After half a month in Snowville, Grant finally stopped acting like the company still mattered most.
He had handed everything over to , piece by piece, like he was putting down a heavy crown. And now he was restless, eager to leave. I could feel it in the way he checked his phone, in the way his eyes kept drifting far away, like his mind was already beside Mom.
That night, we had a farewell dinner.
The restaurant was quiet, warm lights reflecting off polished tables. But Grant still looked like a man who hadn’t slept well in a long ti.
"Tomorrow, I’m going back," Grant said, looking at . "The branch is yours from now on."
I understood what he didn’t say out loud.
He wanted to go back to her.
To the woman he lost, but still circled like he couldn’t fully let go.
"Dad," I promised, "I won’t let you down."
Grant nodded once, then turned his sharp gaze to Lewis. His voice dropped, heavy with warning.
"Lewis, you take care of her. If you hurt her, I won’t forgive you."
Lewis didn’t flinch. His hand found mine under the table, steady and warm. It was the kind of grip that told my body, relax I’ve got you.
"Don’t worry, Grant," he said calmly. "Even if it costs my life, I won’t let Riley down."
I tugged his sleeve quickly, half playful, half serious. "Hey. Don’t you dare say things like that."
Lewis’s mouth softened, and he lifted his glass. "Alright. I’ll take good care of her."
We clinked glasses. The sound was small, but it felt like a vow.
When we left the restaurant, the night air hit my face, cool and damp. I was still thinking about Grant’s words about responsibility, and family, and the way love could ruin people
When I saw her.
Lincy ca running toward us like she’d been chased for miles.
She looked disheveled. Blood streaked her skin and stained the front of her dress. Her hair was tangled, and her eyes were wild, darting left and right like she expected soone to grab her at any second.
In just half a month, her life had collapsed.
Yenick had done everything he could to force her to transfer the house and car to him. She refused, and they’d gone back and forth until it turned ugly. Then she ran to her biological father, Zack, like he could save her.
But under Grant’s pressure, Zack was already drowning.
He had moved assets to his wife and kids, divorced, then married Monica like a desperate man clinging to the last thing that would stroke his ego. Monica thought she’d finally won.
Then Zack filed for bankruptcy.
And their dream turned into debt.
Zack couldn’t even help himself, let alone Lincy. Lincy blad Monica for everything like Monica had forced her to lie, forced her to steal, forced her to hurt people.
And now Lincy was living like a runaway, hiding from the ss she created. She cut ties with Monica, but it didn’t fix anything. It only made her more alone.
When I looked at her closely, I saw how much she had changed.
April was warr now, but she wore a thin dress like she didn’t even have proper clothes anymore. Her exposed skin had marks bruises, scratches, the kind of signs you get when you’re shoved around and nobody cares if you fall.
Her pride was gone.
She dropped to her knees in front of Grant, right there on the sidewalk.
"Dad," she begged, voice cracking, "if you don’t help , Yenick and those people will kill ! You’re all I have left!"
Grant stared down at her like she was dirt on his shoe.
Not a flicker of sympathy crossed his face.
"Isn’t this what you deserve?" he asked coldly.
Lincy’s breath hitched. Then she started spilling everything, like if she said enough ugly truth, soone would finally pity her.
"Dad, that bastard wanted to sleep with those disgusting old n," she sobbed. "He wanted to film things... he said he’d kill if I didn’t. Dad, I’m out of options. Please... help one last ti."
I watched her and couldn’t help rembering the auction how she strutted around with her chin high, buying clothes worth millions like money grew on trees. How she drained Yenick, then laughed at him for being useful.
And deeper than that... I rembered the way she stole what wasn’t hers.
The way she targeted Riley.
The way she pushed and provoked and lied until a girl broke.
What goes around cos around.
Lincy had planted poison, and now she was crying because she couldn’t stop the harvest.
Grant’s face didn’t change. He didn’t even look conflicted.
He bent slightly, then snapped Lincy’s fingers away from his trouser leg, one by one, like she was nothing.
"Then you should die," he said, voice flat. "If you die, I’ll take care of your body."
Lincy froze.
Her tears fell harder, like she couldn’t believe the person who used to spoil her was saying this.
