Reborn to Ruin the Billionaire Who Betrayed Me

The rain came down in relentless sheets, drumming against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse Seraphina once called home. The city sparkled below like scattered diamonds. How ironic. She had given away a kingdom only to die in a gilded prison. Her breathing was ragged as blood soaked the cream-colored carpet beneath her. "...Why?" she whispered. Standing before her was the man she'd loved for ten years. Damien Carter. The man she'd defied her family for. The man she'd financed when he had nothing but dreams and borrowed suits. She remembered every sleepless night she spent reviewing business proposals, every investor she persuaded, every opportunity she handed him. She had built his empire. He simply wore the crown. Damien looked at her without warmth. Without guilt. Without love. "You should have signed everything over quietly." Seraphina stared in disbelief. "So... it was never me." "No." The answer came coldly. "It was always your name." A soft laugh echoed from the doorway. High heels clicked against marble. Vanessa Blake entered wearing Seraphina's favorite emerald necklace. The necklace her grandmother had given her. Vanessa smiled sweetly. "Darling... thank you for making my life so comfortable." Seraphina's hands trembled. "You've been together..." "For eight years," Vanessa replied proudly. Eight years. Her entire marriage had been a lie. Damien crouched beside Seraphina. "You were useful." The words shattered something inside her. Useful. Not loved. Not cherished. Useful. Vanessa produced a folder. "The transfer documents are complete." Damien nodded. "The Ashford shares, overseas accounts, patents... everything is ours now." Seraphina laughed. It was weak. Broken. Yet somehow terrifying. "You think you've won." Vanessa frowned. "What?" "My father..." Seraphina coughed blood. "...never trusted you." Damien's expression shifted. "What do you mean?" She smiled despite the pain. "You'll find out soon enough." Vanessa suddenly looked uneasy. "Stop talking." She grabbed a syringe from her handbag. "No witnesses." Damien looked away. Coward. Even now. He couldn't bear to watch. The needle pierced Seraphina's neck. Cold spread through her veins. The room blurred. She thought of her parents. The family she'd abandoned. The father whose final phone call she ignored. The mother who sent birthday gifts every year despite never receiving a reply. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry..." Darkness swallowed everything. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. An alarm clock rang. Seraphina's eyes flew open. Sunlight poured through silk curtains. She gasped, bolting upright. No blood. No pain. No penthouse. She stared around the luxurious bedroom she hadn't seen in ten years. Her childhood room. Her hands shook as she reached for the phone on the bedside table. Date: September 18. Ten years earlier. Today... ...was the day before she first met Damien Carter. A slow smile spread across her face. It wasn't the gentle smile of the woman she used to be. It was the smile of someone who had returned from death with every memory intact. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. "You stole my first life." Her voice was calm. "This one belongs to me." Tomorrow... She would not fall in love. Tomorrow... The game would begin. End of Chapter 1 Cliffhanger: As Seraphina picks up her phone, an unknown number flashes on the screen—the same number that had called her moments before her death in her previous life. She answers, and a familiar voice says, "Miss Ashford, if you want to stay alive this time, don't meet Damien tomorrow.