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014 What if I’m The Problem?
Last Updated:
2025-04-21 13:44:03
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Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 015 Everything’s Fine
(Ava)Champagne is being poured like water. Laughter bounces off polished marble, mingling with the flash of diamonds under floodlights.This is where I had my 21st birthday party. The night Zach and I got married on a whim, and I fell pregnant in our opulent suite.The memories of that heady night are tattooed inside my brain. The Zachary Lorne, staying at my party, paying attention to me! It was the fairytale every girl dreams about. Zach was so perfect. Everything was perfect until it wasn’t.But did it all really happen?My early teen years were not a mentally stable place for me. I know what that feels like. This doesn’t feel the same.“You okay?” Zach asks.I nod. “I’m fine.”His eyes narrow slightly. “Why don’t I believe you?”I sip my champagne and survey the crowd.Across the rooftop, Sienna is in full bloom. Hair swept up, high-glam gown clinging like a second skin. She’s schmoozing effortlessly.I can’t look away from the scenes unfolding before me. It’s the same. All of
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 016 Discovering a Lie
(Ava)Sienna stops beside me like we’re best friends. “You’re quiet tonight,” she says sweetly. “Everything okay?”I nod. “Never been better.”She leans in closer. “Good to hear. Zach says you didn’t want to leave Lila with the nanny tonight.”Why the fuck did Zach have to tell her that?“I’m here, aren’t I?” I say calmly.“Of course,” she says sweetly, eyes flicking to my empty drink. “Though... you always are a little tightly wound. Paranoia runs in your blood, doesn’t it?”“No.”“Oh, wasn’t your father affected, and you as a teenager?”“My father had clinically diagnosed bipolar disorder,” I say flatly. “That doesn’t make me paranoid or anything else.”“Mm,” she hums. “I’m sure it doesn’t. But genetics can be tricky.”“Sienna, my father’s problem is not mine. And it’s not any of your business.”“I just want us to be friends. You don’t seem to trust me like you did.”I suck in a breath. “Maybe I have good reason to not be so trusting of you. You always calculated marrying Zach into
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 017 Poison in the Veins
(Ava)The moment we walk through our front doors, I wheel around to face him. “How long have you and Sienna had this secret?”Zach exhales, loosens his tie, and throws it onto the nearest chair. “Ava—”“No.” I hold up my hand, my voice shaking. “Do not start with a damn Ava like that. Just answer me.”He runs a hand through his hair, pacing toward the bar. “Since shortly after Lila was born. Sienna told me.”“And you didn’t tell me,” I snap. “So much for not having any secrets.”“I didn’t think it was that important. Why rock the boat?”“You never thought that you being drugged the night we got married was important?”“No! You are overreacting. If I thought it affected how I felt that night, we wouldn’t still be together… I loved you then, I love you now. What is the actual problem?”“For starters… the biggest night of my life—the night our daughter was conceived—was because Sienna roofied you.”“I wasn’t roofied,” he says flatly. “She gave me something to ‘loosen me up.’ It wasn’t li
Last Updated : 2025-04-21Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 018 Catalyst
(Ava)The smell of fresh pancakes hits me. I barely slept a wink.Zach hasn’t answered my messages. Is he with Sienna? Why do I even care?I should just kick his ass to the curb right now. I’m here to get revenge on him, not fall in love with him again. I need to be strong. But it’s hard when I continually second guess myself on if any of the past life stuff is real.I have nothing to go on apart from Lila’s aversion to Sienna, which could be explained by her being off-color that day. And the fact that I know what’s going to happen much of the time. But everything is not exactly the same.My actions and reactions have set off a new set of actions and reactions around me. But I certainly know that Sienna is out to get me any way she can. She wants Zach and she’s about to get desperate when she learns that Kai has an illness the doctor can’t pinpoint.What do I do? If I just blurt out a condition that none of us has ever heard of, that will seem strange. But I can’t just let Ka
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 019 Shifting Ground
