After the True Heiress Returned

When the real family heiress returns, the female protagonist willingly steps aside and packs her bags to leave. However, her departure is cut short when her childhood sweetheart takes her into his own home, promising to protect her forever. Dumbfounded by his sudden generosity, she hesitates to accept his shelter, feeling it is highly improper. Seizing the moment, he corners her with a shocking proposal: if she feels indebted, she can pay him back by becoming his wife.

Chapters

Chapter 4

: The Seafood Feast

Ronan Sterling dropped me off at the company entrance. As I was getting out of the car, he gave me a meaningful look and mouthed a single phrase.

Save me...

It was because earlier, when Charlotte Sterling had asked if she needed to go back too, Ronan Sterling had blurted out a reply.

"After all, they raised her for over a decade, so of course there are feelings there. We've always treated Aria like one of the family."

The atmosphere in the car instantly grew awkward. I saw tears already welling up in Charlotte Sterling's eyes.

During my lunch break, I saw Ronan Sterling had posted on his social media.

"Help me. I'm just now realizing how hard it is to keep everyone happy."

A bunch of people in the comments were teasing Ronan Sterling, asking if the "player" had finally crashed and burned.

Just then, my dad sent a message in the group chat, telling me to come home for dinner tonight.

Originally, the chat only had the four of us in the family. Last night, Charlotte Sterling was added.

Right after the message was sent, Charlotte Sterling immediately replied in the group.

"Let me go help Auntie tonight. It'll be a good chance for Mom and Dad to try my cooking."

The family chatted happily, discussing tonight's dinner.

But when I got home that evening, I was dumbfounded.

The table was laden with a massive seafood feast—it could have been the cast of Finding Nemo.

The problem was... I'm allergic to seafood.

"Aria, why aren't you eating?"

Faced with Charlotte Sterling's question, I looked uneasily at the dishes in front of me before finally picking up a piece of a vegetable dish with my chopsticks.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sterling, my mom asked me to drop some things off for you."

Zane Donovan walked in, carrying several bags, and was greeted warmly by my mom.

"You haven't eaten, have you? Hurry up and sit down. Eat with us."

Zane Donovan nodded immediately and, without a moment's hesitation, pulled up a chair and sat down next to me.

"Mom, who is he?"

"I'm Aria Sterling's best friend. We grew up together."

The words had barely left his mouth when Ronan Sterling shot him a glare.

"So I guess you didn't grow up with *me*? In a friendship of three, I don't even deserve to be named?"

Zane Donovan met his gaze, and the two exchanged a smile.

But when he saw the food on the table, Zane Donovan's expression suddenly changed.

"Auntie Webb didn't cook today?"

"Auntie Webb and Charlotte cooked together today. Charlotte said she wanted us to try her cooking."

Zane Donovan smiled and nodded at my mom, then casually picked up a shrimp and placed it in his bowl as he spoke nonchalantly.

"Did Auntie Webb forget, then? Isn't Aria not supposed to eat seafood? Why does this look like a party for the Dragon King?"

By this time, Auntie Webb had already gone to her room to rest. As the main chef for the evening, Charlotte Sterling's eyes turned red.

"Mom, Dad, did Charlotte do something wrong again? I just wanted to make you happy. I really didn't know she doesn't eat these things."

"It's not that she *doesn't* eat it, it's that she *can't*. Besides, you had good intentions, why would Uncle and Auntie blame you? I was just saying Auntie Webb's memory must be getting bad. How could she forget to remind you about this? After all, it's not like Auntie Webb told you and you deliberately ignored her, right?"

At his words, everyone's expression changed.

'How could Auntie Webb possibly forget? When I was little, Auntie Webb gave me a piece of dried squid, and less than half an hour after eating it, I was short of breath and covered in a rash. If Zane Donovan hadn't been a glutton and snatched half of it from me, I probably would've been a goner. Ever since then, Auntie Webb has remembered it perfectly. She'd even wash a pot three times after making fish soup before using it to cook another soup for me.'

My dad looked around the table, then finally put down his chopsticks.

"Charlotte, did you know that your sister is allergic to seafood?"

Charlotte Sterling clutched her sleeves, tears rolling down her cheeks one by one. After a long moment, she slowly shook her head.

"I didn't know!"

