Chapter 237

• Third person pov
• Vanessa leaned her head back against the rattling seat, her fingers curled tightly around the strap of the worn leather bag that rested on her lap. The compartment smelled of gasoline, sweat, and stale cigarettes, a far cry from the luxury she was accustomed to before her fall. The vehicle shook as it barreled down a lonely service road, headlights cutting through the dark, narrow path that led toward Paris. She wasn’t coming back as the glittering socialite or the celebrated wife she once pretended to be. This was a smuggler’s route—an underground path where no passports were checked, no officials demanded explanations, and no one asked why a woman who had once been married to one of Europe’s wealthiest men now traveled with fugitives and desperate souls.
• She pulled her scarf tighter, covering most of her face. Even here, in the shadows, she couldn’t risk being recognized too soon. The Carringtons were everywhere now, their influence in France stretching wider since Claire’s return. News of Claire’s unveiling as the true heir had spread like wildfire, and Vanessa could practically feel the shift in power even from afar. The very empire she thought she could undermine had only grown stronger. Yet she was not returning to bow her head. She had reasons, calculated and sharpened like knives.