Chapter3

Eleanor didn't look at me.

She walked straight over to Chloe, cupping her face with aching tenderness to examine the red mark my slap had left behind. Only then did her gaze trail along the path of blood on the floor, finally landing on my face.

"Are you quite done?" she asked coldly.

I glared at her. Leaning heavily on the hand I had planted in the broken glass, I swayed, but pushed myself up with stubborn defiance.

My body trembled slightly. "Eleanor, tell them to back off. I want to see my lawyer right now. I am taking back everything that belongs to me."

"Serena, you are far too sick." Eleanor shook her head with feigned pity. She adjusted her priceless shawl and slowly turned around to face the hundreds of elites and socialites filling the hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen, besides celebrating the Group's centennial today, I will also take this opportunity to announce a crucial family resolution."

Eleanor's voice rang out clearly, reaching everyone's ears.

"The patriarch is severely ill and has officially retired. For the sake of the Astor family's century-old legacy, I will convene a board meeting first thing tomorrow morning. One hundred percent of the Group's shares under the patriarch's name, along with the hundred-billion-dollar family trust, will be legally transferred into the name of my daughter, Chloe! Furthermore, Liam and Noah will step in to assist her in ushering in a new era for the Astor empire!"

Thunderous applause and gasps of shock erupted throughout the room. Countless fawning gazes instantly locked onto Chloe, Liam, and Noah.

A deafening ring echoed in my ears.

"Are you insane?!" I shrieked, charging forward recklessly. "That is my grandfather's legacy! That is the empire my father traded his life to build! What gives you bloodsuckers the right—"

"Hold her down!" Eleanor snapped.

The moment the words left her mouth, Liam and Noah lunged forward simultaneously. The oldest brother, who had once taught me how to ride horses, ruthlessly twisted my arms behind my back; my second brother, who used to read me bedtime stories on rainy nights, seized me by the back of the neck. Together, they pinned me down like a criminal in front of Eleanor.

"Let me go! You liars! You thieves!" I struggled frantically. Blood spilled from my mouth, splattering across their pristine white suits.

Smack!

Eleanor raised her hand and delivered a vicious slap. She grabbed a fistful of my hair, leaning in close with a venomous glare.

"What do you think you are? Your grandfather is on a cruise ship in the middle of the Pacific, and I cut off his satellite communications long ago. In this house, I am the law. I am God!"

With that, she dragged me by my hair and hurled my head brutally against the adjacent marble Roman pillar.

Crack!

Blood instantly trailed down my forehead, blinding my left eye. I collapsed limply onto the freezing marble floor, my consciousness beginning to blur.

"Throw this madwoman into the basement and lock her up. Once the celebration is over, find a back-alley doctor and have that little bastard in her stomach cleaned out." Eleanor drew a handkerchief, elegantly wiping the fingers that had just touched me.

Everyone watched my countdown to death with cold, stony indifference. Chloe leaned against Julian's chest, flashing a victorious, condescending smile.

But just as Eleanor turned around, preparing to accept the raised glasses and congratulations of the entire room—

BOOM—!!!

The grand double doors of the hall were literally blown off their hinges by a massive external force.

Fifty heavily armed bodyguards flooded into the hall. They drew their weapons immediately, aiming live firearms at everyone in the room.

Hundreds of high-society guests screamed in terror, dropping to the floor and shielding their heads.

A white-haired old man, flanked by a phalanx of men in black suits, stepped heavily into the hall.

His eagle-like eyes completely locked onto me as I lay bleeding on the floor.

The old man thrust a fierce finger at Eleanor, who was frozen in place and drained of all color, and let out a furious roar:

"Who gave you the goddamn nerve to touch the sole rightful granddaughter of the Astor family?!"