The throne room doors shut behind her with a heavy boom, but Lisa didn’t flinch.
If anything, she smiled.
A small, sharp, victorious smile, the kind that lived only in the corners of her mouth, the kind she never let anyone else notice. Not
even Anna.
Especially not Anna.
The corridor ahead was nearly empty, sunlight spilling through tall windows, dust floating like soft glitter in the beams. It looked peaceful. Quiet. Safe.
And that alone made her want to laugh.
Everyone else had left the throne room shattered crying, panicking, whispering, trembling.
But Lisa? She walked out with her head high, her back straight, and not a single drop of worry in her blood.
Because unlike them, she knew the truth.
She was untouchable.
The last surviving thread of Aurora’s network. The only one clever enough to erase her tracks. The only one who had always stayed five steps ahead.
And now that Anna and Uther had fallen like the foolish pawns they were, there was no one left who could expose her.
Lisa lifted a hand and fixed her hair, smoothing a strand behind her ear.
Poor Anna. Poor, stupid Anna.
She had always thought she was the mastermind, the center of the web, the one spinning all the strings.
And Lisa had let her believe it, feeding her ego, whispering ideas in her ear... ideas Anna believed were her own.
But Anna had never realized she was merely the weapon.
And Lisa had been the one aiming her.
Now Anna was dead. Uther disgraced, dead too. Aurora in chains. Lily had taken her own life.
The moment she had discovered Lily was leaving, she had used dark magic she had bought from a black market to poison Lily .
Dark magic so potent enough to make her be unable to expose her if something happened.
And it had worked.
She was ten times ahead of everyone.
Every pawn removed from the board.
Except her.
Lisa inhaled deeply through her nose, breathing in victory.
She had done it. She truly had.
~~~~~~~~~~~
She walked briskly down the corridor, her boots clicking softly.
A pair of servants stepped aside with nervous bows.
Lisa resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Such fragile little things these people were.
Another corner, another hallway, and she would reach the guest wing.
She needed to retrieve the satchel under her bed, the one only she knew about, the one packed with a forged pass, money, and a single sealed letter written in Aurora’s handwriting.
Insurance.
Lisa’s lips curled again. She could already imagine the delicious chaos she would unleash once she slipped away.
She stepped forward and collided with someone turning the corner.
Hard.
Lisa’s shoulder slammed into theirs, and she let out a hiss. Her immediate instinct was to snap!
But then she saw who it was.
Fiona.
Of all people.
The irritating, self-righteous little puppet who thought she could play spy.
The girl who used to sleep two beds away. The girl Lisa had always suspected, always watched, always found unbearably predictable.
Lisa’s annoyance spiked. "Watch where—"
But Fiona’s eyes were already narrowed. And Lisa realized in a single breath that Fiona was not simply walking.
She was storming. Her face streaked with emotion, her jaw trembling as if she had just fought a war inside herself.
Ah.
Erik.
Perfect.
Lisa shifted to move past her.
But Fiona’s hand shot out faster than she expected.
She grabbed Lisa’s arm and jerked her back.
Hard.
Lisa stumbled, her composure cracking for the first time.
"Let go," Lisa snapped, yanking her arm. "I’m the pack’s star witness and I’m sure Alpha Xaden wouldn’t appreciate you laying your filthy hands on me—"

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