The Abandoned Luna's Journey to Power Chapter 320: Shares Instead of Cash

Princess Margaret's POV:

"202,500 gold coins..."

When the treasurer said the number, it felt like a dull, rusty knife sawing back and forth across my heart.

I stared at the open ledgers on the table. My head buzzed.

How was this possible? I told Maria to hide the real account books in the most secret compartment in the basement. There were locks around it. How did Cindy's people find them so quickly?

And she actually dared to show up at my door in the middle of the night, dragging Isabella with her.

I took a slow breath and forced down the anger and panic rising in my chest.

At this point, fighting head-on would be foolish.

The Alpha pressure rolling off Cindy was thick and sharp. She had walked through battlefields and come back alive. Even I, a princess of pure Ryken blood, felt a small, instinctive shiver.

I could not let this go to the High Court.

If it did, Adam—that heartless madman—would tear Lily and me apart.

I immediately put on a pained expression. My eyes reddened. I let out a heavy sigh.

"What a disgrace! What a shame!"

I dropped onto the couch and pressed a handkerchief to my eyes, slipping into the role I knew best. "Isabella, I never expected Maria to betray us. That wretched servant dared to steal such a huge sum behind our backs. If you hadn't brought these books tonight, Lily and I would still know nothing."

As I spoke, I watched them closely.

Isabella was trembling from the cold, but suspicion still burned in her eyes. Cindy stood like an ice statue, her face unreadable and completely unmoved.

"This money does belong to Isabella," I said through my teeth. "But it's a huge amount. Even the Crystal Palace cannot produce that much cash at once. Cindy, how about this?"

I softened my tone. "I will personally send Maria to the Enforcement Corps and make her repay everything she took. If it isn't enough, I'll transfer all my shares to you. The deed. The store. All the stock. The location is prime. The brand is established. It's worth far more than 200,000 gold coins. Take it as my apology."

This was the perfect plan that I'd worked out.

The shop was stuffed with cheap counterfeits from a shady factory. A disaster waiting to happen. If trouble broke out, the customers would blame the new owner.

Since Cindy had already uncovered part of the truth, I might as well go with the flow and dump this trouble onto Isabella.

When trouble broke out, those Omegas with ruined faces would go after the current owner.

I would clear the debt and leave unharmed.

Cindy's POV:

"Transfer your share to Isabella?"

I looked at Margaret's face, full of forced sincerity, and almost laughed.

"Diana, did you hear that? Her Highness is so thoughtful. If I didn't know the truth, I might have agreed," I said to my wolf spirit in my mind.

Diana snorted. "Handing over a trash can full of poison and calling it a gift? Does she think we're fools?"

I tightened Isabella's cloak around her shoulders and stood up, looking down at Margaret.

"We appreciate your kindness," I said with a smile. My voice, however, was firm. "However, there's an old saying in business: family members shouldn't be business partners. If a servant like Maria could cause this much damage, the shop clearly has serious problems. Isabella should not involve herself in such matters. It would only invite gossip."

I paused, then spoke slowly. "So we insist on withdrawing our shares. We only want Isabella's original investment and the dividends clearly recorded in these books. As for how much the shop has increased in value, or how much the inventory is worth now, we will not take a single extra coin. You and Lily may keep all of that."