Unrivaled Dragon: The Fallen Heir’s Return

Chapter 5: The Vance Manor

The morning sun over River City was pale and cold, piercing through the lingering grey mist like a dull blade.

At the foot of Mount Solitude sat the Vance Family Ancestral Manor—a sprawling, sixty-acre estate surrounded by wrought-iron fences, ancient oak trees, and high stone walls. For over half a century, this manor had been the absolute symbol of power in the region. Within its halls, decisions were made that dictated the survival of shipping lines, banking firms, and local political dynasties.

By seven-thirty in the morning, the cobblestone driveway was packed with over fifty luxury sedans.

Inside the Ancestral Great Hall, the atmosphere was thick with suffocating tension. Dozens of branch family elders, senior corporate directors, and high-ranking shareholders sat along the long mahogany conference table. Everyone spoke in anxious, hushed whispers, their eyes darting nervously toward the heavy oak doors at the end of the room.

At the head of the long table sat Julian Vance.

He looked atrocious. Dark, bruised circles hung beneath his bloodshot eyes, his expensive silk shirt was wrinkled, and his hands trembled so violently he could barely hold his coffee cup. Beside him sat Evelyn Sterling, her cheek still red and swollen from her uncle's slap the night before.

"Julian," an elderly branch uncle whispered, leaning forward with a pale face. "Is it true? Did Ethan really return? Where did he get a hundred million dollars to seize the harbor terminal?"

"Shut up!" Julian snarled, slamming his cup onto the table, splashing dark liquid across the polished wood. "He’s a fraud! It was a trick! A temporary banking glitch engineered by rogue hackers!"

"A glitch?" another elder scoffed bitterly. "Victor Sterling slapped his own niece in front of three hundred people! He froze our central operating accounts! Our stock plummeted twenty percent when the morning markets opened thirty minutes ago!"

"I said quiet!" Julian roared, standing up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. "I control Vance Enterprises! I hold forty-five percent of the voting shares! The police will arrest Ethan the second he sets foot on this mountain!"

"Julian..." Evelyn’s voice trembled from beside him. She reached out, her fingernails digging into his coat sleeve as she stared toward the entrance of the courtyard. "Look outside..."

Julian snapped his head toward the floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the front gates.

A single, metallic-grey Maybach glided slowly through the open iron gates of the estate.

Behind it followed no motorcade of police cars. There were no flashing sirens. There was only the solitary luxury sedan, pulling up to the main marble steps of the hall.

The entire Great Hall fell dead silent. Over forty elders and executives rose slowly from their seats, their breath catching in their throats.

The Maybach's rear door opened.

Ethan Vance stepped out onto the cobblestones. He wore a crisp, tailored black suit that fitted his broad shoulders perfectly, his jet-black hair combed back, revealing his cold, chiseled face. Beside him, Claire Montgomery stepped out, wearing an elegant white trench coat, her posture firm and proud.

Ethan didn't rush. He walked up the stone steps, every click of his leather shoes echoing like a funeral bell through the open doors of the Great Hall.

When he crossed the threshold into the room, several older board members instinctively took a step back, their faces turning pale as paper.

Ethan swept his dark, golden-flecked eyes across the room, taking in the faces of the relatives and elders who had cheered when he was dragged away in chains three years ago.

"Eight o'clock," Ethan spoke calmly, his voice vibrating through the vast hall. "Every seat is filled. Good."

Julian's knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of the mahogany table. He forced himself to take two steps forward, his chest heaving as he tried to project an aura of authority.

"Ethan!" Julian yelled, his voice shaking slightly despite his best efforts. "You have no right to enter this manor! You were expelled from the Vance lineage by a unanimous vote of the board! You are an outsider!"

Ethan walked slowly down the central aisle toward the head of the table. "An outsider?"

He reached into his jacket, pulled out an ancient, gold-embossed leather ledger, and tossed it onto the table. It slid twenty feet down the polished wood, stopping directly in front of Julian.

"That is my father's original trust agreement," Ethan said smoothly. "Eighty percent of the land, the patents, and the voting rights of Vance Enterprises were registered under my bloodline. You and your mother were brought into this house as guests, Julian. A servant does not expel the master."

