The moment Alaric heard the number, his mind went completely blank for a second, as though reality itself had stopped making sense.
“Ten billion dollars… and he calls it small money?”
The words slipped out of him in a stunned whisper, and his eyes widened as he stared at Alexander with disbelief that could not be hidden. Everything he had believed about wealth, power, and influence suddenly felt fragile, as if it had been built on sand.
Only then did he slowly begin to understand that compared to Alexander, even a powerful name like the Alderton Hills Lancaster family did not feel untouchable anymore, but instead looked like just another step in a much larger world he had never truly seen.
Alaric swallowed hard, forcing himself to steady his breathing as excitement and fear mixed toget
