The Jilted Heiress And Her Spectacular Rebirth
Kelsi Owens stood in front of the mirror in a six-figure gown, ready to marry into the wealthy Harrington family.
But her fiancé, Jeb, didn't even look at her. He abandoned her right in the middle of the fitting because his widowed sister-in-law, Seraphina, called crying.
That same night, Kelsi collapsed on her apartment floor with a ruptured appendix. Sweating and in blinding agony, she called Jeb for help.
Instead of concern, she heard Seraphina laughing and party music blaring in the background. Jeb just snapped at her.
"Stop being dramatic. Seraphina is the guest of honor tonight. I can't leave."
He hung up, leaving her to call her own ambulance. Kelsi woke up from emergency surgery completely alone, only to receive a cold text from Jeb calling her fragile.
To make matters worse, her toxic adoptive family didn't care that she almost died. They demanded she crawl back and apologize to Jeb just so they could keep leeching off her connections and trust fund.
Lying in that cold hospital bed, the illusion finally shattered. For three years, she had always been the one left waiting. She realized she meant absolutely nothing to the people she loved.
Kelsi didn't cry, and she didn't beg.
She calmly texted Jeb to call off the engagement, blocked his number, and cut ties with her greedy relatives forever.
She was finally walking away. What she didn't know was that the city's most ruthless billionaire had been watching her, and he was already weaving a golden net to claim her for himself.
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Chapter 5
The music in Valhalla was loud, a heavy bass that vibrated through the floorboards.
Gisele stood up from the leather booth, grabbing their empty glasses. "I'm going to the bar to get us another round. Don't move."
Kelsi nodded, leaning back against the cushions. She pressed her hand against her stomach. The pain medication was working, but the loud environment was starting to make her feel slightly claustrophobic.
She needed some air.
She stood up and navigated her way through the crowded room, heading toward a narrow, dimly lit hallway that led to an outdoor smoking terrace.
At the exact same moment, Augustus Russo reached the bottom of the staircase. His dark eyes instantly tracked Kelsi's movement. He saw her slip into the hallway.
He adjusted the cuffs of his vintage leather jacket and followed her, his strides long and deliberate. He kept a few paces behind her, watching the way the black silk dress clung to her figure.
The hallway was dark, illuminated only by small wall sconces.
Kelsi was looking at her phone, trying to lower the screen brightness, when the heel of her shoe caught on a thick fold in the vintage rug.
She gasped as her ankle twisted. She pitched forward, bracing herself for the hard impact of the floor.
It never came.
A strong, muscular arm wrapped firmly around her waist, pulling her flush against a solid chest.
"Careful," a deep, resonant voice murmured right next to her ear. The breath ghosted over her skin, sending an involuntary shiver down her spine.
Kelsi's heart hammered against her ribs. She braced her hands against his chest to steady herself and looked up.
She crashed into a pair of eyes that were as dark and endless as a midnight sky.
The man was tall, towering over her even in her heels. His jawline was sharp enough to cut glass, covered in a light shadow of stubble. He exuded an intense, quiet power that made the air around them feel thick.
Kelsi blinked, her mind racing. She stared at his face. There was something incredibly familiar about the slope of his nose, the intense way he was looking at her.
"Have we met?" Kelsi asked, her voice slightly breathless.
The man's lips curved into a slow, devastating smile. He didn't let go of her waist immediately.
"We have," he said smoothly. "A gallery opening in London. About a year ago."
The memory clicked into place. Kelsi remembered. She had accompanied Jeb on a business trip to London. She had wandered into an independent art gallery while Jeb was in meetings.
She remembered this man. He had been one of the featured artists. They had spoken for maybe ten minutes about a particularly aggressive abstract painting.
"It's you," Kelsi said, her eyes widening in surprise. She took a small step back, and his arm finally dropped from her waist. "I remember your work. It was very... visceral."
Augustus let out a low chuckle. "Thank you. I didn't expect to run into you here, Kelsi Owens."
