The mansion was still humming from the aftershocks of the gala, but Cass didn't slow. The applause was gone, and that was fine. What mattered was the weight it had left behind.
He drove the Jaguar into the city as the streets softened into evening. Rowena had sent him the rehearsal address.
A small concert hall owned by one of her tutors. It was quiet from the outside, all dark glass and polished brass handles, but light spilt from within.
Cass parked directly in front of the entrance. He didn't bother with the lot. When he stepped out, the Jaguar drew a pair of pedestrians to a halt, their heads turning as if it had whispered their names.
He walked inside.
Rowena was on stage, hair pulled back, her fingers coaxing a storm out of the piano. She didn't notice him at first. She was lost in the music. When she did glance up, her smile cracked the spell without breaking it.
"You're late," she said.
"I just prefer dramatic timing," Cass replied.
He sat beside her on the bench without asking. She didn't protest. Their shoulders brushed.
"Play with me," she said.
"I don't follow," Cass said.
"Liar. I heard what you did at the gala."
He didn't argue. His fingers touched the keys, and the room filled with two voices. Hers sharp and bright, his steady and deliberate. The music didn't clash. It circled, tested, and finally intertwined.
When the piece ended, she leaned back slightly, breath quickened.
"You're infuriating," she said.
"Because I can play?"
"Because you make it look like you were born already being able to."
He studied her expression. Amusement, yes. Challenge, too. Something warmer beneath.
'Useful. She's sharp enough to matter, but not blind enough to underestimate me.'
He stood. "I'll send you the recording equipment I promised. Play into it, and the city will start talking about you as loudly as it talks about me."
Her brow arched. "And what will they say about us?"
"That depends on you," Cass said.
She laughed and shook her head, but her eyes lingered as he left.
By morning, the headlines were louder. Photographs from the gala had spread through every paper worth the ink.
Harrington was quoted praising Cass's vision. Lydia Cole's name appeared in a small paragraph hinting at a partnership. Even Elaine was mentioned, described as "poised and quietly radiant."
Elaine folded the paper at breakfast and tried not to look proud, but her smile gave her away.
"Your father said three people came up to him on his walk to the shops," she told Cass.
"They asked if he was… Thomas Vale. He didn't know what to say."
Thomas cleared his throat. "I told them I was. Then I bought the paper myself."
Cass's lips curved. "Get used to it. They'll ask more."
The phone rang before Elaine could reply. Cass answered on speaker.
"This is Chambers," a clipped voice said. "Lord Ainsworth's office. His lordship wishes to meet you. Shall we arrange tea?"
Elaine's fork froze halfway to her plate.
Cass's answer was smooth. "Send me the details. I'll attend."
The line clicked off.
Elaine whispered, "A lord?"
Cass sipped his coffee. "Titles move slowly. When they reach out, it means they've realised they're already late."
[Quest Triggered: Audience with Nobility]
By afternoon, Cass met Harrington again. This time in a boardroom with thick carpets and thicker accents. Contracts for the Deansgate redevelopment lay open on the table. Harrington's lawyers explained the clauses, but Cass didn't need them. He had already read every line twice.
When he signed, the weight of the pen felt like currency.
[Quest Complete: Deansgate Mill Acquisition]
[Reward: £50,000. Title: Developer. Real Estate Skill Lv.3]
[New Perk Unlocked: Eye for Growth — Ability to detect undervalued assets in property and business at a glance]
Harrington leaned back, satisfied. "You're going to be a problem for the old guard, Vale. I look forward to it."
"I don't intend to be a problem," Cass said. "I intend to be the solution they can't ignore."
Evening came with a family dinner, just the three of them in the smaller dining room again. Elaine was testing a new recipe, and Thomas had actually helped this time. They laughed at his clumsy attempts, but the food was good.
Cass watched them quietly. They looked lighter than they had in years. Elaine's shoulders no longer hunched as if waiting for shame to strike.
Thomas carried himself with the faint pride of a man remembered by his neighbours.
'This is why I'll never forgive them. My family deserved this all along.'
He pictured the extended family that had mocked them, ignored them, and locked them out. Their names flickered in the Hidden Ledger, waiting. Each debt glowed faintly, biding its time.
"Tomorrow," Cass said suddenly, "we'll go shopping."
Elaine blinked. "For what?"
"For everything you've ever wanted that you never let yourself ask for."
Her lips trembled, but she nodded.
That night, Cass sat in his study with the ledger open.
The names of Sienna and Trent still burned the brightest, their debts climbing slowly. But beneath them, new entries had appeared. Distant cousins. A sneering uncle. A family friend who had once turned his back.
The ledger didn't forget. Neither did he.
[Hidden Ledger Passive: Debts Accrue Over Time. Interest Rate: 1 point per week]
He closed it and poured a glass of wine. Tomorrow would bring new deals. Soon, nobility would bow at his table. The city was already shifting its orbit around his name.
And every debt would come due.
'They will learn that Cassian Vale doesn't forgive. He collects.'