While I was locked inside that dressing room, the grand hall outside still shimred with music and laughter, no one knew what was happening down here.
But beneath the surface, claws were already out.
lissa pulled Camilla aside near one of the tall marble pillars. Her face looked pale, almost gray under the chandelier lights.
"I followed your instructions," lissa whispered. "But she’s Lewis’s mate. If sothing goes wrong, the Alpha won’t let the Hudson pack off easily."
Camilla didn’t even blink.
Her expression was smooth. Cold. Controlled.
"Relax," she said softly. "It’s just a few photos. Once we have leverage, the Hales will cooperate. Isn’t that what your family has been wanting?"
lissa swallowed. "But I..."
"Nothing serious will happen," Camilla cut in. "I made it clear. They’ll scare her. Take a few compromising photos. That’s all."
Her lips curved faintly.
"Jeffrey cares about reputation more than anything. He would never allow such images to surface. When the ti cos, you can na your price. And Lewis will have no choice but to bow his head."
It sounded logical.
Clean.
Calculated.
But lissa still felt uneasy. She wasn’t born into sches like this. She didn’t grow up learning how to ruin soone quietly.
lissa straightened her back and forced her nerves down.
What she didn’t notice was Camilla slipping away again.
This ti, she found Silas near the side exit.
Her voice dropped lower.
"Make sure she suffers," she said. "The worse, the better."
Her eyes flashed.
I could almost feel it from where I stood inside that locked room the sharp edge of her hatred.
Camilla had never accepted defeat.
Not at the Hale estate.
Not during the painting competition.
Not when whispers spread about her.
She had swallowed humiliation in silence.
And now she wanted it back with interest.
"Riley," she murmured to herself, "you think you’re clever? Let’s see how it feels to be the one cornered."
Her mind painted the scene already.
dragged into scandal.
Photos leaked.
Reputation shattered.
A mate tainted.
Would Lewis still claim then?
Would an Alpha accept a woman dragged through mud?
Camilla’s lips curved slowly.
She thought she understood how pack bonds worked.
She didn’t.
Yenick walked up just then, adjusting his cufflinks. "What are you doing here? The ceremony starts in thirty minutes. Need to fix your makeup?"
"No," Camilla replied coolly.
Yenick narrowed his eyes. "What are you and lissa plotting? Today is supposed to be clean. Don’t ruin it."
His voice hardened.
"If you do, I won’t go easy on you. Don’t think being pregnant protects you."
Camilla touched her stomach lightly. "At least the child in my womb is yours. Can’t you be a little gentler?"
Yenick let out a dry laugh.
"Gentler? If you had the courage, you’d be a true daughter of the Ashbournes. Your family is crumbling. You’ve got two older brothers already. Marrying you is a burden."
His gaze dropped to her stomach.
"The only thing of value here is the child."
Camilla stood there, expression frozen.
Even in her condition, she was calculating.
Camilla swallowed her anger.
"I understand," she said calmly. "I’ll go fix my makeup."
Her voice was soft, obedient.
But the mont Yenick turned his back, her eyes went cold.
Ice.
Hatred.
The Hudson pack’s ti was almost over and she will make sure of it.
She knew exactly what she was doing and she was very carweful with it.
If Riley was dragged into scandal, Lewis’s Alpha pride would never tolerate it. He would hunt down whoever touched what belonged to him.
And when he did
The Hudson pack would be crushed.
Business cooperation?
Gone.
Reputation?
Shattered.
Yenick thought he could climb higher using the child in Camilla’s womb.
How foolish.
Once the Hudson na fell, Sera would be worthless.
And if the alliance between Julian and Sera was never announced publicly, it could be cut off like a weak branch.
Jeffrey would never tie his bloodline to a collapsing pack.
Camilla’s lips curved faintly.
One move.
Three targets destroyed.
Riley disgraced.
The Hudson pack ruined.
Sera stripped of her position as future Mrs. Hale.
She folded her arms slowly.
Riley, don’t bla . You stepped into this ga yourself.
The thought of watching kneel, humiliated, discarded by my mate
It thrilled her.
All her frustration over the past weeks lted away.
She checked the ti and turned to Silas.
"In twenty minutes," she said quietly, "carry out the original plan."
Silas hesitated. "Are we really doing this?"
Camilla didn’t even blink. "She’s caused too much trouble. Today, I’ll end it."
anwhile, inside the grand hall, the large screen above the stage flickered.
It had been turned off monts earlier.
Now it lit up again.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
On the screen
Several large n.
Clothes scattered across the floor.
A woman held down.
Her face blurred by the angle.
Fiona snapped sharply, "Who turned that back on? Turn it off!"
But before anyone could move, Camilla stepped forward with perfectly tid shock.
She pointed at the dress on the screen.
"Oh my goodness... isn’t that Mrs. Hale’s gown?"
The people around her leaned closer.
"It is. That’s her dress."
"I was just admiring it earlier..."
"If that’s really Mrs. Hale..."
The whispers spread like scent in winter air.
Then silence.
All eyes shifted.
To Lewis.
He sat in his wheelchair, composed as ever.
Behind him, the massive screen displayed the disturbing scene.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Sympathy.
Pity.
Speculation.
So the rumors were true...
Mr. Hale must be incapable.
That’s why his mate sought others.
That was the unspoken conclusion in their eyes.
I wasn’t in that hall to see it.
But later, when I learned what they thought
I almost laughed.
They didn’t understand sothing simple.
An Alpha doesn’t need to roar to dominate a room.
And he certainly doesn’t lose control because of a screen.
What they saw was stillness.
What they didn’t see
Was the storm gathering behind it.
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