Reborn Heiress: The Shadow Regent's Obsession
I stood as a ghost, watching the rhythmic thud of dirt hitting my own casket. My father, Senator Ellwood, dabbed his eyes for the cameras while my stepmother, Carroll, played the grieving mother perfectly, even though they were the ones who had paved the way for my murder.
The vision shifted to a high-rise office where Isadore Walker, the terrifying "Shadow Regent," was methodically bankrupting every elite family that had betrayed me. He pressed a silver koi fish necklace to his lips and triggered a massive explosion, choosing to burn the entire world down just to join me in death.
"Little Fish," he whispered.
In my first life, I was a naive pawn who believed my best friend, Catarina, when she claimed I simply slipped into the pool at my Debutante Ball. I let the opportunistic Cody Stevens play the hero who "saved" me, leading to a hollow engagement that ended in my ruin. I never knew that my stepmother had conspired with our housekeeper to hide my true identity and keep me from my biological family.
I died without ever understanding why Isadore, a man who treated me with cold indifference, would sacrifice everything for my sake. I didn't know that my entire life was a web of kidnappings and bribes designed to keep me as a political pawn.
Suddenly, the heat of the explosion warped into the agonizing burn of icy water. I broke the surface, gasping for air, back at the very party where my downfall began three years ago.
As I climbed out, I didn't look for Cody’s help. I wrapped myself in Isadore’s sandalwood-scented jacket and felt the cold steel of the tactical knife he had left in the pocket. This time, I wasn't the victim; I was the one who would light the fuse.
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Chapter 7
The party was effectively over.
Isadore commandeered the private VIP lounge. He didn't ask Ellwood for permission; he just walked in, and they followed.
The door clicked shut, muffling the chaos outside.
Denise wouldn't let go of Ali's hand. Griffith, her biological father, sat silently, staring at her with watery eyes. He had a traumatic brain injury from the past, George had explained, so he didn't speak much, but his love was palpable.
"So," Ali said, sitting on the plush velvet sofa. She looked at Isadore, who was leaning against the mantelpiece. "How do you know my mother?"
Isadore exhaled a plume of smoke. "She saved my life. Twenty years ago. In a war zone that didn't officially exist. She was a combat medic. I was a street rat. She patched me up when no one else would."
He looked at Denise with an expression Ali had never seen on him before-reverence.
"Sister Denise," he said softly, the name a vow.
The room went dead silent.
Sister?
Ali stared at Isadore. She stared at her biological mother.
Denise blinked, squinting at the tall, powerful man in front of her. Then, her hand flew to her mouth.
"Little Yi?" she whispered. "Is that you?"
Isadore nodded. "It's me."
"Oh my god," Denise sobbed. She reached out and touched his arm, as if checking he was real. "Look at you. You're so grown up."
"I heard you were looking for someone," Isadore said gently. "So I made sure you found your way in tonight."
He turned slightly and gestured to Ali.
"She's right here."
He then looked at Ali, a playful glint in his dark eyes.
"Which means," he drawled, "technically, I'm your uncle."
Ali choked on air.
Uncle?
The man who had been her lover in a past life? The man whose jacket she had asked Jazmyne to hold? The man who looked at her with eyes that were definitely not avuncular?
"Uncle," Ali repeated, the word tasting like ash.
Isadore smirked. He enjoyed her discomfort.
"Don't worry," he said. "I'm not blood. Just... family by debt."
He pushed off the mantelpiece and walked over to them. He pulled a sleek black card from his pocket and tossed it onto the coffee table in front of Ali.
"A welcome gift," he said. "Centurion Black. No limit. It's linked to my personal trust."
Ali stared at the card.
"And this," George said, placing a thick document beside the card. "Is from us."
Ali looked at the document. Share Transfer Agreement: Panacea Pharmaceutical Group.
"5%," George said. "It's not much, but it's a start. We're the majority shareholders. We just... keep a low profile."
Ali's jaw dropped.
Panacea? The largest pharmacy chain in the country? Her "poor" family owned it?
She looked at their worn clothes.
"We prefer to reinvest in research," Denise said apologetically. "And your father likes the simple life."
Ali wanted to laugh. She was rich. Independently, staggeringly rich.
The door opened. Senator Ellwood slid in. He looked deflated, a man who realized he had just lost his prize racehorse.
"Ali," he began, his voice wheedling. "I know this is a shock. But you're still a Lancaster. We raised you. You can't just leave."
He was looking at Isadore. He wanted the connection to the Shadow Regent. He wanted the Mckay money he was just starting to sniff out.
Ali picked up the Black Card. She tapped it against the Panacea file.
"I'm not leaving," she said.
Ellwood let out a breath. "Good. Good."
"But," Ali said, her voice hardening. "Things are going to change."
"Name it," Ellwood said.
"First," Ali said. "I want full independence. No curfews. No questions about where I go."
"Done."
"Second," she pointed to the door. "Catarina goes to jail. You do not pull strings to get her out. You let the prosecutor do his job."
Ellwood winced. The Collins family were major donors. "Ali, that's..."
Isadore cleared his throat. It sounded like a growl.
"Done," Ellwood said quickly.
"And third," Ali stood up. "You apologize to my mother. Publicly. Tomorrow."
Ellwood looked at Denise, the woman he had called a beggar an hour ago. He swallowed his pride.
"I will."
Ali sat back down. She had the money. She had the power. And she had the Shadow Regent standing guard in the corner.
"Then we have a deal, Senator," she said.
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9.5
The disgraced daughter of the Patton family is back from the countryside.At the news, everyone spurned her with contempt!
