Beyond the Billionaire's Shadow

Beyond the Billionaire's Shadow

Gavin

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The air in the small living room was thick, heavy, mirroring the cold dread gripping my stomach. My father, Richard, cleared his throat, his eyes avoiding mine, avoiding my mother' s. "Emily, the papers are signed," he said, his voice flat. "It's done." He then looked at me and my younger sister, Jessica. "Girls, you need to decide. Who you want to live with." I was Sarah, and this was my second chance, my second life. The memories of the first one were branded into me. Jessica, beside me, shifted, her eyes holding a greedy flicker I recognized from before-she remembered a life she called poor, a life she hated. "I choose Dad," Jessica said, her voice far too quick, too eager. "Victoria will be pleased," Richard affirmed, a thin smile on his face. Victoria Sterling. The tech billionaire, my future stepmother, her name a scar. In my first life, she had chosen me. I remembered the endless lessons, the cold praise, the constant pressure to be perfect. She broke me down, piece by piece, until Jessica, twisted by Victoria' s influence, ended my life. No. Not again. My father urged me to be "sensible," to consider the "opportunities" Victoria offered. Jessica scoffed, "You're an idiot, Sarah. You want to stay in this dump? With her?" She chose the fire, thinking it was gold, unaware of the torment that awaited her. But I knew the price. I looked at my mother, her eyes full of pain, but also a quiet strength I hadn't truly seen before. This time, I would protect her. I would protect myself. "I choose Mom," I declared, my voice clear and firm, irrevocably altering the script of my reborn life.

Introduction

The air in the small living room was thick, heavy, mirroring the cold dread gripping my stomach.

My father, Richard, cleared his throat, his eyes avoiding mine, avoiding my mother' s.

"Emily, the papers are signed," he said, his voice flat.

"It's done."

He then looked at me and my younger sister, Jessica.

"Girls, you need to decide. Who you want to live with."

I was Sarah, and this was my second chance, my second life.

The memories of the first one were branded into me.

Jessica, beside me, shifted, her eyes holding a greedy flicker I recognized from before-she remembered a life she called poor, a life she hated.

"I choose Dad," Jessica said, her voice far too quick, too eager.

"Victoria will be pleased," Richard affirmed, a thin smile on his face.

Victoria Sterling.

The tech billionaire, my future stepmother, her name a scar.

In my first life, she had chosen me.

I remembered the endless lessons, the cold praise, the constant pressure to be perfect.

She broke me down, piece by piece, until Jessica, twisted by Victoria' s influence, ended my life.

No.

Not again.

My father urged me to be "sensible," to consider the "opportunities" Victoria offered.

Jessica scoffed, "You're an idiot, Sarah. You want to stay in this dump? With her?"

She chose the fire, thinking it was gold, unaware of the torment that awaited her.

But I knew the price.

I looked at my mother, her eyes full of pain, but also a quiet strength I hadn't truly seen before.

This time, I would protect her.

I would protect myself.

"I choose Mom," I declared, my voice clear and firm, irrevocably altering the script of my reborn life.

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Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

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I watched my husband sign the papers that would end our marriage while he was busy texting the woman he actually loved. He didn't even glance at the header. He just scribbled the sharp, jagged signature that had signed death warrants for half of New York, tossed the file onto the passenger seat, and tapped his screen again. "Done," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. That was Dante Moretti. The Underboss. A man who could smell a lie from a mile away but couldn't see that his wife had just handed him an annulment decree disguised beneath a stack of mundane logistics reports. For three years, I scrubbed his blood out of his shirts. I saved his family's alliance when his ex, Sofia, ran off with a civilian. In return, he treated me like furniture. He left me in the rain to save Sofia from a broken nail. He left me alone on my birthday to drink champagne on a yacht with her. He even handed me a glass of whiskey—her favorite drink—forgetting that I despised the taste. I was merely a placeholder. A ghost in my own home. So, I stopped waiting. I burned our wedding portrait in the fireplace, left my platinum ring in the ashes, and boarded a one-way flight to San Francisco. I thought I was finally free. I thought I had escaped the cage. But I underestimated Dante. When he finally opened that file weeks later and realized he had signed away his wife without looking, the Reaper didn't accept defeat. He burned down the world to find me, obsessed with reclaiming the woman he had already thrown away.

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