The False Heiress Who Sees the Dead

“Where is Avery Nightingale?” “She couldn’t have gone far. I worked too hard luring her into that ritual room for Leonard. She fought back and nearly ruined everything.” “There’s blood here. This way. Don’t let her get out.” Pain dragged Avery back before consciousness did. It came sharp and brutal, splitting through her skull, crawling down her spine, pinning her to a cold concrete floor. The air smelled of iron. Her cheek pressed against something wet. When she forced her eyes open, the dim stairwell swam in and out of focus. Blood. A lot of it. For one breath, Avery did not move. Then memories that did not belong to her slammed into her mind. A name. A body. A life. Avery Nightingale. A disgraced false heiress of the Hart family. A blacklisted actress whose name had been dragged through every gossip account, fan forum, and entertainment feed in the city. A girl the Harts had raised not out of mercy, but utility. A living shield. Years ago, when Vanessa Hart, the Harts’ precious biological daughter, had been born under a terrible omen, the family had brought Avery into their house to carry Vanessa’s bad luck. Every car accident, every k********g attempt, every unexplained illness, every disaster that should have fallen on Vanessa had found Avery instead. To keep the arrangement hidden, Vanessa was raised away from the Hart residence under the family’s supervision, while Avery was publicly presented as the daughter who belonged there. Distance did not break the occult bond. As long as the ritual remained intact, every disaster meant for Vanessa would still be redirected toward Avery. And when Vanessa finally returned to the public eye, sweet-faced and beloved, Avery had been thrown away. Maxwell Hart had pulled investment from her projects. Leonard Hart—known professionally as Leonard Chase—the award-winning actor who played the gentle brother in front of cameras, had mocked her publicly for chasing attention. Vanessa had taken her clothes, her room, her resources, her family’s affection, and then her reputation. Today, Avery had almost gotten her first apartment transferred under her own name. The first thing in this world that would truly belong to her. Then Vanessa had called. A soft voice. A fake apology. A promise to settle things privately. And the original Avery had believed her. She had been drugged, dragged into an illegal occult-medical ritual room, and strapped down as if she were not a person at all. Leonard had wanted to study the strange luck attached to her body. Vanessa had wanted to extract whatever had allowed Avery to survive disaster after disaster. The original Avery had fought. She had run. She had fallen down these stairs. And she had died here. The woman now breathing in her body closed her eyes for one second. So that was why. She had wondered how she, the last prodigy of an old occult order from another world, had ended up in a place with almost no spiritual energy at all. Cause and effect. She had taken this body. That meant she had inherited its unfinished debts. If she did not settle them, this second life would not be stable. If she did not survive, nothing else mattered. Footsteps rushed closer. The stairwell door slammed open. Vanessa Hart stepped in first. She was pretty in the delicate, expensive way that required money, surgery-level skincare, and an army of stylists to look effortless. Even now, her cream-colored dress was spotless. Her eyes swept across the blood on the floor, then landed on Avery. A small smile appeared on her face. “Leonard, I told you the sedative would slow her down. Look at all that blood.” Vanessa crouched and tilted her head. “She’s probably dead. Let’s drag her back before anyone notices.” Leonard Chase followed her in. He wore a dark coat and a baseball cap pulled low, but even in the dim stairwell, his face was recognizable. Fans called him elegant. Gentle. A man born for the camera. His eyes, however, were colder than the concrete under Avery’s palm. “Keep your voice down,” Leonard said. “If this gets out, it will damage our careers.” Vanessa pouted. “I know. I just want to see what makes her so hard to kill.” She reached toward Avery’s shoulder. “She carried my disasters for more than ten years. If we can turn that fate into a protection charm, I won’t have to be afraid of anything again.” Her fingers touched Avery. Avery’s eyes snapped open. Vanessa froze. The face beneath her hand was pale from blood loss. A wound cut through Avery’s hairline, and blood streaked down the side of her face. Yet her eyes were clear. Too clear. Too cold. Vanessa jerked back. “You—” Avery’s fingers twitched. A thin thread of white light flashed between them. The stairwell temperature plunged. The overhead light flickered once, twice, then buzzed like a trapped insect. Shadows crawled along the walls. The metal door behind Leonard trembled, as if something on the other side were breathing against it. Vanessa screamed. An invisible force slammed into her chest and threw her against the wall. Pain flashed across her face as she hit the concrete and slid down. “Leonard!” she shrieked. “Is she dead or not?” Leonard rushed toward her. Before he could reach Vanessa, the same force struck him. His body lifted off the ground and crashed into the blood-slick floor. His cap flew off. His polished celebrity face hit the concrete, smearing red across one cheek. Avery slowly pushed herself up. Every inch of this body protested. Her head throbbed. Her limbs felt hollow. The spiritual energy inside her was pitiful, barely enough to light a spark. But a spark was enough in a place like this. Death had lingered here. Fear had lingered here. The original Avery’s hatred had not yet cooled. Avery raised her eyes to the two people sprawled in front of her. Vanessa stared at her as if she had crawled out of a grave. “What did you do?” Vanessa’s voice cracked. “What the hell did you do?” Avery smiled without warmth. “You were just talking about dragging me back. Why are you scared now?” Vanessa’s face twisted. “Stop pretending! You think some cheap trick will scare me? You’re nothing without the Harts. I can make sure you never work in this industry again. I can make every person online spit on your name until you