My Alpha Husband Forgot I Was The Blackridge Reaper Chapter 07
She Wears My Mother’s Pearls
Three days later, Ivy finds a way to reclaim her pride.
She steals my invitations bearing the Halston family crest and invites Blackridge’s highest-ranking females to lunch.
Beta Grant’s daughter.
The chief Enforcer’s niece.
The mates of three Business Council members.
She invites them all.
By the time I hear about it, the guests have already arrived.
Emma rushes into my room, pale with anger.
The wounds on her back have not fully healed.
“Miss Halston, she’s sitting in your seat at the head of the table. She’s using Luna Evelyn’s tea set.”
Her voice rises.
“She told the guests you’re too old and bad-tempered to manage the estate. She said she runs the household now, so they should come to her if they need anything.”
Emma’s hands shake.
“Beta Grant’s daughter laughed and said Ivy is a better match for Mr. Hale. She said the Alpha’s daughter is only his wife on paper.”
I stand and smooth the front of my dress.
“I’ll go see them.”
“You’re going to the sitting room, Miss Halston?”
“The guests should meet the female who actually rules this estate.”
The sitting room is loud when I enter.
Ivy sits in my place at the head of the table.
That seat belongs to the Halston heir.
Seven females crowd around her, talking and laughing.
A strand of white pearls circles Ivy’s throat.
I know it immediately.
It belonged to my mother.
Luna Evelyn wore that necklace to every formal pack gathering.
It rests against her throat in every official portrait hanging in the Alpha estate.
After she died, I locked it inside my jewelry safe.
Adrian knew the combination before I revoked his access.
No one had permission to touch it.
“Oh, Scarlett is here!”
Ivy sees me but does not move from my chair.
Her smile turns smug.
“There’s an empty seat at the end of the table. Do you want to join us?”
The females around her react differently when they see me.
Some lower their heads at once.
Others look away, embarrassed and guilty.
Beta Grant’s daughter lifts her glass to hide her mouth and whispers something to the female beside her.
I do not lose my temper.
My voice stays calm.
“Miss Lane, those pearls around your neck are beautiful.”
Ivy touches them without thinking.
“This? Adrian gave it to me.”
“I see.”
I nod once.
“It belonged to my mother.”
Her hand freezes at her throat.
“You’re wearing my mother’s jewelry, sitting in my seat, drinking from her tea set, and telling my guests that you run my estate.”
The room falls silent.
I look at every female around the table.
“You all come from old Blackridge families.”
My gaze returns to Ivy.
“Go home and ask your elders what happened ten years ago to the last female who crossed Luna Evelyn.”
No one moves.
The silence is absolute.
Beta Grant’s daughter tightens her hand around the stem of her glass.
Two older females remember.
The blood drains from their faces.
“Give me the necklace.”
Ivy’s hand trembles.
She looks toward the doorway—the direction Adrian usually comes from.
No one is there.
My voice drops.
“I said, give me the necklace.”
Slowly, she unclasps it and lifts it from her throat.
When she places the pearls in my palm, her fingertips are ice-cold.
I turn to the other females.
“I apologize for today’s confusion. Miss Lane does not understand the rules of my household, and she had no authority to invite you in my name.”
I close my fingers around my mother’s pearls.
“I will host you properly another day.”
Not one of them dares to refuse.
They rise, bow their heads, and leave one after another.
Their footsteps are so quick that they are almost running.
The sitting room empties.
Only Ivy remains, frozen in my chair.
I reach the doorway and stop without turning around.
“Miss Lane.”
“What?” Her voice is hoarse.
“Sit in that chair again—”
I pause.
“And you will never stand up from it.”
I walk away.
Behind me, the entire tea set crashes to the floor.
Ivy lets out a furious howl.
“Scarlett Halston! Who the hell do you think you are?”
I do not look back.