Raising the Wolves

On the screen, Liam and Lyra were writhing together, their bodies bare.

"What if Caspian finds out?" Liam whispered, his voice husky.

Lyra laughed, a throaty, seductive sound. "He's just my brother. He doesn't own me. Besides," she purred, kissing him deeply, "you're the only one I've ever really loved."

In the ballroom, Caspian looked like he was turning to stone.

Lyra screamed and lunged for the projector, trying to shut it off. "It's fake! It's all fake!"

Silas signaled to two of his security guards, who quickly restrained her.

I smiled coldly. "Oh, we're just getting started."

The video cut. Now Lyra was in bed with another man. This time, it was Ronan.

"You're the only one for me," she was whispering in his ear. "I've loved you since the first day I saw you at the orphanage."

The guests gasped. A wave of horrified understanding washed over the room. She hadn't just been with one or two of them.

She'd been with all of them.

The sweet, fragile orphan girl was a master manipulator who had every single one of the Ashworth Fellows wrapped around her finger.

Lyra was sobbing now, a pathetic, broken sound. "Please, Seraphina, turn it off! I'll confess! I did it! I released your video! Punish me, do whatever you want, just make it stop!"

I felt a surge of pure, unadulterated triumph. "So now you know how it feels," I said, my voice dripping with ice. "To have your most private moments exposed for the world to see. To be humiliated on the most important day of your life. Did you feel this ashamed when you decided to ruin my birthday, you vile creature?"

I shook my head. "It's too late for apologies." I turned to the technician. "There's one more clip. The grand finale."

I looked at Caspian, whose face was a blank canvas of shock.

"This last one," I announced to the room, "is of Lyra and her dear 'brother.' Let's see how the world reacts to a little bit of incest."