I was raising my champagne glass when our maid burst into the ballroom, pale and shaking. “Don’t eat the cake!” she screamed. “She poisoned it!” Every head turned toward my billionaire father’s fiancée, whose perfect smile instantly vanished. She pointed at the maid. “She’s lying!” I quietly set down my fork and pulled out my phone. “Funny,” I said. “Because I recorded what you put in it.” And that was only the beginning of my revenge.

Later that evening, long after the gala had concluded and the guests had departed, my father and I walked back into the quiet halls of Grand Ashford Manor.

The autumn wind rustled the leaves in the courtyard outside, creating a soft, soothing whisper against the stone walls.

We walked into the main kitchen—a vast, warm room with copper pots hanging from the ceiling, hardwood butcher blocks, and the rich, comforting scent of fresh cinnamon and baked apples in the air.

Maria stood near the oven, taking out a small, home-baked apple tart she had prepared for us before going to bed.

"I thought you two might be hungry after all those fancy speeches," Maria smiled, setting the warm tart on the kitchen island.

"Maria, you are a lifesaver," my father laughed, pulling out a wooden stool and sitting down.

I picked up a silver dessert server from the drawer and carefully cut a small, neat slice of the warm apple tart, placing it on a small white porcelain plate in front of my father.

He looked down at the slice of tart, then looked up at me with a soft, knowing smile.

"No amber bottles this time?" he teased gently.

"Just cinnamon, apples, and brown sugar," I laughed, cutting a second slice for myself.

My father picked up his dessert fork, took a bite of the warm tart, and chewed slowly, letting out a satisfied sigh under the warm kitchen lights.

"It’s perfect, Evie," my father said softly.

I sat down on the stool beside him, resting my chin in my hand, looking out the kitchen window at the peaceful, star-lit gardens of our home.

The silver serpent was gone, locked away in a concrete cell three thousand miles away. The corrupt lawyers and ambitious betrayers were stripped of their power and facing their judgment.