Saintess's Worthless Husband Turned Dragon Commander novel Chapter 266

CHAPTER 183 PART 1

The Lancaster Family’s grand hall was built like a monument to inherited power. Stone columns rose three stories high.

Portraits of dead ancestors stared down from walls with eyes that seemed to follow movement. The patriarch sat at the head of an enormous table, watching his family consume itself like a cancer eating healthy flesh.

Isidore Lancaster’s voice cut through the murmur of conversation. “The succession competition is now officially open. Any member of this family who believes they have what it takes to lead can declare their candidacy. The strongest will rise. The weak will fall away.”

His grandson Brayden straightened in his chair. He had been positioning himself for this moment for years. His military background. His strategic mind. His willingness to make hard decisions. All of it pointed toward him as the obvious choice for leadership.

His cousins sensed the opening immediately.

“Father, surely we need to consider experience as well,” one cousin said. His name was Cedric, and he had been working in family business for fifteen years. “Brayden is young. Hot-headed. His recent failures in Grayson City showed poor judgment.”

“My failures?” Brayden turned to him, his jaw tightening. “At least I attempted something. You sit in your office counting money like a clerk, pretending that makes you worthy of power.”

“I count money that keeps this family stable,” Cedric replied coldly. “Money that your arrogance nearly destroyed. How many operations have collapsed since you decided to challenge the Dragon King?”

The table fell silent at the mention of Marcus Steel.

Before Brayden could respond, a servant rushed into the hall. His face was pale, his breathing shallow. The family members recognized the signs of someone who had witnessed something that broke his ability to maintain

composure.

“What is it?” Isidore demanded.

“The ambush team,” the servant gasped. “The Shadow Warriors and mercenaries sent to eliminate Marcus Steel’s allies. They’ve been… the hospital district. All of them. Completely eliminated.”

The words hung in the air like poison gas.

“Eliminated?” another cousin asked, her voice uncertain. “You mean defeated? Captured?”

“I mean dead,” the servant said. His hands were shaking. “No survivors. The scene is… there’s blood on the walls. Bodies in pieces. Whatever happened, it was brutal. It was complete.”

The patriarch’s expression didn’t change, but his fingers tapped against the armrest of his chair. One tap. Two taps. Three. Each tap sounded like a hammer striking stone.

Brayden felt the attention shift toward him. He had authorized that ambush. He had believed it was a calculated move, a way to eliminate Maurice Springs and his disciples while the branch manager was occupied with the Dragon King.

“The intelligence was sound,” Brayden said quickly. “The plan was solid. Maurice Springs should have been too injured to mount an effective defense.”

“Should have been,” Cedric repeated mockingly. “And yet here we are. Here’s Maurice, alive and breathing,

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having destroyed a force that was supposed to eliminate him. You sent trained Shadow Warriors against him, Brayden. Professionals. Killers. And what do we have to show for it? Bodies. Embarrassment. Proof that your strategy was flawed.”

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