Second Chance With The Obsessive CEO

d been unimaginable: flames licking up her arms, melting the skin from her bones, the smoke filling her lungs until the

otel suite, but in her head, the roar of the explosion was still deafenin

w to her face, fingers trembling as they traced the smooth skin of he

ving her backward into the inferno she had thought was just a faulty wiring accident. She ha

fire, the scandal, the ruin of her name-all orchestrated so Holden could inherit her trust fund and Emilie could c

e wasn

re. In a h

are feet hitting the cold floor. The hem of a ridiculously long silk nightgown tangled arou

eal pain. The sting of it cut through the phanto

mirror above the sink. The face staring back wasn't the monster from her nightmares. It

nated. Her iPhone was plugged in, charging. Her thumb shook so vio

t through her system, colder than the marble floor. June 14th.

nto Emilie's trap, screamed curses at Axel Sterling in front of a hundred cameras, and cemented

. The brass handle turned slowly. Stella

ent bag slung over one arm. "The traffic on Madison is a complete nightma

er throat as she to

ide Stella. The last time she'd seen that face, it was pale and lifeless in a news clipping, a victim of a sca

oss the room and wrapped her arms around her, clinging with a strength born of pure de

ushed at her shoulders, her voice laced with genuin

dering breath to quell the tears burning behind her eyes. "Jus

mare. A mem

astic, she could see the delicate, midnight-blue fabric of a Dior gown, embroidered with a

trated by her step-sister, Emilie. The night she had screamed vile curses at Axel Sterli

ded him against everyone, including Axel, who had tried to warn her. Axel Sterling, the infamous heir to a financial empire, a man whose cold reputatio

d pushed her

into the bathroom and bent over the toilet, dry-heaving

of warm water into her hand. "That's it, we're cancelin

fort in the icy landscape of her shock. She set the glass down with a decisive click. Whe

Holden, and face Axel-the man she had wronged most of all. And this time, she would not

oice steady. "We're n

e delicate, pearl-and-diamond hairpins and matching earrings laid out for her-the accessories

sa cried, rushing after her. "The s

as a palpable thing, a shield that kept Vanessa at

raight. "And tell her I want a red lip. T

the soft clicks of makeup brushes against palettes. With each stroke of the blood-red lipstick, Stella felt

d chance. In her past life, she had been naive, trusting, a puppet dancing on Emilie's strings. She

anym

was Axel. The man she had publicly humiliated, the man whose love she had mocked, the man who had held her dying body in his arms and wept. She didn't

w to that girl in th

pinch at her ankles a grounding sensation. She picked up a diamond-encrusted clutch, her thumb swiping across h

nd confusion on her face. She swallowed

en and deliberate. The hallway was long and silent. In the polished surface of the

round floor, a wave of refrigerated air from the lobby washed o

vy glass entrance. The night erupted in a blindi

efield. And she smiled-a red-lipped, razor-sha