Seraphina POV:

The carriage stopped in front of Silverwood Manor. Looking at the familiar mansion, for the first time, I felt it was an exquisite cage, and I, the prey trapped within. The grand estate, funded entirely by my mother's dowry, now looked like a bloated leech, gorging itself on our blood.

I wanted to head straight to my room to prepare for my counterattack, but before I could even reach the stairs, a servant arrogantly blocked my path. "The Matriarch demands your presence in the dining hall immediately. The family is waiting."

I sneered inwardly. Waiting to devour me, no doubt. I changed my direction and walked toward the dining hall.

The room was filled with a stuffy fragrance, my grandmother's favorite expensive incense used to display her noble taste. She sat ramrod straight in the main seat, her hand resting on the ebony cane that symbolized her power. Her face was as dark as a stormy sky.

My aunt, Beatrice, Clarisa's mother, sat on a nearby chair. She didn't even bother dabbing her eyes; the malicious glee on her face was completely undisguised.

"You have the face to come back!" my grandmother slammed her cane on the floor with a dull thud as soon as I entered. "Do you have any idea what you've done in the palace today? You fool!"

Beatrice immediately chimed in, her tone dripping with venom. "Seraphina, how could you publicly refuse the Crown Prince's grace? That was the position of a secondary consort! A position countless noble girls dream of, and a Dragonless like you should be on your knees thanking the gods for it! It's the only way trash like you could ever enter the royal court."

I stood at the end of the long table, meeting her gaze coldly. "If being a royal bed-slave is such a high honor, Aunt Beatrice, why didn't you offer yourself? I'm sure your 'pure' blood would make you an excellent concubine."

Beatrice gasped, her face turning purple. "How dare you speak to your elders like that!"

My grandmother scolded sharply, "You ruined this marriage! Clarisa is a Dragon-born! She is destined for greatness. You were supposed to step aside gracefully and support her with your mother's wealth. Instead, you threw a childish tantrum! You will go back to the palace tomorrow, beg on your knees, and accept the consort position for the sake of our family's glory!"

I sneered inwardly, the sound chilling the room. "Family glory? You mean selling me off to maintain your lavish lifestyle. You speak of my 'lowly' bloodline, yet you have no problem using my mother's money to buy the very custom silk on your back."

My calmness enraged my grandmother even more. Her face flushed. "What is this attitude? No remorse! You owe this family your life! It is your duty as a daughter to sacrifice for us!"

The words were like a poisoned barb, but they couldn't hurt me anymore. I just felt tired. Arguing with these hyenas was pointless.

"My duty is done," I said, word by word. "My own affairs, I will decide for myself."

My grandmother laughed as if she'd heard the world's biggest joke. "You'll decide? What will you use to decide? The food you eat, the clothes you wear, everything you use—isn't it all given to you by the family? If you leave the Sinclair house, you won't survive a single day!"

Those words woke me up. That's right, what did I have?

I had what my mother, Eleanor Riverstone, brought into this family when she married—a dowry large enough to buy ten Silverwood Manors. For years, my mother, because of her "Dragonless" commoner status, had been scorned and exploited in this house. Her fortune was used by the family like a personal treasury.

I looked at my grandmother's face, twisted with anger, and for the first time, I felt no fear, only a cold calculation.

I stopped arguing with them and simply turned to leave the dining hall, completely ignoring her authority.

"Stop!" my grandmother roared from behind me. "You are not to leave this room without my permission! If you walk out that door, you will get nothing from this family!"

I didn't stop. Beatrice tried to grab me, but I shot her a cold look, and her outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

I was about to push open the heavy oak doors, ready to leave this suffocating room behind. But before my hand could touch the wood, another voice rang out, heavy with a hypocritical, false authority.

Seraphina POV:

"Enough!"

