Novel & Cerita Jennifer Lynn Barnes Inheritance Games Book 5

Billy is turning a page of the logic problem collection. The Thursday evening proceeding in its usual way. I looked at the documentation on the screen. A legacy clause. Buried. Possibly accidentally. Possibly not. The settlement I'd spent eighteen months building and executed fourteen months ago, had it been complete? Had the Vale family given me everything I was owed? Or had there been something underneath the settlement all along, waiting to be found by a Heritage Foundation researcher reviewing historical commercial property records on a Thursday evening? I pressed my hand flat on the desk.

Isabella stood by the pool, watching him go, her heart aching. The will reading was held in the library. Isabella sat beside Sebastian, Lucas, and Lily in her lap, her mind still reeling from her conversation with Damien. The lawyer read from a document, his voice droning, the words blurring together. Sebastian inherited the estate. Damien inherited the company. Isabella inherited a trust fund she hadn't expected. "Grandfather wanted to take care of you," Sebastian said, as they walked back to the car. "He didn't even know me."

I replied. "Sure, I'll be right there," she answered immediately. "By the way, did you see the hand in the photo? You know whose it is, right?" "Yes, I know. Don't worry," I replied. I could never have mistaken that hand. The gold bracelet on it was the one I had accidentally lost six months ago. It turned out that Harry had stolen it and given it to his female friend, Sharon Bell.

The pull inside my chest had intensified, no longer vague, no longer distant. He was not just watching. He was preparing. And worse than that, I knew with chilling certainty— He knew exactly who I was. The forest shifted softly around us, indifferent to the weight settling in my chest. The path ahead had changed, even if the destination had not. This was no longer about Rowan’s remnants. This was about inheritance. And somewhere beyond the trees, the Heir was laying claim. Not with war. But with patience.

Gaspare continued watching me with that same half-smile. The broken glass cut into my palm. The blood flowing from my hand pulled my crumbling sanity back from the edge. I dropped the bottle. Gaspare nodded with satisfaction. "I knew you'd be more sensible than she was." … After that day, I stopped resisting. I accepted every arrangement Gaspare made for me. I was just a fake heiress with a borrowed name in the Toscano family, so trying to take down Gaspare on my own was impossible. I had no power, no resources.

I felt my grandfather’s eyes linger for quite a bit, before he cleared his throat and began. “Leanna Thorn. You invoked the sacred Lunar trials, using your right as a member of the ruling family, laying your claim to the throne of Alpha,” he started, the air in the hall turning ceremonial. My gaze remained fixated on the ground as I wanted nothing more than to run away. A part of me even wished for that arrogant alpha to show himself and somehow mess things up. I turned to the side, instantly finding his figure in the crowd, but to my disappointment, he just stood silently, watching everything play out with the cold arrogance of a peak predator.

“Mama… she said the other one is awake now. And she’s looking for you.” Savannah held her child close, heart clanging against her ribs. Colton entered, drawn by instinct. “What is it?” “She’s remembering things she’s never been told,” Savannah whispered. Colton looked at Eva’s pale face. “It’s started.” Savannah’s voice was hollow. “What has?” He looked between them. “The inheritance. Not of blood. Of memory.” Eva closed her eyes and said, “The girl in glass is bleeding again.”

Layla remained impassive as she watched Carol beg and plead. "Spare her? When she killed my mother all those years ago, did she ever think to show mercy?" Layla took a deep breath, her pent-up hatred finally erupting. "And my bastard of a father. For him to die earlier from illness? He got off too easy!" Just then, a lawyer strode in. He approached Layla and handed her a document respectfully in front of all the cameras. "Ms. Higgins, based on the legal procedures and the evidence provided, the inheritance rights to Mr. Aaron Barnes' assets are now yours. How would you like to proceed?"

“So everything she did, the threats, the lies, the manipulation, it was to keep me from my own inheritance?” “Exactly,” Carson said. He moved closer, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder. “And now you have it. But the cost…” She looked up at him, eyes wide, searching. “The cost?” “Everything,” he said quietly. “Every secret your mother kept. Every betrayal your father endured. Every life Seraphine touched, every name in that ledger, they’re all now tied to you. You inherit more than property or money. You inherit pain.” Justina swallowed, tasting it like ash. “I thought surviving the fire was enough. I thought if I made it through, I could finally breathe.”