Saintess's Worthless Husband Turned Dragon Commander novel Chapter 268

CHAPTER 184 PART 1

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The patriarch’s warning still echoed through the halls of Lancaster Manor like a curse. Anyone who damaged family interests would face expulsion.

Expulsion meant exile, meant losing access to family resources, meant becoming nothing in a world where power flowed from the Lancaster name.

The warning was also an invitation to betrayal.

Within hours of the announcement, Cedric had already begun recruiting allies from the business sector. Helena was contacting mercenary groups.

Two other cousins were liquidating personal assets to fund their rescue operations. Each one believed themselves clever enough to succeed where Brayden had failed.

Each one was preparing to spend family resources on operations that would weaken the family’s overall position.

It was exactly what the patriarch had designed.

Brayden sat in his private study, staring at reports of his cousins’ movements. He had access to intelligence networks that were still loyal to him, remnants of the power structure he had built before his public humiliation. The reports painted a clear picture of disaster approaching.

The door opened without warning. Black Dog stepped inside, closing it quietly behind him. He was a broad shouldered man with a scarred face that spoke of a life lived in violence. He had been Brayden’s personal bodyguard for seven years, had been present for operations across three continents, had seen Brayden at his strongest and his weakest.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Brayden said. His hand moved toward a weapon hidden in his desk drawer. “If your presence is discovered, it will be interpreted as conspiring against the family hierarchy.”

“I understand the risks,” Black Dog said. He remained standing, showing respect through posture rather than words. “I came because you’re still the strongest candidate for leadership, and you’re being crushed by circumstance rather than weakness.”

“I made mistakes,” Brayden said flatly. “The patriarch was right. I allowed emotion to override strategy. I made assumptions. Those are the weaknesses of a child, not a man ready to lead.”

“You made human decisions,” Black Dog corrected. “You gambled. You lost. That doesn’t mean you’re finished. It means you need a better strategy.”

Brayden finally looked at him directly. Something in Black Dog’s expression suggested this wasn’t a casual conversation. This was a proposal. This was an offer wrapped in loyalty that had the potential to either restore Brayden’s position or destroy him completely.

“What kind of strategy?” Brayden asked carefully.

“Let your cousins rescue Fernando,” Black Dog said. His voice was steady, professional, devoid of emotional coloring. “Let them spend their resources. Let them commit their people. Let them believe they have a genuine

chance at succession.”

“And then?”

“And then you move in after they fail,” Black Dog continued. “You gather the resources they’ve exhausted. You gather the information they’ve acquired. You take all the intelligence they’ve gathered about Pavilion positions and defenses. Then you succeed where they failed.”

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Brayden stood abruptly, his chair scraping backward with enough force to crack against the wall. “You’re suggesting I sabotage my own family?”

“I’m suggesting you be strategic,” Black Dog replied calmly. “They’re already sabotaging each other They’re already spending resources that could be better used. They’re already positioning themselves as competitors instead of allies. I’m simply suggesting you let them do what they’re already doing, and then profit from their weakness.”

“That’s treason,” Brayden said. His hand closed around the weapon in his desk drawer.

The metal was cold, reassuring, the kind of physical contact that grounded thoughts spiraling into territory that felt dangerous. “That’s a level of betrayal that goes beyond political maneuvering. That’s the kind of thing that gets you executed.”

“Only if you fail,” Black Dog said. His expression didn’t change, didn’t show fear or hesitation. “If you succeed, if you bring Fernando back alive, if you prove yourself stronger than everyone else, then the patriarch won’t execute you. He’ll promote you. He’ll make you heir because you’re the only one with the intelligence and ruthlessness to survive what’s coming.”

Brayden pulled the weapon. It was a standard pistol, nothing fancy, nothing ceremonial. Just a tool designed to kill at a distance.

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