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013 After the Tears
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-04-21 13:43:37
Bab terkait
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 014 What if I’m The Problem?
(Ava)I hear voices before I’m even fully awake.Footsteps across the marble floor. Laughter and chattering. I know I’ve heard this before but exactly what’s happening eludes me.Then Zach’s deep voice calls, “Ava! The style teams are here. You haven’t had your morning coffee yet.”What the hell?I bolt upright, heartbeat skidding. Lila’s curled beside me, pacifier half out of her mouth, her tiny fists tucked under her chin like a baby bunny. I grab my phone from the nightstand.My calendar blares the reminder: Lorne Family Gala – 7 PM. Rooftop. Formal.Shit! I completely forgot it was that Monday.I swipe open my digital planner and scan through upcoming dates.Everything’s already in here—design internship, Lila’s check-ups, gala nights, society nonsense. I need to check this daily. Religiously.Zach and Sienna are already wondering what’s wrong with me after yesterday.I pad out into the hallway, clutching Lila to my chest, trying to calm the nausea rising behind my ribs. Downs
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-21Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 015 Everything’s Fine
(Ava)Champagne is being poured like water. Laughter bounces off polished marble, mingling with the flash of diamonds under floodlights.This is where I had my 21st birthday party. The night Zach and I got married on a whim, and I fell pregnant in our opulent suite.The memories of that heady night are tattooed inside my brain. The Zachary Lorne, staying at my party, paying attention to me! It was the fairytale every girl dreams about. Zach was so perfect. Everything was perfect until it wasn’t.But did it all really happen?My early teen years were not a mentally stable place for me. I know what that feels like. This doesn’t feel the same.“You okay?” Zach asks.I nod. “I’m fine.”His eyes narrow slightly. “Why don’t I believe you?”I sip my champagne and survey the crowd.Across the rooftop, Sienna is in full bloom. Hair swept up, high-glam gown clinging like a second skin. She’s schmoozing effortlessly.I can’t look away from the scenes unfolding before me. It’s the same. All of
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-21Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 016 Discovering a Lie
(Ava)Sienna stops beside me like we’re best friends. “You’re quiet tonight,” she says sweetly. “Everything okay?”I nod. “Never been better.”She leans in closer. “Good to hear. Zach says you didn’t want to leave Lila with the nanny tonight.”Why the fuck did Zach have to tell her that?“I’m here, aren’t I?” I say calmly.“Of course,” she says sweetly, eyes flicking to my empty drink. “Though... you always are a little tightly wound. Paranoia runs in your blood, doesn’t it?”“No.”“Oh, wasn’t your father affected, and you as a teenager?”“My father had clinically diagnosed bipolar disorder,” I say flatly. “That doesn’t make me paranoid or anything else.”“Mm,” she hums. “I’m sure it doesn’t. But genetics can be tricky.”“Sienna, my father’s problem is not mine. And it’s not any of your business.”“I just want us to be friends. You don’t seem to trust me like you did.”I suck in a breath. “Maybe I have good reason to not be so trusting of you. You always calculated marrying Zach into
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-21Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 017 Poison in the Veins
(Ava)The moment we walk through our front doors, I wheel around to face him. “How long have you and Sienna had this secret?”Zach exhales, loosens his tie, and throws it onto the nearest chair. “Ava—”“No.” I hold up my hand, my voice shaking. “Do not start with a damn Ava like that. Just answer me.”He runs a hand through his hair, pacing toward the bar. “Since shortly after Lila was born. Sienna told me.”“And you didn’t tell me,” I snap. “So much for not having any secrets.”“I didn’t think it was that important. Why rock the boat?”“You never thought that you being drugged the night we got married was important?”“No! You are overreacting. If I thought it affected how I felt that night, we wouldn’t still be together… I loved you then, I love you now. What is the actual problem?”“For starters… the biggest night of my life—the night our daughter was conceived—was because Sienna roofied you.”“I wasn’t roofied,” he says flatly. “She gave me something to ‘loosen me up.’ It wasn’t li
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-21Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 018 Catalyst
