Eva Chase POV:
The next morning, I woke up on Sloane's sofa.
My eyes were so swollen I couldn't open them, and my throat was hoarse.
But the storm of sorrow has passed, leaving behind a cold and clear reality.
Sloan was already awake, and an open laptop sat on her coffee table.
“Good morning,” she said softly. “I looked up some things.”
She turned the screen towards me.
The screen displays the Regional Alpha Council's ancient and complex laws regarding the dissolution of partnerships.
“He’s trying to screw you over,” she said, pointing to a specific clause, “but there’s a loophole. A standard prenuptial agreement is invalid if the refusal is directly caused by infidelity.”
A faint flame of hope ignited in my heart.
“I’ll go with you,” Sloan said, his jaw clenched. “I’ll teach him a lesson.”
I shook my head.
"No. I must do this myself."
An hour later, I stood in the gleaming, spotless lobby of Chace's headquarters.
I walked straight to the private elevator, ignoring the receptionist's anxious calls.
My old access control password is still valid.
The elevator doors opened directly, leading to his top-floor office.
He sat behind a huge mahogany desk, his phone pressed to his ear.
When he saw me, his face darkened with anger.
"Security!" he yelled into the phone. "Get her out of my office right now."
I walked to the door and locked it manually.
Then I turned around and walked toward him, my footsteps echoing on the polished marble floor.
I slammed the stack of printed legal documents onto his desk.
The sound was loud and satisfying.
He glanced at it, then smiled.
“You’re pathetic, Ava. You signed the agreement. You’ll leave with nothing.”
“The agreement does not include adultery,” I said firmly. “The parliament will not show any leniency to Alpha, who openly commits adultery with his partner’s younger sister to humiliate his partner.”
His smile vanished.
He stood up and tried to intimidate me with his size.
He strode around the desk, a familiar, violent glint in his eyes.
"You're playing with fire."
I met his gaze and refused to back down.
“No, it’s you,” I said, almost in a whisper, “because I have a draft of an anonymous email that I can send anytime. It contains some very…intimate photos of you and Bella. From last night.”
That was a bluff. I don't have any photos like that.
But he didn't know.
“This email will be sent to every member of the Alpha Council,” I continued, pressing my advantage. “I wonder what your very traditional and powerful father will think when he learns that his son’s reputation has been dragged into the mire before the formal pairing ceremony.”
The color drained from his face.
I've got something on him.
I struck at his only real weakness: his ambition.
He stared at me, his jaw clenched, as if he were seeing me for the first time.
Not a docile companion, but an enemy.
After a long and tense silence, he slumped back into his leather chair.
“Fine,” he roared, the word seeming to be ripped from his throat, “what do you want? Money?”
“No,” I said immediately, “I don’t want your money.”
I need something else.
Something even more precious.
“There’s a safe house. It’s in the north of the territory. It’s been abandoned for years. I want it. The property, the title deed, everything, is transferred to my name. A clean and simple transfer.”
He looked at me, puzzled.
I could see his mind racing. The property was worthless to him. This was a small price to pay for my silence.
He grabbed the phone and yelled at his lawyer, telling him to draft the electronic transfer documents immediately.
A few minutes later, the document was signed and stamped on a digital tablet.
“You have seven days to attend the formal dissolution ceremony,” he said, his voice laced with venom. “After that, I never want to see your face in this territory again.”
I picked up the tablet that displayed my proof of ownership.
A bittersweet smile of triumph crept onto my lips.
“Don’t worry,” I said, “you won’t.”
I turned and walked out without looking back.
The moment the elevator doors slid shut, my adrenaline surge vanished.
My legs felt weak.
I slid down the cold steel walls of the elevator car, my body trembling from the aftershocks of the standoff.
I won.
But I feel empty inside.
When the elevator doors opened on the first floor, Sloan was pacing anxiously back and forth in the lobby.
She rushed to my side, her eyes wide with worry.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
I was speechless.
I simply shoved the tablet into her hands.
She looked at the land deed, then at me, her expression a mixture of shock and intense pride.
“You did it,” she whispered.
She helped me to my feet, her arms firmly wrapped around my waist.
When we stepped out of the building, the cold city air felt different.
That feeling was like freedom.
Back in her car, I gulped down a bottle of water, trying to calm the nausea churning in my stomach.
"What do we do now?" Sloan asked, starting the engine. "We can't pay the bills for that shabby house."
I looked out the window, watching the city scenery rush by.
“I need a job,” I said firmly. “A real job. One that’s far away from here.”
Sloan nodded, his expression serious.
"There's a high-level talent placement center in the Neutral Zone. They work with all the major packs. The chances are slim, but..."
“Go there,” I interrupted her, “now.”
I have nothing left to lose.
I have a broken heart, a worthless property, and a terrifyingly empty future.
Sloan abruptly turned around, the tires screeching in protest.
I closed my eyes as the SUV merged onto the highway.
I remembered a skill I had kept hidden for years.
The certificate I obtained for myself in secret.
I was once told knowledge that was of no use to a moon goddess (Luna).
The car accelerated, carrying me away from my past and towards an unknown distance.
For the first time in ten years, I've taken control of my life.