A good-for-nothing young lady, a crude village wench, a vicious devil...
Until one day--The world-famous life-saving medical sovereign is her.The enigmatic top forensic specialist is her.The grandmaster hacker hunted across the globe is also her.
One hidden identity of the young miss came to light after another.Shocked and dumbfounded, the crowd fell to their knees to beg for forgiveness.
In an instant, Evie was cornered by the mysterious powerhouse.Hartwell's voice lured and mesmerized:"Darling, you have countless secret identities. Would you mind taking on one more, being my wife!"
9.8
Four years ago, I was drugged on a luxury yacht and ended up pregnant with twins.
I raised them in secret, enduring my stepfamily's daily abuse, until the billionaire West family patriarch cornered us at the airport.
He instantly recognized my son's face—an exact replica of his ruthless grandson, Bernardo West.
My malicious stepmother and stepsister immediately leaked to the press that I was a delusional gold-digger using fake kids to trap a billionaire.
They wanted the West family to destroy me to save their own social standing.
Bernardo himself looked at me with pure disgust, demanding a DNA test.
"If you ever lie to me, I will take the children, and I will make you wish you were never born."
I didn't want his money. I was a victim of that night too, left with a crescent-shaped bite mark on my collarbone and zero memory of who set us up.
Why did someone drug us? And how could I protect my babies from a corporate predator who could crush me with a snap of his fingers?
But when the DNA test came back 99.9999% positive, I didn't cower.
I showed him the scar he left on me, looked the most dangerous man in the country right in the eye, and made my demand.
"If you want to claim your heirs, you have to marry me."
9.0
Ashlyn was supposed to be just a fragile college student, selling her rare blood to a vicious crime syndicate enforcer to keep his dying sister alive.
But the dynamic shattered when Alex returned from a two-month disappearance. He stepped into the penthouse covered in dirt and blood, sporting a horrific, jagged knife wound slashed completely across his face.
Knowing exactly how to exploit his insecurities, Ashlyn played the role of the terrified victim to perfection. She screamed, pushed against his chest, and called him a terrifying monster. Humiliated and enraged by her blatant disgust, Alex violently smashed a marble table and kicked her out. He forced her out into a freezing, torrential rainstorm without a coat, vowing to kill her if she ever showed her face again.
What the ruthless enforcer didn't know was that her pathetic, trembling tears were a flawless, calculated lie. She wasn't a helpless, greedy girl. She was a cold-blooded corporate mastermind hiding from a family of elite assassins. She desperately needed his impenetrable penthouse fortress to stay alive, and she knew the only way to secure her place wasn't to ask for it, but to make him beg for her return.
Three days later, his sister's organs began to fail, and the hospital's blood bank ran dry.
"I'll pay you whatever you want. Just get here."
Listening to the desperate, broken voice of the monster over her burner phone, Ashlyn smiled coldly in the dark. The trap had snapped shut, and he had just handed her all the power.
9.7
For three years, I endured being treated like a walking ATM and a maid by my husband's family, biting my tongue to keep the peace.
Then, my husband's buddy suddenly dropped off a nine-year-old boy at my front door.
The crumpled note from my husband casually explained it was his illegitimate son, blaming me for being barren and demanding I raise the kid as our own.
My mother-in-law was absolutely thrilled, parading the boy around as the true heir at the dinner table.
"Some trees just don't bear fruit, no matter how much water you give them," she sneered.
My brother-in-law cheered, and my drunk father-in-law demanded I cook a feast to celebrate.
They actually expected me to continue paying the mortgage, buying the groceries, and cleaning up their endless messes, all while raising the living proof of my husband's betrayal.
I looked at the parasites who had drained me dry for years, acting like they were doing me a favor by letting me stay in a house that my money paid for.
I didn't scream, and I didn't cry.
I simply called my lawyer to file for an immediate divorce, froze every single bank account and credit card they relied on, and drove off to my grandmother's secluded cabin in the woods.
Let them see how long they survive without my money.
7.6
"One signature. One life-long debt. One night to change everything."
Elara Vance thought she could escape her family's dark past, until the ruthless tech-mogul Silas Vane corners her with a contract she can't refuse. Her father didn't just owe Silas money-he owed him a blood-oath.
The deal is simple: Marry Silas for 365 days, endure his cold touch, and play the perfect doll for the media. In return, her family's sins are erased. But Silas isn't just looking for a wife; he's looking for the woman who shattered his heart ten years ago.
Elara is wearing a dead woman's face, and Silas is a man who never forgets a betrayal. As the line between hate and heat blurs, Elara realizes the debt isn't money... it's her heart. And Silas Vane is coming to collect.
9.2
"W..who are you?" She stuttered, taking backward steps towards the door, heart pounding in her chest.
"Well, I can be whoever you want me to be" he drawled, taking little steps till he had her cornered with no way out. "I can be your poison or your antidote. I can be your bane or your comfort. I can even be your nightmare or your dream."
With each word, he traced circles on my skin, sending fire through me.
"So Kitten, who do you want me to be?"
Katarina Richards, a timid second generation finds her world thrown into disarray when she is suddenly informed of her betrothal to the number one business mogul in the state.
She cannot fight for her freedom nor can she accept a man she never met so she decides to be brave for once and runs.
She runs as far as she can hoping for a fresh start and she finds it.
Or so she thinks.
She will soon come to realize that she can never outrun her destiny.
Or should I say, she can never outrun him?
Follow Katarina as she is plunged into a world of lies, betrayal, war, lust, and power.
Will she come out of it all with her dream life or will she be pushed into a nightmare?