When she exhausted it, she would circle back, coaxing one of her brothers into indulging her again, just as she had tried to do today. So even if she couldn’t afford to splurge in high-end boutiques at the moment, she certainly had enough to get herself around.

With that in mind, Apollo chose not to dwell on it any longer.

Instead, he headed home.

The sky had already begun to shift, the fading sun casting a warm orange glow along the horizon. They had spent more than enough time out, and he assumed Ashley and Aunt Lavinia had finished their shopping as well. There were things he needed to address, things he could no longer postpone.

It was time to speak with Ashley.

Without another thought, he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

Only after his car disappeared did a figure emerge from the shadows.

Ophelia stepped forward slowly from behind the pillar, her expression darkened, her gaze fixed on the direction he had gone. There was no hesitation in his actions, no urgency, no sign that he had even considered turning back to look for her.

For a moment, she had expected it, expected him to come after her, to worry, to chase.

But he hadn’t.

And in her mind, there was only one reason for that change.

Ashley.

The thought twisted inside her, sharp and bitter, and whatever resentment had already taken root deepened into a dangerous malice and madness swirling inside her.

’No... this won’t do.’

The thought struck, and Ophelia’s hands curled into fists, her nails biting deep into her palms. She didn’t even register the pain. Her mind was already racing.

For all the helplessness she showed, for all the softness and naivety she let others see, she was not really as simple and foolish as she appeared. She had learned early, far earlier than most, that survival without a family meant understanding people before they understood you.

An orphan didn’t have the luxury of innocence. Without a father to shield her or a mother to guide her, she had grown sharp in quiet ways, forced to read intentions, to adapt, to endure.

And so she chose to play the fool.

Because it worked.

By appearing fragile, a little clueless, a little too dependent, she made them lower their guard. The Gildenvale brothers saw her as someone to protect, someone to indulge, someone deserving of patience and care.

Especially him, the head of the family. He owed her, and she knew exactly how to lean into that unspoken debt. Every misstep, every careless act, every indulgence she took, all fed into the image she had carefully built. And in return, she received everything: attention, affection, leniency.

She had always been in control of that balance.

Until now.

Something had shifted, and she didn’t need to look far to know why.

Ashley.

Ophelia’s jaw tightened, her gaze darkening as the name echoed in her mind. For years, she had believed, or perhaps convinced herself, that the real daughter was long gone, lost somewhere beyond reach. There had even been moments... quiet, fleeting, but real... when she had wished it to be true.

Because if Ashley never returned, there would be no one to take her place.

No one to divide what she had claimed.

Their love. Their attention. Their protection.

Everything the Gildenvale brothers possessed, everything they were, would have belonged to her alone.

But now that fragile certainty was gone.

And Ophelia could already feel it slipping through her fingers.

She was aware, on some level, that her thoughts bordered on selfishness, on greed, even, but she refused to dwell on it. In her mind, no one would ever look out for her better than she could herself.

Everything she had done, every role she played, was simply her way of securing a future where she would never be left vulnerable again.

She understood her own strengths clearly.

She wasn’t someone who would toil endlessly just to survive. If anything, she had learned how to make others work for her instead, how to position herself so that comfort, protection, and privilege came without her having to struggle for them directly.

To her, that wasn’t something to be ashamed of. It was her cleverness. A testament to her ability to adapt and survive in a world that had never offered her anything freely.

After all, she had started with nothing.

No family. No security. No one to rely on.

So when the Gildenvales took her in, when they gave her a place among them, she didn’t see it as charity; she saw it as something they owed her.

Whether it was fate or circumstance, she believed they were meant to compensate for everything she had lacked. And so she accepted everything they offered without hesitation, their attention, their indulgence, their protection, and never once questioning it.

To her, it wasn’t spoiling; it was their repayment.

And she had grown accustomed to it.

But now that Ashley had returned, Ophelia felt that the ground beneath her, once steady and unquestioned, no longer felt secure. Her place, the one she had carefully maintained all these years, was being threatened. And she hated it.

She had always known how the true aristocratic circles viewed her. They tolerated her presence at best, but never truly accepted her. To them, she was an outsider borrowing a name that wasn’t hers by blood. They kept their distance, their disdain subtle but unmistakable.

But Ashley was different.

Even if they dismissed her at first, even if they saw her as nothing more than a girl from nowhere, who was unrefined and unpolished, she still carried what Ophelia never could, blood connection

That alone would place Ashley above her.

And that was something Ophelia could not allow.

A flicker of unease twisted into sinister thoughts. Panic brushed against her, but only for a moment. Because just as quickly, it began to settle, reshaping itself into a plan.

Slowly, almost instinctively, it started to take form in her mind.

While Ophelia lingered elsewhere, caught between anxiety and restless thoughts, Apollo had already driven back to the palace at neck speed. By the time he arrived, Aunt Lavinia and Ashley had just returned as well.

Their purchases had been delivered ahead of them, the boutiques having arranged everything to be sent directly to the estate. Inside, the household staff had been busy the entire day, moving with quiet efficiency as they sorted, organized, and placed each item into Ashley’s prepared room.

Aunt Lavinia had not been idle, either.

Anticipating Ashley’s needs, she had already commissioned a renovation, as one of the adjacent rooms had been opened up, its wall removed to connect it with the largest suite in the palace.

The result was a space both expansive and carefully considered. From one side, the room overlooked the intricate maze garden stretching across the front grounds; from the other, it offered a clear, tranquil view of the lake behind the estate.

Sunlight also flowed in generously, making it one of the brightest and most desirable rooms in the entire residence.

It was, without question, the best they had.

And even that didn’t feel like enough.