The Ruined Heiress's Vengeful Comeback

Three years ago, Collette was framed in a vicious drug and sex scandal by her half-sister. Her father didn't ask a single question before banishing her to the gutters of Europe. She clawed her way back to New York for revenge, willingly becoming a disposable, cheap toy for the city's most dangerous billionaire, Hartwell Lara, just to use him as her weapon. But Hartwell’s heart belonged entirely to his delicate future wife, Isabell. When Collette nearly died of severe pneumonia on a freezing balcony, Hartwell left her bleeding and alone to patiently peel apples for Isabell. Isabell then barged into Collette's hospital room, maliciously tore her life-saving CFDA design sketch to shreds, and brutally slapped her own face. "Collette... why are you being so mean to me?!" Isabell screamed, collapsing to the floor just as Hartwell violently pushed the door open. His dark eyes locked onto Collette, filled with the same absolute, chilling disgust her father had shown three years ago. Why was she always the one thrown away like garbage? Why did her own blood family destroy her, and why did the man she surrendered her dignity to trample her last hope for a liar? Staring at her ruined life's work beneath Isabell's designer shoes, the tiny crack of warmth Hartwell had left in Collette's heart froze completely. She didn't bother to explain or beg. She just smiled her signature empty smile, ready to burn the Norris family and the Lara Empire to the ground.

Chapters

Chapter 5

Collette stumbled back into her standard ward room.

Her legs gave out the second she reached the bed. She collapsed onto the thin mattress.

She grabbed the scratchy white blanket and pulled it entirely over her head.

Her body shook uncontrollably. The fever burned her skin, but inside, she felt completely hollowed out.

Heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed in the hallway.

The sound of expensive leather shoes hitting the linoleum floor grew louder, stopping right outside her door.

The door was pushed open.

"Mr. Lara," Marta's voice trembled with respect.

Hartwell walked in. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

Collette kept her eyes squeezed shut. Under the blanket, her hands curled into tight fists. Her fingernails dug deep into her palms.

Hartwell stopped next to the bed.

He looked down at the blanket, then his eyes caught the drops of blood smeared on the white sheets from where she had ripped out the IV.

The space between his eyebrows pulled into a hard, deep crease.

"Get a nurse in here to fix this line. Now," Hartwell barked. His voice was thick with raw anger and heavy irritation.

The nurse rushed in, her hands shaking as she re-inserted the needle into Collette's bruised vein. As soon as she finished, she practically ran out of the room.

Hartwell reached down and violently ripped the blanket off Collette's head.

Collette was forced to open her eyes.

She stared up into his pitch-black eyes. Her own eyes were completely dead, filled with nothing but defensive spikes and cold mockery.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Hartwell demanded, towering over her. "Running out to the balcony in the middle of the night? Is this some pathetic attempt at a pity play?"

The words hit the exact center of Collette's trauma.

She let out a harsh, breathless laugh. Her chest heaved.

"A pity play?" Collette sneered. Her voice was weak, but the venom in it was lethal. "I wouldn't dare. After all, I'm not nearly as delicate as Miss Nielsen."

Hartwell's pupils contracted to pinpoints.

The air in the room turned dangerous.

He leaned down, his large hand snapping out to grip her jaw. His fingers pressed hard into her skin, forcing her to tilt her head back and look at him.

"Do not test my limits, Collette," Hartwell warned through gritted teeth. "You and she are not comparable."

Collette's heart physically ached, but she forced her chin up higher against his grip.

"You're absolutely right," she smiled, a hollow, ugly thing. "I'm just a whore you bought. She's your actual heart."

Hartwell's jaw ticked. The muscle jumped under his skin.

His fingers tightened on her jaw.

Collette sucked in a sharp breath of pain, but she didn't blink. She just stared at him, daring him to break her.

They stayed locked like that for ten agonizing seconds.

Hartwell stared at her flushed, feverish cheeks and her cracked, bleeding lip.

Slowly, he let go.

He let out a harsh breath, turned his back to her, and walked to the water dispenser in the corner of the room.

He filled a paper cup with warm water. He pressed the back of his hand against the paper to test the temperature, ensuring it was appropriately warm.

He walked back to the bed.

He slid his arm under her neck, easily lifting her upper body off the pillows. He pressed the cup to her lips.

Collette turned her face away. She kept her lips clamped shut.

"Drink it," Hartwell growled. "Or I will force it down your throat with my mouth."

Collette's eyes widened slightly. She knew he wasn't bluffing.

Humiliated, she opened her mouth and let him pour the water down her dry throat.

When he pulled the cup away, Collette tried to shift her weight. Her left arm, stiff from the IV, moved awkwardly. She let out a quiet hiss of pain.

Hartwell set the cup down.

He didn't say a word. He just reached out and grabbed her cold, stiff arm.

He placed her arm across his thigh. His large, warm hand wrapped around her wrist.

With perfect, calculated pressure, his thumb began to massage the tight muscles of her forearm, working his way up to ease the soreness from the IV fluid.

