Second Chance: Reborn as the Villainess
Betrayed by the man she loved. Katrina Donovan's death was supposed to be the end. Instead, when Katrina opens her eyes, she isn't in heaven-She's in Rachel Sterling's body. The very woman who stole her lover, harvested her heart. The villain everyone hates.
Now trapped in the life of her enemy, Katrina must pretend to be the spoiled, manipulative heiress while hiding the truth that would destroy them all.
Worse-Owen Blake, the cold and powerful billionaire adopted son of the Sterling family, watches her every move. He despises "Rachel", believes she destroyed the only innocent girl he ever cared about. He doesn't know the girl he mourns... is standing right in front of him.
With hatred burning in her veins, Katrina swears she will not waste this second chance. She will expose the lies. Reclaim what was stolen. Make every person who carved out her heart beg for mercy.
But revenge is dangerous-Especially when the only man who might uncover the truth is the one who wants her dead.
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Chapter 5
Inside the ward, Rachel leaned halfway against the headboard.
Thinking about what Felix had just said, a mocking smile curved her lips.
He had actually asked her when they could set a wedding date.
Katrina's body wasn't even cold yet, and he was already talking about marrying another woman.
Human hearts really were that cold.
Just then, the door opened.
"I already told you, about the marriage-"
Assuming Felix had come back, Rachel spoke impatiently. But when she saw Owen standing there, her words cut off abruptly. Her expression turned slightly unnatural.
Owen walked over and sat down on the sofa. His deep eyes settled on her.
"So you and Felix have already reached the stage of discussing marriage?"
His voice was icy.
For some reason, Rachel felt a wave of tension tighten around her chest.
"That's my business. It has nothing to do with you," she replied evenly.
She didn't know how Rachel had interacted with Owen before. She knew nothing about Rachel's past.
So in front of him, she had to be extremely careful. She couldn't afford to reveal the slightest flaw.
Owen let out a cold laugh.
"Rachel, being with Felix... does your conscience feel at ease?"
A sharp edge flashed through his eyes.
Was she not afraid that Katrina would appear in her dreams every night?
Not afraid that Katrina would come back to claim her life?
At the thought of Katrina's death, his gaze grew even colder. The way he looked at Rachel was glacial.
But in Rachel's eyes, that expression meant something entirely different.
In Solandra, everyone knew that Owen had been adopted from an orphanage by the Sterlings when he was four.
The elders had originally planned to change his name, but he refused. They didn't force him. Instead, they showered him with love.
Even after they later had their biological daughter, Rachel, their affection for Owen never diminished in the slightest.
As he grew older, Chairman Sterling allowed him free access to the Sterling Corporation. When Owen turned twenty-two, he was directly handed control of the company.
Because of that, rumors spread like wildfire-Chairman Sterling was planning to marry Owen to his daughter and officially hand over the Sterling family empire.
Owen had never publicly denied it.
He even attended events side by side with Rachel, which only fueled the speculation.
Katrina had only learned about all of this after getting close to them.
And because of that, she had become even more certain that her death was connected to Owen.
Now, hearing his reaction to her relationship with Felix only strengthened that belief.
She remembered Rachel's words before her death-
'Owen would never be interested in you. I was the one who had him approach you. All for your heart.'
The heart transplant.
Now she believed it even more.
The flames of anger and hatred roared inside her, nearly swallowing her rationality whole.
At the last second, she forcefully dragged herself back from the edge.
Beneath the blanket, her hands clenched into tight fists. Her nails dug deep into her palms.
She felt no pain at all.
"Why not?" Rachel ground out through clenched teeth as she stared at Owen. "Oh, I get it. You don't seriously think we're going to get married, do you? Yes, you were adopted by the Sterlings-but publicly, we're brother and sister. How could we possibly be together? What do you think... my dear brother?"
She bit down hard on the last two words-brother-and anyone listening closely could hear the hatred underneath.
Owen didn't look away. His sharp gaze locked onto her, probing.
...Was it just his imagination?
Why did the Rachel in front of him feel different from before?
Wade's recent reports flashed through his mind. The once willful, arrogant, do-whatever-she-pleases Rachel had been far too abnormal during this hospital stay.
And most importantly-
When no one else was around, Rachel had never once called him 'brother.'
No one knew that detail except Wade and the Sterling parents.
Not even Katrina.
Sensing his scrutinizing stare, Rachel's heart skipped.
'Did I say something wrong?'
After a long moment, Owen withdrew his gaze. He stood up and adjusted the buttons on his suit.
"I have no interest in whatever is going on between you and Felix. It has nothing to do with me. Rachel, this is the last time I'm warning you-you've already gotten what you wanted. Stay away from Felix's schemes. Don't make Dad and Mom worry themselves sick over you at their age."
