Revenge From Ashes, Ruin for the Billionaire

(Ava)For eighteen months I idiotically called this marriage real.Eighteen months I doted on Zach Lorne, my husband, and believe the million-dollar ring on my finger means everything.Eighteen months, and then I hear him in his office with Sienna freaking Sinclair and the floor drops out of my happiness.Eighteen months and all he really wanted was to use me as a baby incubator.“I should never have married Ava,” he says. Calm. Businesslike. “I just needed someone stupid enough to get pregnant.”“It isn’t your fault. She was more than willing. Just what we needed. You don’t have to feel guilty for her stupidity, Zach.”I stand in the hallway with a tray of coffee going cold in my shaking hands and I don’t breathe.My stomach heaves and I want to vomit.“I could’ve just gotten a surrogate. If you hadn’t slipped me something, I would’ve been thinking straight that night. I would not have been getting married.”“Surrogates take time. We didn’t have time. Look, no harm done. We get what

(Ava)My skin is damp with sweat, my pulse pounding in my ears.The first thing I see is my bedroom ceiling, the bedroom I shared with Zach as a happily married woman.I whip my head around, my gaze darting across the room in frantic disbelief.I haven’t been in this room for so long.The familiar four-poster bed, the pale pink walls, the scattered stuffed animals across the floor… Lila’s toys, as if time has stood still.I clutch the sheets in my fists, my mind spiraling.Was it all a dream? A hallucination? Did I imagine everything?No.The fire. The smoke. Holding Lila’s limp body in my arms. The searing pain in my lungs as the flames devoured everything.I can almost still feel it. But… I’m here. I’m somehow back.Or this is now my hell on repeat.A soft whimper cuts through my thoughts. I listen hard and hear a noise I know well. Lila when she’s sleeping.Slowly, almost afraid to move, I turn my head in the direction of the crib.And there… curled up in her crib, her little chest

(Ava) Zach and Kai are still waiting at the ice cream truck when I notice Sienna drifting my way.Everything about her is perfect, her sundress catching in the light breeze, her hair loose and shining.She’s a picture out of a magazine, sugar and polish with that smile she uses to fool everyone.Everyone but me now I know what they did to me and to Lila in my past life.She stops just a few feet from our blanket and waves at Lila. “That line’s ridiculous. They’ll be forever.”I don’t answer. Lila pulls at my necklace with sticky fingers, and I gently redirect her little hands to my shirt.She rests her cheek against me, and my chest tightens. Her instinct to cling, her refusal of Sienna earlier… surely none of it is coincidence. She knows.Somehow my baby has some recall.I hope it’s not everything. I hope she never has to ever remember all of what they did to her.“I’ll sit with you guys.”Sienna lowers herself onto the blanket without waiting for permission, smoothing her skirt ov

(Ava)Monday is here. I have a lot to do.In my first life, today was the day everything began to unravel.Zach and Sienna were in his office, saying how he never wanted to marry me. How he only needed a baby to get bone marrow from. That was the start of the end.Because even though I know Zach loves me now. Those words ripped my world apart. And made me see that he would also cast me aside when I was no longer useful to him.His love was never forever.This time I won’t stand outside the door. I won’t listen at all. I already know what’s coming.What I need is to make sure it all still happens, that the false test gets waved in his face, that he stays away from me tonight.I need history to line up. Because tomorrow, I’ll have the real proof in my hand.But if Sienna manages to drug me again, I need someone who knows the truth. I need someone in my corner.So I pack Lila’s diaper bag, buckle her in the car seat, and drive across town to Paige’s house.I know she will believe this c

(Serena)The silence stretches.Zach shakes his head, like he’s trying to make the words rearrange themselves. “This… this can’t—”“It can,” I cut in my voice sharp.“It’s the truth. The truth you were so quick to throw away because she—” I flick my gaze to Sienna, savoring the way her jaw tightens, “lied to you, not me.”Zach falters.His fury is cracked now, bleeding into confusion. “Ava, I—”But I don’t let him finish. “You what, Zach? You can’t take back what you just said to me.”Inside, I’m drinking in every second of their shock, storing it up like the sweetest wine.“You have zero faith or trust in me. I cannot be with someone like that.”This is what victory tastes like.I know Caleb will walk through that door in three minutes.All I have to do is keep Zach rooted here long enough. Long enough that Sienna doesn’t get me alone.I lean forward, locking eyes with him. “Look at me, Zach. Go look at Lila. And then look at her.”I nod toward Sienna. “Ask yourself who’s been lying