Twenty-Four Hours to Live Again

Twenty-Four Hours to Live Again

Zhen Xiang

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Eleanor Vanderbilt, the scion of a powerful dynasty, found herself in a moment of gilded tradition, presented with a curated selection of aristocratic bachelors, poised to make a choice that would shape her future. Yet, as her fingers hovered over the portrait of Ethan Hayes, the man her heart once chose, a searing flash of blinding light propelled her into a terrifying past life, revealing the unimaginable truth: this charming fiancé had callously condemned her to a brutal death. She vividly remembered every agonizing detail: abandoned on a freezing Manhattan skyscraper rooftop, a blade against her neck, Ethan's dismissive laughter echoing as she desperately begged for help, enduring hourly cuts and slow bleed-out for twenty-four horrific hours until her life, and the innocent one newly growing within her, agonizingly slipped away. The profound injustice of his calculated betrayal, the soul-shattering cruelty concealed beneath his polished facade, fuelled an unyielding fury that demanded retribution and a desperate understanding of why her closest confidant became her executioner. Now, miraculously granted a second chance on the very day it all went wrong, Ellie, armed with searing memories and an iron will, defiantly rejects her predetermined tragic destiny and, instead, chooses Jackson "Jax" Knight – the family's disowned "black sheep" and the last person to offer her a flicker of hope – determined to rewrite her past and carve out a path of vengeance and true survival.

Introduction

Eleanor Vanderbilt, the scion of a powerful dynasty, found herself in a moment of gilded tradition, presented with a curated selection of aristocratic bachelors, poised to make a choice that would shape her future.

Yet, as her fingers hovered over the portrait of Ethan Hayes, the man her heart once chose, a searing flash of blinding light propelled her into a terrifying past life, revealing the unimaginable truth: this charming fiancé had callously condemned her to a brutal death.

She vividly remembered every agonizing detail: abandoned on a freezing Manhattan skyscraper rooftop, a blade against her neck, Ethan's dismissive laughter echoing as she desperately begged for help, enduring hourly cuts and slow bleed-out for twenty-four horrific hours until her life, and the innocent one newly growing within her, agonizingly slipped away.

The profound injustice of his calculated betrayal, the soul-shattering cruelty concealed beneath his polished facade, fuelled an unyielding fury that demanded retribution and a desperate understanding of why her closest confidant became her executioner.

Now, miraculously granted a second chance on the very day it all went wrong, Ellie, armed with searing memories and an iron will, defiantly rejects her predetermined tragic destiny and, instead, chooses Jackson "Jax" Knight – the family's disowned "black sheep" and the last person to offer her a flicker of hope – determined to rewrite her past and carve out a path of vengeance and true survival.

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5.0

The air at my welcome-home party was thick with the smell of old money, but I smelled only betrayal. After years building my empire overseas, the last thing I wanted was to play nice with the ghosts of my past. Then I saw her, my ex-girlfriend, leaning into Andrew, my half-brother, the constant reminder of my mother's tragic death. The smile froze on Jen's face when she saw me, a flicker of panic in her eyes, but it was too late. I cut her off, my gaze cold enough to shatter glass, and made it clear: he was nothing, a cheap copy, and she, unworthy. What followed was a brutal, calculated war waged in boardrooms and on national television, where I systematically dismantled Andrew's life, exposing him for the parasite he was. But driven to desperation, he played his final hand, pushing me off a cliff into darkness, leaving me for dead, just as his mother had killed mine. I woke up weeks later in a hospital bed, the world buzzing with the scandal, but it was a single image that consumed me: Gaby Chadwick, the reclusive heiress, a woman I barely knew, praying for me, her silent vigil a public spectacle of devotion. Why? Why would she sacrifice her untouchable anonymity for me? I decided then and there to make her mine, proposing a cold, strategic merger, a union of power and dynasties. She accepted, but then, with unnerving calm, used my own words against me, creating a wall of polite distance, turning our marriage into a corporate contract. I had won the war, yet I was lost, trapped in a loveless arrangement of my own making, desperate to break through her serene facade. Then, hidden away in a journal, I found it: a decade of silent adoration, deep, unwavering love for me, a love that transcended any business deal. I had been blind, a fool. Now, the real story begins.

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He Thought I Was A Doormat, Until I Ruined Him

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