The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 1697

Stephen made a quick phone call, and moments later, a heavily armored convoy arrived to intercept them.

The vehicles swallowed up their team and began driving straight toward the mining district.

"Where exactly are we going?" Claire asked, immensely curious.

The checkpoints in the Zen Marches had been dialed up to maximum security, clearly designed to trap them inside.

Yet, this mysterious convoy didn't even slow down. The armed guards at the barricades simply waved them through.

How was that possible?

You needed terrifyingly deep connections to pull that off.

"You don't know? Your cousin Dewitt manages the mining district here."

He explicitly said 'manages,' not 'owns.'

Because technically, the true owner of this entire territory was Claire.

Wasn't Claire set to inherit everything from Pandora?

"Oh?" Realization washed over Claire.

If Dewitt was running the operation, the VIP treatment made perfect sense.

"But it's a mining camp. Do they really have advanced medical equipment?"

A mine would naturally have an infirmary, but a fully sterilized operating theater equipped for neurosurgery? That was highly unlikely.

"Funny you should mention that. Shortly after Dewitt took over, there was a massive industrial accident. Instead of just paying out, he went ahead and built a state-of-the-art hospital right on the grounds."

Originally, that accident could have sparked a localized riot, making it impossible for him to maintain control of the territory.

But Dewitt instantly neutralized the tension by dumping a fortune into constructing a medical center.

It was a massive welfare project for the miners, and it even offered free care to their families.

Who could possibly riot against him after that?

Did they want to lose access to free healthcare?

The nearest city hospital was hours away and obscenely expensive. Whenever the locals got sick, they usually just gritted their teeth and prayed.

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