Chapter 126 Turning Tide
Lady Flourish’s POV
‘Two days before the reconciliation dinner’
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Finished
I stayed in the stairwell long enough to send one final message, watching the words leave my screen with a satisfaction that did nothing to cool the anger still simmering beneath my skin.
“Consider this the last conversation we ever have, Harold. Don’t test me again.”
I blocked his number before he could respond, pressing my thumb against the screen harder than necessary as though the motion could sever something more than a line of communication.
My wolf released a quiet breath of approval, and the tension in my shoulders eased by a fraction.
She had wanted this confrontation for longer than I cared to admit, and whatever patience I had once carried for Harold had finally run out…
The stairwell smelled faintly of concrete and old rain, and the cool air helped clear the heat prickling beneath my skin.
I stayed there for another moment, allowing my wolf to settle before returning to the office.
By the time I reached my desk, the sharp edge of my anger had turned into something colder and more useful.
I buried myself in a stack of contracts, forcing my attention onto figures and signatures while the muffled conversations outside my office continued.
Around noon, the tone suddenly changed.
I noticed it before I understood why, sensing the subtle shift in the office as the tension that had hung over everyone since morning gave way to relief.
My curiosity pulled me toward the door.
“…turns out it was the younger daughter,” one of my analysts said, holding her phone toward a
coworker.
“We were wrong earlier. The older Steele daughter nearly took the blame for nothing.”
“I didn’t even know Alpha Garret had two daughters,” another coworker said.
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11:42 Thu, Oct 1
Chapter 126 Turning Tide
“Always thought it was just Selene.”
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Finished
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“Get this,” a third voice added quietly. “The eldest is from his first wife, the one who died young, and somehow it’s the favored younger daughter who ends up caught in the mess.”
I stepped back into my office before they noticed me listening.
My pulse had already settled into something steadier.
I pulled up the story myself and scrolled through the latest posts, watching as the narrative that had nearly destroyed my reputation that morning was being rewritten.
Every new report now pointed directly at Selene.
My name had disappeared from the coverage completely, replaced by corrections from several sources that clearly hadn’t acted independently.
Someone had gone to considerable trouble to fix the story.
My phone buzzed before I could think further.
“Handled.”
A second message followed almost immediately.
“Bram’s people made sure the truth found its way out. You shouldn’t have had to carry that.”
I stared at the screen as something warm loosened in my chest.
My wolf pressed closer to the bond, recognizing the quiet reassurance behind Damian’s words.
He hadn’t needed me to ask for help.
He had simply handled it.
“Thank you. Tell Bram I owe him a favor.”
Damian replied almost immediately.
“He’ll settle for a raise.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
I could almost hear the dry amusement in his voice.
My father called less than ten minutes later.
11:42 Thu, Oct 1
Chapter 126 Turning Tide
Finished
His voice sounded noticeably less clipped than it had that morning, although exhaustion still weighed heavily beneath his words.
“I saw the correction,” Alpha Garret said without preamble. “I’m sorry, Flourish. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“It’s alright.”
The words came easily, but a small part of me still wished it hadn’t taken outside intervention for him to believe me.
There was a long silence between us.
“Lydia’s talking about trying again,” he finally said, his voice quieter. “For another child.”
My brows drew together.
“She thinks Selene has proven too much of a liability, and she wants-”
He stopped and released a tired breath.
“It doesn’t matter. I told her it wasn’t happening.”
My wolf recoiled at the coldness beneath his words.
Lydia was willing to treat her own daughter as a problem that could be replaced with another child, and the thought left a sour taste in my mouth.
Whatever poison had taken root inside my father’s household clearly ran deeper than one scandal.
“I have to go, Dad,” I said gently. “I need to head to the warehouse this afternoon. There’s something in the Silver Moon shipment records I want to see in person before the numbers disappear.”
“Be careful.”
For once, the warning in Alpha Garret’s voice sounded genuine rather than obligatory.
“I will.”
I ended the call, gathered my things, and headed toward the elevator.
The moment the doors opened, an uneasy prickle moved along my spine.
My wolf had sensed something.
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