REBORN AS A RUTHLESS HEIRESS

ste'

s I turn to face the two people I had trusted the most- Noah Harring

s are twisted into som

warmth for me. Instead, they hold a chilling detachment, as if he w

ays with the ends of her designer coat. The moonlight created eerie shadows over h

est. The realization is a slow, a

isbelief lacing every sylla

than an inconvenience. "Don't make th

echoing on the concrete. "You should have known bette

y throat. The betrayal bu

my heart. Given him my tru

y want from me? I don't de

hia's side, defended her, and even che

his betrayal

ly above a whisper, "After eve

f I just asked an absurd question. "Because

e bridge's stone edge. The river roared beneath

eated, my mind spin

Noah and I... We've been

he chest. My lungs seized, the worl

it can't

and S

that this may be some cruel joke, a misunderstanding. B

truly look at you, Celeste?" Noah'

d you the way a man in lov

mach drop at

" he continued, his

just... Co

eyes, but I refus

myself to look at the woman I had once called

. You were always so perfect, so ad

shadow? To watch you have everything, handed to y

fists. "That's no

me off. "The Lancaster name, the wealth, t

elief. "So this is what

Oh, Celeste. Yo

gers grazing my chin in a mock

lts his head, eyes gleaming with something dark. "But your Father -- he left a clause in his will. If

d turns

nts. The people

y in on

m against my ear. "You were never meant

ted. I felt sic

words were barely a whisper, bu

to brush my hair from my face

then

ugh my body as Sophia sho

slo

t me, stealing the

erent, watching me fall wi

he shock of it steals the breath from my lungs, t

he current is merciless. It drags

dge grew small

silhouette against the nigh

fight with every

struggled, th

, and my vision

can't die

their

trength

e laughter I had shared with Sophia, the stolen k

li

eanin

in from all sides,

am, to rage, to

all I can d

claims me