/1/118256/coverbig.jpg?v=a8624e0d85b2fee849b931d6919e3fe1)
After my mother passed away, my stepfather and his daughter took over our home and erased my existence. I was the only true heir to my mother's legacy, but I was pushed out. Five years later, I saw my stepsister trending on social media. She was flaunting the "Star of the Ocean"-my mother's seven-million-dollar sapphire necklace that mysteriously vanished from our family safe right after the funeral. I flew straight back to New York and crashed my stepfather's high-society birthday gala. When I publicly pointed out the stolen necklace on my stepsister's neck, my stepfather grabbed my arm, his fingers digging painfully into my skin. "What nonsense are you talking about? Don't ruin my party!" he growled, his face flushed with fury. He turned to the crowd with a fake smile. "It's just a misunderstanding between sisters. A simple family spat." My stepsister hid behind him, clutching my mother's necklace, playing the terrified, innocent victim while the crowd whispered about my dramatic return. It was sickening. They had stolen my mother's company, looted my inheritance, and expected me to stay quietly in the shadows while they climbed the social ladder using my family's blood and sweat. Did they really think I was still that helpless, grieving girl they could easily manipulate? I shook off his hand, pulled out the original certificate of authenticity from the auction house, and calmly dialed 911. "Yes, officer. I want to report a grand larceny. The thief is right here."
Contents
The Vengeful Heiress: Claiming Her Billionaire Chapter 1
Aislinn Rhodes woke to the ghost of a man in a bed that was too big for one. The silk sheets, a tangled mess around her legs, still held a faint warmth that wasn't her own. A subtle, expensive scent of sandalwood and something uniquely him clung to the pillows. Outside the vast windows of the Ritz Paris suite, the city was just beginning to blush under the dawn.
She pushed herself up, a dull ache blooming low in her back. Her fingers, tracing the line of her own collarbone, found the tender, deliberate mark of his teeth. On a nearby chair, a man's custom suit jacket was draped carelessly. Loro Piana. The fabric alone was probably worth more than most people's cars. It was a silent testament to the man who had been here just hours ago.
Aislinn swung her bare feet onto the plush carpet and walked toward the bathroom. The reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror was a contradiction. Her eyes were sharp, alert, the eyes of a predator. But her skin-the pale expanse of her neck and shoulders-was a canvas of faint red marks, evidence of a night spent in total surrender. The memory of his weight, his hands, the low rumble of his voice in her ear, sent an involuntary shiver through her.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, a sharp, insistent vibration against the marble. The screen lit up with a number she knew by heart but had never saved. She walked back to the bed, the cool glass of the phone a shock against her warm skin. She answered, not waiting for him to speak.
"If you're calling to say good morning, it's too late." Her voice was a low rasp, thick with sleep and the lingering effects of the night.
A deep chuckle echoed down the line from New York, a sound that vibrated right through her. "Just making sure you didn't miss your flight, troublemaker."
Aislinn let out a soft snort, sinking onto the edge of the bed. "Thanks to you, I almost did. I feel like I've been hit by a truck." The words were a complaint, but there was no real heat behind them.
"I've cleared my afternoon," Blackburn Le said, his voice smooth as velvet. "I can have the jet wait."
The offer hung in the air, tempting. For a single, weak moment, she considered it. The thought of sinking back into those sheets, of having him here when she woke up for real... She remembered his last words as he'd dressed in the pre-dawn darkness. "I'll handle everything in New York. Just be safe." He was always handling things, always in control. But he never specified what "everything" meant.
She laughed, a dry, quiet sound. "Are you questioning my ability to get on a plane by myself? Or are you just showing off your stamina again?"
"If you admit you'll miss me, I'll have a full spa team waiting for you at the penthouse. As compensation." The word 'compensation' was laced with amusement.
"Save it," Aislinn said, though the corner of her mouth twitched upwards. "I prefer to collect my debts in person."
She ended the call, and the smile vanished from her face as if it had never been there. Her gaze fell to her tablet on the nightstand. She picked it up, her movements now precise and devoid of any lingering softness. She tapped the screen, and it illuminated with a social media post.
