My Milf Conqueror System novel Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Rules of the Court

[Jake’s POV]

Aurelia Bancroft taught warfare like she was correcting table manners.

She stood at the front of the operations room with Van der Meer’s floor plan glowing behind her, one hand resting lightly on the edge of the table, her dark green coat folded over a chair as if she had always belonged here. Vivian Crossley sat nearby with a cup of tea, silver hair pinned neatly, looking far too pleased for a woman explaining how a room full of widows might decide the fate of a missing corporate queen.

Margaret Hale stood by the glass wall, elegant and watchful. Victoria was across from her, arms folded, expression cold enough to lower the temperature. Evelyn had already turned the legal side of the table into a battlefield of injunctions, affidavits, and emergency filings. Nia sat barefoot at her station, muttering at Van der Meer’s security architecture. Cassandra was quiet beside her, swallowed in grey wool, still studying the layout like the house itself might confess if she stared long enough.

Claire stood beside me.

Not behind. Not across the room. Beside me.

I noticed.

She pretended not to.

"The first rule," Aurelia said, "is that Van der Meer does not reward force. Force makes the room close. If you threaten one woman openly, ten others will pretend not to hear you while arranging your humiliation before dessert."

Ethan, wrapped in his blanket on the couch, raised one hand. "What if the threat is very tasteful?"

Aurelia looked at him.

He lowered his hand. "Understood."

"The second rule," Vivian said, smiling into her tea, "is that no one says what they mean until they are sure the wrong person has misunderstood it."

Nia stopped typing. "I hate this place already."

"You should," Vivian said pleasantly. "It would hate you back."

Nia blinked. "Was that a compliment?"

"Not entirely."

Aurelia tapped the floor plan. "The public auction is in the east gallery. That is where the men, donors, collectors, and useful fools will gather. The Ash Room meets upstairs in the old music salon before the first lot is opened. Officially, it is a memorial committee. Unofficially, Helena Strauss will present the custody motion."

"Who votes?" Evelyn asked.

"Not vote in a legal sense," Margaret said. "Agreement. Consensus. A social alignment that later becomes paperwork because everyone powerful enough to object has already been made comfortable with the lie."

Evelyn’s face hardened. "I despise soft corruption."

"You prefer hard corruption?" Ethan asked.

"I prefer corruption that is stupid enough to be caught."

"Fair."

Claire leaned forward. "Where is Sofia likely to be during this?"

Silence settled.

That was the question none of the diagrams answered.

Cassandra spoke softly. "Not in the music salon."

Everyone looked at her.

She pulled her sleeves over her hands, but kept going. "If Sofia is there, the room becomes about her condition. Too risky. They will keep her near enough to show if necessary, but not visible unless the room requires proof."

"Near," I said.

Cassandra nodded. "A secondary room. Private. Controlled. Somewhere with a reason for limited access."

Aurelia pointed to the west wing. "Van der Meer has a restoration archive. Climate controlled. Locked. It holds paintings and estate papers before the auction catalogue is finalized."

Nia spun in her chair. "A room built for preservation. That is disgusting."

"And useful," Evelyn said.

I stared at the west wing.

A room for things waiting to be classified, valued, and moved.

The System appeared.

[Ding!]

[Mission Updated.]

[Objective: Locate Sofia before Ash Room consensus is formalized.]

[Probable Holding Area: West Wing Restoration Archive.]

[Reward: Direct Sofia Route.]

[Penalty: Custody transferred beyond reach.]

I exhaled slowly.

Claire saw my expression. "What?"

"West wing matters."

Aurelia studied me, then looked at Cassandra. "Your shy one is valuable."

Cassandra went red.

Nia immediately pointed at Aurelia. "Careful."

Vivian laughed. "Protective."

"Violently," Nia said.

Aurelia accepted that with a small tilt of her head, then returned to the board. "Jake enters as my guest. He stays visible in the east gallery. If he disappears too early, Helena moves the meeting. If he becomes too interesting, Helena moves Sofia. So he must be seen, contained, and irritating only in moderation."

"That last part may be hard," Claire said.

"I can be moderate."

Everyone in the room looked at me.

"That was unnecessary."

"It was unanimous," Ethan said.

Darius, standing near the door, said, "Accurate."

Betrayal everywhere.

Margaret stepped closer to the map. "I can enter the donor circle and keep the men occupied. Victoria can draw Bancroft and the corporate advisors into a discussion on insurance exposure. Evelyn stays close enough to enter with legal force if Sofia is found."

"And me?" Claire asked.

Aurelia looked at her. "You are Jake’s correction."

Claire’s eyebrow rose. "Excuse me?"

"You are the one who stops him from becoming the loudest object in the room."

Nia muttered, "Full-time job."

Claire ignored her. "I go in with him?"

"No," Margaret said. "You enter separately as operational staff attached to Evelyn’s legal team. If you stay beside Jake all night, Margot will know he is being managed."

I glanced at Claire. "I dislike how often people use that word."

"You dislike needing it," she said.

True.

Annoyingly true.

Vivian placed her tea down. "Marianne must attend."

Claire’s face tightened. "She has already done enough."

Marianne Bellamy answered from the doorway. "No, I have not."

We turned.

She stood there in a navy dress and cream coat, auburn hair tied back, face calm in a way that had not existed before Richard broke her life open. She looked tired, yes, but not fragile. There was a difference.

"Marianne," I said.

"No." She stepped into the room. "Do not use that tone. My children are safe. My husband is in legal custody. My foundation was used. My home was invaded. If Helena Strauss and her little widow court are part of the route that did it, I will be there."

Aurelia smiled faintly. "Good."

Claire looked at me.

This time, I did not argue.

Marianne noticed and gave me a small nod. "Progress."

"I am being bullied into maturity."

"Most men require worse."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify