Too Late: She Chose The Billionaire Heir

"She’s just like a sister to me, Eliana. You’re being dramatic." That was Jax’s excuse every time he chose Catalina over me for three years. When Catalina staged a fake drowning in three feet of water, he pushed me aside to save her, telling me my life wasn't his problem. But the breaking point came when she deliberately pushed me down a flight of stairs. My ankle shattered on the concrete. I was lying there in agony, unable to move. Yet, Jax didn't check on me. He stepped over my bleeding body to scoop Catalina up because she had a minor scratch on her elbow. He screamed at me for "hurting" her. While I lay in the hospital alone, waiting for surgery, he was spoon-feeding her soup in her dorm, posting photos captioned "My Hero." He thought I would always be his "Elie Bear," the doormat waiting at home to clean up his messes. He was convinced that no matter how much he hurt me, I would never actually leave. But he was wrong. I didn't scream. I didn't fight. I simply signed the withdrawal papers, blocked his number, and boarded a one-way flight to New York without saying goodbye. Three months later, when Jax finally realized his "sister" was a nightmare and came crawling back to beg for forgiveness, he found me. But I wasn't alone. I was holding the hand of a billionaire heir who looked at Jax with cold, deadly eyes. "Touch her again," my new fiancé whispered, "and I will destroy your entire family by morning."

Chapters

Chapter 8

The text came at 8:00 PM.

*Come downstairs. Please. - Jax*

I shouldn't have gone. My flight was in twelve hours, and I should have been sleeping, or at least pretending to. But some part of me—the part that still remembered the ache of being sixteen and desperately in love—needed to see the end.

I pulled on a coat and walked down to the courtyard.

It was dark, but the pavement glowed, illuminated by hundreds of tea lights arranged in a massive heart shape. Soft music drifted from a Bluetooth speaker—our song. The one we danced to at prom.

Jax was standing in the center of the heart, holding a single red rose. I noticed immediately that he wasn't wearing his sling. He must have discarded it for the aesthetic, enduring the throb of his injury just to sell the scene.

"Eliana," he said, his voice thick with rehearsed emotion. "I know things have been rough. I know I messed up. But I want to remind you of how we started."

He took a step forward. "Do you remember? The park? The rain? You said you wanted a fairy tale."

I stood just outside the circle of candles. I felt like an audience member at a play I had seen too many times.

"Jax," I started.

*BOOM.*

A firework exploded overhead. Then another. Red and gold sparks showered the night sky, lighting up the dorm windows like strobe lights. Students were looking out, cheering.

It was grand. It was expensive. It was perfect.

And it felt completely wrong.

"Did you like it?"

The voice didn't come from Jax.

Catalina stepped out from behind a large oak tree. She was holding a tablet, her thumb hovering over the volume control. She walked right into the candlelight, standing next to Jax as if taking her curtain call.

"I picked the fireworks," she beamed, looking at me. "Gold is your favorite color, right? And I told Jax he had to ditch the sling. It ruins the aesthetic."

My stomach dropped through the floor.

Jax looked at her, then at me. "Cat helped me set it up. She wanted it to be perfect for you, El."

"I planned the whole thing," Catalina corrected him, linking her arm through his. "He was going to just buy chocolates. Boring. I told him, 'No, Eliana needs a show.'"

She looked at me with a predator's grin. "You're welcome."

I looked at Jax. He wasn't embarrassed. He was grateful. He looked at Catalina with awe, thankful that she had stage-managed his romance for him.

"See?" Jax said to me, his eyes wide and earnest. "We both care about you."

The realization hit me like a physical blow. There was no us. There was never an us. There was only Jax and Catalina, and I was the audience they performed for.

"It's beautiful," I said. My voice was hollow.

"I knew you'd love it!" Catalina clapped. "Now, give her the rose, Jax. Kiss her. The lighting is perfect right now."

She was directing him. *Action.*

Jax stepped forward, extending the rose. "I love you, Elie Bear."

I looked at the rose. Then I looked up, seeing the invisible puppet strings attached to his limbs, leading straight to Catalina’s hands.

"Thank you for the show," I said.

I turned around and walked back into the building.

"Eliana?" Jax called out. "Where are you going? We haven't cut the cake!"

I didn't stop. I walked up the stairs, the sound of their confusion fading behind me.

I didn't pack the rose. I didn't pack the memory. I left them both burning on the pavement.

Continue to next part

For the seventh time, I stood at the altar, pregnant with his child, waiting to marry Justice Keith. And for the seventh time, he abandoned me. His phone rang, and just like that, he was gone-rushing to the side of his "fragile" stepsister, Kamala, who was supposedly having another panic attack. He pushed me aside in front of everyone, his family sneering that a "new-money girl" like me would never understand their loyalty. This was the man who baked her special cakes in the middle of the night while ignoring my own hunger, the man who had left me at seventeen other almost-weddings and rehearsals. But this time, as I stood there in my wedding dress, the humiliation was a physical weight. I was tired of being his second choice, the understanding fiancée he always came back to with empty promises. So I walked out. I cancelled the wedding, shattered his family's priceless heirloom, and secretly terminated the pregnancy that tied me to him. I wasn't just leaving anymore. I was going to spend the next seven years meticulously planning how to burn his entire corrupt, old-money empire to the ground.

