Sure. Sylvia had mentioned this before. She had been promoting a fabricated romance between herself and this Jacques fellow as a marketing strategy. She insisted it was only to boost her company's visibility.

Then why were the fans presenting it as something real? Why did they make it sound as if there were genuine feelings between them?

I had endured enough of this spectacle.

"Enough," I shouted. "Sylvia will answer for this right now."

The crowd fell silent. Years of leading both my business and my family had given me a presence that even a disorderly crowd recognized.

With their eyes on me, I dialed Sylvia's number.

I called ten times before she finally answered.

"What happened to Belgard Estate, Sylvia?" I demanded.

"When are you going to stop bothering me?" she replied coldly. "Why should I explain myself to you? I can use the estate however I want. Get lost. Don't call me about this estate again. I don't have time for you."

The line went dead, and peals of laughter rippled through the crowd.

"He thinks he matters just because he has her private number! Too bad she didn't have time to entertain him!" someone jeered.

"This is embarrassing. You should leave before it gets worse, bum. If I were you, I would."

Melanie snickered. "I bet he's just another influencer who wanted to film something at this estate. Too bad he couldn't get in. Now he pesters Miss LePenn about it like a pathetic fool. He probably thinks he can trick his way into becoming her boyfriend."

I tightened my grip on the phone and ignored them.

Sylvia's tone confirmed what I had suspected. She had cheated.

We had been engaged for three years. No matter how busy she was, she had never hung up on me. She had never spoken to me in anything but a gentle, affectionate voice. The way she spoke just now was not normal.

The laughter continued, feeding my anger.

I called the city council.

"Hello. I am reclaiming my estate. No one is permitted to use it for any purpose from now on. Please send officers to Belgard to disperse this crowd."

The clerk sounded baffled. "No one is permitted to use it? What are you talking about? The estate was never lent out. It was leased, and at a high price. We paid 450,000 dollars.

"And didn't she give the estate to Jacques Martin? Incidents like this are why the mayor reconsidered working with the Vernon family. It has become too much."

The call ended, leaving me stunned.

They had paid 450,000 dollars. Why? The mayor and the Vernon family were close. Why would we charge them to use the estate? And if they paid, where had the money gone?

Sylvia would answer for this.

I turned to leave when a shrill scream pierced the air.

"Jaxie! Oh my God, hold me!"

"Jaxie, it's us! Your Jax-minnies are here!"

A young man approached, flanked by bodyguards. He moved at an unhurried pace, nodding and waving as he acknowledged his fans.

"Hello, Jax-minnies! I'm happy to see all of you! I can't wait to meet each of you in person!" he called. "Remember, meet-and-greet tickets are 214 dollars or 909 dollars. One represents the day of love, the other the day of my love."

He paused. "My majordomo informed me that a fan tried to enter Belgard through the back door. Who was it?"

The crowd answered with their stares.

I held my ground and met his gaze.

"Stop this. This is my estate, and I am not your fan," I said. "Belgard was meant to be available to influencers free of charge. Since when were tickets and rental fees required?"

Jacques looked at me with open contempt. "Since I made the rule. You have a problem with that? I had to carve out time to meet my fans. Time I could have spent on important work.

"Why shouldn't I charge for it? Or are you upset because you can't afford a ticket?"

His words incited the crowd.

Melanie urged several large men forward. They grabbed my arms so she could search my pockets.

"We'll find out soon enough whether he bought a ticket, Minnies," she declared.

She leaned closer to me. "Belgard is Jaxie's sanctuary. If you want in, you pay. And now that you've seen him, you owe him."

I struggled against their grip. Then something glinted at Jacques's waist.

A jeweled ornament I had purchased at auction for tens of thousands of dollars hung from his belt. I had displayed it on the estate's wall.

The sapphire ring on his finger caught the light. A master artisan of the 12th century had crafted it. I had placed it in the estate for visitors to admire.

Once I began to look, I saw it clearly. Every valuable item on that man's body had come from my estate.