(Zach)Sienna walks in wearing silk pajamas and holding two mugs of coffee like we’re just roommates on a lazy Sunday.I’m not in the mood for crap right now.“You sleep okay?” she asks, setting one mug down on the marble island.“On and off.” I take the coffee, but I don’t thank her.She sits on the edge of the counter, crossing her legs. “You want to talk about it?”“Not really. But I do have something to say to you…”She tilts her head. “Go ahead.”I narrow my eyes. “Why would you bring up the drugging? Why say anything at all?”“I thought she knew,” she says, voice light. “I thought you told her.”I stare at her for a beat, trying to read the truth under the surface. “You should have checked with me first.”“You two don’t keep secrets, remember? That’s what you told me.”I lean back against the counter, arms crossed. “Regardless. It wasn’t your story to tell. It was a dick act drugging me in the first place. Dredging it up now doesn’t help anything. So tell me again, why would you
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 020 The smiling Assassin
(Ava)I’m just about to strap Lila into her car seat when I hear the gates click open.I freeze.Kai is already in the backseat, chattering about his science project. The nanny hands me Lila’s bag. “Have a good morning, Mrs. Lorne.”My stomach is a rock.Zach’s matte black SUV pulls up. Of course, it does. It’s his house. His driveway.But it still feels like an ambush. He said he was leaving early for his business trip, and yet here he is.He gets out—sunglasses on, suit crisp. His shirt is open at the throat like he’s trying to look casual, but I know him too well. His outfits are a weapon. He’s dressing for a kill. It’s all part of the first impressions he wants to give.The passenger door opens. And out steps Sienna. I want to throat punch that satisfied look right off her.My blood boils at the sight of her and her smug, pointy face. Of course she’s letting me know he was with her last night. Why else would she be here?Dressed impeccably in a tight black dress and ankle bo
Last Updated : 2025-04-22Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 021 The Whole Truth Out Loud
(Ava)“Hey, lovebug,” Paige coos at Lila, gently stroking her curls. “Oof, that bunny has seen better days, and it smells like a campfire.”Paige wrinkles her nose as she sniffs and shuts the door behind me.I force a smile. “Yeah. That’s what I came to talk about. Partly. This is going to sound crazy…”She raises an eyebrow, her tone instantly shifting. “Okay. You’re scaring me. Sit down and tell me everything.”I drop onto her oversized velvet couch, Lila beside me gnawing on the bunny’s ear. Paige hands me a mug of cinnamon Chai, then sits on her armchair across from me. She folds her legs under her like we’re ten again in her mom’s trailer.We’ve been through everything together. Our parents are all the same. Addicted to drugs and alcohol, living in the trailer park. Paige and I got through all the awful stuff together and somehow came out the other end of it.“I think I died,” I whisper.Paige doesn't blink. “Okay. Let’s unpack that.”“I don’t think, I know. I died, Paige. I di
Last Updated : 2025-04-23Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 022 Finding Puzzle Pieces
(Ava)Paige nods slowly. “That’s what the cards say. The path you take… it changes everything. And once it’s chosen, there’s no going back.”I flinch. “I will always choose Lila. I have too.”“This isn’t just choosing your daughter over your husband. Zach is your soulmate. Yours forever in eternity. Breaking that bond will mean every lifetime you will have to suffer having a soul destined to be alone.”“Can I avoid it?”Paige shrugs. “That moment is coming. This isn’t about right or wrong. It’s about what you’re willing to sacrifice. What you’re willing to fight for. I don’t know how it will end.”I don’t speak.“I’m going to draw cards on Sienna now. You ready?”I nod.Paige pulls another card slowly, as if she already knows what it’s going to be. She flips it, and the second I see it, my skin prickles.The Moon. Reversed.“That’s Sienna,” she says flatly. “Of course it is.”The image on the card is eerie, even upright, but upside down, it’s worse. The shadowy wolves, the crawling cr
Last Updated : 2025-04-23
Latest chapter
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 035 Showing Up For Myself
(Ava)I haven’t slept much.I kept thinking about Zach, about Sienna, about what he said to me—and what he didn’t. The way he made it sound like I started the whole thing.Like I’m the problem again.Why does he always have to just believe anything she says? He’s such an idiot that way. If she said that I’d beamed aliens down to attack her, he would believe her. I don’t even get the benefit of the doubt.By eight, Lila is playing quietly, and I’m sitting at the kitchen table, nursing my third coffee.I message the staff to take the day off—not because they did anything wrong, but because I don’t want anyone else in the house right now. I need space. I don’t want to answer questions or pretend to be polite. Not today.But also, Sienna cannot be trusted and I don’t trust she hasn’t got someone on her payroll right here in this household.I text Zach:I sent staff away. Need privacy. Can you let me know how Kai is?He calls almost immediately.I answer. “Hey.”“He’s in an induced coma,
