From Shadows, A Queen Reclaims Her Reign

From Shadows, A Queen Reclaims Her Reign

MAINUMBY

5.0
Comment(s)
418
View
10
Chapters

For years, I secretly bankrolled my father's extravagant lifestyle. I was the silent founder of King Ventures, the source of his immense wealth, but I preferred to live in the shadows. But at the opening of a gallery I owned, his fiancée, Kesha, publicly accused me of being a gold-digger trying to crash the party. She had me brutally beaten by guards and locked in a dark storage room. I called my father for help, but my calls went straight to voicemail. He was at the event, living off my generosity, and he chose to ignore me. He sided with her, later telling her I was a "deranged stalker" and that he had no daughter. He had chosen his new life over his own blood. The man whose entire world I had built, whose reputation I had protected, had just thrown me to the wolves. The love I had for him shattered into a million pieces. Standing bruised and bloodied in the penthouse I paid for, I interrupted his party and made a single call in front of everyone. "Initiate Project Phoenix. Seize all assets. Leave him with nothing."

From Shadows, A Queen Reclaims Her Reign Chapter 1 No.1

For years, I secretly bankrolled my father's extravagant lifestyle. I was the silent founder of King Ventures, the source of his immense wealth, but I preferred to live in the shadows.

But at the opening of a gallery I owned, his fiancée, Kesha, publicly accused me of being a gold-digger trying to crash the party. She had me brutally beaten by guards and locked in a dark storage room.

I called my father for help, but my calls went straight to voicemail. He was at the event, living off my generosity, and he chose to ignore me.

He sided with her, later telling her I was a "deranged stalker" and that he had no daughter. He had chosen his new life over his own blood.

The man whose entire world I had built, whose reputation I had protected, had just thrown me to the wolves. The love I had for him shattered into a million pieces.

Standing bruised and bloodied in the penthouse I paid for, I interrupted his party and made a single call in front of everyone.

"Initiate Project Phoenix. Seize all assets. Leave him with nothing."

Chapter 1

Evelina POV:

"You really think you can just waltz in here, off the street, and help yourself to our champagne and canapés?" The voice was sharp, cutting through the murmuring crowd like a knife. It wasn't loud, but it had a way of seizing attention. My heart clenched, not from fear, but from a sudden, cold sense of disbelief. This wasn't happening. Not now, not here.

I turned slowly, a half-eaten truffle still poised between my fingers. The woman staring at me had eyes like polished obsidian, hard and unforgiving. Her perfectly sculpted face was contorted into a mask of disdain. She was Kesha Poole, Edward's fiancée, though I knew her primarily as the gallery director.

"I believe there's been a mistake," I said, my voice calm, almost unnervingly so. The pre-set judgment in her eyes was like a wall. It was clear she wasn't interested in explanations. She had already decided who I was.

Around us, the low hum of conversation had died down. Heads turned, a ripple of quiet whispers spreading through the high-society patrons. They peered over champagne flutes, their gazes like tiny needles pricking my skin. This was exactly what I hated about these events, the performative glamour, the quickness to judge. I just wanted to see my collection, unnoticed. My dressed-down attire, a simple black dress and minimal makeup, was meant to be inconspicuous. It had, apparently, backfired spectacularly. The embarrassment was a hot flush across my cheeks, but beneath it, a colder steel was starting to form. This was absurd.

I reached for my phone, my fingers brushing against the cool metal. Edward. He had to fix this. He always had to fix things, even if these were the messes I usually cleaned up behind the scenes. I scrolled to his contact, my thumb hovering.

The first call went straight to voicemail. Then the second. A knot tightened in my stomach. Edward never missed my calls, especially not when he was at one of my events, living off my generosity. A flicker of unease, then annoyance, began to chip away at my composure. Where was he? Why wasn't he picking up? Was he deliberately avoiding me? The thought was a bitter pill.

I looked at Kesha again, her lips thinned into a sneer. "Listen, I assure you, I'm supposed to be here. I'm Evelina King." I watched for a flicker of recognition, a softening. There was none. My patience, usually endless for Edward's sake, was wearing thin.

"And how did you gain entry, 'Evelina King'?" she challenged, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Did you flash a stolen invitation? Or perhaps you just thought our security was as lax as your fashion sense?"