crawl back and beg—” “Who are you calling nothing?” The words were quiet. The walls answered. Black shapes seeped from the corners of the stairwell. Faces without features pressed out of the concrete, their mouths opening in silent screams. The air thickened with resentment. Leonard’s expression finally changed. “Avery,” he said, forcing calm into his voice, “enough. Don’t make this worse. Today was just a misunderstanding.” Avery looked at him. He was good. Even covered in blood, even with fear tightening his jaw, he still sounded like a reasonable man addressing a difficult woman. Avery almost laughed. “A misunderstanding?” she said. “You drugged a woman, dragged her into a ritual room, and discussed turning her fate into a charm for your sister.” Leonard’s lips pressed together. Vanessa snapped, “Don’t act innocent. If our family hadn’t taken you in, you would have died in some gutter years ago. You should be grateful you were useful.” Avery’s gaze moved back to her. The original body’s anger surged so hard it made her fingers tremble. Useful. That was all this girl had ever been to them. A borrowed daughter. A shield. A scapegoat. A sacrifice. Avery’s voice turned colder. “I see. So you have no idea how to behave like people.” The shadows lunged. Vanessa screamed as something plunged into her body. Leonard’s back arched as another shadow entered him. For half a second, both went rigid. Then Leonard’s hand rose. Smack. His palm struck Vanessa across the face. Vanessa’s head snapped to the side. A red mark bloomed on her cheek. Leonard’s eyes widened in horror. “Vanessa, I didn’t—” His words broke into a strangled sound as Vanessa’s leg moved on its own and drove into him hard enough to send him collapsing to his knees. Vanessa stared at her own body, shaking. “No. No, no, no—Leonard, do something!” “I can’t move!” Leonard gasped. Avery leaned one shoulder against the wall, because standing straight took more strength than she wanted to admit. “That slap,” she said, “was for opening your mouth only to lie.” Vanessa’s arm jerked up again. Leonard tried to dodge, but his own body twisted wrong, and her palm cracked across his face. “That one,” Avery continued, “was for calling murder a joke.” Leonard’s hand grabbed Vanessa’s wrist. Not by his choice. His fingers squeezed until Vanessa cried out. “And that,” Avery said, “was for using someone else’s life to protect your own.” Vanessa’s eyes filled with real tears this time. “Are you human or not?” Avery tilted her head. “You cared more when you thought I was dead.” The two shadows inside Vanessa and Leonard stirred again. Their limbs jerked. They stumbled into each other, slammed into the wall, then fell apart like puppets with tangled strings. It was not elegant. It was not bloody. It was humiliating. That was better. Leonard Chase, the beloved actor, crawled on the floor with blood smeared across his designer coat. Vanessa Hart, the sweet heiress, sobbed with one cheek swelling and terror stripping the softness from her face. For the first time, they looked at Avery without contempt. They looked at her with fear. Good. Fear listened faster than reason. Avery inhaled slowly. Bad choice. Pain spiked through her skull. Her vision blurred at the edges. The shadows on the walls flickered. Too weak. This body had lost too much blood. Her soul had only just settled inside it. The spiritual energy in this world was so thin it was almost insulting. Controlling wandering spirits with this little power was like holding a burning rope in bare hands. Ten minutes. Maybe less. If she pushed any harder, this newly borrowed body might collapse before her enemies did. She needed shelter. Money. Resources. Time. She needed to survive before she could make anyone pay properly. Leonard noticed the slight tremor in her hand. His gaze sharpened for one dangerous second. Avery smiled at him. The shadows crawled higher up the wall. Leonard immediately lowered his eyes. Smart. Not smart enough, but teachable under pressure. “What do you want?” he asked through clenched teeth. Avery straightened as much as she could. “The apartment Vanessa stole from me,” she said. “Transfer it back.” Vanessa’s face changed. “That apartment was never yours!” A shadow tightened around her throat. Her voice cut off. Avery continued, “The brand deal she took from me. Return it.” Leonard breathed hard. “The campaign is already scheduled.” “Then reschedule it.” “You don’t understand how contracts work.” “I understand how fear works.” Avery’s gaze dropped to his trembling hands. “Would you like another demonstration?” Leonard went silent. Avery’s body swayed once. She forced herself still. “And the rumors,” she said. “Every filthy story you planted, hinted at, smiled through, or let your fans spread. You will correct them.” Vanessa made a choked sound. The shadow loosened enough for her to speak. “You want me to apologize to you?” she cried. “In public? Dream on!” Leonard’s arm lifted again. Smack. This time the slap landed hard enough to send Vanessa’s words back into her throat. Leonard’s face went white. “Avery—stop it!” “Then stop wasting my time.” Vanessa clutched her cheek and stared at Avery like she was staring at a nightmare wearing a human face. Leonard swallowed. His pride fought with his fear. Fear won. “Fine,” he said. “The apartment. The resources. A public clarification. Just make it stop.” Avery watched him for a moment. He was lying about something. Not the big things; he was too scared for that. But he was already calculating how to word the apology, how to minimize damage, how to protect Vanessa. That was fine. She would teach him one line at a time. Vanessa shook her head frantically. “Leonard, no. My fans—” “Your fans,” Avery cut in, “won’t be able to save you from me.” Vanessa flinched. Avery took one slow step forward. Blood dripped from her hairline onto her collar, but her eyes did not waver. “In two days, the apartment returns to my name. The stolen campaign returns to me. And right now, while I am still being patient, you will post a public statement clearing my name.” Leonard stared at her. “Right now?” he asked. Avery’s smile faded. The stairwell door slammed shut by itself. Both of them jumped. Avery’s voice was barely above a whisper. “Now.”