The Billionaire's True Heiress From Fake Jewel to Real Crown novel Chapter 965

"Absolutely off-limits. But he secured a perfectly legitimate reason," Van said with a smirk.

Capitalism comes with perks, he thought. If you want VIP access, you open your wallet.

Several facilities at Camp Blackwood were severely outdated.

With a casual wave of his hand, Dane had offered a massive financial donation to upgrade their tactical gear.

He even offered to fund the construction of a new obstacle course entirely out of pocket.

Dropping in for a quick visit was child's play after that.

Even a strict military compound rolled out the red carpet for a billionaire benefactor.

Bending the rules for him was practically a courtesy.

Claire immediately caught on.

"How much did he drop?"

She knew he genuinely didn't mind donating, but if he threw away a fortune just to buy a dinner date with her, she'd feel like a historical femme fatale bankrupting an empire.

"About a million dollars," Van estimated casually.

That was the baseline. If they needed more, Dane would write another check without blinking.

Claire knew that for someone in Dane's tax bracket, a million dollars was spare change.

She didn't press the issue.

Instead, she followed Van out to the parking lot.

It had only been a couple of weeks since they last saw each other. Claire hadn't noticed any changes in herself, but the moment Dane laid eyes on her, his gaze darkened with immediate concern. She had lost weight.

Van was notoriously ruthless as Chief Instructor Hawk; there was no way he was going easy on the recruits.

The intense physical conditioning had clearly burned through her reserves.

"You've lost weight," Dane murmured, his voice tight.

Van playfully punched Dane in the shoulder. "What are you talking about? She looks exactly the same."

Dane shot him a withering, predatory glare. "You wouldn't notice if someone was on fire in front of you."

Van cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, look at it as an intensive workout program. Don't all girls love staying fit?"

Even his fiancée, Tilda, would complain about gaining weight if she ate a heavy dinner.

Tilda had a perfectly healthy, gorgeous figure, and definitely wasn't underweight.

She was in amazing shape.

What Van hadn't expected was for Tilda to walk through the door with her cousin, Cami, trailing right behind her.

"This one heard I was coming to dinner and practically handcuffed herself to me."

Tilda explained with an exasperated laugh as she greeted the table.

Cami had essentially invited herself along to play third wheel to her sister and her future brother-in-law.

She totally didn't expect Van to be hosting other guests.

"Hey, sorry! I totally crashed this. Just pretend I'm not here!" Cami laughed, throwing her hands up in mock surrender.

Despite her words, her eyes darted excitedly around the room.

When her gaze landed on Dane, a flash of undeniable appreciation crossed her face.

She knew this was her brother-in-law's friend, but they hadn't formally met.

So, she simply offered a polite nod in greeting.

But when her eyes landed on Claire, she literally jumped.

She almost fell over before Tilda grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Oh my god, gorgeous! Do you remember me? I was the girl on the back of the motorcycle that night at the race!"