My father, Lord Carlisle Sinclair, slammed his hand on the table, the plates clattering loudly. He sat at the head of the table, his expression as grim as my grandmother's. He was a low-ranking "Dragon-born" with a mediocre bloodline, and the thing he cared about most in his life was the Sinclair family's noble title. He put on his best 'concerned father' face, though his eyes were cold.

He cleared his throat, and all eyes focused on him. "Seraphina," he began in a fake, disappointed tone, "I've heard about what happened today. You were too impulsive. Gideon is the Crown Prince. You must understand that a Dragonless cannot be his official wife. He was generous enough to offer you a place by his side."

I turned back around, looking at him with utter disgust. "Generous? Father, are you referring to my refusal to become the Crown Prince's plaything?"

My words made the atmosphere at the table even colder. My father's face turned the color of liver. He snapped, dropping the loving father act. "Watch your words! That is the Crown Prince! Your mother's common blood has made you insolent!"

My grandmother snorted coldly. "Just like your commoner mother. No noble decorum."

My third uncle, Julian, and his wife, Martha, kept their heads down, not daring to speak. Their branch of the family was not well-off and had little standing.

My father took a deep breath, trying to summon the authority of the head of the house. "The family has already decided. You must go and apologize to the Crown Prince and accept his arrangement. This is for the honor of the Sinclair family."

"The family's honor?" I walked slowly back toward the table, leaning forward to look straight into his eyes. "Since you despise my mother's 'common' blood so much, Father, why did you marry her?"

The table went dead silent.

I didn't let him answer. "Let me remind you. Eighteen years ago, your noble family was practically begging on the streets. You were dying of a dragon-rot infection, and you couldn't even afford the basic herbs. My mother, the heiress of the Riverstone Guild, saved your life and paid your debts. You had nothing to offer but a worthless, empty noble title. You married her because you were a starving beggar who hit the jackpot."

Carlisle's face turned the color of raw liver. "You ungrateful bitch!"

I smiled, a chilling, venomous smile. "Every single piece of bread you eat, every stone of this manor, is paid for by the 'lowly' woman you despise. If it weren't for my mother's gold, Father, your bones would have turned to dust in a pauper's grave by now."

The words were like a resounding slap across my father's and grandmother's faces. Beatrice's face turned pale as well.

My father slammed his hand on the table again. "Silence! You unfilial daughter! Since your mother's property was married into the Sinclair family, it is the family's property!"

I laughed, a cold, chilling laugh. "Is that so? I don't recall my maternal grandfather—the head of the Riverstone Guild—agreeing to gift his assets to the Sinclair family."

The name "Riverstone Guild" made everyone at the table change their expression. They knew what that name meant—a commercial network spanning the southern part of the kingdom, a fortune that could buy a country.

My father's bravado instantly deflated. His lips moved, but he couldn't form a word.

A flash of panic crossed my grandmother's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by ferocity. "Are you threatening us? Seraphina, don't forget your surname is Sinclair!"

I straightened up, looking down at them all. "I have never forgotten. But I also remember that my mother's surname is Riverstone."

"I'm finished," I said, my gaze sweeping over the shocked, angry, and fearful faces around the table. "Please, enjoy your meal."

This time, when I turned and left the dining hall, no one dared to stop me. I left a room full of dead silence behind me.

I knew this dinner was my declaration of war. They thought they could still oppress me and force me to submit as they always had. They were wrong. From now on, I set the rules of the game.

I returned to my room. Ginny, as instructed, had already placed the inventory of my mother's dowry and copies of the family's account books from over the years on my desk.

Mrs. Gable stood respectfully to the side. She was one of my mother's most loyal servants.

"Miss, everything is ready," she said.

I nodded, sat down, and began to leaf through the accounts. It was all there in black and white—how the Sinclair family had squandered my mother's fortune over the years. My eyes grew colder as I scanned the entries. They had not only used my mother's money, but had also accumulated a massive debt to the Riverstone Guild.

The numbers in those books held the power to destroy the Sinclair family entirely. I just needed to convince the one person who could authorize the killing blow: my mother.