Chapter 3

Emma stared at me through her tears.

"Choose your sister," she said, "or choose the man who protects me."

Lucas stood beside her, one hand wrapped around her wrist. He looked at me as if I had already committed some unforgivable crime.

I looked at the silk robe hanging from Emma's shoulders.

"Fine," I said. "I choose myself."

Emma's face changed.

I reached for the contract on the counter and tore it in half.

Then I tore the halves again.

Lucas's eyes went cold. "Do you understand what you just did?"

"Yes. I refused your threat."

"You think this is a game?"

"No. You turned my help into a leash and expected me to thank you for holding it."

Emma rose slowly. Lucas caught her elbow.

"You're being cruel," she said.

"Cruel?" I laughed. "I paid your rent for three years. I paid for your treatment, your lawyer, your clothes, and every meal you ate while you were pretending to look for work. I gave you a home, a job, and a place in my company."

"I never asked for those things."

"You cried until I offered them."

Her lips shook. "You always reminded me that I needed you."

"I reminded you because you kept taking more."

Lucas stepped closer. "Enough."

I looked at Emma. "You want to talk about family? Then let's talk about how you came to live in my house."

Emma's face went white.

"Your parents left you at the shelter when you were six," I said. "My parents brought you home. You slept in my room because you were afraid of the dark. You ate at our table. You wore my old clothes. My mother called you her daughter, and I called you my sister."

"Stop."

"You were raised on charity, Emma. Don't stand there and act like you built anything alone."

Her eyes flashed with anger.

"At least I have real blood," she snapped. "You were the one they found abandoned in the woods."

The words struck harder than Lucas's contract.

Emma moved in front of him, no longer crying.

"You're just a stray," she said. "A wild-blood nobody. My family gave you a name. My parents gave you a bed. Without us, you would still be eating scraps."

Lucas said nothing.

Emma pointed at the shelves. "And this brand? You only got those clients because of Lucas's family. Your little perfume shop is alive because the Moonshadow Alliance let you in."

"I built Moon & Moss."

"You mixed oils in a back room and begged people to try them. I stood beside you when nobody cared."

"You copied my notes."

"I learned from you."

"You stole from me."

Her wolf pressed against her skin. Her eyes turned silver.

"You think your contracts make you powerful?" she hissed. "You're not an alpha. You're not even part of a proper bloodline."

I stepped toward her.

"My blood didn't sign your expense reports."

Emma's hand flew out.

Lucas caught it before she could touch me. For one second, I thought he might stop her.

Instead, he turned to me.

"Leave."

"This is my shop."

"You're upsetting Emma."

"I'm taking back my property."

Emma laughed. "Your property? You can't even control your own wolf."

I grabbed my coat from the chair and headed for the door.

Lucas blocked me.

"Nora, apologize to Emma."

I stared at him. "For what?"

"For insulting her family."

"She insulted mine."

"You don't have a family."

Emma smiled.

I moved around him. Emma suddenly shoved me from the side.

My heel caught the edge of the display platform. I fell hard, and my arm struck the metal corner of the counter. Pain shot from my wrist to my shoulder.

Lucas pushed past me and went straight to Emma.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

She placed a hand over her stomach. "The baby—"

"I'm here."

He never looked at my arm.

I pulled myself up with my good hand. "Get out of my shop."

Lucas turned toward me, holding Emma against his chest.

"This is your fault," he said. "You made her panic."

I left before I threw something heavier than a glass.

Back in the storage room, I locked the door and wrapped my arm in a clean towel. The swelling had already started.

On the floor sat ninety-nine empty bottles from the latest collection. Emma had kept them after the samples were used. I placed each bottle on the worktable and wrote down the batch date, the remaining scent, and the delivery code.

Then I opened the payment records.

Every transfer had a timestamp.

I matched them with the shop's entry logs, security footage, and supplier messages. The pattern became clear. Emma had entered after closing, changed prices, moved stock, and used my accounts while Lucas covered for her.

I saved copies to three drives.

At midnight, my friend Mina called.

"Nora, have you seen the photos?" she asked.

"What photos?"

"Lucas and Emma are hosting a private event tomorrow. They're using Moon & Moss bottles as party favors. They rented a hall under your brand name."

I opened the link she sent.

Emma wore a white suit cut exactly like mine. Her hair was tied in the same low knot. She stood beside Lucas, shaking hands with buyers using the negotiation phrases I had taught her.

Lucas had placed my logo behind them.

Mina's voice tightened. "They're telling everyone the brand belongs to the Moonshadow Alliance now."

I looked at the ninety-nine bottles lined across my table.

"They can tell people anything," I said. "The records will say who paid for it."

A week later, Lucas arrived at the shop with six alliance representatives.

Emma stood beside him in another one of my copied outfits.

Lucas placed a statement on the counter.

"Read it," he ordered.

It demanded that I publicly apologize to Emma and recognize her as a co-owner.

I pushed the paper back.

"No."

His jaw tightened. "You will apologize today."

"I paid for the apartment, the shop, the inventory, the suppliers, and the client accounts. You don't get ownership because you slept with my sister."

Emma stepped forward. "You owe me everything."

"I owed you gratitude for giving me a home. I paid that debt years ago."

Lucas leaned across the counter.

"Nora, this is your last chance."

I folded the statement and dropped it into the trash.

Lucas's voice turned flat.

"Nora, you forced me to do this. Don't regret it."