Kelsi was taken aback. "You remember my name?"
Augustus's gaze swept over her face slowly, taking in the slight paleness of her cheeks. "I have a good memory. Besides, you and your fiancé, Jeb Harrington, are frequently in the society pages."
At the mention of Jeb's name, Kelsi's body went rigid. The light in her eyes instantly died out.
Augustus didn't miss the micro-expression. He tracked the way her fingers curled inward.
"That's in the past," Kelsi said quietly, looking away.
Augustus raised a dark eyebrow, but he didn't push. He simply shifted the conversation. "Did you just get back from Europe?"
"No," Kelsi shook her head. "Did you?"
Augustus nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. "Yeah. The opportunities in London dried up. Figured I'd come back to New York and see if I could make something happen."
He delivered the lie flawlessly. His tone was casual, but laced with just enough self-deprecation to sound authentic.
Kelsi's mind immediately filled in the blanks. Opportunities dried up. He was struggling. He couldn't sell his art in London, so he had to move back to the States to try and survive.
Before Kelsi could offer a sympathetic response, the sharp clacking of heels echoed down the hallway.
"Kelsi! I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Gisele appeared, holding two fresh cocktails. She stopped dead when she saw the man standing next to Kelsi. Gisele's eyes widened, scanning him from head to toe with blatant appreciation.
"Oh," Gisele purred, stepping closer. "And who is this?"
Kelsi suddenly realized she didn't actually know his name. "This is... I'm so sorry, I forgot your name."
Augustus pulled his right hand out of his pocket and extended it toward Gisele.
"Yannis," he said smoothly.
Gisele shook his hand, her eyes sparkling with gossip. "Nice to meet you, Yannis. I'm Gisele. But I have to steal my girl back now. Emergency girls' talk."
Gisele linked her arm through Kelsi's and began pulling her back toward the main bar.
Kelsi glanced over her shoulder. "Yannis" was still standing in the dim hallway, watching her walk away.
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9.7
Luna Elena Frost was never chosen, only assigned.
Bound to Alpha Alaric Ashbourne through a cold contractual marriage, she endures three years as a Luna in name only. He never comes home, never defends her, and never looks at her, while his heart belongs to another woman.
At his grandmother's funeral, Alaric publicly dissolves their marriage, humiliating Elena before the entire pack. In that moment, she finally understands the truth. She was never wanted.
But the Moon has not abandoned her.
A forgotten night resurfaces. Her long-silent wolf begins to awaken. And secrets buried within her bloodline start to surface, drawing danger from every direction.
Cast out by the pack that once used her, Elena must flee, survive, and uncover her true power.
Only then does the Alpha realize his mistake.
By the time he turns back in regret, the Luna he rejected may already be gone forever.
7.0
Eight years ago, Alaina forced herself to say the most vicious, heartless things to break up with her fiercely loyal college boyfriend, protecting him from his billionaire family's wrath.
Now, she is a top maxillofacial surgeon, and Jarred Mcknight has returned as the ruthless CEO of Wall Street's most powerful corporation.
Their worlds collide in the ER, but Jarred isn't alone. He is accompanying his rumored heiress fiancée.
His eyes are pure ice. He treats Alaina with a suffocating, clinical detachment, fiercely protecting the heiress from Alaina's medical examination. The professional slap in the face shatters Alaina's heart all over again.
Later, at an exclusive restaurant, Jarred catches Alaina on a miserable, forced blind date. Still believing she left him for money and status, he publicly mocks her for working herself to the bone just to climb the ladder.
Her sleazy date, humiliated by the billionaire's sheer dominance, turns his bruised ego on Alaina. On the dark street outside, the lawyer aggressively grabs her arm, trying to force himself on her.
Alaina thought Jarred despised her. She thought he had completely moved on, leaving her to drown in the memories of the future they never had.
But why did Jarred suddenly explode from the shadows like a lethal predator, brutally snapping the lawyer's wrist just for touching her?
