The pendant and Old Master Harper’s letter, “You are more than you and they know”, burned in Benjamin’s mind all night. He’d given himself thirty days to prove it, but morning light brought no clear answers. Just more questions and that box tucked under his bed like it weighed a ton.He needed space. Away from Evelyn’s barking orders, Amelia’s cold silences, and Marcus’s smug grin. So before dawn, Benjamin slipped out the side door and crossed the garden barefoot, shoes dangling from his fingers.Past the trimmed hedges, the city’s noise faded. He found an old stone bench under the only tree the gardeners hadn’t ripped out yet. He sat, turned the box in his lap, tracing the swirling carvings Old Master Harper had once traced too. The lid felt warm, like it wanted him to look deeper. He didn’t dare. Not yet.A car door slammed. He stiffened, peeking through the hedge. Marcus’s black sedan idled by the servant gate. Benjamin ducked low, pressing the box to his chest. The gardener trundl

When the sky lightened to gray, Benjamin dragged himself up.He dressed quickly, careful not to rattle the loose floorboard near the door. He left the ledger hidden but slipped the card and pendant into his inner pocket. Before Evelyn’s harsh voice could corner him with chores, he slipped out the side gate, boots crunching on the gravel path as the city woke up around him.The City Archives was an old, low building dwarfed by glass towers on every side — like a relic someone forgot to tear down. Inside, it smelled of dust and paper so old it felt brittle. A bored clerk barely looked up from his desk, nodded at the card Benjamin showed him, and mumbled something about family records in the basement.The basement vault smelled like mildew and old ink. Benjamin ran his finger down rows of heavy files until he found one marked “Carter Trust”. His throat tightened. He flipped it open on a creaking table under a single flickering bulb.Inside were deeds for farmland stretching for miles out

Evelyn’s voice knifed through the marble foyer. “Benjamin! Get down here. The police are here for a thief!” Her silk robe snapped around her ankles like a flag claiming victory. “Marcus chuckled under his breath, too pleased with himself. Amelia stood at Benjamin’s door again, her arms folded, eyes wide, jaw set. Last night’s warning still glowed behind her gaze: If you’re lying, I’ll burn it all down myself.Benjamin’s heart hammered when Clara slipped in through the back stairwell, breathless and with her apron askew. Her fingers shook as she caught his wrist and tugged him into the shadows. “Listen to me—there’s something I’ve kept from you.” Her voice was rough, like brittle paper.He tried to steady her. “Clara, they’ll drag me out in chains. If I don’t have more than this—”“I know,” she hissed. She pulled a small black drive from the folds of her apron, pressing it hard into his palm. “Years ago, I caught her. Evelyn. I walked in on her mixing something—powder, white as chalk—

Dawn broke over the city in shards of cold gold. The Carter Air Bank’s marble pillars rose like sentinels as Benjamin Carter stepped into the building. In his pocket, the temporary access card seared his palm. Around his neck, the dragon pendant pulsed warm against his skin.Yesterday’s storm still made his body ache. He could still hear Evelyn screaming as the police took her away, see the doubt in Amelia’s eyes, and taste the bitterness of betrayal. Now Evelyn was free again, digging her claws back into the family's corrupt core. Benjamin clenched his jaw, he wouldn’t back down this time.Inside, the same clerk from before saw him and quickly led him past the marble counters to a glass office at the back. Ms. Grayson, the manager, was waiting behind a modern desk. She stood up as soon as she saw the pendant.“Mr. Carter.” Her voice softened. “You’re ready to finish this?”Benjamin laid everything out—Victor’s sealed contract from the garden marker, the trust documents, the brass ke