Action Modern Romance

9.1

Bound By The Cruel Billionaire's Deal

9.1

With only fifteen days of cash flow left to save her tech startup, Aida had no choice but to seek a five-million-dollar bridge loan from Brendan Walls, a ruthless billionaire predator. He agreed to sign the check, but on one sickening condition. He demanded Aida act as bait to get close to his corporate rival, Grayson Lott, treating her like a high-end call girl for a business transaction. Forced to comply to save her employees, Aida let Grayson take her to a windowless underground club, where he secretly spiked her whiskey. As the drugs paralyzed her body, triggering horrific flashbacks of a brutal assault from six years ago, Aida locked herself in the bathroom. She had to shatter a mirror and slice her own thigh open with a jagged shard of glass just to stay conscious enough to call Brendan for help. Brendan's armored SUV immediately smashed through the club's wall to save her, and Grayson was arrested. But lying in the hospital, the horrifying truth finally clicked in Aida's mind. The rescue was too fast. Brendan’s men hadn't rushed from Midtown; they had been parked outside the entire time. He had watched Grayson drug her and waited for the felony to happen just so he could legally seize Grayson's company. He had gambled her life and trauma for a hostile takeover. When Brendan casually tossed a signed contract and luxury car keys onto her hospital bed as hush money, the last thread of Aida's sanity snapped. "The deal is dead. NovaTech is mine. If you ever come near me again, I will kill you." Bleeding and shaking with icy rage, Aida threw the keys at his chest, formally declaring war on the monster who thought he could buy her soul.

Action Billionaire Modern

8.3

EDEN

8.3

Elianila, an AI Architect, is part of an elite team tasked with designing a global system meant to prevent threats, manage disasters, and distribute resources to vulnerable regions. After five years of tireless work with her colleagues, she uncovers disturbing anomalies, code-named, X-variables, that flag individuals according to criteria she never programmed. As Elianila digs deeper to understand what the X-variables measure and where their origin, she finds herself in direct conflict with the authorities. Soon, the System marks her and her daughter as threats - targets to be eliminated. With a small band of colleagues and dissidents, Elianila goes on the run, hiding in places beyond the Systems reach. As they evade surveillance, they race against time to warn others, expose the truth, and fight back against the omnipresent authority of the System.

Action Adventure LitRPG Sci-Fi

9.4

Her Revenge Her Temptation

9.4

Lucy is a cheerful human princess who enjoyed her peaceful life at the palace but mainly on the busty village streets. What will happen when she sneaks out as usual, only to return and find out her father had been defeated by an unknown man will her life change for good or bad or gray as she tries to get back her father's throne even if it meant staying under the enemy's nose. will she take her revenge or fall for the one person who has ruined her father. she has to make up her mind between following her heart or be blinded by a false revenge.

Action Modern Mystery

9.5

Scars Of A Forced Marriage

9.5

Elara Edward never dreamed of marrying a man like Leonardo Lorenzo. For her, this marriage wasn't a choice-it was a sacrifice. To save her little brother's life, she gave up her freedom and her heart. Leonardo had everything-wealth, power, and a reputation that made people fear his name. Handsome and commanding, yet ruthless and cruel, he agreed to the marriage only to strengthen his empire. To him, love was a weakness, and compassion was a luxury he couldn't afford. She was sweet, gentle, and broken. He was dangerous, cold, and merciless. Two opposites bound by chains of hatred and duty. But as the line between pain and passion blurs, and as scars from the past give way to unexpected emotions, will Elara and Leonardo destroy each other-or find love in the darkest of places? A story of broken souls, aching hearts, and the power of love against all odds. Warning: This is a dark romance. It contains scenes of violence, passion, and emotional intensity. Reader discretion is advised.

Action Billionaire Romance

9.4

Seven Years, A Four-Year Lie

9.4

The first clue my life was a lie was a moan from the guest room. My husband of seven years wasn't in our bed. He was with my intern. I discovered my husband, Brendan, was having a four-year affair with Kiya-the talented girl I was mentoring and personally paying tuition for. The next morning, she sat at our breakfast table in his shirt while he made us pancakes. He lied to my face, promising he'd never love another, just before I learned she was pregnant with his child-a child he'd always refused to have with me. The two people I trusted most in the world had conspired to destroy me. The pain wasn't something I could live with; it was an annihilation of my entire world. So I made a call to a neuroscientist about his experimental, irreversible procedure. I didn't want revenge. I wanted to erase every memory of my husband and become his first test subject.

Action Modern Romance Sci-Fi

Too Late: She Chose The Billionaire Heir

Chapter 8

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