He kept his head down. His face was completely focused, his touch incredibly gentle, as if he were holding something made of fragile glass.

Collette stared at the straight line of his nose and his thick eyelashes.

The heavy block of ice in her chest cracked, just a fraction.

Continue to next part

🔞 95% of the book has explicit contents, discretion advised. I loved Liam Stonovich for three years. He was my first, my last, my everything. When I heard he was going to propose, my heart soared. I went to his place, brimming with hope-only to have it all ripped apart. Liam was in the shower. With his ex. And the ring I thought was meant for me? It was on her finger. I wasn't his forever. I was his rebound. Shattered, I headed to the most elite sex club in L.A., just to have fun and forget about my heartbreak. That's where I met him-Shark, a.k.a. Michael Stone. A man whose presence alone screamed danger and sèx on legs. I gave him a lap dance, thinking it would be nothing more than a one-night fling. But I became his obsession, and he, my wet dreams. Then I learned the truth. Shark is Liam's father. I thought it was all going to end there, but the enemies attacked, and secrets unfurled, revealing who I truly am. Now caught in the web of the most dangerous men in the underworld, who's going to save me?

Action Modern Romance

7.3

His Betrayal Forged My Ruthless Soul

7.3

Seven years ago, my fiancé, Don Dante Moretti, sent me to prison to take the fall for my adopted sister, Chiara. He called it a gift-a way to protect me from a worse fate. Today, he picked me up from prison only to abandon me at my family's estate. His reason? Chiara was having another one of her "episodes." My parents then informed me I'd be staying in the third-floor storage room, so as not to disturb the fragile girl who stole my life. They celebrated her "recovery" with a lavish dinner party, while I was treated like a ghost. When I refused to join, my mother hissed that I was ungrateful, and my father called me jealous. They assumed I couldn't understand their venomous whispers. But prison was my university. I learned Spanish. I understood every word. It was then I realized I wasn't just a sacrifice; I was disposable. The love I once felt for all of them had turned to ash. That night, in the dusty storage room, I logged onto an encrypted channel I'd set up years ago. A single message was waiting: "The offer stands. Do you accept?" My hands, scarred and steady, typed back, "I accept."

Action Modern Romance

9.5

I was an Angel, You made me a Villain

9.5

Betrayed by the very world he once protected, a former celestial guardian is cast down from grace. Stripped of his wings and purity, he finds himself fueled by a cold, relentless desire for vengeance against those who orchestrated his fall. As he navigates a realm of shadows, he must embrace his new identity as a formidable villain. Amidst the chaos of his path to retribution, an unexpected romance emerges, challenging his resolve and dark transformation.

Action Fantasy Romance

9.0

My First Love, My Last Revenge

9.0

My stepbrother, Booker Harvey, saved me from a life of abuse. He was my protector, my teacher, and my first love. For two years, our small apartment was a sun-drenched dream. Then he went on a business trip. I called him, pregnant with our child, only for another woman to answer his phone. He hung up on me. Later, his stepmother put him on speakerphone so I could hear him laugh off our entire relationship. "Tell her it was just for fun," he said. "She shouldn't take it so seriously." Just for fun. The words shattered me. I got rid of our son, took the hush money, and vanished. The girl who loved him died that day. In her place, I became "Nine," a ruthless operative forged in betrayal. Now, five years later, an explosion has left me with "amnesia." When the police ask who will be my guardian, I point to the man who broke my world. "Him," I say with a shy smile. "He's the most handsome."

Action Modern Romance

7.6

No Longer Your Spare Part: The Luna's Revenge

7.6

The drill's whine was the only thing in my world, vibrating through my skull and drowning out my own screams. I was strapped to a cold metal table, paralyzed by wolfsbane, while surgeons bored into my hip bone to siphon my essence. "Just a little more," the surgeon muttered. "Isabella needs the boost for the wedding photos." They weren't saving my sister's life. They were harvesting my marrow just to make her skin glow for a picture. I looked at the observation window, begging with my eyes. Dante, the Alpha I had dragged from the jaws of death, stood there. He wasn't looking at me. He was holding Isabella's hand. He didn't know I was the one who healed him. He believed her lies. "Take it all if you have to," Dante's voice drifted through our fading mate bond. "Don't let her fade." The drill punched through. My heart stuttered and stopped. I died on that table, a hollowed-out husk used to feed my sister's vanity. "Seraphina! Are you deaf?" A sharp voice snapped me back into existence. I gasped, clutching my hip. No blood. No drill. No pain. I looked at the calendar on my father's desk. I was alive. And I had exactly one year before the surgery that killed me. I looked at my trembling hands and felt the ancient anger of my White Wolf stirring. I wasn't going to be the sacrifice this time. I was going to be the arsonist.

Action Romance Werewolf

8.3

Rogue King

8.3

Once the God of War comes out, who can compete! This god of war is dedicated to fighting all n, winning all battles and various kinds of beauty. People give him the title of "rogue god of war"!

Action Modern

The Ruined Heiress's Vengeful Comeback

Chapter 5

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