These valuables were meant to remain locked behind secured glass boxes and cabinets. If that prick had managed to seize them and claim them as his own…

What would happen to everything else in Belgard?

My vision darkened. Anxiety and rage gave me the strength to wrench free from the men restraining me. "Unhand me! If any of you dare harm a hair on my head, I'll have the city deport every last one of you by tomorrow."

I knocked aside their hands and bolted into Belgard.

The first horror that greeted me was graffiti scrawled across the 10,000-dollar wine barrels: *Jacques Mightiest*. Every glass I had commissioned at great expense from master artisans bore a tacky tag that read, *Art, by Jacques.*

The drawing room, once lined with refined paintings by masters spanning centuries, had been stripped. The canvases lay heaped in a corner as though set out for a yard sale. In their place, an ugly canvas reading "Jacques and the Jax-Minnies" hung at the center of the wall.

Someone had smashed the glass cabinets that housed our diamonds, ceremonial tiaras, and art pieces. Every priceless antique was gone.

I had spent years shaping Belgard into what it was. Now it looked like the gutted shell of a nightclub.

Rage coursed through me.

To make matters worse, Jacques stood there snickering. "What do you think? My decorating style's pretty damn street, huh? Unlike yours. Yours suuucks. What are you, a vampire? Your decor made the place look like a museum. Get with the times, old fart."

So he knew that I was Belgard's true owner.

I clenched my fists and faced him with a tight smile. "Do you have any idea what my decor cost? You're nothing but a dirtbag influencer, Jacques. At your rate, you couldn't repay me in a decade."

He laughed. "Who the hell cares? My girlfriend's got the money."

He shot me a provoking look. "You must be Sylvia's dumbass fiancé. I get why she calls you an eyesore and a bore. Just look at you.

"I'll be real with you, dawg. If I asked, she'd hand over every cent in your family vault. She's that big a simp for me."

That did it.

I snatched up an ashtray and hurled it at him. "You piece of shit! I've never seen a homewrecking gigolo this shameless and proud. I swear, I'll take you down before Sylvia gets what's coming to her."

The ashtray had barely hit the floor when Melanie shrieked, "Oh my God! Minnies, this con man tried to hurt Jaxie!"

Jacques immediately arranged his features into a pitiful mask. "I was just trying to reason with you, man. You have to pay if you want to meet me. It's only fair you do that too. What's wrong with that? I even offered to cover your ticket if you can't afford it. Isn't that your dream come true?"

As expected, his fans turned into foot soldiers. Some livestreamed the chaos to "expose" me as a "fan." Others delivered breathless commentary.

Melanie took charge, urging the online audience to unleash their worst.

[Shameless! Disgusting! Jaxie doesn't deserve this blasphemy! I want to give him a hug!]

[You've done it now! I'm a Jax-minnie and a witch! I can curse you without even knowing your name. Jaxie will be protected!]

I surveyed the twisted faces and snarling glares in the crowd. Some looked amused. Some were eager to vilify me. Others chased the controversy for clout.

Not one of them spoke in my defense.

When I first opened Belgard to the public, I had thought of it as an act of generosity. People could use it without charge and build their online ventures. I had meant it as a public good.

I felt none of that goodwill now.

Jacques beamed at me as though he expected an apology. Instead, I called the International Vineyards & Wineries Association. "Hello. This is Richard Vernon, owner of the first-class Belgard Estate. My property is under IVWA protection. Both the estate and I are under serious threat. I am requesting immediate protection."

I ended the call and fixed Jacques with a hard stare. "From this moment on, Belgard is closed to the public. None of you will ever earn another dime on my estate."

Jacques' eyes flickered. He seemed to weigh how much of that was true.

Suddenly, Melanie cried out, "Oh my God, it's Miss LePenn! Jaxie, the queen is here! She must have seen the livestream and come to deal with him. You're so cooked, con man!"

A Rolls-Royce pulled up at the estate gate. William hurried forward to receive her.

I took a seat and waited for her to enter. "So, Sylvia, I trust you have a very good explanation for all of this?"