The Almighty Commander of Pyreking

Chapter 6

Lord Bruce stared silently at the open box resting on his desk. He reached into his drawer, pulled out a pair of white gloves, and slowly drew them over his fingers.

He had adjusted a high-powered LED desk lamp, angling the white light directly onto the polished surface of the green jade seal.

Vivian held her breath, her lips stretched into a broad smile.

Next to her, Trevor stood with his thumbs tucked into his waistcoat pockets, looking around the room as if he already owned a share of the Pyreking network.

Lord Bruce picked up the seal. He held it three inches from his eye under the bright beam, turning the square base carefully in his gloved palm.

Three seconds passed.

Five seconds.

By the tenth second, the color in Lord Bruce’s face changed. The quiet indifference vanished, replaced by a terrifying storm of rage.

His veins bulged against his forehead, and his jaw tightened.

BANG!

Lord Bruce slammed his open palm down onto the desk with violent force.

The impact shook the room.

"You dare bring me this trash?" Lord Bruce roared, his voice booming through the suite like thunder.

Vivian jumped violently, her heart dropping straight into her stomach. Her smile disappeared as she shivered in fear.

"Lord Bruce, What do you mean?"

"This is a fake!" Bruce spat, throwing the twelve-million-dollar jade seal onto the desk like a piece of worthless gravel. It skidded across the wood, chipping slightly at the corner.

"It's cheap, low-quality resin! It was treated with acid and green dye in just the last six months. The carving marks were made by a modern laser machine. You brought a six-dollar piece of junk in front of me and called it an imperial relic?”

The air in the room turned ice-cold.

Vivian’s eyes widened.

"No! no! no! That's impossible!" she gasped, her voice trembling.

She turned, pointing a shaking finger straight at Trevor. "Trevor, Tell him! You verified it, right? You brought us the loan and you said your family's experts checked the history!"

Trevor's face turned dark, but his survival instincts kicked in with speed. He immediately took two steps away from Vivian, putting distance between them as he held up his hands in denial.

"Aunt Vivian, what are you talking about?" Trevor shouted smoothly, instantly throwing her to the wolves. "I only helped you secure entry to the building. You were the one obsessed with winning the auction! I had no idea you were buying an unverified piece of trash just to flatter Lord Bruce. Don't try to drag the Rhodes family into your foolish greed!"

Vivian stared at Trevor in disbelief. "Trevor you snake. You told me to sign the loan! You said—"

"I said nothing of the sort!" Trevor cut her off harshly, turning to bow deeply toward Lord Bruce. "Lord Bruce, I swear on my family name, I was deceived by this woman's desperate ambitions. She dragged her daughter and me into this scheme!"

"SILENCE!" Lord Bruce barked.

The room fell dead quiet.

Lord Bruce’s eyes burned with fury.

To present a fraudulent piece under the Pyreking Dynasty name was a grave insult to the Order.

If the High Council learned that an obvious counterfeit had passed through his personal security perimeter, his reputation would be utterly ruined.

"Guard!" Bruce commanded coldly. "Lock the suite doors, no one leaves."

Four guards immediately stepped forward as they blocked the entrance, their hands resting ominously inside their jackets.

"Lord Bruce, please, Have mercy!" Vivian dropped to her knees, weeping tears as she reached toward the desk. "We are innocent, we spent our entire life savings. Twelve million dollars, our house deed, my late husband's insurance, everything is gone!"

"Your stupidity is your own executioner," Lord Bruce said with fury. "Not only did you attempt to insult The Pyreking Dynasty, but you brought illegal forgery into my house. Effective immediately, the Ellis family and the Rhodes Group are blacklisted from every bank, trade route, and market under my authority."

Trevor was left shocked, he shook his head as if trying to disagree with the man, but he knew better than to utter a word.

He was only trying to get the woman, and her daughter into trouble he never anticipated that it would also affect him.

“What is he going to do?” He thought as fear grip him.

“Lord Bruce, the Rhodes family has nothing to do with them. You can't blacklist us.”

Lord Bruce looked down at his chief security officer. "Call the financial task force. Seize the Ellis family company assets to cover the fraudulent transaction fees of this auction. Strip them of everything."

“Do the same for the Rhodes family.”

"NO! NOOO!" Vivian shrieked, clutching her head as she collapsed onto the floor, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe. Her world had collapsed in less than a minute.

The dreams of being noble, and the luxury all disappeared like smoke. What was left was a huge pile of crushing debt.

Two guards stepped forward, grabbing Vivian by her upper arms and hauling her roughly to her feet.

Standing silently near the side of the room, Chloe didn't cry. She felt numb. The noise of her mother’s screaming sounded muffled, as if coming from underwater.

Her mind flashed back to the hallway in their house just hours ago.

“Do not let your mother bid on the green jade seal tonight. It’s a complete fake, Trevor is hyping up the bidding to force your mother into spending your entire family savings so your firm goes bankrupt.”

Every single word Tristan had spoken was the truth. He had seen through the trap from the start.

He had tried to save them, tried to protect her father's legacy, and in return, her mother had slapped him across the face, while Chloe herself had hesitated, doubting his background and lacking the courage to trust him.

An agonizing knot of guilt tightened in Chloe’s chest, making it painful to draw a single breath.

Tristan wasn't an uneducated loser. He wasn't a bitter vagrant trying to ruin their happiness. He was the only person in the world who had actually been telling them the truth.

“What do I do now?” She thought within herself.