"I own the gallery," I stated, the words flat, devoid of emotion. "Or rather, my holding company does. I'm one of the benefactors, and I arranged for my own entry." I even explained the payment method. "The funds you receive for these events, the operational budget, it all comes from King Ventures, which I founded."

Kesha's jaw dropped. For a split second, a crack appeared in her icy façade, replaced by genuine shock. But it was fleeting. Then, a harsh, braying laugh erupted from her throat. It was loud, theatrical, and utterly dismissive. It cut through the quiet, causing more heads to turn, more whispers to ignite.

"Oh, darling, that's rich!" she cackled, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, though her expression was pure venom. She took a step closer, invading my personal space. Her perfume, cloyingly sweet, filled my nostrils. "King Ventures? My Edward's company? You think you can claim his hard work?"

My mind reeled. Edward's company? He hadn't worked a day in his life since I started funding him. The realization hit me like a cold wave: she thought he owned King Ventures. And he had let her believe it.

"Look at you," she spat, her eyes raking over my simple dress. "Trying to worm your way into a high-society event you don't belong in. And now you're claiming to be Edward's daughter? That's quite the story, sweetie. Edward wouldn't be caught dead with a daughter like you." Her gaze darkened, a flicker of something ugly passing through them. "Unless... you're his latest, shall we say, acquisition?"

The implication hung in the air, thick and repulsive. She was accusing me of being Edward's mistress, a gold-digger attempting to leverage her way in. My blood ran cold, a slow, burning rage igniting in my chest. This wasn't just a misunderstanding. This was a deliberate attempt to humiliate me, and Edward's silence confirmed it.

For a moment, I was stunned into silence. My own father's fiancée, accusing me of this? Then it clicked. Kesha. Edward's fiancée. Edward, who had always chased youth and beauty, and Kesha, who radiated an air of cheap ambition despite the expensive clothes. I had always thought Edward had questionable taste in women, but this... this was a new low.

The anger solidified. This wasn't just some random woman making a mistake. This was Kesha, Edward's future wife, the one he had chosen to stand by. And he had allowed her to manage this gallery, subtly funded by me, while claiming it as his own. He had let her believe his "wealth" was self-made, that my company was his. And now, she was actively humiliating me, believing I was a threat to her carefully constructed illusion. It wasn't a mistake. It was a setup. A calculated, public execution of someone she perceived as a rival. And Edward was complicit.

Kesha' s eyes narrowed further, impatience etched on her face. "I've wasted enough time on you, you little grifter. Guards!" Her voice rose, shrill and commanding. "Get this woman out of my gallery! Now!"

Two burly security guards, men I had personally hired and paid, moved swiftly towards me. My mind raced, but my body felt heavy, rooted to the spot. This was Edward's doing. He had abandoned me, thrown me to the wolves.

One guard grabbed my arm, his grip surprisingly firm. "Let go of me!" I snapped, pulling back, but the other grabbed my other arm, effectively pinning me. My brief struggle was futile against their combined strength. The patrons watched, some with pity, most with morbid curiosity. It was a spectacle, and I was the unwilling star.

They dragged me, unceremoniously, across the polished marble floor. Each step was a fresh wave of humiliation, a public shaming orchestrated by my own family. I could hear Kesha's triumphant, scornful laugh echoing behind me. They pulled me past the pristine white walls where my art hung, into a dim corridor I barely recognized.

The corridor led to a heavy, unmarked door. With a shove, they pushed me inside. The door slammed shut behind me, plunging me into complete darkness. The muffled sounds of the gala, the laughter, the clinking glasses, were abruptly cut off. I was alone, in a suffocating silence, trapped.

And Edward didn't answer his phone. Not a single call.

Continue Reading

Other books by MAINUMBY

More

You'll also like

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu

I went to the City Clerk’s office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk’s pitying look told me my entire life was a lie. "The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single." The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate. Gray’s text to her was the final blow: "Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we’re done with the charade." I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray’s life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance. How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury. I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street." "I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray." If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world.

