Page 219 of Ironwood Ranch Cowboys

Jake notices. Keeps going. “You think this place survives because of sentiment?” he asks. “Because ranch hands sing country songs and everybody plays cowboy dynasty together?”

“This is our home,” Duke snaps.

“No,” Jake says calmly. “It’s land. Infrastructure. Political leverage. Development opportunity.”

The disgust that rolls through me is immediate and complete. Because that’s the difference between people like Jake and people like the brothers.

The Harlans love Ironwood like blood. Jake only sees dollar signs.

“You were going to get it sold,” Cody says.

Jake glances toward him. “Eventually? Of course.”

Rain lashes harder across the roof.

Thunder rumbles somewhere deep in the mountains.

“You don’t understand how expensive legacy becomes after a while,” Jake continues. “Maintenance. Expansion. Staffing. Public expectations.” He laughs softly. “The ranch was bleeding long before I touched it.”

“You made it worse,” I say.

“I accelerated the inevitable.”

“No,” I cut in. “You manufactured it.”

“You really are smarter than they realized,” Jake snarls.

Silas steps closer. “Don’t talk about her.”

Jake ignores him completely. “That’s what scared Vivian most, actually.”

Everything stops.

Beside me, Cody goes completely motionless.

Duke’s fingers tighten around the burner phone hard enough to crack plastic.

Silas’s voice lowers dangerously. “What did you say?”

And finally Jake looks less composed.

“You heard me,” he says carefully.

The rain suddenly sounds deafening.

Silas stares at him with an expression I’ve never seen before in my life.

“She knew?” Duke asks.

Jake exhales through his nose like he’s exhausted by all of us. “You really think I had enough pull to move development investors toward Ironwood acreage alone? Who do you think wants to buy it?”

“She was involved,” Cody says.

“Oh, wow,” I whisper.

Because suddenly every piece clicks together so perfectly it makes me nauseous. The pressure, the control, the obsession with legacy, the threats, the desperation to remove me specifically once I started finding the truth.

Vivian wasn’t protecting Ironwood. She was trying to own it.