Chapter 359: Uprooting Corruption

**Thelma Zane’s POV** Aldrich did not flinch under the contemptuous or curious gazes directed at him. His voice remained steady and unyielding as he addressed the room. “But according to your own admission,” he said, “becoming part of the royal family would spell disaster for your lineage. Do you intend to do nothing but wait for the next unfortunate victim to take over? Will you repeat the same cycles of power struggles for decades or centuries, only to end up watching another greedy and fearful individual ascend to a doomed throne?” The question silenced the Evaria Family’s representatives. They opened and closed their mouths like fish out of water, unable to articulate a single coherent response. Their faces flushed, then turned pale, as if they were reliving the sordid history of their family in their minds. It must have been a miserable scene playing out in their thoughts—a history filled with bitter, ugly struggles for dominance. The weight of greed and fear suffocate