The Reborn Heiress: Betting On Chaos
I woke up gasping for air, my fingers clawing at a neck that was smooth instead of bruised. The air smelled of lavender and expensive starch, not the metallic tang of blood and the mold of the basement where I had just died.
A text flashed on my phone from Derrick, the man I thought was the love of my life: "Good morning, my angel. I can't wait to see you tonight." The heart emoji mocked me, a remnant of a girl who was once stupid, blind, and pathetically in love.
In my past life, I was the perfect, submissive fiancée. I didn't realize the "vitamins" Derrick gave me were actually a cocktail of drugs designed to keep me foggy and compliant while he and my own uncle dismantled my father’s company. I stood by him as my parents died in a "car accident" that I now know was a murder he orchestrated. By the time I realized I was married to the devil, he had already stripped me of my wealth, my family, and finally, my breath.
I stared at the gold-embossed calendar on the vanity: June 12, 2014. The day of our engagement party. The day I originally signed my life away to a monster who saw me as nothing more than a bank account to be drained.
I felt a cold, sharp rage replace the terror. I wasn't going to be the victim this time. I wasn't going to take his pills or wear the modest, pastel dress he chose to make me look like a saint.
"I need a match," I whispered to the most dangerous man in the city, Branch Brewer, as I gripped his tie in a hotel hallway. "I want to spend your money until Derrick chokes on it. I want to watch his empire crack."
Reborn on the morning of the gala, I’ve traded my white lace for black silk. The guest list is set, the press is waiting, and Derrick thinks he’s about to win it all. He has no idea that the "fragile" girl he murdered is back to burn his world to the ground.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 8
Claire stepped out of the elevator into the lobby.
It was a circus. Flashbulbs popped like strobe lights, blinding her.
Derrick stood in the center of the chaos, holding a massive bouquet of red roses. He looked like Prince Charming.
"Claire!" he shouted, waving to the cameras.
Reporters surged forward, thrusting microphones in her face.
"Claire! Is it true the engagement is on the rocks?"
"Are the rumors about your mental health true?"
"Derrick, is she unstable?"
Derrick stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. It looked protective. It was actually controlling.
"Please!" Derrick shouted. "Give her space! My fiancée has been under a lot of stress. She's fragile right now."
Fragile. The narrative was being spun in real-time. If she got angry, she was crazy. If she cried, she was unstable.
Claire took a deep breath. She didn't fight him. She leaned into him.
She let her body go limp, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Oh, Derrick," she said, loud enough for the microphones to pick up. "Thank you for protecting me."
She looked up at the cameras. She made her lip tremble.
"I'm sorry everyone," she said. "I just... I love him so much. And the pressure of the election... it's just so hard to be perfect."
The reporters softened. Aww.
"But," Claire continued, her voice gaining a strange edge. "I promise you all. Tonight, at the party, you will see the real Derrick. The man behind the mask."
Derrick stiffened. He squeezed her arm hard. "That's enough, darling."
"I feel..." Claire put a hand to her forehead. "I feel faint."
She collapsed.
It was a graceful fall. She went down like a swan.
"Claire!" Derrick yelled. He had to drop the flowers to catch her. The thorns scratched his face.
Chaos erupted. Security guards rushed in.
"Get the car!" Derrick screamed.
As he lifted her, Claire's face was pressed against his chest. Her eyes remained closed, her breathing shallow. She gave him nothing. No whisper, no threat. She was the perfect, unconscious victim, a blank slate onto which he and the press could project their own stories. Her silence was more unnerving to him than any insult could have been.
Robert's security team took over, pulling her from Derrick's arms and hustling her into the waiting limo.
Inside the car, the tint was dark.
Claire sat up instantly. She smoothed her hair.
Piper was in the jump seat, cackling. "That was Oscar-worthy! Did you see his face when you dropped?"
Claire checked her phone. Twitter was trending. PoorClaire. The narrative had shifted. Derrick looked pushy; she looked sympathetic.
"Where to?" Piper asked.
"Brooklyn," Claire said. "Red Hook. I need to pick up my armor."
You may also like
7.0
For three years, I played the perfect, submissive wife to Alpha Julian Sterling.
When I finally got pregnant with his heir, I thought it would warm his cold heart. But the first thing he did when he returned from his trip was hand me a Mate Rejection Agreement.
He had brought back his ex-lover, Serena.
Julian coldly declared our marriage was just a political chore. To clear the path for her, he fired me from the company I built, watched her mock my late father, and threatened to throw me out as Rogue meat if I didn't submit.
The most chilling part was a hidden clause in the divorce papers. It stated that because I was a wolfless Omega, if I were ever pregnant, he would terminate the pup to protect his pure bloodline.
I had given him everything, only to be discarded like trash. I touched my flat stomach, terrified and disgusted that the man I loved would gladly kill his own child just to please his new queen.
"Prepare the documents to accept the rejection," I told my lawyer calmly.