Pinning her trapped against the cold brick wall, Jarred's dark eyes burn with a terrifying, unhinged possessiveness.
"Is this the kind of garbage you date now?"
The eight years of separation mean nothing. The billionaire hasn't let her go, and this time, there is no escape.
8.1
Terminally ill.
Betrayed by her husband.
Abandoned by the only family she had.
Ariel died with nothing... and no one.
But fate gives her a second chance.
Reborn three years before her death, she walks away from the man who ruined her life-and takes back everything they stole.
Her love.
Her identity.
Her power.
Now, the cold billionaire who once ignored her can't take his eyes off her.
The brother who abandoned her starts to regret.
Too late.
Because this time, Ariel isn't the woman who begs.
She's the one who makes them kneel.
9.1
Elise thought her life was finally falling into place. She turned down her father's company to work as executive assistant to Marcus Grey-the boy she's loved since childhood, now the powerful CEO she's devoted her life to.
But when Marcus proposes to another woman, Elise's world crumbles. Enter Sebastian Deluca-Marcus's tattooed, ruthless, long-estranged brother. He's everything Marcus isn't: dangerous, magnetic, and determined to take back his place in New York.
But, there's something odd about him.
Something changed since he arrived.
Bound by family secrets and a mutual desire to expose Marcus's fiancée, Elise and Sebastian form an uneasy alliance. But as sparks ignite between them, Elise must choose: remain loyal to the boy she thought she loved, or risk everything for the man who sees her as more than a shadow.
Some loves are safe. Others are consuming. Which one will she survive?
9.3
To escape my abusive adoptive mother selling me to a loan shark for $50,000, I rushed to City Hall to marry a blind date.
In a blind panic, I grabbed the wrong man.
He was Julian Cardenas IV, a billionaire CEO who desperately needed a fake wife to dodge a corporate arranged marriage. We signed the papers on the spot.
He became my legal shield. He moved me into his pristine penthouse and secretly protected me from my family's violent threats. When I broke down crying in the freezing cold, he quietly left me hot cocoa. For the first time in my life, I felt safe.
But then, Julian overheard me complaining to my sister about my constantly breaking-down car, groaning that I had to "get rid of this baby four times."
He thought I meant abortions.
The man who was slowly melting my frozen heart instantly turned to ice. He threw away the dinner he had specially bought for me, his eyes filled with absolute disgust and blinding rage.
I was left entirely confused and terrified. Why did my savior suddenly look at me like I was the most repulsive thing in the world? What had I done to deserve this sudden cruelty?
I thought this fake marriage was my ticket out of hell. I didn't realize I had just locked myself in a cage with a furious, ruthless CEO who now wanted to destroy me.
7.7
Dasia's twin brother, Gerald, was an e-sports prodigy, the rising star of the Glory team.
But during a crucial moment, he was framed by his own teammates. They orchestrated a trap that completely destroyed his reputation and left his right hand brutally crushed.
Instead of getting him medical help, the club threw him out into the freezing rain, bleeding and disgraced. The manager labeled him useless trash and slapped him with a five-million-dollar termination fee to bleed him dry. Stripped of his pro status, the wealthy bullies at his prep school relentlessly targeted him, mocking his crippled hand and beating him down.
Dasia watched her twin brother cry in his room, his life and dreams shattered by the people he trusted. A violent, suffocating rage boiled in her chest. How could they smile while crushing his hand? Why should the victim be treated like a rotting piece of garbage while the perpetrators get rich and celebrated?
She didn't shed a single tear. She stood in front of the mirror, took a pair of scissors, and ruthlessly hacked off her waist-length hair. She wrapped her chest in coarse medical bandages until her ribs screamed, and pulled on his oversized black hoodie.
"Everything you took from him, I am going to take back with interest."
The girl in the mirror was gone. She was Gerald now. She secretly passed the brutal online tryouts for Glory's biggest rival, the elite Blackflame team, and signed their official contract. The revenge had officially begun.