The Heiress's Heart, Reclaimed By Love

The Heiress's Heart, Reclaimed By Love

Traveling Star

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I am the sole heiress to a Texas oil empire. To protect me, my father adopted seven boys who were meant to be my future, and I was in love with their leader, Jax, my intended fiancé. But it was all a lie. I overheard them confess they were only playing along to secure my fortune for Daisy-Mae, the girl Jax truly loved. The humiliation was relentless. Jax sabotaged my saddle, breaking my leg. He publicly shamed me at an auction, buying a million-dollar necklace for her after freezing my funds. The final blow came at my birthday party, where a private video of me crying over him was broadcast to hundreds of guests. He did it all for her. Even when I exposed Daisy-Mae's plot, he confessed to her crimes to protect her, then offered to marry me as a bribe to buy my silence. He thought he still had power over me. But in front of everyone, I looked him in the eye and delivered the killing blow. "I stopped loving you a long time ago, Jax." Then I turned to the one man who had defended me, Sterling Prescott, and announced, "The man I'm going to marry is him."

Chapter 1

I am the sole heiress to a Texas oil empire. To protect me, my father adopted seven boys who were meant to be my future, and I was in love with their leader, Jax, my intended fiancé.

But it was all a lie. I overheard them confess they were only playing along to secure my fortune for Daisy-Mae, the girl Jax truly loved.

The humiliation was relentless. Jax sabotaged my saddle, breaking my leg. He publicly shamed me at an auction, buying a million-dollar necklace for her after freezing my funds.

The final blow came at my birthday party, where a private video of me crying over him was broadcast to hundreds of guests.

He did it all for her. Even when I exposed Daisy-Mae's plot, he confessed to her crimes to protect her, then offered to marry me as a bribe to buy my silence.

He thought he still had power over me.

But in front of everyone, I looked him in the eye and delivered the killing blow.

"I stopped loving you a long time ago, Jax."

Then I turned to the one man who had defended me, Sterling Prescott, and announced, "The man I'm going to marry is him."

Chapter 1

Scarlett POV:

"Dad, I've decided. I'm going to marry Sterling Prescott."

The words hung in the air of my father's study, thick and heavy as the Texas heat. The scent of old leather and his expensive cigar filled my lungs, a smell that had always meant safety. Now, it just felt suffocating.

Cormac O'Connell put down his crystal glass of whiskey, the ice clinking softly. His weathered face, carved from years of commanding the Golden Thorn Ranch and a vast oil empire, was a mask of confusion. "Scarlett, honey, what are you talking about? You love Jax. You've loved him since you were a girl."

He gestured vaguely towards the window, as if the seven men he'd adopted for me were standing right outside. "And if not Jax, there are six others out there who would walk through fire for you."

A bitter laugh almost escaped my lips. Walk through fire? They wouldn't even walk across the yard for me unless it served their own purpose.

My mind flashed back to last night. The memory was a shard of glass in my gut. I'd been heading to the stables to see my horse, Midnight, when I heard their voices drifting from the open window of the cowboys' bunkhouse. Laughter, low and cruel.

Wyatt Miller's voice was the clearest. "She's such a fool. Still thinks I jumped from the hayloft that time to impress her." He snorted. "I was just trying to scare her off so she'd stop following me around like a lost puppy."

Another voice, Colt's, chimed in. "Works like a charm. Just act like the biggest jerk you can be. She hates loud music, so I blast it. She hates dirt in the house, so I track it in. The more she hates me, the better. It keeps things fair for the rest of us."

Fair. The word twisted inside me.

"Fair for what?" I had whispered, my hand pressed against the rough wood of the bunkhouse wall.

"For Daisy-Mae," someone else said, and the tone shifted. "She's the only one who actually sees us, you know? Not just what we can do for the ranch. Jax is the only one not playing the game. He has to marry the princess so our sweet Daisy-Mae can keep her place here. Poor bastard."

The pieces of my life, the ones I thought were a beautiful mosaic of love and family, shattered into a million ugly fragments. Years ago, grieving my mother, my father adopted seven promising boys from foster care. They were meant to be my protectors, my future, the heirs to my empire. Jax Braxton, the smartest and wildest, insisted they also adopt his "sister," Daisy-Mae, the girl who'd been with him through it all.

All those years, every time I felt a spark of jealousy towards Daisy-Mae, they had ganged up on me, calling me petty and spoiled. They'd made me believe I was the problem. They had gaslighted me into thinking their coldness was a challenge, their indifference a test of my love.

A noise from the garden had pulled me from my frozen shock last night. I followed it, my heart a leaden weight in my chest, towards the old stables. And there, silhouetted against the pale moonlight, was a sight that burned itself onto the back of my eyes.

Jax had Daisy-Mae pinned against the stable wall, his hands tangled in her blonde hair, kissing her with a desperate, consuming passion I had only ever dreamed of receiving.

I heard his voice, a low growl meant only for her. "Even if I have to marry her, you know you're the only one for me. She'll get a ring and a title. But my heart, my love... that will always be yours. I'll never give her any of it."

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The gallery was my dream, my soul poured onto vibrant canvases. My fiancé, Mark, stood by my side, whispering promises of our future, of a life built on art and love. Then came the searing pain, a blinding agony that stole my breath and sent me crashing to the cold, hard floor. My hands came away wet and red, and the world blurred around the edges. I woke in a hospital bed, the pain a dull throb. Two voices drifted from the hallway, sharp and urgent: Mark and Chloe, my best friend. "Did you get the portfolio? The final design?" Mark' s cold voice cut through my haze. "Yes, of course," Chloe replied, pride lacing her tone. "My gallery opening will be the talk of the town. No one will even remember Ava's little project." My heart froze. Her gallery, my designs. Then Mark added, "Just make sure no one connects this back to you. It needs to look like a random mugging." This wasn' t a random mugging. 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At the burned-out house, a fire captain handed Mark an evidence bag. Inside was a silver bracelet with a jade lotus charm. Her grandmother's bracelet. She never took it off. The final proof. A terrible animal wail tore from Mark's throat. "I did this! I killed her!" he sobbed to the universe, collapsing to his knees. "Ava!" he screamed into the night. "Come back and punish me! Please!" The only answer was the silence of the rain and embers. Days later, Mark was still at the scene, smoking, a hollow shell. Leo, frustrated, spat at him, "You destroyed the best thing that ever happened to you for a cheap, manipulative tramp!" Mark mumbled, "She wasn't who I thought she was. She had a past. Chloe showed me proof. Pictures. Text messages. She said Ava was just using me for my money." "You idiot!" Leo raged. "Those pictures were fake! Chloe set the whole thing up because she wanted you!" The truth, brutal and stark, finally pierced through Mark's grief. He had been played, manipulated. 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