"That document is outdated trash!" Evelyn screamed, stepping out from behind Julian, her face contorted with desperation. "Your father is dead! You signed away your rights when you confessed to treason! The law recognizes Julian as the rightful Chairman!"

Ethan looked at Evelyn, his expression flat and unreadable. "The law?"

He raised his hand and lightly snapped his fingers.

CRACK.

The heavy double doors behind Julian suddenly flew off their brass hinges, crashing inward onto the floor with a deafening bang.

A tall, imposing man in a pristine grey suit walked into the hall, carrying a thick leather briefcase. He was followed by six federal auditors wearing official government badges.

Julian's breath hitched. "Director Raymond? The Chief Federal Auditor of the Capital?"

Director Raymond ignored Julian completely. He walked up to Ethan, placed his briefcase on the table, and bowed respectfully. "Lord Vance. The forensic audit of Vance Enterprises' accounts for the past thirty-six months is complete."

Raymond unlocked his briefcase and pulled out a stack of stamped federal documents, turning to face the terrified elders of the Vance family.

"As of six o'clock this morning," Director Raymond announced in a booming, professional tone, "the Federal Treasury has identified over two billion dollars in illegal embezzlement, tax evasion, and money laundering committed by Julian Vance and Evelyn Sterling. Furthermore, we have recovered the original, unedited surveillance footage from the master drive stolen three years ago."

Raymond hit a button on his tablet. The large projector screen on the wall lit up instantly.

A video played in crystal-clear high definition.

It showed Ethan sitting paralyzed in his office chair three years ago while Evelyn Sterling poured a dark liquid into his tea. Moments later, Julian entered the room, took Ethan's hand, and pressed his bloodied thumb against a pre-printed confession document.

Gasps of utter horror exploded across the Great Hall.

"They framed him!"

"It was murder and forgery!"

"They ruined the family name!"

The elders turned on Julian like a pack of starved wolves, their faces full of rage and terror.

Julian stumbled backward, his knees giving out as he collapsed into his chair. His face was completely drained of blood. "No... no, this is fake! It's an AI manipulation! I'm the Chairman! You can't do this to me!"

"You aren't the Chairman, Julian," Ethan said, stepping up to the head of the table. He looked down at his stepbrother as if looking at a piece of dirt on his shoe. "You are a thief who stayed in the palace too long."

Director Raymond waved his hand, and four armed federal marshals stepped out from the hallway, pulling out heavy steel handcuffs.

"Julian Vance, Evelyn Sterling," Director Raymond commanded coldly. "You are under arrest for corporate treason, attempted murder, grand embezzlement, and high forgery. You will be transferred to the Capital Maximum Security Facility without bail."

Evelyn dropped to her knees, weeping hysterically as a marshal clamped the cold metal around her wrists. "Julian! Do something! Save me!"

Julian didn't answer. He sat frozen in his chair, staring at Ethan with bloodshot, hopeless eyes. As the marshals dragged him toward the door, Julian suddenly stopped, letting out a wild, unhinged laugh.

"You think you won, Ethan?" Julian shrieked, saliva dripping from his lip. "You think taking back this company makes you safe? You have no idea what's coming! The people who ordered your father's death aren't in River City! They are in the Capital! The Four Great Clans will crush you like a bug!"

Ethan didn't even turn his head as the guards dragged the screaming Julian out of the hall.

The silence that returned to the Great Hall was absolute.

Over forty branch elders and directors stood trembling along the sides of the long mahogany table. Slowly, one by one, the oldest branch uncle stepped forward, lowered his head, and bowed deeply to Ethan.

"Lord Ethan," the old man choked out, his voice shaking. "Welcome home. The Vance family awaits your command."

Within seconds, every single elder in the room bowed ninety degrees, their voices echoing in unison through the high rafters: "Welcome home, Lord Vance!"

Claire stood beside Ethan, watching the highest lineage of River City kneel before the man who had walked out of a frozen wasteland twenty-four hours ago.

Ethan slowly walked to the head of the table, pulling out the massive carved-oak chair that had belonged to his father. He sat down, resting his forearms on the polished mahogany.

He looked out the high windows toward the distant skyline of the Capital City, his dark, golden-flecked eyes burning with cold, unyielding resolve.

River City had fallen. But his father's murderers were still breathing in the Capital—and the true war was only just beginning.