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21. Trapped
publish date:
2026-03-01 23:04:40
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Reborn Rich: My Fiancé and Step-Sister Killed Me Once. 138. The Idea Forms
Lucas was sitting on a high stool at the quartz island, holding his cell phone to his ear with a white-knuckled grip, listening to the flat, tinny hold music of their mortgage lender for the third time that morning.He had his laptop open in front of him, displaying three different loan rejection emails from private wealth management firms. Sweat prickled cold along the back of his neck as he waited for a representative to pick up, his mind frantically calculating how many days they had left before the bank flagged their primary mortgage payment as delinquent.Before the automated voice could transfer him to an Underwriting agent, Rita’s hand darted into his field of vision. She snatched the phone right out of his hand, tapped the red button, and slammed the device face-down onto the quartz counter."They're not going to approve a second mortgage or a home equity line, Lucas," Rita said, her voice strained and tight. "We bought the house less than three months ago, in cash, with z
Reborn Rich: My Fiancé and Step-Sister Killed Me Once. 137. The Big Fight
RITARita stood at the sleek quartz kitchen island in her tailored loungewear, trying to authorize the catering company's final post-wedding invoice on her phone, when the digital transaction declined for the second consecutive time.She frowned at the glowing screen, assuming it was a temporary glitch in the venue’s payment portal. She re-entered her card details with practiced, confident fingers, tapped Submit, and watched the screen flash a bright, humiliating red again: Transaction Declined: Insufficient Funds.A sudden, unpleasant knot pulled tight in the center of her stomach. She exited the payment portal and opened her banking application directly, bypassing the third-party app to view the primary balance.The number listed across the top line didn't make any sense.Rita stared at it for a long, frozen moment, her eyes darting across the digits. She was certain she was misreading a decimal point somewhere, or that her bank had temporarily locked the account due to flagg
Reborn Rich: My Fiancé and Step-Sister Killed Me Once. 136. Down the Drain II
The first two weeks went so shockingly well that Lucas genuinely started believing his own inflated confidence.A high-risk tech stock he had read about on a speculative forum jumped eleven percent in four days flat. When he pulled up the trading dashboard on his laptop, he couldn't help the proud, arrogant grin that spread across his face. He angled the glowing screen toward Rita across the plush living room couch, pointing to the bright green profit line."See?" he said, his voice brimming with satisfaction. "Told you I actually knew what I was doing.""Look at you, Wall Street!" Rita laughed, kissing his cheek with genuine delight before returning her attention to scrolling through wedding photo proofs on her phone.Lucas closed the laptop lid, leaning back into the cushions. For the first time in longer than he wanted to admit, he felt like a capable, powerful man who actually had his life completely handled.The illusion shattered during the third week.The exact same te
Reborn Rich: My Fiancé and Step-Sister Killed Me Once. 135..Down the Drain I
Lucas brought it up carefully over dinner at their dark mahogany dining table, pacing his words with the exact, measured precision he had been rehearsing in his head for days."I've been doing some serious research," he said, setting his fork down onto his plate with a light, deliberate sound. "On investing. Real, structured investing. Properly managed, not just following random hype online or taking reckless gambles.""Yeah?" Rita looked up from her salad, her eyes flashing with instant interest."The crypto coin you hit on—that was incredible, obviously, but it was luck as much as anything, right? A tip from someone you don't even know, at the absolute right second." He kept his tone completely easy, reasonable, and disarmingly gentle. "I think if we actually study the broader market properly, put a real institutional strategy behind it instead of just praying another lucky tip comes along, we could turn what's left of the funds into something much bigger. We could set ourselv
Reborn Rich: My Fiancé and Step-Sister Killed Me Once. 134. Jessica's Resentment
Jessica had asked for the loan over coffee, keeping her tone light, casual, and completely unbothered.She’d framed it as a temporary bridge—a small capital boost to cover immediate overhead for her budding consulting project while she waited on an overdue invoice to clear. Rita had agreed on the spot, her eyes shining with that familiar, maternal warmth, nodding along as if making financial problems vanish was simply second nature to her now. She’d sounded so open, so overwhelmingly generous, that Jessica had left the café feeling a rare, fleeting moment of genuine relief.The bank transfer came through two days later, popping up as a silent push notification on Jessica’s phone while she was at her desk.She tapped the alert, opened her banking app, and stared at the posted balance.It was less than half of what she had specifically asked for.A text message from Rita arrived less than thirty seconds later, practically bouncing off the screen with performative affection:Rit
Reborn Rich: My Fiancé and Step-Sister Killed Me Once. 133. The Wedding II
ARDENThe bridesmaids came down the stone aisle first, draped in matching sage green silk gowns, carrying modest nosegays of cream roses. Then, as the string quartet shifted into the grand opening chords of the bridal entrance, Rita appeared at the top of the garden path on her father's arm.The entire outdoor audience turned in unison to look.I had to admit, purely objectively, that she looked genuinely beautiful. She wore an intricately embellished fitted gown with a sweeping lace train, her dark hair swept up into an elaborate undo, her face lit with the distinct, radiant glow of a woman finally living out a dream she had desperately wanted for a very long time.I watched her walk down the aisle, her eyes locked on Lucas. I watched Lucas’s face crack into a real, completely unguarded, emotional smile as she approached the floral altar. Sitting quietly in my tailored emerald dress, I felt no sudden pangs of jealousy or regret—only a cool, distant, almost professional curiosity
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