Eaten My Money

HARPER

"Harper Lacour, I'm glad you're back! "I'm sorry to hear about your divorce." Beta Luke hugged me so tightly that he considered me his daughter. He has a son who used to be good friends with Wilder at an overseas shifter university.

"It's okay, Uncle Luke, I'm fine now!"

"Does Wilder know if you come back here?"

"I just left after signing the divorce papers, and it doesn't matter now." I returned to my father's Grape River Estate in one of the Pineville areas.

Luke sighed, especially since he wasn't happy because Wilder's fiancee was my half-sister. The betrayal they openly committed against me. My stepmother took all the property my father gave her and left debts that I had to pay when my father was sick.

"Once alpha Asher died, your mother and sister showed their true faces."

"My father is impoverished; he should have listened to my advice at that time," I complained, touching my stomach.

Luke noticed the difference in my body; his wolf eyes flashed with worry. "Holly moon, you? Are you pregnant? Does Wilder know?"

Shaking my head firmly, "He can't know; whatever happens, he can't know. My baby is in danger, Uncle Luke; we ran away to save ourselves," I complained.

Luke stroked his hair roughly as if he wasn't happy with my baby's presence. He was worried about me, and returning to the pack after all the trouble wasn't easy. My pack is on the verge of falling; I must find a way to get back up.

"Your father gave all these documents to me before he died." Luke took out several pieces of paper from a brown envelope. "Out of all these documents, you better read this letter first," he said again.

My lips spelled out the header "Notice to Quit for non-payment?" My voice trembled when I read, "Debt arrears, and only ten days left to vacate the property? What does this mean, uncle ?" I said tight

My family has run the Grape River Estate and livestock business for centuries. My father was a generation after me, but he never told me anything; even after his death, he left behind a burden that I didn't understand.

"Mattia Orazio? CEO of Orazio Enterprises? Why is his signature on this letter?" I said again; my body went cold as soon as I read the man's name.

Luke looked at me with pity, but as a beta, the responsibility for the pack also rested with him. He took a deep breath. "At first, I thought the same as you; it was probably just a prank or something because we shouldn't be dealing with this man."

"Uncle, I don't understand this! Are you saying that my father has a debt with Mattia and will take the Grape River Estate away from me? Does it make sense for my father to sacrifice this plantation? This is a family business that has been running for centuries."

Luke shook his head, his face already answering my worries ideally. "Enough! I won't wait; I'll go straight to Mattia."

"You what? Are you going to Orazio Mannor? You've heard who this man is, right ?"

In recent years, the business world has been shocked by the arrival of one of the ten Cosa Nostra families, the Sicilian mafia. We shifters quickly learned this was a precaution. Man appears to be the leader of a criminal network that stretches from western America to Italy. 

"You know, their business is dangerous, right? Their company is just a front to cover that up," Luke reminded me.

As shifters, we have strengths beyond humans, but we also have weaknesses, and of course, we don't want humans to know about that. Especially when pregnant like this, my wolf has the most prominent weakness compared to my strengths.

"I'm the only one who can fix this. I won't just hand over my father's hard work results. Please just trust me, Uncle," I answered confidently.

Agnes accompanied me, standing in the courtyard of Orazio Manor. It's like I came out of the lion's pit to enter the pit of hell now. As I have heard several times, Mattia is not a man worth making love to, not with his character. He's a devilish sculpture with deadly good looks.

"Agnes, just wait here, let me meet him," I ordered

A giant door with classical art patterns opening greeted my footsteps. A man in a black suit came out to welcome me. "Mr. Mattia is waiting for you; please come this way," he said politely

Mattia seemed aware of my arrival through the surveillance cameras installed in every corner of this residence.  With straight shoulders, I followed the man's steps. My eyes quickly met the bastard who wanted to seize my property

"Seeing how you greeted my arrival, it seems you already know my purpose in coming to this place, Mr. Mattia," I said without mincing words.    

Mattia sat on a black sofa, crossing his left leg over his right leg. Smoke rose from the black coffee, which he sipped gently with his devil-lined lips.

Suddenly, the bodyguard closed the door, exposing us to the twilight light.

"I've been waiting for you long!" he answered. This was my first time hearing his voice; it was so low but seemed cruel.

"Without reducing my respect for you, do you have proof that my father owes you? Don't just mess around with my family's property!" I bluffed a little, even though my body was already pounding hot because of my worry.

Mattia pursed his lips, "Don't you know, hun? Too bad I'm not a man who is gentle with those who have eaten my money!" he stood up, put his hands in his trouser pockets, and approached me.

My head lifted to meet his gaze; he was taller than Wilder. Even though he was human, I felt deeply intimidated. I froze as soon as he touched my chin with his rough fingers. "And, usually, I never let a rat just walk out of my cage! So, are you sure you can still talk arrogantly to me like this?" he bluffed