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 7
The next morning, Kelsi woke up in Gisele's guest bed with a pounding headache. The hangover was brutal, but the crushing weight of her breakup felt slightly lighter in the harsh light of day.
Gisele kicked the door open, carrying two mugs of black coffee and a bottle of Advil.
"Drink. Swallow. Wake up," Gisele ordered, shoving a mug into Kelsi's hands.
Gisele sat on the edge of the bed, aggressively scrolling through her phone. Suddenly, she gasped loudly.
"Look at this!" Gisele shoved the phone screen into Kelsi's face.
Kelsi squinted. It was a digital news article. The headline read: Russo Family Foundation Annual Charity Gala Invitations Dispatched.
"The Russo Gala," Gisele breathed reverently. "It is the most exclusive event in New York. Billionaires, politicians, A-list celebrities. It's the ultimate playground."
Kelsi rubbed her temples. "Okay. And?"
"And," Gisele waved her hands, "this is the perfect place for you to make your grand reappearance! You walk in there looking like a goddess, completely unbothered. It will drive Jeb insane when he sees the photos."
"Gisele, I don't want to go to a billionaire's party," Kelsi sighed. "And we don't even have invitations."
Gisele smirked. "Leave that to me. The lawyer I'm currently dating? His boss is the legal counsel for the Russo Group. I can absolutely pull some strings and get us on the guest list."
Kelsi wanted to say no, but Gisele's relentless enthusiasm was hard to fight. She finally nodded, agreeing to think about it.
As she sipped her coffee, a random thought crossed her mind. She thought about Yannis. An artist struggling to pay rent would never even see the outside of a party like the Russo Gala. She felt a sudden, sharp stab of guilt for her own privilege.
Ten miles away, in the towering glass monolith of the Russo Group headquarters, Augustus Russo stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window. The entire city of Manhattan was spread out beneath his feet.
He held his phone to his ear.
"I got the intel," Chase Cabrera's voice crackled through the speaker, sounding entirely too excited. "I texted Gisele last night. Played it cool."
"Talk," Augustus said, his voice flat and commanding.
"The breakup is real. Kelsi dumped him," Chase reported. "The reason is insane. Jeb ditched her while she was trying on her wedding dress to go comfort his sister-in-law. Then, Kelsi had an emergency appendectomy that same night, and Jeb ignored her calls because he was at a party with the sister-in-law."
Augustus's grip on his phone tightened. His knuckles turned white. A cold, lethal fury settled in his gut.
He knew Jeb Harrington was a weak, entitled fool, but he hadn't realized the extent of his cruelty.
"Kelsi moved out of his penthouse," Chase continued. "She's staying in Gisele's guest room in SoHo right now. Oh, and Gisele was fishing around, trying to see if I could get them tickets to your charity gala. She wants to use it as Kelsi's 'coming out' party."
A slow, dark smile curved Augustus's lips.
It was almost too easy.
"Call the foundation directors," Augustus ordered. "Have them courier two VIP invitations to Gisele Vazquez's apartment. Send them from the foundation's executive office and use the chairman's official seal."
Chase choked on his spit. "The chairman's seal? Augustus, you never authorize that level of access for public events."
"Just do it," Augustus snapped. "And Chase? Find out if there are any luxury apartments available for lease or purchase in Gisele's building. Or the building directly next door."
Silence hung on the line for three seconds.
"You want to be her neighbor?" Chase asked, his voice full of disbelief. "Augustus, are you playing a game here, or are you actually insane?"
Augustus hung up the phone without answering.
He turned around as his executive assistant, A. J. Finch, walked into the office. Finch placed a thick manila folder on the massive mahogany desk.
"The complete background file on Kelsi Owens, sir, as requested," Finch said professionally.
Augustus sat down and opened the file. He read through the pages meticulously. He read about her parents dying in a car crash when she was eight. He read about her moving in with her aunt and uncle, the Crowleys, in Queens.
His eyes stopped on a legal flag near the back of the file. Ten years ago, Declan Crowley had attempted to forge documents to transfer Kelsi's trust fund into his own business account. The attempt had failed, but it was buried in the legal records.
Augustus closed the folder. His jaw ticked.
She had been surrounded by parasites her entire life.
He picked up his pen. He knew exactly what his next move was.
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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.