CELINA POV:

For nearly a day, Ferne and I sat in front of the laptop, watching.

Jared spent most of the time in his study, dealing with Pack business.

Nothing happened.

"Patience," I told myself, and a restless Ferne. "The fox will always show its tail."

"I just want to see their disgusting faces when they get caught," Ferne grumbled, chewing on a slice of pizza.

As night fell, the visitors to the estate departed.

Jared finally finished his work and retreated to his private wing.

He threw himself onto the lounge sofa, the camera capturing the exhaustion and irritation on his face.

A few minutes later, the door creaked open.

A figure slipped inside.

It was Karri.

She immediately climbed into Jared's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Jared," she cooed, her voice sickly sweet. "You ignored me all day."

Ferne made a gagging sound.

I calmly hit the record button.

"I'm busy with important things," Jared said, his tone impatient, though he wrapped his arms around her waist. "The auction is tomorrow. Celina should be back soon. We need to be more careful."

A chill went through my fingertips at the mention of my name.

Karri scoffed. "Careful of what? That weak Omega? What's she going to do if she finds out? She'll still have to marry you, begging for the Snyder Pack's protection."

My jaw tightened.

"Her father, Delbert, already sold her to your family like a piece of property. She has no power to fight back," Karri continued, her fingers tracing patterns on Jared's chest.

"That bitch!" Ferne hissed, nearly throwing the pizza box across the room. "How dare she talk about you like that!"

My face remained a mask of calm, but my eyes darkened, like a frozen lake at midnight.

Jared laughed, pleased by Karri's words. "You're right. She's a boring, half-blood Omega. Nothing special besides that face. If it weren't for consolidating the marginal assets left behind by the Beaumont Pack, I would never have agreed to this."

The Beaumont Pack.

My mother's Pack.

My heart clenched painfully.

So that was it.

It was about my mother's legacy.

Jared and Karri started kissing, their crude whispers and moans filling the room, transmitted clearly by the audio bug.

They moved from the sofa in the lounge to the large bed in the bedroom, their disgusting performance captured in high definition.

Ferne covered her eyes, unable to watch, muttering a stream of curses.

I forced myself to watch.

I burned every detail, every word, into my memory.

This wasn't my pain.

This was their crime.

I needed this rage.

This disgust.

It would fuel me for what I had to do tomorrow.

An hour later, it was over.

Karri left, looking smugly satisfied.

Jared fell asleep.

I stopped the recording.

I saved the hour-long video, complete with clear audio and visuals, then uploaded an encrypted copy to a secure cloud server.

I snapped the laptop shut.

The sudden silence in the room was deafening.

"Celina," Ferne asked softly, her voice full of concern. "Are you okay?"

I stood up, walked over to her, and pulled her into a hug. "I'm fine, Ferne. Better than ever." My voice was quiet, but it held a new, unbreakable strength. "Now, everything is ready."

I went to my suitcase and pulled out an ice-blue gown.

It was my armor for the battle to come.

Ferne watched me, her expression a mix of awe and worry.

She knew that tomorrow, a storm unlike any other was going to hit Blackwood City.

I didn't sleep.

I sat by the window, watching the sky begin to lighten, rehearsing my plan over and over in my mind.

Tomorrow, under the watchful eyes of every major Pack, I would personally tear Jared Snyder's hypocritical mask to shreds.

And I would end this sham of an engagement.