LEY

garden. His eyes burned with a hatred so pure it was almost beautifu

wless, crystalline tears. She clutched Pr

for the front rows to hear. "I know you still love

Lunas shaking their heads, their gazes on me filled with pity and disa

rics were as predictable as the

sobs. My eyes found Howard's. He flinched as if I'd struck him. "B

black clutch and retrieved a slim, elegant folder. The cli

It was old, the paper yellowed with age, but

the paper. "I would like to know what, exactly, is included. Because from what I can s

pale, turned a ghastly shade of white. His eyes dar

her voice sharp and defensive. "It's only right that it goes to her sister a

ll. And in it, she bequeathed her entire estate-Elysian Scents, the summer villa, the jewelry

w did my mother's personal assets become a 'family asset'? And how did they

The older pack members, those who remembered my

ed innocence. "Sister, how can you say such things?" she whispered, her voice trembling with practiced hurt. "I only want what's best for

thetically. The "jealous sister" narrative was taking ho

n't l

t made several people start. "Amber, dear, I didn't lose Preston. I threw him away. Just as

of Elders and witnessed by Alpha Eldred Payne himself. It stipulates that her entire estate is to be held in tr

f my words sink in. I swept my

y trust. Instead, I find those very same assets listed as a dowry for another woman. What I want to know is: where is my money? Where are my m

ghest order. To steal from one's own daughter-the inheritance of a decea

sound came out. He looked

the document from my hand. He scanned it, his expression shifting fro

ayne, was there in stark black ink, acting as a witness from all those y

uture Alpha of the Payne pack, was about to bind himself to a woman whose fami

a fake! She forged it! The girl i

with mocking respect. "With your education and standing, surely you can discern the authe

a che

y were thieves who had stolen from his former betrothed. If he denied it, he would be

rple. I could feel the weight of a hundred pairs of

e, his face a grim, unreadable mask. He walked to his son,

looked at Preston, and his eyes were co

he spoke, the words were ground ou

document

n fell like

." Amber whispered, her face a mask of disbelief. "Ho

at me. And in his eyes, for the first time, I saw something other than contempt. I saw fear. The future Alph

Preston slapped the

the bride's dowry is built on a foundation of theft and lies, and since the groom's own father has confirmed the legal truth of my claim,

Preston, but to the highest au

the public humiliation, and the loss

d, and she crumpled, a boneless

y, annoyed. There was no tenderness in the way he held her. Just ir

tered open for a second, and they locked on

s just gett