It was a photo of her stepsister, Coral Rhodes, at some charity luncheon. She was smiling, looking every bit the innocent debutante. Around her neck, a cascade of brilliant blue sapphires glittered against her skin. The caption read: "Feeling like a princess! Thanks, Daddy!"
Aislinn's fingers tightened on the tablet, her knuckles turning white. The necklace was the "Star of the Ocean." It had been a gift from her mother, meant for Aislinn on her sixteenth birthday. It had vanished from the family safe a week after the funeral.
A cold, vicious smile touched her lips. She stood up, ignoring the way her legs trembled slightly, a final, frustrating reminder of the night's intensity. She walked to her suitcase and pulled out a perfectly tailored black dress and a pair of wickedly sharp Jimmy Choo heels. This was her armor.
Half an hour later, the woman who exited the presidential suite bore no resemblance to the one who had woken up in that bed. Her red lipstick was a slash of defiance. Her sunglasses hid any trace of emotion. She was no longer a lover. She was a queen returning to her kingdom to burn it to the ground.
The hotel manager, who had rushed to escort her, found himself unable to meet her gaze. He bowed his head slightly, intimidated by the sheer force of her presence. Every click of her heels on the marble floor was a promise.
Aislinn Rhodes was going home. And it was time to collect her debts.
View More Comments on App
Other books by Qing Bao
More/1/115985/coverbig.jpg?v=ded9d452198242189d1e3b6c3dc9c5cf)
The Billionaire's Mistaken And Defiant Surrogate
ModernCelestia woke up heavily sedated, her wrists bound tightly to the legs of a grand piano in a cold, opulent room. Before she could even process the panic, a towering billionaire named Sterling Sinclair IV stepped in, looking at her like a possessed piece of art. The head maid then handed Celestia a thick surrogacy contract with her perfectly forged signature. "You are here to bear an heir for Mr. Sinclair," the maid stated flatly. Celestia screamed that they had the wrong person, but her desperate cries bounced uselessly off the soundproof walls. Stripped of her clothes, phone, and identity, she was trapped on an isolated island surrounded by high-voltage electric fences and armed guards. When she furiously fought back, Sterling physically overpowered her, punishing her resistance with brutal, terrifying dominance until she lost consciousness on the marble floor. She didn't understand who had kidnapped her from her normal life. Why was her biometric data perfectly faked in a classified dossier? Who had framed her as a willing, ten-million-dollar premium product for a ruthless billionaire? Driven by pure survival, Celestia began aggressively consuming raw garlic and bathing in harsh white vinegar to destroy her fertility and repel his touch. And when Sterling finally reviewed her bizarre, self-sabotaging dietary logs, the terrifying truth hit his calculating mind like a physical blow. The broken, innocent woman he had been brutally tormenting all week was never his hired surrogate.
/1/102836/coverbig.jpg?v=f3a74caacbaff4f292b60249f9a35ce3)
Her Final Act of Vengeance
ModernMy husband, Conrad, pulled me from the abyss after my brother died, saving me when I had nothing. He promised to protect me forever. But for ten years, his endless affairs and cruel mind games have been a slow poison, leaving me with a terminal illness and a broken spirit. The final blow came on our tenth anniversary. He gave my gift-an emerald necklace I' d dreamed of since our honeymoon-to his mistress, Aubrey. But that wasn't enough. He then gave her the last piece of my brother I had left: his final symphony. She scribbled on the pages, used them as a coaster, and called his life's work "garbage." As my body failed, I realized the man who swore to save me had weaponized my deepest traumas to destroy me. My love curdled into a cold, quiet rage. Now, drowning in guilt, he has destroyed Aubrey to atone for his sins. He kneels by my deathbed, begging for forgiveness, promising to do anything to earn it. He has no idea my final act of revenge requires his absolute devotion. And his life.
/1/102553/coverbig.jpg?v=c0df34709ae94a37c8abaaffca9d0f26)
His Life Hung By My Hands
ModernMy fiancé and my cousin destroyed my life. Their betrayal led to my mother's suicide and my grandmother's death. They framed me for arson, and I went to prison. Three years later, I' m a trauma surgeon. The ER doors burst open, and there he was, carrying her in his arms. She was pregnant, and she was bleeding out. He begged me to save them. "Save her, Alana. Please. Save them both." Then he accused me of wanting revenge, his eyes filled with hate. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" The man who took everything from me was now on his knees, his world depending on my skill. I was the only one who could save the woman who stole my life. I did my job. I saved them both. But as I walked out of the hospital that night, his car was there, blocking my path. This wasn't just a chance encounter. He was back to reclaim what he thought was his.
