chapter 4

The hospital doors swung shut behind me with a satisfying click, cutting off my father's booming voice mid-threat. I didn't need to hear the rest - I knew the script by heart.

Disobedient daughter. Ungrateful heir. The Emerson family mantra.

Behind me, the door creaked open. I didn’t need to turn to know it was Liam. His presence was like a storm at my back, electric and suffocating.

"Avery—" His voice was rough, conflicted. I kept walking.

Then, like clockwork, Riley’s breathy whimper cut through the hallway. "Liam… my chest… it hurts…"

I didn’t stop to watch him choose. Again. He chose Riley.

After the ward's door snapped closed, I turned and stared blankly at the closed door.

"He chose her over us." Lydia whimpered in both shock and pain. His tenderness with Riley must have been too much for her to bear.

"It was expected." I replied, trying to hide my disappointment.

"But still..."

"It's for the best. We weren't meant to be." I cut off Lydia's haunting whines.

"... It's high time we let go." I added in a whisper, taking a sharp breath. I swallowed hard when I heard Lydia's mournful howls.

I'm sorry.

I walked to my car and contacted my best friend Savannah.

"You’re actually doing it?" Savannah’s voice crackled through my phone, equal parts shocked and thrilled. "Finally ditching that gilded cage?"

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, my wolf Lydia restless beneath my skin.

"If I stay, I’ll either kill Riley or become her."

"Meet me at Platinum Heights in twenty."

The luxury apartment complex gleamed under the afternoon sun, all floor-to-ceiling windows and sleek modern lines. Savannah was already waiting outside, her dark curls bouncing as she waved me over.

"Took you long enough." She teased, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "Now let’s go find you a penthouse worthy of a runaway alpha heiress."

We’d barely stepped into the lobby when we heard a familiar saccharine voice dripped with false surprise. "Oh my god. Avery Emerson?"

Rachel. Riley’s favorite sycophant—a social climber with more plastic in her face than the agency’s furniture. She leaned against the reception desk, her designer dress probably costing more than the security guard’s annual salary.

Her lip curled in a smirk. "Slumming it without Daddy’s credit cards, Avery?"

Savannah’s grip on my arm tightened. "Ignore the rabid chihuahua."

But Rachel slithered closer, her perfume choking the air. "Riley told me all about your little tantrum. Honestly, it’s pathetic. She’s sick, and you’re still jealous because—"

"Because Liam actually prefers his mate over the psycho who tried to gut her?" Savannah finished sweetly.

"Shocking." Rachel mocked with a fake gasp.

I tuned out their bickering and slid my bank card across the marble counter. The receptionist swiped it, frowned, then swiped again.

"I’m sorry, Miss Emerson. This card has been… declined."

Rachel’s loud laugh could shatter glass. "Oops. Guess Daddy finally cut you off!" She twirled a curl around her finger. "Want me to call Riley? Maybe she’ll lend you some cash because it seems like you really need it at the moment."

Savannah looked ready to shift and rip her throat out. I caught her wrist—then pulled the matte black card from my wallet’s hidden slot.

The receptionist’s eyes bulged. The embossed silver crest—a wolf’s head crowned with thorns—glinted under the lights.

The manager materialized out of thin air, bowing slightly. "Miss Emerson, our apologies. We have the Skyview Penthouse reserved for VIP clients. Allow me to show you immediately."

Rachel’s jaw dropped. "What—what is that?"

Savannah snatched the card before I could stop her, squinting at the embossed silver wolf insignia. "Holy shit. Is this—"

"None of your business," I said in a playful tone, grabbing it back.

Rachel lunged forward. "Let me see that—"

The manager stepped between us, his polite smile frozen. "I’m afraid unauthorized persons aren’t permitted beyond this point."

"Unauthorized?" Rachel shrieked. "Do you know who my boyfriend is?"

The manager didn’t blink. "Precisely. And I'd say the same thing even if he showed up in person."

Rachel's jaw dropped as shame hit her.

Savannah’s cackle echoed through the lobby as the elevator doors closed on Rachel’s furious face.

As the door closed, Savannah hissed, "Since when do you have that?"

I stared at the ascending floor numbers, my pulse steady for the first time in days. "Since I stopped playing by my father’s rules."

The doors opened to a sprawling penthouse, all glass and gleaming surfaces, and the city stretched out beneath us like a kingdom.

Savannah whistled. "Damn. Remind me never to bet against you."

I walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the sunset paint the sky in hues of fire. Somewhere out there, my father was freezing my accounts. Liam was probably comforting Riley.

My heart still ached, but not that much. What I couldn’t see was—somewhere across the city, in a penthouse even taller than mine, a phone lit up with a notification.

Black Card #0721 activated.

A shadowed figure smiled.

“Finally.”