With that, he turned and left without looking back.
The suffocating pressure in the room finally dissipated with his departure.
Only then did Rachel let out a quiet breath.
Honestly, under that searching gaze just now, she had almost suffocated.
Even now, her heart was still pounding uneasily.
...
After leaving the ward, Owen went straight to the attending physician's office.
"Mr. Blake, are you here to see Miss Sterling?" the doctor hurried forward.
Owen nodded slightly. His voice was low and steady.
"Dr. Johnson, I came to ask you something."
"Of course. Please go ahead."
"If someone undergoes a heart transplant... is it possible for their personality to change as well?"
Dr. Johnson looked at him in confusion. "Mr. Blake, are you suggesting...?"
"Could they seem like an entirely different person?"
That was exactly how Rachel had felt to him today.
As if she had become someone else.
And faintly... strangely... there had been a trace of familiarity about her.
Dr. Johnson didn't answer immediately. After a long pause, he asked carefully, "Mr. Blake, forgive my bluntness. Are you saying Miss Sterling..."
He trailed off, but the implication was clear.
Owen gave a slight nod. "I need an answer."
Dr. Johnson adjusted his glasses and explained, "From a medical standpoint, a person's personality, temperament, and even habits are shaped from childhood. A heart transplant, under normal circumstances, would not alter lifelong behavioral patterns or character traits."
He hesitated before continuing.
"However... there have been rare cases reported. There was an article in the United States about transplant recipients developing habits, personality traits-even mannerisms-similar to their donors. Some even identified themselves with the donor's identity."
"These cases are extremely rare. As for how to explain the phenomenon... the medical community still has no definitive answer."
After hearing the explanation, Owen said nothing more. He gave a slight nod and left the office.
Outside, Wade had clearly heard everything.
"Mr. Blake... could it be..." He hesitated. Maybe they were overthinking it. Rachel was still recovering; her body was weak. It didn't necessarily mean what the doctor implied.
Owen frowned.
"Don't mention this to my parents for now. I don't want them worrying. As for Rachel-we'll observe her for a while before drawing any conclusions."
Wade nodded in understanding.
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8.7
Emerson worked grueling twelve-hour shifts just to keep her five-year-old son, Leo, alive. Her only lifeline was her partner Alden, who was willing to give up his wealthy family to protect them.
But when Leo's bone marrow completely failed, the doctor delivered a death sentence. The only way to save him was a two-million-dollar treatment, or having another child with his biological father.
That father was Finnegan Mcconnell, the ruthless billionaire who had accused Emerson of faking her pregnancy and abandoned her five years ago.
Desperate for the medical fees, Emerson submitted her designs to Finnegan's company.
Instead of advancing the money, Finnegan tore her portfolio to shreds and trapped her as a prisoner in his estate.
To force her complete submission, he systematically destroyed her reality. He framed Alden with federal charges, leaving him facing twenty years in prison.
Alden's mother stormed into the pediatric ICU, violently strangling Emerson against the wall.
"Beg Finnegan to let my son go! You are a curse!"
Even Emerson's own adoptive mother showed up at the hospital, just to publicly mock her dying child.
Emerson was suffocating in despair. Finnegan already had a beautiful new wife and a five-year-old daughter—absolute proof he had been cheating while she was pregnant and alone.
He had his perfect family. Why did he have to hunt her down and sever every lifeline she had left, just to watch her drown?
With her son's heart monitor fading and Alden locked in a cell, her pride finally shattered.
Emerson walked into the top-floor executive office and dropped to her knees at the devil's feet, but the desperate mother looking up at him was preparing for a devastating revenge.
8.7
I was pregnant with the future heir of the Blackwood Pack, but my fated mate, Alpha Gavin, was nowhere to be found when sharp, tearing agony ripped through my swollen belly.
Instead of rushing to my side, he was in a luxury penthouse with his mistress, Piper.
When I desperately called his human number for help, it was Piper who answered the phone.
"I'm Piper. His future Luna."
Minutes later, I received a leaked audio file of Gavin promising to formally reject me the moment our pup was born.
Before the heartbreak could even set in, my armored SUV was violently rammed off the road by a massive truck.
It wasn't an accident. It was a targeted hit paid for by Piper's pack.
I woke up in the clinic with an empty womb. My pup was dead.
Gavin didn't even show up. He just mind-linked the butler to say he was "too busy" to deal with my loss.
He let his mistress murder our child and treated me like disposable trash, assuming my grief would make me a weak, compliant victim.
He thought he could just bury my trauma and move on with his perfect new life.
He was wrong.
I faked my own death in a fiery crash, leaving him with nothing but my signed rejection papers and the bloody receipt proving his mistress hired the killers.