/1/101768/coverbig.jpg?v=55fe8b893379555220c3c1f571f93651)
The Rejected Luna: Rise of the White Wolf Queen
WerewolfAs the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack, I thought my Fated Mate bond with Alpha Liam was unbreakable. That was until Ava Sinclair walked into the banquet hall, pregnant, and Liam used his Alpha Command to force me to my knees in front of the whole pack, choosing his mistress over me. The violence of his rejection didn't just break my heart; it killed the unborn pup I hadn't even told him about yet. When I tried to escape the toxicity, Liam hunted me down and chained me in a dungeon with silver cuffs, desperate to keep me as a "backup" while he played house with Ava. It took him two years to realize Ava was carrying a rogue's bastard, not his heir. Suddenly, the arrogant Alpha was the victim, kneeling in the dirt at the Solstice Festival, offering me a massive diamond ring and begging for a second chance. He thought he could buy forgiveness. He thought I was still his broken little wife. But I didn't reach for the ring. I turned to the female warrior standing beside me—the one who had lifted a collapsing stone pillar to save my life while Liam was busy destroying it. I interlaced my fingers with hers and looked down at my ex-mate. "You ask why I choose her?" I said, my voice ringing across the silent plaza. "Because while you were building my cage, Liam, Seraphina was becoming my sky."
/0/94210/coverbig.jpg?v=79ccd9d1d4a27898ce5264202e945b8e)
My Perfect Marriage, His Deadly Secret
RomanceFor three months, I was the perfect wife to tech billionaire Axel Delacruz. I thought our marriage was a fairy tale, and the welcome dinner for my new internship at his company was supposed to be a celebration of our perfect life. That illusion shattered when his beautiful, unhinged ex, Diana, crashed the party and stabbed him in the arm with a steak knife. But the real horror wasn't the blood. It was the look in my husband's eyes. He cradled his attacker, whispering a single, tender word meant only for her: "Always." He stood by as she held a knife to my face to carve off a beauty mark she claimed I'd copied from her. He watched as she threw me into a kennel with starving dogs, knowing it was my deepest fear. He let her have me beaten, let her shove gravel down my throat to ruin my voice, and let her men break my hand in a door. When I called him one last time, begging for help as a group of men closed in, he hung up on me. Trapped and left for dead, I threw myself out of a second-story window. As I ran, bleeding and broken, I made a call I hadn't made in years. "Uncle Francisco," I sobbed into the phone. "I want a divorce. And I want you to help me destroy him." They thought they married a nobody. They had no idea they'd just declared war on the Wallace family.
/0/92009/coverbig.jpg?v=184ff82535dd2b15a90ac9d8dc108f63)
My Alpha's New Luna: Stolen Life, Forsaken Mate
WerewolfAfter five years trapped in a cursed slumber, I finally woke up. The first thing I did was follow the scent of my mate, my Alpha, Kaelen. I found him in his office, kissing another woman—a mousy Omega I barely recognized. He told me she meant nothing, that she was just there to soothe his grief. Like a fool, I believed him. But when I went to the pack's Hall of Records, the elder told me I had been declared legally dead three years ago. The petition was signed by my own parents and executed by Kaelen. He had already chosen a new Luna: her. My own son told me I should have stayed dead. He said the other woman was nicer and should be his mother. Then, the woman who replaced me tried to kill me, pulling me off a cliff into a raging river. Kaelen dove in, swam right past my outstretched hand, and saved her. Lying paralyzed in a hospital bed, I was forced to listen as Kaelen used his Alpha's Command to order a blood transfusion to save her life. He never even asked who the donor was. He just demanded they drain my life to save his chosen mate. As my life drained away, I saw my entire family—my mate, my parents, my son—gathered around her bed, a perfect picture of happiness. That's when I finally understood. Waking up was a mistake. My only path forward was to disappear and pray they would never find the ghost I was about to become.