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After four years of marriage, my wealthy husband Brad handed me a $50,000 severance check outside the Manhattan Family Court. He linked arms with his mistress, Jenna, who flaunted the diamond ring that used to be mine. "Just take it, Hayley. Take the money and get out of our lives," he sneered, looking at me with absolute disgust. I tore the check into pieces, but my nightmare was just beginning. To access my grandfather's trust fund, I had exactly seventy-two hours to get legally married, so I desperately proposed a one-year contract marriage to a poor insurance salesman I met in a dive bar. When Brad found out, he and his arrogant family cornered me at their estate. Brad mocked my new husband for being a penniless, money-grubbing parasite, while my former mother-in-law slapped me hard across the face, knocking me to the ground. "You are trash, just like your mother," she spat, watching my knee bleed onto the sharp gravel. Jenna gleefully kicked my phone away, shattering the screen and cutting off my only lifeline. Lying there in the dirt, I stared at the broken glass in absolute despair. I didn't understand why four years of quiet devotion had earned me nothing but cruel betrayal and endless humiliation from the people I once called family. Just as I thought I had completely lost, a black Lincoln Navigator slammed to a halt at the gates. My "penniless" new husband stepped out, radiating a terrifying, righteous fury that made the entire Patton family freeze in horror.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.0

Her Last Waiting at City Hall

9.0

After billionaire Vincent Moretti abandons her at City Hall for the seventh time, she decides thirty years of devotion is enough. Initiating a total blackout, she blocks his number, deletes him from social media, and avoids family events. When her employer partners with his casino, she resigns immediately to ensure a clean break. Choosing solitude over waiting in a cold, empty house, she vows never to let him back in. This modern romance novel explores her journey to reclaim her life.

Billionaire Mafia Modern Romance

8.3

Hey Sis, You Can Keep the Trash

8.3

Three months before her wedding, a woman's world shatters when her fiancé, Henry Siebert, posts a maternity shoot with her foster sister, Betty. While her own mother supports the scandalous pairing, Henry claims the marriage is a temporary arrangement for the baby's sake. In this modern billionaire romance, the protagonist must face a web of lies and decide if she will wait for a man who has already chosen someone else.

Billionaire Modern Romance

8.2

Loving Him Was Like Walking on Ice—And I Fell Through

8.2

For seven years, she endured the cold indifference of Nathan Ruledge, a billionaire incapable of emotion. Dismissed as a gold-digger and ignored by the man she adored, her silent sign-language confessions went unnoticed. Now, blooming sunflowers finally prove her devotion to the world—but Nathan's realization comes too late. She died a year ago in a mountain collapse, sacrificing her life to save his, only to be left behind to starve in the dark.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.2

One Night With The Unstable Billionaire

9.2

Arla was supposed to marry Clinton Freeman, the perfect fiancé who had promised to love her and protect her five-year-old son. But instead, the cold steel of a dagger pierced her chest. As she collapsed onto the freezing basement floor, she watched her adoptive sister Blair laugh. "Look at her," Blair sneered, kicking her son's small, blue, lifeless body. Clinton stood there, calmly wiping the bloody blade on a pristine handkerchief. In her dying moments, the horrifying truth became clear. Her fiancé and her adoptive family had been plotting all along to steal her massive trust fund. To break her, they had secretly tortured her child. Clinton had watched Blair pierce the little boy's arms with sewing needles, rewarding him with candy to keep him silent. Arla's lungs burned with the taste of copper and ash. She couldn't understand why the family she trusted could be so monstrous, or why they had to brutally murder an innocent child just for money. The darkness swallowed her whole, drowning her in suffocating hatred and absolute despair. Then, she gasped for air. The concrete floor was gone, replaced by the silk sheets of a hotel penthouse suite. Arla had been reborn to the exact night six years ago—the very day Blair first dragged her son into the dark attic. This time, she picked up a solid silver letter opener, ready to burn them all to the ground.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.2

Reclaiming the Empire

9.2

At the family banquet welcoming the return of the true daughter, my wealthy adoptive parents publicly announced that I should transfer the shares in my name to the "wronged" true daughter. All the guests praised my parents for their fairness and congratulated the true daughter on her hardships finally coming to an end. Relatives gathered around to persuade me. "You enjoyed twenty years of wealth that should have belonged to her. Giving up the shares is the right thing to do. You should know how to be grateful." My husband Javier Andrews, married to me for only half a year, also stepped forward and gently advised me. "Michelle, this originally belonged to your sister. Give it back to her. From now on, I'll take care of you." Everyone praised him for his deep affection and commended my adoptive parents for their justice, waiting for me to put on a show of sisterly love. Instead, I picked up the red wine from the table, walked over to the pitiful-looking true daughter, and smiling, poured the wine over her head. The entire room erupted in shock. My adoptive father, Kaiden Walsh, trembled with rage, pointing at me and cursing. "You ungrateful wretch!" Javier looked utterly disappointed. "Are you really that jealous of her? Do you have to make such an ugly scene?" I casually set down the empty glass and said lightly. "Ugly? I think this color suits her quite well."

Billionaire Modern Romance

After the True Heiress Returned

Chapter 4

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