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Roderic Penn

I stood at my mother's open grave in the freezing rain, my heels sinking into the mud. The space beside me was empty. My husband, Hilliard Holloway, had promised to cherish me in bad times, but apparently, burying my mother didn't fit into his busy schedule. While the priest's voice droned on, a news alert lit up my phone. It was a livestream of the Metropolitan Charity Gala. There was Hilliard, looking impeccable in a custom tuxedo, with his ex-girlfriend Charla English draped over his arm. The headline read: "Holloway & English: A Power Couple Reunited?" When he finally returned to our penthouse at 2 AM, he didn't come alone-he brought Charla with him. He claimed she'd had a "medical emergency" at the gala and couldn't be left alone. I found a Tiffany diamond necklace on our coffee table meant for her birthday, and a smudge of her signature red lipstick on his collar. When I confronted him, he simply told me to stop being "hysterical" and "acting like a child." He had no idea I was seven months pregnant with his child. He thought so little of my grief that he didn't even bother to craft a convincing lie, laughing with his mistress in our home while I sat in the dark with a shattered heart and a secret life growing inside me. "He doesn't deserve us," I whispered to the darkness. I didn't scream or beg. I simply left a folder on his desk containing signed divorce papers and a forged medical report for a terminated pregnancy. I disappeared into the night, letting him believe he had successfully killed his own legacy through his neglect. Five years later, Hilliard walked into "The Vault," the city's most exclusive underground auction, looking for a broker to manage his estate. He didn't recognize me behind my Venetian mask, but he couldn't ignore the neon pink graffiti on his armored Maybach that read "DEADBEAT." He had no clue that the three brilliant triplets currently hacking his security system were the very children he thought had been erased years ago. This time, I wasn't just a wife in the way; I was the one holding all the cards.

One Night With My Billionaire Boss

One Night With My Billionaire Boss

Nathaniel Stone

I woke up on silk sheets that smelled of expensive cedar and cold sandalwood, a world away from my cramped apartment in Brooklyn. Beside me lay Ezra Gardner-my boss, the billionaire CEO of Gardner Holdings, and the man who could end my career with a snap of his fingers. He didn't offer an apology for the night before; instead, he looked at me with terrifying clarity and proposed a cold, calculated business arrangement. "Marriage. It stabilizes the board and solves the PR crisis before it begins." He dressed me in archival Chanel and sent me home in his Maybach, but my life was already falling apart. My boyfriend, Irving, claimed he had passed out early, yet his location data placed him at my best friend's apartment until three in the morning. When I tried to run, I realized Ezra was already ten steps ahead, tracking my movements and uncovering the secret I'd spent twenty years hiding: my connection to the powerful Senator Grimes. I was trapped between a CEO who treated me like a line item on a quarterly report and a boyfriend who had been using me while sleeping with my closest friend. I felt like a pawn in a game I didn't understand, wondering why a man like Ezra would walk up forty flights of stairs on a broken leg just to make sure I was safe. "Showtime, Mrs. Gardner." Standing on the red carpet in a gown that cost more than my life, I watched my cheating ex-boyfriend's face turn pale as Ezra claimed me in front of the world. I wasn't just an assistant anymore; I was a weapon, and it was time to burn their world down.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
From Shadows, A Queen Reclaims Her Reign From Shadows, A Queen Reclaims Her Reign MAINUMBY Romance
“For years, I secretly bankrolled my father's extravagant lifestyle. I was the silent founder of King Ventures, the source of his immense wealth, but I preferred to live in the shadows. But at the opening of a gallery I owned, his fiancée, Kesha, publicly accused me of being a gold-digger trying to crash the party. She had me brutally beaten by guards and locked in a dark storage room. I called my father for help, but my calls went straight to voicemail. He was at the event, living off my generosity, and he chose to ignore me. He sided with her, later telling her I was a "deranged stalker" and that he had no daughter. He had chosen his new life over his own blood. The man whose entire world I had built, whose reputation I had protected, had just thrown me to the wolves. The love I had for him shattered into a million pieces. Standing bruised and bloodied in the penthouse I paid for, I interrupted his party and made a single call in front of everyone. "Initiate Project Phoenix. Seize all assets. Leave him with nothing."”
1

Chapter 1 No.1

27/12/2025

2

Chapter 2 No.2

27/12/2025

3

Chapter 3 No.3

27/12/2025

4

Chapter 4 No.4

27/12/2025

5

Chapter 5 No.5

27/12/2025

6

Chapter 6 No.6

27/12/2025

7

Chapter 7 No.7

27/12/2025

8

Chapter 8 No.8

27/12/2025

9

Chapter 9 No.9

27/12/2025

10

Chapter 10 No.10

27/12/2025