Page 28 of Knotted By the Triad

He was back. This was the Zhen Kai from the book. The one who’d hated Zuri. Who hated me. I needed to remember that! This was the man who was cold, distant, and completely devoted to his Lin'er.

I’d almost been swayed by his smile, by his kindness. Never again. I looked at Mei Lin. She smiled at me in that demure way of hers. I smiled right back, understanding why the original Zuri had poisoned her ass!

“I understand,” I told them, holding back my anger and frustration.

Kai's brows drew together. “You do?”

“Yes. I do.”

He stared at me as though he were waiting for the argument that wasn't coming. The original Zuri would’ve thrown a fit. She would have accused Mei Lin of interfering, demanded money immediately, and turned the entire thing into another reason for these men to hate her.

That wasn’t my style. I glanced at the table again. There was enough food sitting there to feed half the manor, and Mei Lin had just spent breakfast discussing improvements to a courtyard that was already bigger and nicer than mine.

Yet somehow, before anyone could determine whether I could have money of my own, she needed to review the accounts. Message received. If I wanted money, I would have to make it on my own.

I turned to Allie. “Come on, Allie. Let's go get our breakfast.”

“Yes, Princess.”

We turned to leave. If these alphas and their precious little omega thought I was going to fall apart over this, they were dead wrong. I’d grown up in an orphanage and worked my ass off for everything I had.

If I could build a life for myself in the real world, I damn sure could do it here. I could feel the alphas’ eyes on me as I walked away.

Behind me, I heard Mei Lin whisper, voice shaky, like she was on the verge of crying, “I hope I didn’t upset Sister. I’m just trying to do what’s best for the manor. I wasn’t prepared to take care of another omega. I only prepared to take care of my alphas.”

Whatever Kai or the others said, I didn’t hear it. By the time Allie and I reached the gate, the guard was back on his feet. He took one look at us and turned away without a word. I guess he'd learned his lesson.

By the time Allie and I returned to my courtyard, my anger had cooled enough for me to think clearly. I wasn’t going to waste the rest of my morning being mad about money. I needed breakfast, and then I needed to think of a way to get the funds I needed.

“I’ll go get our food,” Allie said once we stepped inside my room. “The kitchen shouldn’t give me any trouble this time.”

She hurried out, leaving me alone. I walked over to my vanity and sat down. For a moment, I simply stared at my reflection in the mirror, thinking about how I couldn’t depend on these alphas to take care of me.

Women needed the means to care for themselves. Even princesses. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the vanity as I tried to remember what happened around this point in CiCi’s book.

What happened after the wedding? Hmm....

The alphas had spent the night in Mei Lin’s room. Yet, they hadn’t touched her intimately. They’d planned to have an heir with Zuri before consummating their union with Mei Lin.

But when Zuri kept doing deceitful things, they’d given up on an heir with her and focused all their attention on their Lin’er. But Lin’er wasn’t their whole world. They still had Triad issues to deal with. Oh, right!

“The smugglers,” I whispered.

It all came rushing back to me. The night after the wedding, the alphas had gone on a mission to stop a group of smugglers. A fight had broken out, drawing the smugglers away from their wagon and warehouse until the battle was over.

During that time, their wagon and all the money on it had been left unguarded. I slowly sat up straighter. In the book, the alphas had confiscated everything after the smugglers were defeated.

The goods, the wagon, the money, all of it had been seized. The King had rewarded the princes by granting them some of the seized funds, which they’d spent on their precious omega.

But what if some of that money disappeared before they got to it? A smile tugged at my lips. This couldn’t be considered stealing from my alphas. Technically, the money didn't belong to them yet.

It belonged to the criminals. And stealing from criminals wasn’t a crime. Was it? No, it wasn’t. If I arrived at just the right time, the criminals, my alphas, and their guards would be too busy fighting for their lives to notice someone sneaking into the wagon.

My smile grew. If the events of CiCi's book played out the way they were supposed to, all I had to do was get there, sneak inside, grab as much money as I could carry, and leave before the fighting ended. Easy peasy.

I pushed away from the vanity and rushed toward my closet. If I was going to rob the smugglers, I couldn't do it dressed like this. I moved clothes aside, searching for something black and light.

I needed to blend in with the night, but also be able to run, jump, and fight if I had to. A short while later, the door opened behind me.