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CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

Author: Grace Pearl
last update Last Updated: 2025-07-20 17:21:03

POV: ROURKE

I should be pissed. I should be throwing chairs or breaking glasses or doing something stupid that gets blood on my hands, but instead... I just sit.

It’s quiet.

Too damn quiet for how loud my head is.

Nathaniel has a dossier on me. That much I expected. That’s what people like him do. People like me? We always assume someone has dirt on us. Comes with the job. You operate in the shadows long enough, you either become a ghost or a target. Sometimes both.

But what irritates me isn’t that he has the file. It’s that he was careless with it. Careless enough for Sasha to get her hands on it. Careless Sasha. The one who thinks she is smarter than she actually is.

It pisses me off that she could wave it around like a leash. As a bargaining chip. Like I am some dog he can call when he wants something handled.

I stare down at the drink in my hand. Scotch. Neat. From his cabinet, ironically.

"He thinks this is enough," I mutter.

I think of Elena. Of Sasha. Of how they squirm when po
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  • HEIRESS REBORN   LEVERAGE GAMES

    POV: SASHAHe sold me out.I know the second I see the file.One look at the ledger, the statement headings, the routing numbers tied to the Cross Foundation accounts… and my name at the top, bold, unmissable.Primary beneficiary.Like I’m the fucking mastermind.Like I’m the one who came up with the idea to launder donations through shell orgs, reroute funds from Elena’s social initiative into Nathaniel’s campaign slush fund. Like I wasn’t just cleaning up their mess, doing what I was told, keeping their image polished while they burned everything behind them.But there it is. In a nice little bundle, “leaked” to a conservative blogger with a flair for public shaming and no taste in fonts.My name.Alone.No Nathaniel. No Elena. Just me.The expendable one.The second I see the financials, I know exactly what Nathaniel’s doing.He’s prepping to toss me overboard.I scroll through the files on my phone, my hand shaking. It’s not even subtle—my name’s everywhere. Elena’s foundation slu

  • HEIRESS REBORN   FEVER PITCH

    POV: ELENAI don’t sleep that night.Not even a wink.The folder stays open on my desk like a wound that refuses to close, bleeding questions onto every surface of my mind.Alina Rivers.Kaia Lane.The ghost in silk heels.I replay every interaction. Every glance, every clipped smile she offered. The way she never bowed, never apologized for being sharp. She was always… too controlled. Controlled the way a survivor learns to be.Pointed and daggered.Always challenging me.It was hate. Pure hate And I saw it. My gut saw it. But I was too arrogant to name it.Until now.I’ve seen a lot of things in my life. I've survived campaigns that would break lesser people. Manipulated senators, crushed rivals, rebuilt Nathaniel’s messes more times than I can count. But nothing—absolutely nothing—prepares me for the moment I stare down at that folder from Rourke and realize what I’m looking at.Kaia. That slippery, smug little assistant who walks like she owns every room but never says too much.

  • HEIRESS REBORN   THE BAIT BLOG

    POV: NINA RHODESI know bullshit when I smell it. And Ashen? It stinks like a goddamn secret.Not just your typical, high-gloss corporate PR secret either. No, this is something older. Heavier. The kind of secret that gets whispered behind tinted glass in silent boardrooms. The kind that leaves traces only if you’re looking for ghosts.And I am.I’ve been circling Ashen for six months now.It started with curiosity — the kind that keeps me up at night, refreshing public filings and cross-checking surnames on LinkedIn. Vivian Hale shows up out of nowhere, wearing power like a second skin, speaking like she was born inside a war room, and boom, Ashen launches like it was waiting to happen.Except there’s no founder.No launch party.No story.No origin.Who the hell starts a billion-dollar company and doesn’t leave a fingerprint behind?That’s not how this works. That’s not how people work. People want to be seen, to be credited, to be known. Especially the rich ones. Especially the bro

  • HEIRESS REBORN   PROOF AND PANIC

    POV: VIVIANI don’t knock. I don’t text. I don’t do any of the polite shit we usually do when we’re trying to pretend this world is normal.The elevator doors open directly into her penthouse, and I walk straight in.I’m shaking. Not crying, not scared. Just vibrating with the kind of rage that comes from disbelief wrapped in a smile. The manila envelope in my hand is already crumpled at the edges, the flap torn open from how hard I ripped it.She’s standing at the window, as always. Watching the city like it owes her something. She turns slowly. Calm. Too calm."Vivian.""Rourke gave it to her."I throw the envelope onto the kitchen island like it burns me.She doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t blink. Just walks over, picks it up like it’s a grocery receipt, and flips through it."I know," she says quietly.That’s it. That’s all.I slam my hands on the marble counter. "You knew?"She finally looks up at me. Her face is blank. That blank she does when she’s barely holding it together. When she

  • HEIRESS REBORN   TRUMP CARD

    POV: ELENA CROSSI don’t look up right away when Rourke walks in. He knows better than to interrupt me when I’m in the middle of briefing notes—especially ones this sensitive. But he lingers. That always means something."Well?" I ask, finally, setting my glass down without taking a sip. "You didn’t come in here just to breathe in my air."He doesn’t answer. Just sets the envelope on the edge of the desk. Manila. Folded once, sharp corner slightly crushed. No label."What is it?""You should see it for yourself, ma’am."He only calls me ma’am when he’s nervous.I open it slowly, more out of habit than curiosity. I’ve seen a thousand of these in my lifetime. Dossiers, blackmail, threats, assets, affairs, leverage. Politics is built on manila envelopes. But this one… this one bites back.The first thing I see is a picture. Grainy. Dark lighting. A woman’s face, part of it swollen, features distorted, hair limp and damp around her cheek. She looks half-dead. Or maybe that’s the point.I

  • HEIRESS REBORN   LINES CROSSED

    POV: ALINAThe townhouse door clicks shut behind us, muffling the city, the gala, the glass smiles, the snake-thin lies. I rip off my heels before I even make it up the stairs. Damien trails behind me, silent. He had shown up later that evening as I was leaving and decided to tag alongI can feel the question burning in his throat. I can feel my own heart still racing from the tension, the way Nathaniel looked at me too long, the way Elena called me “ambitious in the worst way” with her smile barely holding.The silence between us stretches.In the bathroom, I wash my face too hard. The eyeliner smears like soot under my eyes, but I don’t stop scrubbing until my skin burns.Damien leans against the doorway, watching.“You okay?” he asks finally.I grip the edge of the sink and stare at my reflection. My face. Alina Rivers, dead. Kaia, ruthless. I don’t know where the line is anymore.“No,” I whisper.He walks in, wraps his arms around me from behind, and rests his chin on my shoulder.

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