The Heiress's Vengeance: A Poisoned Life

when I went to tell my family, they

g my adopted sister, Isabell

over my multi-million dollar comp

as renewing his wedding vows-wi

begged me to support them,

die, I was a ghost in my own life

t, I made one last call to the estranged be

e world's best oncology cente

you're better, we will bur

pte

a Stei

rough me, each word a physical

lked out of that sterile office a dead woman walking. The world outside looked

te, "The Haven," was anything but for me. The laughter spilled out onto the manicured lawn before I even parked my car. It

round Isabell, my adopted sister. Isabell, with her perfectly arranged curls and a soft throw draped over her, looked fragile and beautiful. Her hand was intertwined

nce. Hugo' s arm dropped from Isabell' s shoulder. Glenn narrowed his eyes, and Donia' s smile faltered, repla

itation she barely bothered to hide. "You're late.

it served her. Her fibromyalgia, while real, was a conv

ted like ash. I wanted to tell them. To scream the news. But their fa

interjected, his voice stern, disapproving. "Isabell has been loo

company, Innovatech, demands so much of her. I understand." Her eyes, however, met mine over Hugo

h a look of disappointment. "You always put work before fami

a source of pride for them. It was a failing, a sign of my neglect, especially when compared to Isabell'

urpose when their love was so conditional. But the words caught in my throat. How could I explain a lifetime of

minor ailment. My struggles dismissed, while Isabell's smallest sniffle garnered a flurry of concern. I had tried to ex

y real emotion. The fight had long left me. There w

thing important to discuss. Something for the good of the family." His gaze flickered to Isabell, then back to me. A

the words surprising even mys

rowed. Donia's eyes widened. Hugo stared, a flicker of something unreadable in h

a?" Glenn finally manag

nly greed and surprise. It wasn't about love anymore. It was about survival. About peace. And I had so little time left.

nia gasped. "Alondra! Are you serious?" Her

re. It no longer mattered. Nothing did. My life was draining away, and with it, any desire to fight for material po

that's incredibly... generous of you. Very well-adjusted, considering... everything." He shot a glance at Isabell, then back to

rk, my entire fortune, with a detached calm. My hand moved steadily, each stroke of the pen severing another tie, another piece

k, a triumphant, almost predatory smile playing on her l

any, lost my future. My defeat was absolute. An emptiness settl

concern lacing her voice, now that I had given them everyth

he experimental treatment that was supposed to give me m

fleeting expression of concern crossi

ot a single one of them had truly looked at me. Not

my tears. The house, my house, felt like a tomb. I opened the

nd I hadn't heard directed at me in weeks. He was helping Jaret with a complex origami figure, a majestic dragon taking shape in

my parents' house. Hugo's smile evaporated. Jaret's face, usually so ope

t said, his

dded, his tone fl

gone for hours, signing away everything I had ever built, and they hadn't even noticed my ab

played to me, never shared with me. How many other secrets did he keep? How many other parts of his life was I excluded from? I had spent years building Innovatech, nurturing it, pouring my soul into it, con

nd started packing a small bag. A few clo

is voice laced with confusion. He stood up,

as I folded a sw

anger now. This was always his reaction when I deviat

saw a stranger. His charm was a v

have the vow renewal ceremony tomorrow. For Isabell. To lift her spirits duri

was going to publicly renew his vows with my adopted sister, the woman who had syst

. My hands instinctively clutched my chest. The pain. It wasn't ju

o show support for Isabell. You know how sensitive she is." He glanced at Jaret, who was now staring at me, his smal

ot. Daddy said this will make her feel better." His voice was soft, condit

rents, my husband, even my son, had been turned against me. They had chosen Isabell, her feigned i

sabell's game, a small soldier fighting against his own mother without even knowing why

uggling to breathe. The experimental treatment, the one that was supposed to extend my l

focating despair. The fight was over. I had lost everything. My

ed, the words barely a

as if I were a stray dog. "Just rest, Alondra. We'll talk in

hought was so absurd, so utterly grotesque, that a dark, hysteric laugh bub

voice eerily stead