(Ava)The smell of fresh pancakes hits me. I barely slept a wink.Zach hasn’t answered my messages. Is he with Sienna? Why do I even care?I should just kick his ass to the curb right now. I’m here to get revenge on him, not fall in love with him again. I need to be strong. But it’s hard when I continually second guess myself on if any of the past life stuff is real.I have nothing to go on apart from Lila’s aversion to Sienna, which could be explained by her being off-color that day. And the fact that I know what’s going to happen much of the time. But everything is not exactly the same.My actions and reactions have set off a new set of actions and reactions around me. But I certainly know that Sienna is out to get me any way she can. She wants Zach and she’s about to get desperate when she learns that Kai has an illness the doctor can’t pinpoint.What do I do? If I just blurt out a condition that none of us has ever heard of, that will seem strange. But I can’t just let Ka
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-22Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 019 Shifting Ground
(Zach)Sienna walks in wearing silk pajamas and holding two mugs of coffee like we’re just roommates on a lazy Sunday.I’m not in the mood for crap right now.“You sleep okay?” she asks, setting one mug down on the marble island.“On and off.” I take the coffee, but I don’t thank her.She sits on the edge of the counter, crossing her legs. “You want to talk about it?”“Not really. But I do have something to say to you…”She tilts her head. “Go ahead.”I narrow my eyes. “Why would you bring up the drugging? Why say anything at all?”“I thought she knew,” she says, voice light. “I thought you told her.”I stare at her for a beat, trying to read the truth under the surface. “You should have checked with me first.”“You two don’t keep secrets, remember? That’s what you told me.”I lean back against the counter, arms crossed. “Regardless. It wasn’t your story to tell. It was a dick act drugging me in the first place. Dredging it up now doesn’t help anything. So tell me again, why would you
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-22Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 020 The smiling Assassin
(Ava)I’m just about to strap Lila into her car seat when I hear the gates click open.I freeze.Kai is already in the backseat, chattering about his science project. The nanny hands me Lila’s bag. “Have a good morning, Mrs. Lorne.”My stomach is a rock.Zach’s matte black SUV pulls up. Of course, it does. It’s his house. His driveway.But it still feels like an ambush. He said he was leaving early for his business trip, and yet here he is.He gets out—sunglasses on, suit crisp. His shirt is open at the throat like he’s trying to look casual, but I know him too well. His outfits are a weapon. He’s dressing for a kill. It’s all part of the first impressions he wants to give.The passenger door opens. And out steps Sienna. I want to throat punch that satisfied look right off her.My blood boils at the sight of her and her smug, pointy face. Of course she’s letting me know he was with her last night. Why else would she be here?Dressed impeccably in a tight black dress and ankle bo
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-22Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 021 The Whole Truth Out Loud
(Ava)“Hey, lovebug,” Paige coos at Lila, gently stroking her curls. “Oof, that bunny has seen better days, and it smells like a campfire.”Paige wrinkles her nose as she sniffs and shuts the door behind me.I force a smile. “Yeah. That’s what I came to talk about. Partly. This is going to sound crazy…”She raises an eyebrow, her tone instantly shifting. “Okay. You’re scaring me. Sit down and tell me everything.”I drop onto her oversized velvet couch, Lila beside me gnawing on the bunny’s ear. Paige hands me a mug of cinnamon Chai, then sits on her armchair across from me. She folds her legs under her like we’re ten again in her mom’s trailer.We’ve been through everything together. Our parents are all the same. Addicted to drugs and alcohol, living in the trailer park. Paige and I got through all the awful stuff together and somehow came out the other end of it.“I think I died,” I whisper.Paige doesn't blink. “Okay. Let’s unpack that.”“I don’t think, I know. I died, Paige. I di
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-23
Bab terbaru
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 032 Class Attack
