Chapter 175: Chapter 176

Chapter 0176 Ella POV Even before I fully processed what I was seeing, an uneasy feeling settled in my chest. Beside me, Alexander stood silent, either gauging my reaction or caught in disbelief himself.

The ground was ruined. Deep furrows crisscrossed the earth in jagged, uneven lines of soil and stone. Mixed throughout were patches of white.

I moved cautiously toward the fields, crouching to scoop up a handful of the soil. Rubbing it between my fingers, I noticed its hardness and coarseness. Without thinking, I brought it to my lips and tasted it. The harsh sting was unmistakable.

I dropped the dirt and turned to Alexander. My voice was hoarse and uneven as I forced out the single word.

“Salt.”

Alexander stared at me, his expression unreadable for a moment before fury darkened his features.

“That rotten little cheat,” Alexander said, his voice thick with outrage as he yanked his phone from his pocket and began dialing.

“He’s not going to get away with this.”

“Slow down,” I said, stepping toward him. “What are you doing?”

“Calling my lawyers,” he replied without missing a beat. “We have a contract, and I’m certain it includes provisions guaranteeing the state of the land. I want to confirm the exact wording before I go down to Alpha Derrick’s and confront him.”

“Confront him?” I repeated, startled. “No, we can’t confront him.”

“Why the hell not?” Alexander demanded, turning to face me with disbelief blazing in his eyes. “Look at what he’s done! This land was rightfully yours after everything he put you through. He owes you far more than this, and now he’s destroyed it. You can’t grow anything on salted land. It’s useless–it’ll never be fertile again, not in our lifetimes. He has to pay for this!”

“I understand all of that,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, even though my own anger simmered just beneath the surface.

“But storming down there and confronting him isn’t the smart move.”

Alexander’s fiery gaze held mine, his jaw tight. He didn’t interrupt, but it was clear he was waiting for an explanation.

“This is a challenge,” I said, glancing back at the ruined field. “This is David daring us to escalate. He knows as well as we do that everything between us is under intense public scrutiny. Yes, he’s in the wrong here, but he’ll never admit it. He’ll claim the land was vandalized by someone else. And if we take legal action, he’ll twist it into a narrative that paints me as bitter and vengeful, trying to sabotage his so–called ‘newfound happiness.‘ It’ll hurt us more than it’ll hurt him.”

Alexander’s jaw clenched tighter as he absorbed my words. His frustration was obvious, but I could see in his expression that he knew I was right.

“It’s unsatisfying, I know,” I continued, folding my arms across my chest. “I’d love nothing more than to make him pay for this, but it would be a bad move for us.”

“I hate that you’re right,” Alexander muttered under his breath. His gaze drifted back to the field, his fists balled at his sides. “So what do you propose we do? Leaving this useless land to sit here untouched after the very public way we acquired it will look just as bad.”

Chapter 0176 +25 BONUS “I don’t know yet,” I admitted honestly. “But I’m confident we can come up with something. There has to be a way to make use of this land–maybe not as profitable as the farm would’ve been, but something beneficial. And, if we’re smart, it’ll be something that’ll make David absolutely furious.”

Alexander’s lips twitched in the faintest hint of a smirk, though his anger hadn’t fully abated. “You’re devious when you want to be.”

I smiled faintly, letting the satisfaction of his comment temper my own frustration. “Only when it counts.”

I pulled out my phone and began snapping photos of the ruined farmland.

“What are you doing?” Alexander asked, a frown creasing his brow.

“Documenting,” I replied, my tone clipped. “Even if we can’t use this against David right now, this will be useful in the future.

Combined with everything else he’s guilty of, it helps establish a pattern–lying, stealing, doing everything in his power to hurt me.

Don’t you agree?”

“I do,” Alexander said, stepping up beside me. His gaze swept over the field, the anger in his expression still sharp. “Start filming.

Let’s take a walk around the field and see just how bad the damage is.”