SHARED BY THE RIVAL SPADE BROTHERS.

Chapter 5: An Inheritance Twist

RONAN

Her scream rang through the room, and I stopped. Not because I wanted to, or because I cared about frightening her, but because something strange happened the moment the scream left her mouth.

For a few seconds, I couldn't move. My body had gone rigid, and my heart was beating hard against my ribs. I looked around for Vincent and Asher, and just like me, they seemed to be trapped in the same position. None of us could move. We stared at Coraline, unable to make sense of what was happening. Even Father looked confused.

I flexed my fingers, testing the stiffness lingering in my joints. There was no pain, no restraint and nothing explaining why three Alphas had been rendered motionless by one frightened Omega. I hated not understanding what happened, and hated more that I wanted her to do it again too because something about it felt… soothing?

I stared at the girl crouching in front of me with her arms wrapped around herself as though she expected me to strike her. What the f**k was that?

I had encountered countless women and seen every trick imaginable. Yet this girl had done nothing except shout, and I couldn't even move to touch her. My eyes dropped to her trembling hands. Her platinum-blonde hair fell across her face, hiding most of her features, but I could still see the terror in her violet eyes.

Violet.

I had noticed the unusual eye colour earlier, but I hadn't paid much attention to it. Could she really be a true blooded Omega despite reeking of so much weakness?

“Boys,” Father called out with furrowed brows. “What is… what is wrong?”

Coraline lowered her hands to her lap, looking just as confused as we were. The instant she did, whatever had been holding us in place seemed to snap free.

I glanced back at my fellow devil-spawns.

“Did you feel that?”

Vincent frowned. “Feel what?”

“Don’t play games with me, I know you must've fe—”

“I’m not playing games, you miserable bastard. What exactly am I supposed to have felt?”

“Whatever.” He scoffed before I could respond. “I have already wasted enough time here.”

Of course. Vincent and his precious schedule. I wondered whether I could wrap his tie around his neck, fasten the other end to the wheel of my dirt bike, drag him through the mud and deplete his self-importance from his head. Unlike Vincent, who wanted to cover up what he had clearly felt by acting nonchalant, Asher was ever the curious golden retriever. He went straight to Coraline and caught her chin between his fingers, tilting her face towards him.

“I felt a surge of energy,” he murmured, the edge of his lips twisting into a smirk. “Okay. Now I am invested. Who is this girl?”

“Like I said, her name is Coraline Preminger. And I guess Shantel was right. She is not ordinary.” Father was looking pleased, way too pleased.

He pushed himself upright, struck his cane against the floor, and turned towards the door.

“Well, boys, I will be taking my leave now. I will be heading to Quilton Islands for a few weeks, a vacation of sorts, and Baron will be coming with me. You boys be good to your new mate, all right?”

“Wait, Father,” Vincent hissed. “Don’t tell me you're leaving her here?”

Father nodded.

Vincent scoffed. “You know what? I don't even care, I'm leaving.”

“You might want to think twice about leaving, son.” Father pointed his cane at him, then at Asher and me. “That goes for the rest of you who might be thinking of doing the same. I have taken certain precautions to make sure that none of you rejects this arrangement.”

He snapped his fingers. “Baron, come in.”

The door opened, and Baron, Father's right-hand man, entered carrying a document file. He handed it to Father, who opened it and pulled out a sheet of paper. Vincent, naturally being a corporate beast and all, immediately focused on the fine print.

“This document states that should any of you decide to reject this arrangement with Miss Coraline, you forfeit all rights to your inheritance.”

Asher turned away from Coraline. “Eh?”

“You heard me.”

“Wait. What is that supposed to mean?” Vincent demanded.

“What it means, my beautiful boys, is that when I die, you get nothing. Nothing at all, if you refuse this arrangement.” Father smiled without warmth. “In fact, the share belonging to whoever leaves will be given to the brother or brothers who remains. If all three of you leave, the entire inheritance goes to charity in a blink of an eye.”

There was no way. No way he was—wait, he wasn't bluffing?!

My share of the inheritance would be given away if I walked out? He was tying our access to everything we had spent our lives working towards to this arrangement with a strange, frightened little Omega?

Asher had turned from golden retriever cute to great dane furious.

“Dad, what are you saying? We've been waiting for you to die, and now that you're finally going to kick the bucket, you pull this stunt?”

“Charming,” Father replied, rolling his eyes. “I am going out with a bang. Anyway, that is how it is. If you want to forfeit your inheritance, the door is right there. By all means my lovely boys, feel free to leave.”

It was impossible. Forfeiting our inheritance was impossible. No, absolutely not. I would rather swallow glass than hand Vincent or Asher that kind of power. This stupid co-inheritance game had been Father's favourite weapon for years. I was the eldest of the triplets, born six minutes before Vincent, yet Father had always insisted that six minutes was not enough to make me the rightful heir. Since we were triplets, he claimed that none of us could be given the inheritance based on birth order alone. We had been forced to compete for it ever since.

And now, if I left this silly arrangement, my share could end up in either of my brother’s hands.

Over my dead body.

I looked at Coraline. She stood near Asher, her expression caught between fear and confusion—and a thought suddenly melted into my brain.

What if she left?

The clause stated that we would lose our inheritance if we abandoned the arrangement but it said nothing about Coraline walking away.

“Father. What if we she backs out for any reason. We won't lose anything, right?”

“Well…” Father grinned. He flipped another page of the document, revealing a sheet tucked behind the first one that none of us had noticed.

“I have a feeling Miss Coraline will not be leaving. The clause on the back of this contract states that if she stays and succeeds in bringing the three of you together as brothers and putting an end to your rivalry, I will give her the entirety of Spade Holdings.”

Blood rushed to my ears. Vincent's eyes widened, and Asher stared at Father as though he had lost his mind. Which he most definitely had.

Coraline's eyes were as wide as saucers. She lifted a crooked finger and pointed at herself.

“M… Me?” she whispered.