(Ava)Luca slides the pickle off his burger and drops it onto my take out box without looking up.I pluck it off and pop it on my burger without a word.We’re having a quick bite before class resumes. We’re also finishing off our design details to hand in to the professor today for final assessment.“Rounded edge or squared off for the central island?” I ask.“Rounded. The rest of the space is straight lines. Needs some sexiness and curve.”“Exactly what I was thinking.”“You’re overthinking it. Just sketch what feels like the solution, not what looks like one.”“I’m trying to make it clean,” I murmur, biting my lip.“It’s too clean. Mess it up a little. That’s where your magic is.” He grins at me sideways. “We’re design soulmates.”“Or no one else can put up with our off-the-wall ideas…”“Either way, we have an edge.”Professor Moran’s voice pulls us from our rhythm. “Before we begin this class, I have an announcement you’ve all been waiting for.”Luca grabs my arm, mouthing, “Drumro
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 031 Something I Can Build
(Ava)Zach calls just after seven the next morning.I’m dressed, sipping my second coffee, Lila still asleep. I’ll take her to Paige in a couple of hours.I answer, keeping my voice casual. “Morning.”“Morning,” he says. “You’re looking gorgeous.”“Thanks. You look ready to smash some deals today. I’ve got a lunch meeting.”“With Luca?”“Yes.”Zach has that look on his face. The one that he always gets when Luca is mentioned. “Is that really necessary?”“Zach—”“I know what he’s up to, Ava. He’s still in love with you.”I sigh, setting my mug down harder than I mean to. “You’re not serious. You’re really going there? After you kept secrets from me with Sienna, you don’t trust me?”“I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust.”I shake my head. “Unbelievable. Sienna drugged you for sex and I have to trust her.”“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Everyone has.”“He’s my future business partner. He’s also a friend. We’ve worked damn hard on this.”“A friend who wanted to be more. Maybe still
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 030 Is It Me?
(Ava)My phone buzzes just after I’ve cleared the kitchen bench. I’m still thinking about Kai, about how pale he looked earlier this morning.It’s eleven in the morning now. Have the doctors been to see him?Kai had Aplastic Anemia in the past time. Is it that again? Should I say something?Zach’s name flashes across the screen. Oh, at last. I answer.“Hey.”“Hey,” he says. It’s softer than I expect. “You home?”“Yeah. Lila’s with Paige. I’ve just been... regrouping. Going over my planner so I can fit in all my internships and classes. How’s Kai?”“The doctors did rounds. They’re sending Kai home.”My chest loosens a little. “That’s good.”“They’re still watching him, though. They said if anything else happens, they’ll start running tests—immune panels, marrow checks. I hate the thought of him having something serious.”My stomach turns. I sit down at the counter. “You must be so worried.”I know what it’s like to lose a child. But the marrow donation wasn’t the thing that killed Lil
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 029 Making Life Normal Again
(Ava)Paige doesn’t ask why I’m not taking Lila to visit Kai.She just takes her from my arms, kisses her on the cheek, and says, “you don’t need to explain. Go. I’ve got her.”I nod, I’m tense. My heart is pounding remembering Lila in that same hospital. Small, fighting a battle for her life she could never win.“She’s safe with me,” Paige says. “You just do what you need to do.”I try to say thank you, but it catches somewhere in my throat. Instead, I turn and head for the car before I unravel in front of my daughter. I suck in a deep breath. I have to push through this.When I park outside the hospital, I don’t get out right away.I sit behind the wheel with the engine off, hands still on the steering wheel like I’m waiting for a green light that will never come. The glass doors to the pediatric wing are just ahead, automatic and indifferent.They’ll open the second I get close.Here I am in this same underground carpark Nico helped me into the taxi with Lila hidden under a blank
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 028 Collateral Positioning
(Zach)The Tokyo skyline glows outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, but all I see in my mind is a hospital room three time zones away.Kai’s in there. I’m here. Still wearing the same suit I flew in with. Still pretending like this deal matters more than what’s happening back home.It doesn’t. But I can’t walk away. Not from this. Not with my father breathing down my neck. Not with everything cracking beneath the surface.Across the conference table, another exec launches into licensing terms like it’s a game of chess. Vincent, my CFO, nods like he’s tracking every move. I should be.But my brain hasn’t caught up since Ava picked up the phone and said, in that quiet voice she uses when she’s afraid and pretending not to be, “Are you okay, Zach?”She is literally the only person to ask me that and really care about the answer.I’m not.Vincent turns toward me. “Zach, you want to weigh in on the licensing schedule?”I glance at the numbers on the screen. My mind grabs the first safe c
