Aysel's POV Agnes appeared, holding a plate of washed grapes, her grin wide and untroubled. I didn't even flinch, letting my amber eyes track her movements. Luna Evelyn blinked, incredulous. "You... what are you doing here?" Alpha Remus and Fenrir, however, registered the situation immediately. Their gazes shifted toward me, disbelief etched into every line of their aging features. I tilted my eyes at them, letting the hint of a wolfish smile curl at the corner of my lips. "Why reject her?" I asked softly, my claws flexing under the table. "Because... Celestine's the one I sent in. She was mine to play with all along." To see them flounder, realizing they were negotiating with the hand that had orchestrated the whole stage-it was deliciously ironic. Remus' throat tightened. For perhaps the first time, he glimpsed the depths of my ruthlessness and cunning. His daughter-the girl he thought he had raised-now sat before him, calm, untouchable, and cold. "What do you want?" he rasped, the power in his voice tinged with both fear and awe. If my goal had been simple revenge, to lock Celestine away and leave them outside the walls, I wouldn't have let them step into my territory at all. I let the silence hang for a heartbeat, then smiled, a predatory curl of lips. "You think you know me, Alpha Remus. But you only know what I allow you to see." I leaned forward slightly, letting my eyes glint, wolf-like and calculating. "Everything you gave Celestine-the five percent of shares from my eighteenth-year inheritance, the fixed assets, all of it-comes back to me." Remus' mind raced, counting and recalculating. Retrieving these things would be simple enough-but imagine Celestine, released from the confines of her cage, coming home only to find the family's stance reversed. The wound would cut deeper, perhaps permanently. Even if she eventually married into Blackwood Pack, the bonds between our houses could never be the same. I was sowing a seed of discord. I wanted them divided, distant, vulnerable. But there was no choice left for them. Let them resent me-it was better than letting her rot in confinement. "All right," Remus said, his tone flat, defeated. "We'll transfer everything to you."I shook a single finger, a sly, teasing gesture. "No, no. I cannot bear the burden of Moonvale's possessions." "Then... donate it," I decided, my voice soft but edged with steel. Luna Evelyn's face twisted, barely containing outrage, and I added, "Those shares, those properties-they must never return to Celestine. When you donate, convert their value to charity, in her name if convenient." I smiled, a wolfish gleam, baring just a hint of fang. "You know me. I hold grudges, and I remember. As long as Moonvale carries Celestine's stake, I will haunt it, gnaw at it, until it's mine. You may try to comply in form only, but Magnus' temper is... less forgiving." Remus' chest tightened. Naked threat. "Fine," he muttered, conceding. Satisfied, I nodded once. "Good. You may leave." The exchange had taken minutes, sharp and efficient. I was nothing if not expedient. Luna hesitated, then murmured, "And your sister...?" I didn't answer. I only let my gaze linger, steady and unwavering. Fenrir gently took his mother's arm. "We'll honor your wishes," he said to both me and Agnes. "And we hope you will honor your own." I allowed a small smile to cross my lips. Once the Moonvale trio had departed, Agnes slumped beside me, her face a mixture of awe and disbelief. "Sister-in-law... are you really letting Celestine go?" I set my cup down slowly, deliberately, savoring the weight of my words. "Who said that?" "But you..." she began, faltering mid-sentence, eyes widening. I let my smile widen, sly and cunning, fox-like. "I promised nothing. You promised nothing. It's all... in their heads." They had assumed my mercy, their own assumptions crafting my actions for me. Typical Moonvale behavior-deciding for others, overestimating their influence. Agnes swallowed hard. When Celestine eventually emerged from her cage, she would find a sky collapsed and a world turned upside down. Moonvale would have its chaos, and I would savor every twitch of their ears. It was frightening, exhilarating-the same thrill Magnus always brought, the quiet dominance, the subtle assertion of control over everything and everyone. Agnes nudged me, voice sobering. "Sister-in-law... one more thing."