Reborn From Ashes: The Obsessive CEO's Claim

Chapter 5

Word Count: 763 | Released on: 27/05/2026

th rows of bespoke suits and designer dresses he had clearly bought for her. She ignored the silks and c

uises on her skin, a stark contrast to the cold calculation in her eyes. A flicker of a memory-of his touch, both fierce and

frighten her; it was a puzzle to be solved. She left her ph

inside. A test, perhaps. A way to give her the illusion of freedom. She pulled

elevator. Just as the doors began to slide open, a man in a tailored black suit

He gave a slight bow of his head. "Mr. Decker instructed

seen his picture in a file once. So, the cage was

usion. "Oh, I was just going to grab

procured a selection of the world's finest coffee be

nted nod, turned, and walked back into the penthouse, closing the door behind her with a sof

intment vanished, replaced by a steely focus. This called for a different skill set. The sk

tories. However, a guest bedroom on the far side of the penthouse had a window overlooking an architectural le

tantly expensive bedding. She pulled out three sets of heavy, vel

es of Alpine butterfly knots and double figure-eights-secure, non-slip knots taught to her in another life, in a place far from New York p

a blast of cold, damp air. Without a moment of hesitati

facade. She was a shadow against the glass and steel, a ghost escaping a gilded cage. Any

king quickly, she untied the knots, bundling the velvet st

ing the penthouse security entirely. She took the service stairs down several flights before

ng streets of Manhattan, melting into the m

Chapter End

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Reborn From Ashes: The Obsessive CEO's Claim

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“My fiancé took me to an abandoned warehouse for what he called a private surprise proposal. There was no ring. Only champagne laced with drugs, my adoptive sister stepping out of the shadows, and the sound of them laughing while I collapsed at their feet. Ethan told me I had never been his choice. I was only the obedient foster daughter the family needed for a merger. Seraphina was the woman he loved. The woman he had always loved. Then he told me my brother Julian was dead because of him. A staged truck accident. A convenient tragedy. One less person standing between them and everything they wanted. By the time the truth finally sank in, the warehouse was soaked in gasoline, my body was failing, and the family I had spent my life trying to please had already buried me in their minds. So I stopped begging. I struck a lighter. If they wanted a funeral, I would give them one. The flames took the warehouse, my sister, and me with it. Then I opened my eyes. I was back in my bedroom. Seven days before the betrayal. Seven days before Ethan would try to murder me. Seven days before everyone who had used me would learn that the girl they buried had come back wrong. My phone rang. Hayes Decker. The ruthless Wall Street billionaire. The man powerful families feared, banks obeyed, and enemies disappeared beneath. The man whose obsessive marriage proposal I had once laughed off because I thought Ethan was my future. This time, I answered. His voice was cold, possessive, and dangerously calm. "Marry me, Aria." In my last life, I called him insane. In this one, I smiled. "Yes," I said. "Come get me right now." I was not running to him for love. I was choosing the only monster in New York terrifying enough to help me destroy the ones who killed me. But Hayes Decker did not want a temporary alliance. He wanted me. Body, soul, name, future. And the most dangerous part? The longer he burned the world for me, the harder it became to remember that I had only meant to use him.”