"Business?" Dora laughed, a sharp, jagged sound. "Father gave you everything. The resources, the intel, the weaponry. He told you to crush Ruby into the dirt. He wanted her erased so the line would be clear, so Max's shadow wouldn't hang over Uncle Wayne anymore. And yet, Ruby still breathes."
"She's more than just a problem now," Susan hissed, stepping into Mia's personal space. "She is a parasite draining Father's influence. You had the shot, Mia. You were inside. You were the one supposed to cut the heart out of Max's legacy, and you choked. You're useless."
The "inheritance" was the unspoken ghost in the room. Uncle Wayne had spent a lifetime stewing in the fact that Max's father had produced a male heir first. The wealth, the title, the future of the bloodline, it all sat on Max's shoulders, and if Max sired a son, Wayne's branch of the tree would wither in the shade.
"You think I choked?" Mia's voice was a low vibration, dangerous and steady.