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 027 Everything in the Gaps
(Ava)By the time Paige pulls into the driveway, the air in the house still smells faintly like Zach.Musk and citrus. Wood and heat. It’s been an hour and he’s already flown out now. But his presence still lingers like a bruise I can’t stop pressing. And the bruises are darkening where his hands gripped my body.But he has some marks that will keep him thinking for me for the next 3 days he’s away. I won that battle, Sienna. He’s still mine.Paige eyes me the second she walks in. “Well,” she says, popping Lila in her highchair, “you’ve been thoroughly defiled.”I don’t answer. I don’t need to. My hair is damp, my cheeks are flushed. Despite the shower, there are signs. She can read it all over me.“You want my judgment or takeout?” she asks. “But only one involves soy sauce.”“Takeout,” I say, following her. “Always takeout.”She doesn’t ask questions. She’s a true best friend.“She’s different now,” Paige says quietly as she watches Lila. “Her energy feels heavier. Older.”I nod.
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 026 The Unchosen
(Sienna)I should feel triumphant. Instead, I’m seething.Zach was supposed to leave for Tokyo this afternoon. Leave her here, both angry with each other. Both doubting. That was the plan. My plan. I saw to it myself—helped his assistant rearrange his itinerary, confirmed his car pickup, even made sure the right press outlets would spot him at the airport.But he didn’t go straight there. He went to her.I followed him. I told myself it was just to be sure. To see him off. But when his SUV turned toward his mansion estate, I knew I’d failed. Again.He didn’t even hesitate at the gate.He just went in.Now, back in my own mansion, I rip the earrings from my lobes and toss them onto the glass tray on my vanity. I’d gotten ready for the cocktail hour with the board, but I wasn’t in the mood.My staff avoids my eyes as I storm through the living room.“Miss Sinclair,” says the housekeeper softly. “Your mother called earlier. They’ll be here in twenty.”Of course they will.I pace li
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 025 The Edge of Us
(Ava)I’ve been given a second chance.And I still don’t know if he’s part of it—of my redemption—or the reason I’ll burn again.I twist the shower handle with trembling fingers and step under the spray. It’s hot. Too hot. But maybe that’s what I need. I close my eyes and press my palms to the tile, letting the water pound over me.My skin still tingles with his touch.Zach is behind me, naked, quiet. He doesn’t ask anything. Doesn’t speak.I turn to face him. His hand cups the back of my head gently, his fingers sliding through my hair. “Let me take care of you,” he says, voice hoarse.I nod.He lathers the shampoo into my hair, massaging my scalp with slow, careful circles. He rinses it out, then uses conditioner, and again, I let him.He rinses my hair clean, patient, gentle.Zach reaches for the soap and begins to wash my body, starting with my arms, my shoulders. Every motion is soft, reverent, like I’m something sacred. He doesn’t rush. He doesn’t touch with hunger—just devot
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 024 The Fire We Feed
(Zach)She doesn’t say the word. Doesn’t tell me to go.Which is all the permission I need.The second she doesn’t push me away, I’m on her. My hands find her waist and I slam my mouth to hers like I’ve been starving for it—and I have. I’ve been starving for her since the second she started pulling away.I can never get enough of her. I want her tenderness and I want her anger just as much. I want all the fire and frustration she’s taken out on me for days. I want her fury, her confusion, her heartbreak.I want it all, because it means she’s still here.I have no clue what she's holding inside, what she’s holding back from me. But I want to feel every bit of it. I need it.She tastes like rage and cinnamon chai and a dream I’ve been chasing since the day I said I do.She moans into my mouth, gripping the front of my shirt. I press her back against the kitchen counter, lifting her up onto the edge without breaking the kiss. She gasps when I wedge myself between her knees.“You