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 034 Flying Into a Storm
(Zach)I wasn’t supposed to be home until tomorrow, but the Tokyo deal wrapped faster than expected. The jet dropped me on the tarmac in Vegas just after 7 p.m.My phone lights up as soon as I switch it off airplane mode.Missed calls. Two voicemails from Sienna.The first voicemail plays while I’m still halfway to the car.“Zach—it’s Kai. He collapsed. He’s in emergency. Ava was visiting when it happened. It was bad. Ava started going crazy at me.”What the hell?I call Sienna back immediately. She picks up on the first ring.“Is he okay?” I demand.“He’s still unconscious. I’ve never seen him like this, Zach. I’m scared.”“What happened with you and Ava?”“She showed up with Lila, didn’t wait for a response to the text she sent. I buzzed her in anyway. She verbally attacked me in front of the kids.”I’m already in the car, heading toward the hospital. “Sienna, you promised, no more arguing.”“I didn’t want to argue. Ava is paranoid. I’m telling you. I’m the villain, I’m manipulative
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 033 From Bad Day to Worse Day
(Ava)I press the intercom at the front gate and wait, one hand on Lila’s back. She’s got her face buried in my neck, little fists clutching my shirt.“I know, baby. I don’t want to be here either, but we have to do this for Kai.” This is the last place I want to show up after the day I had but I promised Kai a visit with Lila.Sienna’s voice comes through the speaker, clipped and sugar-sweet. “Yes?”“It’s Ava. I’m here to visit Kai. Like we agreed.”Silence.Then the gate clicks open.Inside, Sienna Sinclair’s residence is spotless and cold. High ceilings, white marble, soft music drifting in from somewhere near the back. The kind of curated comfort that doesn’t come with warmth.A staff member nods me toward the family lounge and then vanishes like a ghost.Kai’s curled up on the couch with a blanket and his tablet. He looks way better than he did at the hospital. His face lights up when he sees us.“Lila! Ava!”“Ava,” Sienna says, tone clipped. “Wasn’t expecting you this early.”
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 032 Class Attack
(Ava)Luca slides the pickle off his burger and drops it onto my take out box without looking up.I pluck it off and pop it on my burger without a word.We’re having a quick bite before class resumes. We’re also finishing off our design details to hand in to the professor today for final assessment.“Rounded edge or squared off for the central island?” I ask.“Rounded. The rest of the space is straight lines. Needs some sexiness and curve.”“Exactly what I was thinking.”“You’re overthinking it. Just sketch what feels like the solution, not what looks like one.”“I’m trying to make it clean,” I murmur, biting my lip.“It’s too clean. Mess it up a little. That’s where your magic is.” He grins at me sideways. “We’re design soulmates.”“Or no one else can put up with our off-the-wall ideas…”“Either way, we have an edge.”Professor Moran’s voice pulls us from our rhythm. “Before we begin this class, I have an announcement you’ve all been waiting for.”Luca grabs my arm, mouthing, “Drumro
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 031 Something I Can Build
(Ava)Zach calls just after seven the next morning.I’m dressed, sipping my second coffee, Lila still asleep. I’ll take her to Paige in a couple of hours.I answer, keeping my voice casual. “Morning.”“Morning,” he says. “You’re looking gorgeous.”“Thanks. You look ready to smash some deals today. I’ve got a lunch meeting.”“With Luca?”“Yes.”Zach has that look on his face. The one that he always gets when Luca is mentioned. “Is that really necessary?”“Zach—”“I know what he’s up to, Ava. He’s still in love with you.”I sigh, setting my mug down harder than I mean to. “You’re not serious. You’re really going there? After you kept secrets from me with Sienna, you don’t trust me?”“I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust.”I shake my head. “Unbelievable. Sienna drugged you for sex and I have to trust her.”“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Everyone has.”“He’s my future business partner. He’s also a friend. We’ve worked damn hard on this.”“A friend who wanted to be more. Maybe still
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 030 Is It Me?
