A Woman Worth Billions Dated the Wrong Brother novel Chapter 253

A pause.

The futuristic ones.”

My stomach dropped even further. 1

The images Alice, Rose, and Iris had created.

The bait.

The trap.

The fake version of Ember Castle.

Glass towers.

Neon lighting.

Futuristic bridges.

Holographic displays.

The trap we had prepared for the Vincents.

“What happened?”

Pamela sounded exhausted.

“The images are everywhere.”

A pause.

“They’re claiming that’s what you actually did to the castle.”

I closed my eyes.

Of course they were.

“The public?”

“Outraged.”

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

“They’re demanding the Ashers leave Sum.”

Another pause.

“They want the castle returned.”

I rubbed my forehead.

Around me, the historians continued examining the library.

None of them noticed my expression changing.

Except Jason.

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2/9

He immediately walked over.

What happened?”

I handed him the phone.

His face darkened within seconds.

“Interesting.”

That was Jason’s version of furious.

I took my laptop from my bag.

If someone wanted a public relations war, they had chosen the wrong battlefield.

Ten minutes later, I had the answer.

Actually…

Nine minutes.

The culprit wasn’t particularly careful.

Which surprised me.

The account had been hidden behind layers of false identities.

VPNs.

Private servers.

Proxy networks.

Professional.

But not professional enough.

I followed the trail.

Then stopped.

No.

That couldn’t be right.

I checked again.

Then a third time.

The answer remained the same.

I slowly looked up.

Toward Professor Alina Marek.

Who was currently admiring a centuries-old bookshelf.

My stomach twisted.

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“It was her.”

Jason looked up.

“Who?”

I pointed discreetly.

“Professor Marek.”

His expression became unreadable.

“You’re certain?”

I rotated the screen.

“One hundred percent.”

Jason cursed softly.

That was unexpected.

Very unexpected.

Because Marek had seemed genuinely impressed.

Then again…

Appearances could be deceiving.

A voice interrupted us.

“You figured it out quickly.”

Jason and I spun around.

Dr. Vale stood behind us.

Completely calm.

For the first time all day, he wasn’t pretending to be angry.

His entire demeanor had changed.

Gone was the aggressive historian.

Gone was the skeptic.

Gone was the critic.

The man standing before us looked older.

Sharper.

Dangerous.

Jason immediately stepped in front of me.

Dr. Vale laughed.

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“Relax.”

Apause.

“If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t have spent six hours defending Stacy Archer’s restoration methods.”

Fair point.

Still.

Neither of us relaxed.

Dr. Vale looked around briefly.

Then reached inside his coat.

Jason tensed instantly.

The governor’s security team noticed.

Everyone noticed.

Then Dr. Vale pulled out…

A map.

A very old map.

Yellowed parchment.

Folded carefully.

Handled countless times.

He handed it directly to me.

I stared at it.

“What is this?”

His expression softened.

“A family heirloom.” 2

That answer raised more questions than it answered.

Then he quietly said:

“I am part of the Ember Alliance.”

The world stopped.

Jason froze.

I froze.

Everything froze.

“What?”

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5/9

Dr. Vale smiled faintly.

The real reason I’m here.”

My pulse quickened.

“You know about the Alliance?”

He laughed.

“My family has served it for five generations.”

Five generations.

Long before any of us were born.

Long before the Vincents targeted our families.

Long before the castle was abandoned.

Everything suddenly made sense.

“The act.”

I looked at him.

“The hostility.”

He nodded.

“Necessary.”