77 Chapter 8 " Seraphina , you finally agreed to see me . " Hope flickered in Atticus's eyes . His voice shook as if he were clutching at his last straw . " Have you forgiven me ? I'll throw Anya out right now . We can start over , just you and me . Please . " I looked at him , cool and steady , and set a document on the table instead of indulging his fantasy . " Years ago your father and I made a wager - ten years . If you never wronged me in that time , I would stay by your side for life and keep you safe . But if you betrayed me ... " I paused , tapped the will with a fingertip , and let the steel into my voice . " Nightfall Group is mine . " I turned to the Elders behind me . " They witnessed it . ' Color drained from Atticus's face as if someone had struck him between the eyes . " No ... impossible , " he muttered , panic flooding his gaze . " Seraphina , I know I failed you . But Nightfall Group is the pack's lifeblood . I'll give you anything else - anything - but not this . " In the face of Alpha Dorian's will , his protest sounded brittle and absurd . The shareholders moved to stand behind me without a word . Their silence said more than speeches ever could . Atticus was stripped of the chairman's post on the spot . He collapsed the sofa and chain - smoked , staring at nothing . A day later , he'd made up his mind and knocked on my office door . " Seraphina , I know it's late to say any of this , " he said , voice low and exhausted . " But I should at least make amends . The company's a mess . I can't dump everything on you . " He held out a folder . " I'm signing over the old house . Sell it if you need to . It'll help with cash flow . " I glanced at the papers and laughed once , without warmth . " How long has it been since you went home , Atticus ? You must not know that Anya already pawned the house to loan sharks . " His brow knotted . " No. The deed is still in my name- I clapped my hands . Liam walked in with Anya in tow and dropped her at his feet . " Ask her , " he said . " She didn't just move your assets . She had you sign a property transfer while you were drunk . " His eyes were flat and cold . " If my people hadn't stopped her , she'd already be on a flight to Mexico . " Anya was a wreck - hair wild , bruises mottling her face . Pressed by Liam's men , she spilled everything Atticus's pupils dilated . He seized her throat , eyes gone blood - red . " I treated you well , and you stabbed me in the back ! " Anya's mouth split in a laugh edged with madness . " Treated me well ? Do you know who I hate most in this world ? You and Seraphina . " Her stare cut to me , sharp as a blade . " Eight years ago , why did you save Atticus and not my parents ? Because he was heir to a fortune and worth more than they were ? " Silence stretched . Chapter 8 на на In my mind the old scene unspooled : the crash , Atticus broken and innocent ; Anya's parents - fresh from robbing a bank - driving against traffic into him and turning the road into a slaughter . I saved Atticus because he was blameless . They weren't , Anya had never believed it . In her story, everything bent to power and money . Atticus turned his head , a bleak chill rolling off him . " So you knew all along that Seraphina was saving me , " he said , voice low , the threat barely leashed , " and you still made me think she was poisoning me ? " Chapter &