Chapter 1:

The glass doors of Benjamin Tower opened and the noise hit first, cameras flashing, voices clashing and questions flying with no patience for answers.

Yet Anabella stepped into it like it was nothing more than background sound, her pace steady, face calm and presence controlled in a way that made people instinctively give her space without knowing why.

She had just closed a deal that dragged her family’s empire back from collapse, a brutal international pack-merger no one else had the spine to finish, and still she walked out without even a hint of ownership on her face because she already knew how this part would go.

Her brothers moved ahead before the doors even shut behind them, smiles wide and stepping into the light like they had been starving for it.

“This deal?” one of them said, voice loud. “We handled it.”

“And our sister Vivienne,” the other added smoothly, turning slightly so the cameras caught his best angle.

“She’s the real genius here. The heart of this family. Even while she was away for two years, she kept guiding us. She just came back and made this happen.”

The crowd reacted instantly, voices rising, flashes intensifying, and just like that, the narrative was sealed.

Anabella didn’t interrupt. She stayed two steps behind, arms loosely crossed, sunglasses shielding her eyes and expression bored as if she had seen this exact performance too many times to care anymore.

The lie rolled past her easily, and she let it, because stepping forward meant standing where they were standing, and she had no interest in sharing space with people who needed applause to feel important.

Her blood brothers had nearly ruined the empire; she had brought it back. Yet the credit went to them and the fake heiress.

Her lips curved slightly, not out of amusement or anger but just that quiet, dangerous kind of acknowledgment that said she understood exactly what was happening and chose not to stop it.

She exhaled once before turning away without a word, already done with them and their lies

Her heels clicked against the pavement as she moved toward her matte-black SUV, slipping out of the spotlight the same way she always did, clean, unnoticed and untouched.

Her phone rang just as she reached the door.

She picked up.

“Talk.”

Ella didn’t ease into it. “Boss, I just saw your fiancé with that discount moon-princess you call a sister.”

Anabella paused, just a fraction, her fingers resting against the car handle while her posture remained relaxed, her face giving nothing away.

“Where.”

“The private moonlit lounge. They were leaving together,” Ella said, then lowered her voice slightly.

“He had his hands on her. Not casually and she was scent-marking him like she already owned him. They looked way too comfortable.”

There was a short silence.

“Interesting,” Anabella said quietly.

Ella hesitated. “What do you want me to do?”

Anabella opened the car door and slid inside, her gaze dropping for a second as her hand moved into her coat pocket.

“Nothing.”

A small pause, then her voice dipped lower.

“If they’re selling a lie…” Her fingers tightened slightly. “I’ll let them choke on it.”

Ella didn’t reply and the call ended.

For a moment Anabella was still, then she pulled the ring Alex had given her from her coat pocket. The luna-stone caught the faint streetlight, it was expensive and exactly Vivienne’s taste.

Her wolf surged. Silver magia flared hot under her skin and her aura surged leaking out but she suppressed it.

She held the stone tighter. A clean crack split the air, then it shattered into glittering dust that scattered on the afternoon wind, carrying the sharp ozone-and-blood scent of unleashed Alpha power. Nearby pedestrians shivered without knowing why.

Before their minds could catch up or they looked her way, she was already relaxed in the car.

“Drive.”

The SUV pulled away smoothly.

Her phone rang again not long after looking at it, it was Alex.

She answered.

“Come to my office,” he said, voice steady and controlled. “Now.”

The line went dead.

She leaned back against the seat, eyes half-lidded behind her glasses.

“Take me to his office,” she said.

The city blurred past the tinted windows. Vivienne again. Always Vivienne.

The Omega who had stolen her place at birth, whose mother had swapped them for a better life.

The one the family had raised, protected, and now worshipped, even after two years away while Anabella bled for an empire that rewarded her with silence.

A faint warmth bloomed on the hidden tattoo at her wrist, Grandma’s old Shadowfang rune pulsing once and her voice rang in her head: Protect her. Always protect your mother.

She didn’t dwell on the thought. There was nothing worth holding onto in those memories, that promise had kept her locked here.

Two weeks until the wedding. An alliance she had accepted without fuss and now this.

Her lips curved faintly. Some people really didn’t know when to stay gone.

The car stopped and she stepped out and walked straight towards Alex’s office and the truth was already heavy in the air

Vivienne’s scent was everywhere

Anabella walked in without pause, her gaze settling on Alex where he stood behind his desk.

He looked the same, blessed with sharp features, controlled posture, that Alpha presence people admired too easily and for a brief second, something flickered in his eyes when he noticed the distance she kept, but it disappeared just as quickly.

She didn’t move toward him or sit where she usually did.

He reeks of her and she don't want to lose her cool right now

She took the seat opposite him, crossing her legs slowly, her posture relaxed,

“What.”

He was shocked by her attitude but he leaned back slightly, studying her. “We need to postpone the wedding.”

There was no hesitation or effort to soften it.

She tilted her head.

“Postpone,” she repeated calmly. “That’s a soft word. Try again.”

“Look Bella, Vivienne isn’t well and we can't be celebrating when she's in pain,” he said, his tone tightening just enough to show irritation. “She needs stability and care, you know how she is.”

He reached for a document and slid it across the desk.

“I’ve set something up for you. A business overseas. It’s registered, funded and fully structured. You can leave immediately if you want. You’ve always said you wanted something of your own.”

She picked it up, flipping through it slowly, her eyes scanning the pages with quiet focus before she closed it and looked back at him.

“So let me understand this properly,” she said, her voice even. “You want me to relocate… to make space for her.”

“I’m offering you independence,” he replied, his gaze sharpening. “You deserve more than what your family gives you.”

She held his eyes for a second, then a small smile appeared.

“Look at you,” she murmured. “Rebranding betrayal as a growth opportunity.”

He frowned slightly. “Anabella...”

She didn’t let him finish.

The document tore cleanly in her hands, the sound cutting through the room once, then again and again until the pieces dropped onto his desk.

Silence followed.

She stood up slowly, her gaze locked on him now, no boredom left, just something colder settling in.

“Alex, you’re not postponing anything,” she said calmly. “You’re restructuring. Cutting what doesn’t fit your current direction.”

He didn’t respond, but the shift in his eyes said enough.

She tilted her head, studying him with quiet precision.

“Low return. High complication. Easy to move out before it starts costing you.”

Her lips curved faintly.

“It's clean and efficient. I’d almost respect it.”

She slipped her hands into her coat pockets and took a step closer, her presence sharpening

“But if you’re cleaning house…”

Her voice dropped, cold and soft.

“Why waste time pretending?”

“Meaning?” he asked, his own Alpha aura flaring in response.

She didn’t flinch. If anything, it made her smile just slightly.

“Be smart, Alex,” she said softly. “Don’t dress it up.”

Her eyes held his, steady and unyielding.

“Cancel the wedding and stop insulting both of us.”