Chapter 491
His words were designed to inflict maximum damage, twisting the knife already buried in my chest.
“He left you with nothing,” Braydon continued, his voice dropping into a cruel, mocking whisper. “I am offering you an empire. I am the one who will never abandon you.”
“You’re not offering me an empire. You’re offering me a gilded cage,” I shot back, my hands shaking as I grabbed my purse. I slid out of the plush booth and stood tall, despite the way my knees threatened to buckle. “I’d rather watch the bank auction off every single blade of grass on the Everett estate than sell my soul to you.”
I turned on my heel, ready to march out of The Lighthouse and find another way to save my family’s name.
“Wait.”
The word cracked like a whip. I paused, glancing over my shoulder. Braydon’s jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked beneath his skin. His Plan A had failed, but I could see the gears turning in his calculating mind. He still needed a powerful Luna to stabilize his shaky position within the Hyde Pack, and he wasn’t about to let me walk away without extracting some twisted form of victory.
“If you won’t be my Luna, then you will find me one,” he stated, his tone shifting from a lover’s plea to a CEO’s command. “You know Pack politics. You know the high-society bloodlines better than anyone. You will act as my consultant. Pick a wife who brings the most strategic value to the Hyde Pack.”
I stared at him, momentarily stunned by the sheer audacity of it. He wanted me to handpick my own replacement—to force me to watch him build a life that was supposed to be mine. It was a masterclass in psychological humiliation.
But as the initial sting faded, a dangerous, icy clarity washed over me. Dallas had already given me back Moonstone Creek, but the rest of my family’s legacy—the scattered lands, the historical trusts, the debts the Hydes had been leveraging for years—was still in Braydon’s grip. If I played this right, I could take it all back. Not just the land, but everything my parents had built. Every piece of their memory the Hydes had stolen.
Braydon thought he was punishing me. He thought he was keeping me under his thumb. But what he was actually doing was handing me the keys to his kingdom. If I became his consultant, I would have unrestricted access to his inner circle. I could sift through his political allies, uncover his business secrets, and find the exact vulnerability needed to tear his empire down from the inside.
He wanted to play a game of power. He didn’t realize I was about to rewrite the rules.
“Fine,” I said, my voice eerily calm. “I’ll do it. But not on a handshake.”
Braydon raised an eyebrow. “What do you want?”
“A Pack-bound contract,” I said, stepping back toward the table. “Legally binding and witnessed by an Elder. It will state that the exact second your teeth break the skin of your new Luna and the Marking ceremony is complete, the Everett blood-debt is entirely forgiven. Every asset, every acre, returns to me unconditionally.”
He studied my face, searching for a bluff. Finding none, a slow, arrogant smile crept back onto his lips. He thought he had won. He thought I had finally broken.