"Dad, how can you do this?" she cried. "You used to give everything. You always agreed to my requests. Even if we don’t share blood, you were my father for twenty years! Even if it was a dog, you’d feel sothing. How can you be so cruel?"
Grant’s eyes turned sharp.
"You’re right," he said, disgust heavy in his voice. "I am a cruel father."
Then his gaze darkened, like an old rage woke up.
"But because of you, I neglected my real daughter. I’ll be punished for that. And you think you can walk away like nothing happened?"
He leaned closer, cold and bitter.
"You’re naive."
"Dad " Lincy choked.
"The biggest regret of my life," Grant said, "was ever acknowledging a beast like you."
He pulled out his phone and tapped it calmly, like he was sending a normal business ssage.
"I’ve already told Yenick where you are," he said. "Enjoy the life you deserve, Lincy. If you steal from others, you pay it back."
Lincy’s scream ripped through the night.
"Dad!!!"
Grant didn’t look back.
He turned to like Lincy wasn’t even there anymore. "Let’s go. It’s late."
I glanced once at Lincy on the ground bloody, shaking, falling apart.
I didn’t mock her.
I didn’t feel satisfied.
I just felt... tired.
We got into the car.
Lincy lunged forward and grabbed the door fra, her fingers desperate.
"Riley, please," she cried. "Lend money. I’ll leave the country. I’ll disappear. Please!"
I pried her fingers off the door slowly, one by one, and looked her in the eyes.
"Lincy," I said quietly, "I owe you nothing."
My voice stayed calm, but my chest felt tight.
"You owe Riley," I continued. "Go to hell and pay it back. Don’t let see you again."
The door shut.
The car rolled forward.
In the rearview mirror, I saw Lincy running after us, stumbling like her legs couldn’t carry her anymore.
"Don’t go! Please! I’m begging you!"
Then she fell.
Her face, desperate and twisted, blurred with distance.
I knew she wouldn’t truly feel remorse for what she did to Riley. Not the kind that changes you. She wasn’t sorry because she understood the pain she caused.
She was sorry because she was suffering now.
She was hopeless.
A pitiful creature, incapable of stirring real trouble anymore.
I let out a soft sigh and leaned back.
But my mind didn’t stay on Lincy.
It went where it always went lately Whitney... and Camilla.
If we could catch Camilla, if we could force the truth out into daylight, everything would finally start to crack open. But since the night she disappeared, it was like she vanished from the earth.
I hadn’t been to school in days.
Yael hadn’t moved either. He hadn’t reached out.
Everything felt too quiet.
And quiet was never safe.
The weather ward. Snowville’s snow finally lted, like winter had been erased overnight. Flowers blood on bare branches. New leaves pushed out, bright and fresh, sweeping away the gloom.
But I still rembered that winter.
I still rembered what got buried under all that white.
Lewis glanced at in the passenger seat. "Elena," he asked softly, "what are you thinking? What’s with that look?"
I stared out the window, watching streetlights pass like slow blinking eyes.
"How do we lure a snake hiding in a cave?" I murmured.
Lewis’s hand tightened around mine imdiately. Possessive. Protective. Like his instincts hated the idea before his mind even finished hearing it.
"I won’t let you be the bait," he said, firm. "It’s too dangerous."
I turned to him and gave a small, tired smile. "Don’t worry. I value my life too much. I’m not planning to do it myself."
His eyes narrowed. "Then what do you an?"
I sat up straighter, the plan forming clearly in my head.
"We spread the word that Grandma has woken up," I said. "We let it travel. We report it to the police with evidence and clues."
I watched his face, watched him calculate.
"Do you think," I added softly, "so people will panic and do sothing reckless?"
Lewis’s mouth tightened, then he nodded slowly.
"That’s not a bad idea," he said. "Grandma ntioning the Blackwells ans there’s sothing tied between families. She might have more evidence. And if we expose what Camilla did to her, the police can issue a warrant."
He paused, then continued, voice low and certain.
"Penelope’s health has improved recently. We can bring her out briefly. If she appears in public and we announce she’s recovering, it’ll be enough to shake them."
His thumb brushed over my knuckles, grounding .
"Then we set the trap," he said, "and wait for the big fish to bite."
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