Reborn to Claim Her: The Heir's Revenge

The bathroom door creaked open.

Blossom moved fast, hiding behind the door before it could open wide to expose her. I tried to grab her hand to stop her but I was too late.

Elijah stepped into the bathroom, his eyes darting to my lower waist before he turned away.

"Holy heavens, can't you be decent for once in your life?" Elijah asked, his calm demeanour making him seem like he was a boss.

"You're in my room." I spread my arms out mockingly. "If you don't want to see anything indecent, don't come inside."

Elijah's jaw tightened slightly, but his expression didn't change much. His eyes swept the room again, slower this time.

"I didn't come here to argue with you," he said, his voice even. "I'm looking for Blossom, my fiancee."

Hearing him call her his fiancee made my blood boil.

Behind the door, I heard her suck her breath in meaning she was afraid of getting caught.

Good.

"Maybe she is right here." I said, walking up to the door and stopped.

My gaze held Elijah's, hoping he would buy my bluff and actually check behind the door.

For a second, none of us moved.

"Childish," Elijah said before turning away.

The room door echoed after him and clicked shut.

Once he was gone, Blossom slid out from behind the door. The white towel clung to her body like it had a life of its own, barely doing its job.

"Are you insane?" she whispered harshly, clutching the towel tighter as if it might betray her any second. "What if he checked?"

I let out a quiet breath, running a hand through my damp hair.

"But he didn't."

"That's not the point," she snapped, though her voice cracked at the end. "Just forget this ever happened."

I stepped closer, lowering my voice. "What if I don't?"

She froze.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the faint drip of water from the bathroom sink.

Her gaze dropped, then quickly lifted again, defensive. "I should go."

"Yeah," I said, but I didn't move out of her way immediately.

Something hung between us. Something thick and electric. I knew it felt it too. The way her fingers tightened around the edge of the towel, like she needed something to hold on to.

" Move," she whispered, avoiding eye contact. "I have to get back to the fire station."

I froze.

Fire station?

By the time I came out of my thoughts, I glanced around and Blossom was already gone.

I frowned, leaning against the doorframe for a second.

*****************************************

Three days later

The conference room felt suffocating.

Not because of the space but because of the people in it.

No one spoke.

No one dared to.

I sat at the head of the table, flipping through the report in front of me, though I had already read it twice.

"They didn't just copy the exterior," I said, my voice calm but edged. "The internal system matches ours almost perfectly. Engine structure, cooling layout, even the seat designs. What does this mean?"

Across from me, Elijah exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair like none of this concerned him.

"You're exaggerating," he replied. "Similar doesn't mean stolen."

I looked up at him, my eyes narrowing slightly. "Everything's the same."

"And?" he shrugged lightly. "Maybe it's actually their design. Raven Tech is no small company. They have been in the industry for years."

A quiet scoff left me as I heard his words.

Was he really accusing me of plagiarism?

"I made those designs myself. As the CEO of Verran Quantum, do you think I would be so stupid as to copy others design and give the engineers?" I asked, standing to my feet.

The employees looked away immediately.

"I have no problem proving my innocence if that's what you want." I continued. "However, you must be ready to pay the price of accusing me falsely, Director Paul. Anyone who has dared to stain my reputation have long paid the price."

Elijah's hands clenched into a fist on the table as he stared at me but he didn't move. He and his supporters looked uncomfortable, their eyes glancing at one another.

I had called him by his maternal surname to prove he wasn't a Verran. He didn't deserve to be even if he was my stepbrother.

"Get this sorted out and find out who's the spy. If you can't do your job, you might as well resign."

The door opened and Helen walked inside, her heels clicking on the floor as she carried a long note containing my schedule.

I glanced down at my watch again.

It was almost time for the race.

Helen stood and nodded silently signaling everything was ready. Dismissing everyone, I made my way out of the room and into the elevator.

"Have the other racers arrived?" I asked, tugging on my tie as fast as I could. "What about the car I'll be using? Has it been checked?"

"The car is in perfect condition. Perfect to win you another medal." Helen said as the elevator started to move.

The room went silent for a second.

I noticed her stiff stance as she glanced up at the ceiling. This wasn't her usual self.

"What is it? Talk." I said.

" I'm just confused. You started racing because you wanted to show off Verran Quantum's cars. Now you have been champion for two years and the company is at the top. Why do you need to race again? The doctor said your hand-"

" Stop. I don't need you to worry about my hand." I said sternly.

Helen went quiet immediately but I could tell she didn't agree with me risking my life on the tracks.

Only today, I was risking it to save Blossom.

Because I knew that despite Helen's careful work, Elijah was going to mess with the cars.

The elevator dinged as it stopped.

"Tell the organisers that they should take all the safety precautions I told them too. As usual, my identity must not be exposed."

I got into the car and started it.

Pulling out into the main road, my eyss caught Elijah as he stood by the window of his office. His eyes were full of hatred and disgust as he held my gaze.

I didn't care.

Just as I did with his mother, I was going to put him in his place soon.

First, I had to save the feisty older woman who I loved so much.