelled of decay. The Thorne alliance had drained the Blackwood coffers, and the "power couple" was a hollow shell of what Caspian had promised.
Caspian stood on the raised dais, a glass of vintage scotch in his hand. He looked older. The honey-gold in his eyes was duller, weighed down by the stress of a crumbling empire. Beside him, Lydia was draped in diamonds, her smile brittle and sharp as glass.
"A toast," Caspian announced, his voice echoing through the silent hall. "To five years of strength. To the future of Silverledge—" A roar of a powerful engine filled the outside of the estate. The crowd gathered by the doors and windows to witness the commotion and royalty stepping out of the plane. Mutters scattered across the room as they were bewildered by the power that graced thier presence. As Elara stepped onto the tarmac, her heels clicking against the ground like a drumbeat of war, she didn't feel fear. She felt a simmering, righteous power.
She wasn't back for a reunion. She wasn't back for an apology.
She was here to buy the ground Caspian stood on and watch him realize that the "nothing" he had discarded was now the woman who held his entire future in her hands.
"Silas," she said, adjusting her sunglasses as a fleet of black SUVs pulled up. "Tell the organizers that the CEO of Solstice Global has arrived. And tell them I’m looking forward to the opening gala."She took Leo’s hand, feeling the faint, warm hum of his Spark beneath his skin.
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