Julian thought he had won, throwing away his useless, barren Omega. He had no idea I was taking his only heir with me, and I would burn his entire empire to the ground before he ever found out.
9.3
Elara Voss never imagined that a single mistake could turn her life upside down. A brilliant marketing strategist with ambition as sharp as her wit, she thrives on control, until the day she crashes her rival's luxurious wedding, causing a scandal that will haunt her in high society.
Enter Dante Cross: the notorious billionaire, charmingly arrogant, and impossibly handsome, the bride's brother. In a moment of impulsive defiance, he proposes an outrageous solution to save face: a marriage neither of them wants... but both are forced to accept.
Thrown together in a world of glitz, power, and unspoken secrets, Elara and Dante clash at every turn. Sparks ignite as pride battles attraction, and the closer they get, the more dangerous their connection becomes. With hidden rivalries, family secrets, and unexpected betrayals swirling around them, Elara must navigate a game of social intrigue and decide if love is worth risking everything.
Will their forced union survive the chaos, or will the very secrets that brought them together tear them apart forever?
8.7
They killed her once. Now, she's back to collect the debt.
Thrown back in time to the single night that shattered her life, Jane King is no longer the powerless charity case of the billionaire Norman family. She's a ghost with a ten-year grudge and a perfect memory of every sin they committed. The timid girl is gone, replaced by a woman with nothing left to lose and a ledger that can only be balanced in ruin.
Her audit begins tonight. With the cold precision of a master strategist, she dismantles the heirs, staging their downfall as tragic accidents. But her bloody work doesn't go unnoticed. From a balcony above, the enigmatic and dangerous Hudson Ellison watches the victim become a predator. He's the only one who sees the monster she's become, and he doesn't want to cage it-he wants to crown it.
He offers a dangerous alliance and the keys to an empire. But in a game of secrets and lies, when you partner with a wolf, you risk becoming the prey.
9.5
After her step sister ran away from her marriage to the billion dollar heir, they took Emerald Jane Campbell as a stand-in to fill in the position of her step sister. Forced by her evil mother, Emerald can't do anything but to follow. She was tied to the disabled billion dollar heir for three years and all she got was cold treatment from him. Years later, a kidnapper appears in their lives. The kidnapper threatens the life of Emerald until Jude Rafael Sanders- the billion-dollar decides to do what it takes to protect his wife, Emerald.
Secrets began to unravel one by one. But what if Jude finds out his beloved wife has something up beneath her sleeves? Find out how tension intensifies in their roller coaster marriage.
7.9
Emily Parker has a simple life plan: write her steamy romance novels, collect her royalties, sleep whenever she wants, and avoid anything that sounds like responsibility.
Marriage? Absolutely not.
But when her aunt threatens to drag her back to the countryside and marry her off the traditional way, Emily makes a desperate promise-she'll find a husband in three months.
There's just one problem.
She's single. She hates dating. And she's far too lazy to fall in love.
So she does what any rational, comfort-loving woman would do-she signs up for a contract marriage. Temporary husband. Minimal effort. Clean divorce. Peace restored.
Except the man who accepts her proposal isn't just some convenient stranger.
He's Adrian Vale. Thirty-one. Devastatingly calm. CEO of a global empire.
And he remembers her.
Emily may have lost her childhood memories in the accident that killed their parents-but Adrian never forgot a single detail. Not the night that changed everything. Not the little girl who once held his hand. Not the name she would one day unknowingly choose as her pen name: Vale.
To her, it was just a contract.
To him, it was fate.
As secrets from the past begin to surface and the truth behind their shared tragedy threatens to tear them apart, Emily must decide whether to keep running from responsibility... or finally choose the man who has loved her long before she could remember him.
She wanted a temporary husband.
He's been waiting for her his entire life.
8.7
Five years ago, my fiancé and my adopted sister framed me, took my family trust, and cut my car's brake lines, leaving me with a shattered body in the freezing rain.
Now, struggling as a stunt double to fund my revenge, I risked my life to save a billionaire's trapped son from a locked room.
But instead of gratitude, I became the billionaire's prey.
Jaidyn Miles, the apex predator of Wall Street, investigated my crippling debts and threw a five-million-dollar contract in my face.
"You possess the single most valuable asset in this transaction. Your face."
He demanded I dye my hair jet black, wear specific white dresses, and use a bespoke perfume. He wanted me to be the living, breathing doll of his dead wife.
I refused to be a billionaire's prop and walked away.
But Jaidyn immediately bought the entire movie studio where I had just bled for a life-changing role, threatening to destroy hundreds of jobs and my only chance at a career if I didn't submit.
Why was I always just a tool to these wealthy, arrogant men? First a placeholder for a family trust, now a ghost for a dead woman?
I grabbed his contract and a pen, my eyes cold. I wouldn't be broken again.
"Three months, and you don't interfere with my shooting schedule."
I signed my name. I would take his five million, and I would use it to bury the people who ruined my life five years ago.