Chapter 34: The Second Return
1110 Words
Lucy’s POV
The double iron doors guarding the Castellano estate courtroom suddenly slammed violently open.
Everyone present there turned their heads
Gasps echoed throughout the courtroom.
And there I stood tall, not in the form of a ghost, and never to be remembered like a memory, not even to be considered a hallucination, I was alive, totally real, and despite my pregnancy, I stood tall in heels, on well tailored black-on-black perfectly hugging my curves, and my baby bump showcased proudly.
“Is that not...?”
“She was confirmed dead and ...”
“Impossible, this can't be!”
Ryker sprang to his feet immediately, his eyes wide in shock. His facial expression was totally pale, and his lips parted, but no word came out, none agreed to be formed. He was speechless, not believing he was seeing me.
“Lucy…” he whispered not even himself could hear it, but I saw his lips move.
I didn’t give him the attention he wanted.
Well, not yet.
I walked straight to the middle of the room like one in charge, and of course, I was in charge. Legal document was on my left hand, and my eyes were burning with fury. I came for a purpose, and I will achieve it.
“I hope you disgusting wolves did well to save your apologies for yourselves,” I started very coldly, “because I didn't come all the way for any of such. I’m here on one purpose, to reclaim not leaving behind everything that belongs to me."
“Guards...” one of the greedy councilmen screamed from his seat, half-standing.
I furiously slapped the document on a desk nearby.
“Sit down right now, Councilor Deeks,” I ordered with so much venom. “Before I go extreme and file a lawsuit for masterminding the conspiracy to hide a royal will and also the brain behind my attempted murder.”
He froze as I mentioned that. He had no idea I know everything now.
I turned to face the already stunned and surprised faces of the werewolf council. They could not believe their eyes that I could be alive and pulling all these up.
“I, with the name Luciana Mariana Castellano, the surviving living heiress of the almost extincted Castellano Empire, hereby with full authority challenge the legality of the marriage contract issued under great false pretenses by Alpha Ryker Nightbane, and reclaim with immediate effect full rights over my inheritance, including my title, and most importantly, not excluding my protection as a hybrid Alpha which is fully valid under supernatural law.”
There was deafening silence everywhere; not even a pin dropped. Their jaws were wide open, almost touching the ground.
Ryker, still standing, took fast strides forward toward me. “Lucy, I didn’t intend to....”
“You knew everything,” I snapped, flames almost visibly coming from my eyes. “You did your research and found out who I was. You knew everything about the will, nothing can be hidden. When I became pregnant, you didn't stop there, you made me sign disgusting contracts because I was desperate for money to treat my brother."
His jaw clenched as he lacked words to defend himself. “I didn’t plan to trick....”
“You didn’t fulfill your promise of protecting me either,” I said, my voice threatening to betray me with tears, but I didn't agree. “You gave the members of your pack the freedom to chase me like their prey. You still allowed Selene to roam free after all she did. You made me believe I had seen someone different, that I could trust you. And when they succeeded in their plan of pushing off the cliff to the unknown worlds, you didn't do anything to rescue me; rather, you let me stay dead in your memory."
“I never rested even a day, always mourning you every second I get,” Ryker narrated in pain, hoping I would believe him just like that. “I searched every nook and cranny until I had no strength and collapsed”
“And right now, I didn't come for plays, you’re going to hear me,” I cut in before he could finish.
I turned immediately to face the council.
“This Castellano empire is forever mine. The Castellano bloodline, as we all know, flows deep in me. And I can remember clearly that by the laws of supernatural succession, no human contract in any way has the authority to exert power over an heir the moment her supernatural identity is made known to all "
Councilman Taro, who happens to be the oldest among them and the wisest of them all, then cleared his throat to get attention. “She’s very right. That law still stands.”
“What are you talking about?” Ryker’s voice came rather shocked.
“According to the marriage contract, the clause inserted in the contract you signed in pretence with her records in assumption that she was a mortal human. And we all can bear witness that she is not. Therefore, without further argument, the clause crumbles immediately under hybrid immunity. Every of her inheritance returns to her lawfully.”
Ryker’s face became pale. He had never imagined that such a day would ever come in his life.
The quiet room suddenly turned into a marketplace with murmurs.
I moved closer to face him now, my shoulders lifted high. “I survived death, came back alive, Ryker, with your heirs. I made the mistake of trusting you once. And right now, I withdraw everything to trust myself more.”
He swallowed hard an invisible lump, and I could see guilt all over his facial expression. “Lucy… I never desired to hurt you, or even lose you.”
“You already hurt me, and you have lost me,” I said quietly. “Now, watch as I rise to greatness."
A few hours later…
I came outside to see Kael leaning comfortably in the car we came with.
“Told you not to worry, they would end up eating each other raw,” he said with an annoying grin.
“Well, I didn’t have the time to watch them choke, though it would have been fun, I came for business. To reclaim my inheritance, and take back my crown.”
“And I'm not shocked how well you wore it, Castellano.”
,
I smirked, leaning on the car beside him. “Oh, darling, that was nothing to what you are yet to see. Wait till the moment they would all see me on my war armor!”
- Writer
