Reborn Heiress: Taming The Ruthless Tycoon

A blinding white light pierced her retinas. The deafening crash of a live symphony orchestra slammed into her eardrums.

Gemma gasped. Her lungs expanded violently, sucking in air as if she had just breached the surface of freezing water.

Her hands flew to her abdomen. She expected to feel the warm, sticky pooling of her own blood. She expected the tearing agony of the bullet wound that had just ended her life.

Instead, her trembling fingers met the cool, smooth friction of heavy silk.

Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic, erratic rhythm that made her chest physically ache.

Gemma gripped the edge of the mahogany vanity table and forced herself upright. Her legs felt like lead.

She stared into the massive mirror. The face staring back at her was flawless. The skin was tight, glowing, and completely devoid of the jagged scar that had marred her left cheek for the last five years of her life.

Her breath hitched and stopped completely in her throat.

A sharp, frantic knock rattled the heavy dressing room door.

"Gemma! Open up, hurry!"

Katelyn's voice. It was hushed, urgent, and laced with a familiar, sickening sweetness.

That voice acted like a poison-laced key, instantly unlocking every agonizing memory of her past life-the betrayal, the ruined face, and finally, the cold barrel of the gun. The towering hatred surged like molten lava, obliterating the initial haze of her rebirth, leaving behind nothing but a shockwave of pure, unadulterated murderous intent straight to Gemma's brain. Her fingers curled into the fabric of her silk dress, gripping it so hard her knuckles turned stark white.

She snatched the phone off the vanity. The screen lit up.

The date glowing in stark white numbers confirmed the impossible. It was exactly ten years ago. The day of her engagement party.

The door handle rattled violently. Katelyn found it locked.

"Gemma, Jair is waiting in the rain! If you don't leave now, you'll be trapped!" Katelyn hissed through the wood.

Gemma swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She forced the muscles in her face to relax, burying the towering hatred deep into her gut.

She marched to the door and yanked it open.

Her eyes, cold and dead as a shark's, locked onto the woman standing in the hallway.

Katelyn physically recoiled. She took a half-step back, the rehearsed words of fake sympathy instantly dying in her throat.

It took Katelyn exactly one second to recover. Her face morphed into a mask of exaggerated panic.

She lunged forward, reaching out to grab Gemma's wrist.

Gemma didn't even blink. She shifted her weight, turning her shoulder a fraction of an inch.

Katelyn's hand grasped empty air.

Confusion flashed across Katelyn's eyes. She quickly masked it with a harsh whisper. "If we don't move right this second, the security team will lock down the perimeter."

"And Brion?" Gemma asked.

The name scraped against her throat. A visceral image of Brion's blood-soaked body shielding hers from the explosion flashed behind her eyes. Her chest tightened painfully.

"Why would I run from him?" Gemma asked, her voice dripping with a dark, mocking amusement.

Katelyn's eyes widened. "Because of Jair! He's freezing out there for you. You said you loved him!"

Gemma stared at the pathetic display. Her trained instincts, honed through years of surviving in the underground, easily bypassed the fake tears and locked onto the raw, naked greed burning in Katelyn's pupils.

Heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor. The head butler, flanked by two earpiece-wearing security guards, was marching straight toward them.

Panic seized Katelyn's features. She reached out again, aiming to physically drag Gemma toward the emergency stairwell.

Gemma's hand shot out. Her fingers clamped down on Katelyn's wrist like a steel vice. She pressed her thumb directly into the cluster of nerves just below the joint.

Katelyn gasped, her knees buckling slightly as a sharp, shooting pain paralyzed her arm.

The butler stopped a few feet away. He eyed the two women with deep suspicion. "Miss Vargas. The ceremony is about to begin."

Gemma released the pressure on Katelyn's wrist instantly. She curved her lips into the flawless, empty smile of a high-society heiress.

"I'll be right down," Gemma said smoothly.

The butler gave a stiff nod and turned on his heel.

Katelyn cradled her red, throbbing wrist against her chest. "Are you out of your mind?" she hissed, her voice trembling with genuine anger.

Gemma stepped into Katelyn's personal space. The air between them turned suffocatingly cold.

"Keep your dirty little thoughts in the dark where they belong," Gemma whispered.

Katelyn stumbled backward. Her spine hit the wallpapered wall with a soft thud. A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck.

Gemma turned her back on her. She walked to the vanity and picked up the velvet box. Inside lay the multi-million dollar diamond necklace Brion had sent her.

She lifted the heavy platinum chain and fastened it around her own neck. The cold diamonds settled perfectly over the small mole on her collarbone.

Her reflection in the mirror was no longer a victim. It was a predator.

Katelyn stood frozen in the doorway, too terrified to step inside. She watched the prey she had spent years grooming calmly fix her makeup.

Gemma picked up a crystal flute of champagne from the side table. She downed the burning liquid in one continuous swallow, letting the alcohol burn away the last lingering tremors of her rebirth.

She set the glass down with a sharp clink.

Her heels clicked against the hardwood floor as she walked right past Katelyn, not giving her a single glance. She headed straight down the corridor toward her father's private study.

Below them, the muffled voice of the MC echoed through the grand hall, announcing the imminent arrival of the bride-to-be.

Gemma kept her eyes fixed on the heavy oak door ahead. She was going to take everything back.