"No."

Andrew Lane's answer was as crisp as it was final. "I told you before I won't be selling the rights to her."

As soon as she heard his response, Isabella Austin let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. A relieved, delighted smile broke across her face.

"I know you look out for me, Andrew, but I was a little worried," she said, feigning concern. “What if Emily finds out you're refusing her? Won't she be furious? You said yourself she came all the way back just for the rights."

Andrew's deep voice was calm, but held a distant chill. "That's her problem, not mine."

With that, Isabella was completely satisfied.

The girl who couldn't compete with her five years ago still couldn't hold a candle to her now.

Emily Blair didn't linger in the room upstairs for long. She exchanged a few words with Tristan Davis, then made her way to the living room, settling quietly on the couch as she waited for Andrew Lane to come down.

Suddenly, a commotion rose in the hallway, voices drawing closer until the door swung open.

"I heard Emily Blair is back?"

Emily looked up, meeting the gaze of the man and woman who'd just walked in. She offered a faint, polite smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Amelia Lane scoffed, tossing her wavy hair back over her shoulder with a practiced flick. "It really has been a long time. I was actually planning to head out to the Aetheria Club tonight—care to guess why I rushed back instead?"

Emily's voice was cool, almost indifferent. "Whatever suits you."

Amelia leaned in, a grin spreading across her face as she fixed Emily with a smoky- eyed stare. “I just had to see for myself who could be so shameless-someone who gets thrown out of the Lane family estate, yet still manages to show her face here." Beside her, Ethan Lane chuckled, his smile full of contempt and disdain.

Around them, the other guests quickly fell silent and edged away from the brewing confrontation, putting distance between themselves and the epicenter of drama.

Emily calmly reached over and placed a hand on Tristan's arm, signaling him to stay put.

Then, with a faint, composed smile, she replied, "Maybe you should ask your dear brother about that. He's the one who invited me."

Amelia folded her arms, the mocking smile never leaving her lips. "Emily, don't try to stir up trouble. You think I don't know why you're really here?"

Emily's expression remained placid. "Why don't you enlighten me?”

Amelia's eyes glittered with ridicule. "Andrew invited you back so you could see firsthand how happy he is with Isabella now, how adorable their child is. He wants you to see it, so you'll finally let go of your delusions. Don't think that just because you spent a few years with the Lane family, you could ever become Mrs. Lane."

"Andrew doesn't want you, Emily. Stop dreaming."

Emily's eyes narrowed slightly.

Amelia let out a cold laugh. “And I know why you really came back-you're here to beg Andrew for the rights to Black and White Rabbit, aren't you?"

Her gaze was now both mocking and pitying. "Didn't Andrew and Isabella tell you? The rights to Black and White Rabbit were something Andrew bought as a special gift for Isabella. Get it? There's no way he'd ever sell those rights to anyone else— especially not to you. Don't think that just by crawling back to the Lane estate, you can soften his heart. I'm telling you, it's never going to happen!"

"Andrew's playing you, Emily. You're just running in circles for nothing. As for the rights to Black and White Rabbit-you can forget about ever getting them."

Emily Blair could usually ignore Amelia Lane's spiteful words, letting them roll off her like water.

But when it came to the rights for Black and White Rabbit, that was something she cared about deeply.

It was the only reason she'd come back to the Lane family at all.

If what Amelia said was true—if Andrew really had no intention of selling her the

rights then Emily was about to lose her composure for the first time in years.