Chapter 158 | The Nine Families

Chapter 158: 158 | The Nine Families

Therefore, even if the Calloway family sacrificed everything and successfully rebuilt Mira’s meridian, there was no guarantee she would walk again.

Of course the Calloway family refused.

From a purely strategic standpoint, sacrificing an entire family’s future for one member was a losing proposition. The Calloway family had other prodigies they could use the resources they had to nurture.

So they had let her remain until they had found another use for her.

Marriage.

Stargate City was governed by nine influential families. Nine pillars of wealth, power, and. strength.

At the top was the unquestioned, unrivaled, unapproachable Ashford family. The apex.

Their wealth was so vast that the second and third family combined wasn’t even half their net worth. Their political connections extended into every level of government, military, and commerce.

The name Ashford was a brand. They were so dominant that, over the decades, anyone in the city who happened to share the surname "Ashford" through coincidence had changed their name. Whether voluntary or involuntarily, it was unknown.

Below the Ashford family was the Sterling family They controlled the city’s monster corpses. In any other city, they would have been the premier family. In Stargate City, they were second.

The third family was the Montclair dynasty, from old money and old blood.

Their influence was from generational political power. They possess members seated on nearly every major civic committee, regulatory board, and judicial panel in the city. Their wealth was comparable to the Sterlings, though slightly less, and their strength was supplemented by an extensive network of alliances with smaller families and guilds.

The fourth family was the Hawthorne family.

The fifth family, was the Calloway family. They had produced more B-Rank and A-Rank heroes per generation than any family outside the top three. Their daughters, in particular, were known for exceptional mana affinities and rare talents. Mira had been their crown jewel with an S-Rank affinity with an A-Rank Crimson Flame-Heart talent, the youngest B-Rank hero in the city’s history. Her potential had been limitless until the dungeon.

The sixth family was the Frost family.

The seventh family was the Vance family.

The eighth and ninth families were the Carver and Delacroix families respectively

The competition between families are wild and the hierarchy was rigid. Moving up even a single position required decades of sustained effort, strategic marriages, and careful accumulation of wealth and military power.

Or, the easiest way, through marriage alliance with a massively wealthy and influential family. The three families room this shortcut.

Each had negotiated independently ans each had been promised the same prize: marriage of their daughter to the firstborn son and heir of the Ashford family.

The contract had been ironclad as per the insistence of the three lesser families to prevent the Ashfords from wriggling out of the arrangement and making it so that dissolution was nearly impossible.

They had thought they were being clever and had cornered the Ashfords, but knowing that the Ashfords had been smarter.

The firstborn was Dexter.

By the time the three families discovered the truth, the contract was already signed and they couldn’t back out.

The Ashford family had scammed all three families in one stroke. They had rid themselves of their embarrassing bastard son, fulfilled the marriage contract to the letter, and — most brilliantly — avoided giving the three lesser families access to the real Ashford heir and the genuine political leverage that would have come with him.

But the three families had still benefited from the arrangement. A marriage tie to the Ashford name, even through a bastard, was still a marriage tie. The Calloway family had risen from 5th to 4th. The Frost family from 6th to 5th. The Vance family from 7th to 6th. Each had climbed a single rank.

Had they married the true heir the political and social capital would have been enormously greater. It would have been a two-rank jump instead of one, along with access to Ashford resources, Ashford support, and Ashford political backing.

Instead, they got Dexter, a bastard who couldn’t even cultivate.

At least — that was what they had believed.

---

Although it took time to explain, roughly three seconds had passed.

Rosalind’s fake smile widened as she approached Mira’s wheelchair.

"Sister."

She said in an almost sweet tone.

Mira’s crimson eyes glanced indifferently at her elder sister as she spoke in a cold tone.

"Rosalind. What are you doing here?"

’Rosalind... sounds villainous.’

Dexter hadn’t bothered to ask when she arrived at his gate, nor that he cared to anyways.

Rosalind face made a mock frown, prey pretending to be hurt.

"Mira, I’m your elder sister. Of course I have to check on your wellbeing. You’ve been married for almost a month now. I was worried andneeded to see how your husband is treating you."

She turned toward Dexter as her eyes swept over his dirty wife beater.

Her smirk deepened.

"So this is your husband," she said, addressing Mira but speaking loud enough for Dexter to hear every syllable. "I thought they said he was useless."

She paused as she sensed his energy wave but there was nothing.

"He really is as useless as they said." she sneered and said in a loud tone.

She turned back to Mira.

"During the assassination attempt, I’m pretty sure he was busy hiding in a corner while the real hero did the work." She let out a soft, musical laugh. "Thankfully, you’re alright. That’s what matters."

Mira rolled her eyes.

She glanced at Dexter and a faint trace of amusement could be seen in her eyes but she turned back to Rosalind.

"What do you want?"

Rosalind’s fake pout faltered for a fraction of a second before she recomposed herself.

"I came here for you," she said, her voice stiffening. "And you’re not being very appreciative. I traveled all this way to check on my own sister, and this is the reception I receive?" She placed a hand on her hip. "But I won’t take it to heart. I know you’ve been through a lot."