Getting back at my ex with his billionaire stepbrother

Zara didn’t sleep that night. She couldn’t sleep. She kept tossing and turning in her bed, tangled in her sheets like her thoughts unsettled, sharp, and relentless. Her pillow was damp not from rain but from a river of silent tears. The stranger’s coat still clung to her like it belonged there, like it understood the heartbreak it was wrapped around. The scent of it, a quiet mix of expensive masculine cologne and rain, lingered like a presence, oddly comforting although unfamiliar. She wasn’t sure why she hasn't taken off the coat. Maybe it was the weight of it the physical manifestation of her emotional burden. Maybe because it was the only thing that felt real at the moment in her world that had already turned upside down.Her father wasn’t home. He had traveled to visit her sick aunt, his only living sibling. The timing felt like a cruel joke to Zara. A twist of fate that left her feeling abandoned and alone she was a daddy’s girl. Her dad was her backbone, her cheer leader and h

Leo had been away for just one year.One year.A business trip he couldn't avoid deals to finalize, contracts to sign. He had left reluctantly, heart heavy. The moment he stepped out of the airport, something felt off. The air was too sharp. The city too loud. His phone buzzed nonstop, and when he checked, it was Fred’s messages back to back:“Call me as soon as you land.”“Leo, you need to see this.”“I’m sorry, man.”Then a video link.He didn’t want to click it. But he did.And there it was clear as day Zara in Jayden’s arms, her face buried in his chest as he kissed her temple..For a second, Leo couldn’t breathe.It felt like the ground had started shifting under his feet, like someone had punched the wind out of his lungs.He stormed straight to the Bennett mansion, heart pounding, jaw clenched.And there she was. On the lawn. Jayden’s arm around her, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Jayden smirked the moment he saw him.Jayden.Jayden, the notorious playboy.

Zara woke up to the sharp buzz of her phone vibrating against the nightstand.Her eyelid felt heavy and glued shut with residue of unshed tears and restless sleep. She groaned, rolled over and squinted at the screen.The caller ID Dad.She quickly swiped to answer. “Hey, sweetie,” came her dad’s familiar, warm voice. “Just wanted to let you know I’ll be back tomorrow.” Zara felt a knot of relief and longing tightening in her chest, easing some of the icy loneliness that had settled deep within her.“Already? That’s fast,” Zara managed, a sleepy smile touching her lips for the first time in days. Tomorrow. A small, hopeful light flickered within her, chasing away some of the shadows.They talked for several minutes, catching up about little things. His voice was a tether to comfort, a reminder that she wasn’t entirely alone in the whirlwind her life had become. Each word was a comfort, it served as a small reassurance that some things, some people were still constant. After the cal

Fred strode into Leo’s sprawling penthouse office, with a mischievous grin playing on his lips, two steaming mugs of coffee in his hands. “Morning, brooding billionaire,” he chirped, placing one mug squarely on Leo’s carefully organized desk. “Still staring at your war room like a general planning his next invasion?”Leo looked up from the multiple monitors displaying social media analytics, trending topics, and Zara’s profile just as Leo slid into the seat across from him.His expression was focused, intense, but there was a subtle softening around his eyes that Fred, his closest friend, immediately noticed.“It’s not an invasion, Fred,” Leo corrected, though a faint smirk touched his lips. “It’s a reclamation. Zara’s reclamation.”Fred leaned against the edge of the desk, taking a sip of his coffee. “Right, right. ‘Reclamation.’ Sounds noble when you put it like that.”Leo’s gaze sharpened, a faint blush, barely perceptible, touched his cheeks. “Don’t be ridiculous.”“No, I’m obser

Zara sat cross legged on her bed, scrolling Instagram absently later in the day when she saw a familiar icon of a new post notification from Jayden’s account. A knot of dread tightened in her stomach. She almost didn’t click, but she was compelled by curiosity.The image that loaded shattered her already fragile self. It was a picture dump of Jayden and Elena, it was a ten slide photo dump of them kissing,laughing in bed, laughing in bed, matching tattoos with the caption.> “Real love wins. We were never villains, just two hearts kept apart. Thank you, Zara, for showing us what not to accept. You were never the victim. You were the anchor because love, true love, always finds a way. Now, we can finally live our truth, free from the toxicity that held us back. Forever yours, my love @Elena_Grace.”The word anchor slammed into Zara like a slap in the face.Her fingers trembled as she scrolled down to the comments section. It was a digital tsunami of hate.“FINALLY! I knew Zara was fake