RETURN OF THE LEGENDARY NORTHERN DRAGON

THREE YEARS OF HELL

The velvet box in Grayson Wells's pocket felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

He stood outside the Reed mansion as dusk painted the sky blood-orange. Tonight ended three years of hell. Tonight he'd hand Vanessa the jade pendant and tell her the truth about who he really was.

His phone vibrated against his ribs. He pulled it out—encrypted display, single contact name: Victor.

"Sir, the contract's approved. Fifty million. Reed Industries just became the primary contractor for the Northern District infrastructure project."

Grayson closed his eyes briefly. Another gift delivered. Another miracle they'd never know came from him.

"Good."

He hung up and stared at the mansion. Three years he'd played this role—the worthless son-in-law, the family joke, the charity case who married up. All to honor his dying mother's last wish: find the girl who saved us and marry her.

He'd thought Vanessa was that girl. The kind one his mother described with her final breaths. But if she'd ever been kind, that person was long gone.

Still. A promise was a promise.

Grayson walked to the door.

It swung open before he could knock. Gerald Reed filled the entrance, his nose already wrinkling in disgust.

"Christ, Grayson. You smell like you've been swimming in grease."

Grayson glanced at his delivery uniform, still stained from his shift. "I need to talk to Vanessa. It's important."

"My daughter is upstairs handling real business." Gerald's smile was pure contempt. "You wouldn't understand. Discussing deals doesn't involve carrying takeout to drunk college kids."

What business discussion could be more important than talking to me? Grayson thought. The man who could buy anything in this world with a single phone call stood here being lectured about business by someone whose company he'd kept alive for three years.

"It's urgent," Grayson said.

"I'm sure it is." Gerald stepped aside just enough to be insulting. "Did you finally figure out how the dishwasher works? Want a medal?"

Patricia Reed appeared from the sitting room, martini already in hand despite the early hour. Her eyes raked over Grayson with open disgust.

"Oh, Grayson. Still wearing those rags?" She laughed, high and cruel. "Honestly, we only let Vanessa marry you out of pity. You were sleeping in shelters, for God's sake. We gave you a roof over your worthless head. You should be grateful."

Grayson moved toward the staircase. "I just need five minutes with my wife."

"Your wife?" Patricia's laugh could shatter glass. "That piece of paper doesn't make you anything but a mistake we're still figuring out how to fix."

Grayson's hand found the velvet box. Just get upstairs. Tell Vanessa. End this.

"She's preparing for an announcement, actually," Patricia added, swirling her martini. "Logan Stone is up there with her now. You know Logan—successful, wealthy, actually useful to this family."

Ice water through Grayson's veins. "Logan's in her room?"

"They're discussing her engagement." Gerald's grin widened. "Logan finally did what a real man does—asked for Vanessa's hand properly. Not like whatever pathetic arrangement you stumbled into."

Grayson's world tilted. "We're married."

"Oh, that fake marriage?" Gerald gripped the banister, laughing so hard he wheezed. "Grayson, be serious. Logan's done more for Reed Industries in six months than you've managed in three years. Real contracts. Real connections. Real results." He waved dismissively. "You deliver Chinese food."

Every word was a knife. The fifty-million-dollar infrastructure deal Grayson had approved hours ago—they thought Logan made it happen. The loan extensions, the competitor bankruptcies, every perfectly-timed miracle that kept this family afloat—all credited to Logan Stone.

"Logan's everything you're not," Patricia added. "Competent. Worthy. You're just the embarrassment we're correcting."

"I need to see Vanessa," Grayson said, his voice dropping to something that made Patricia's hand tremble slightly. "Now."

Gerald's face flushed. "You dare use that tone? Remember your place, beggar! You're in my house, eating my food—"

Grayson pushed past him and took the stairs two at a time.

"Stop him!" Patricia shrieked. "Gerald, call security!"

But Grayson was already at the top, their voices fading behind him. Vanessa's door stood closed at the hall's end, light bleeding underneath. He heard voices inside—low, intimate, followed by laughter.

His hand closed around the doorknob.

I'll have to hear this engagement talk from Vanessa herself.

Grayson opened the door.

The scene branded itself into his mind instantly. Vanessa on the bed, silk robe barely covering flushed skin. Logan on top of her, shirtless before taking his sweet time reaching for his pants. Clothes scattered across the floor like accusations.

They didn't even look surprised.

Vanessa pulled her robe closed with the casualness of someone fixing their hair. No shame. No guilt. Just mild annoyance.

"Grayson." Her voice could freeze fire. "You really should learn to knock."

Logan smirked, still buttoning his pants with deliberate slowness. "Bad timing, Wells. But what else is new?"

The velvet box in Grayson's pocket suddenly felt like it weighed nothing at all.

"How long?" His voice came out hollow. "How long have you been doing this? Is this the 'business meeting' they said you were having?"

"Does it matter?" Logan leaned back against the headboard like he owned it. Like he owned everything. "Be real here, Wells—you're just a help. Vanessa needed a paper husband for her grandmother's inheritance clause. You were convenient. I'm the real man in her life."

Grayson looked at Vanessa, searching for something in her eyes that might make this hurt less.

She met his gaze without flinching.

"Don't act shocked, Grayson." Her tone was ice wrapped in silk. "Did you honestly think I'd love you? A broke nobody who smells like failure?" She stood, adjusting her robe with practiced elegance. "Logan's given this family everything—real connections, real success, real respect. You've given us nothing but embarrassment."

The jade pendant. The fifty-million-dollar deal. Three years of silent protection and endurance. All to witness this?

Logan grabbed his shirt from the floor, still grinning. "I told Vanessa months ago—cut the deadweight loose. But she felt sorry for you. Thought you'd take the hint." He pulled the shirt on. "Guess we overestimated you. Again."

The velvet box felt like ash in his pocket.

Grayson's expression went completely blank. Not sad. Not angry. Just empty—the terrifying calm before a storm breaks loose.

"I see," he said quietly. "I've been a fool."

He turned and walked out, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.

Behind him, Logan's laughter rang out. "Finally! I thought he'd never get the message."

"Good riddance," Vanessa said. "I think mom needs to have the locks changed tomorrow."

"Should we just throw his things out tonight?"

Their voices followed him down the stairs, their laughter crawling under his skin and settling somewhere cold and dark.

They had no idea they were making the worst mistake of their life.