Now, armed with a new identity and untraceable wealth, I am stepping out of the shadows.
I am going to bankrupt their packs from the inside out and make my former Alpha watch his empire burn.
9.5
The night I ran, I left everything behind.
My dead fiancé's ghost. His brother's cold hands reaching for me. A father who won't meet my eyes because he's already sold me to the highest bidder.
I thought I was escaping.
Then a stranger pulled me from the darkness, and I learned what real danger looks like.
Damon moves like he owns the world. Talks like every word matters. Looks at me like I'm the only woman who ever made him feel something. He says he's the son the Kings family erased, the bastard they tried to bury. He says Evan loved me-really loved me-and that's why I should trust him.
He wants me to sign a contract. One year as his wife. One year to help him destroy the family that destroyed us both. One year pretending to belong to a man who makes my heart race and my skin burn every time he's close.
But the closer we get, the more I feel him keeping secrets.
He touches me like I'm fragile. Looks away when I ask about Evan. Holds the truth behind his teeth like it might cut us both.
And the whole time, I'm falling.
Falling into his warmth. His danger. His impossible kindness that feels too real to be fake.
But if I've learned anything from the Kings, it's this: the men who save you are always the ones who need you most.
And the ones who need you?
They're the ones who hurt you in the end.
Evan knew something the night he died. Something about my father. Something about the deal that would make the Kings the most powerful people in the country.
Damon knows too.
And the only way he'll tell me?
Is if I say yes.
Say yes to the contract. Say yes to the marriage. Say yes to the fire building between us that feels less like pretending every single day.
But when I finally learn the truth-about Evan, about my father, about the empire that wants us both dead-
Will the man holding me survive what comes next?
And more terrifying:
Will I survive loving him?
9.3
For three years, Dara endured endless humiliation to be the perfect wife to billionaire Donavon Monroe.
But on their third anniversary, which was also her birthday, Donavon coldly threw divorce papers on the dining table.
He wanted her gone for his returning childhood sweetheart, completely ignoring the blistering burn on Dara's hand—a cruel injury intentionally caused by his brother just hours ago.
When Dara tearfully reminded him how she had bled and almost died to save his life three years ago, Donavon looked at her with pure disgust.
"I have zero interest in looking at the ugly scars you picked up in whatever slum you crawled out of."
He accused her of fabricating a savior complex just to secure a ring, perfectly content to let his mother and brother treat her like a glorified maid.
Dara's heart completely shattered.
She had sacrificed her life and dignity for a ruthless capitalist who viewed her as nothing but disposable trash.
With her last shred of pride, she signed the papers, ready to leave this suffocating nightmare forever.
But that night, a freak lightning storm struck the estate.
When Dara opened her eyes the next morning, she felt incredibly heavy and her center of gravity was completely wrong.
She looked in the mirror and saw Donavon's cold, chiseled face staring back at her in absolute terror.
They had swapped bodies.
Now, she held the absolute power of the Monroe empire, and Donavon was finally going to experience his family's vicious abuse firsthand.
9.0
For a whole year, April believed her billionaire husband, Bartholomew, abandoned her in Europe the day after their arranged wedding. She hated him so much she drunkenly prayed for his death at a club.
But he suddenly returned that very night, catching her red-handed. Instead of a divorce, he trapped her, threatening to bankrupt her bloodsucking family unless she moved into his penthouse to play the devoted wife.
Forced to comply, she attended a dinner with her toxic family. Her stepmother deliberately served her lobster—knowing April had a fatal allergy.
"Eat up, darling. I know hospital food is dreadful."
When April refused and exposed their massive gambling debts, her furious father raised his hand to strike her across the face.
But it was Bartholomew, the ruthless tyrant she despised, who caught her father's arm and snapped his wrist.
"If you ever try to touch my wife again, I will erase your family by sunrise."
April was completely stunned. Why was he defending her with such murderous rage? And why did he keep a cheap paper airplane she had made at age six preserved under a glass dome in his study?
The answer came that night. When Bartholomew stepped out of the shower, April saw the massive, jagged surgical scar sliced directly over his heart. He hadn't run away; he had been fighting for his life on an operating table. Staring at the man who had silently survived just to come back to her, April made her choice. She was going to uncover the truth behind his surgery and their past.
8.7
On the night of her engagement, Lila Hart discovers that her fiancé isn't just cheating-he's selling her to the cruel Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack to settle a debt.
Dragged into the arms of Damien Blackwood, a ruthless billionaire Alpha feared across the werewolf world, Lila vows to escape. But Damien isn't what he seems-behind his icy exterior lies a dangerous secret... one that ties Lila to him in ways neither can deny.