(Ava)My phone buzzes just after I’ve cleared the kitchen bench. I’m still thinking about Kai, about how pale he looked earlier this morning.It’s eleven in the morning now. Have the doctors been to see him?Kai had Aplastic Anemia in the past time. Is it that again? Should I say something?Zach’s name flashes across the screen. Oh, at last. I answer.“Hey.”“Hey,” he says. It’s softer than I expect. “You home?”“Yeah. Lila’s with Paige. I’ve just been... regrouping. Going over my planner so I can fit in all my internships and classes. How’s Kai?”“The doctors did rounds. They’re sending Kai home.”My chest loosens a little. “That’s good.”“They’re still watching him, though. They said if anything else happens, they’ll start running tests—immune panels, marrow checks. I hate the thought of him having something serious.”My stomach turns. I sit down at the counter. “You must be so worried.”I know what it’s like to lose a child. But the marrow donation wasn’t the thing that killed Lil
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 029 Making Life Normal Again
(Ava)Paige doesn’t ask why I’m not taking Lila to visit Kai.She just takes her from my arms, kisses her on the cheek, and says, “you don’t need to explain. Go. I’ve got her.”I nod, I’m tense. My heart is pounding remembering Lila in that same hospital. Small, fighting a battle for her life she could never win.“She’s safe with me,” Paige says. “You just do what you need to do.”I try to say thank you, but it catches somewhere in my throat. Instead, I turn and head for the car before I unravel in front of my daughter. I suck in a deep breath. I have to push through this.When I park outside the hospital, I don’t get out right away.I sit behind the wheel with the engine off, hands still on the steering wheel like I’m waiting for a green light that will never come. The glass doors to the pediatric wing are just ahead, automatic and indifferent.They’ll open the second I get close.Here I am in this same underground carpark Nico helped me into the taxi with Lila hidden under a blank
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 028 Collateral Positioning
(Zach)The Tokyo skyline glows outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, but all I see in my mind is a hospital room three time zones away.Kai’s in there. I’m here. Still wearing the same suit I flew in with. Still pretending like this deal matters more than what’s happening back home.It doesn’t. But I can’t walk away. Not from this. Not with my father breathing down my neck. Not with everything cracking beneath the surface.Across the conference table, another exec launches into licensing terms like it’s a game of chess. Vincent, my CFO, nods like he’s tracking every move. I should be.But my brain hasn’t caught up since Ava picked up the phone and said, in that quiet voice she uses when she’s afraid and pretending not to be, “Are you okay, Zach?”She is literally the only person to ask me that and really care about the answer.I’m not.Vincent turns toward me. “Zach, you want to weigh in on the licensing schedule?”I glance at the numbers on the screen. My mind grabs the first safe c
Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire 027 Everything in the Gaps
(Ava)By the time Paige pulls into the driveway, the air in the house still smells faintly like Zach.Musk and citrus. Wood and heat. It’s been an hour and he’s already flown out now. But his presence still lingers like a bruise I can’t stop pressing. And the bruises are darkening where his hands gripped my body.But he has some marks that will keep him thinking for me for the next 3 days he’s away. I won that battle, Sienna. He’s still mine.Paige eyes me the second she walks in. “Well,” she says, popping Lila in her highchair, “you’ve been thoroughly defiled.”I don’t answer. I don’t need to. My hair is damp, my cheeks are flushed. Despite the shower, there are signs. She can read it all over me.“You want my judgment or takeout?” she asks. “But only one involves soy sauce.”“Takeout,” I say, following her. “Always takeout.”She doesn’t ask questions. She’s a true best friend.“She’s different now,” Paige says quietly as she watches Lila. “Her energy feels heavier. Older.”I nod.
