All Chapters of The Phoenix Contract: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Life at home wasn’t any better than the torment I faced at college. If anything, it was worse. It was a daily grind of humiliation and neglect that left no room for peace or respite. The grand house on Thornwood Lane, with its ivy-covered walls and sprawling gardens, might have looked picturesque from the outside, but inside, it was a battlefield. And I was the lone soldier, always losing.My stepsisters, Bianca and Lila, were everything I wasn’t: glamorous, confident, and cruel. Bianca, the elder of the two, was a sharp-tongued beauty with an appetite for dominance. She treated me like an unpaid maid, barking orders at me to fetch her coffee, clean her room, or iron her designer clothes. Lila, though younger, was just as vile. She had a talent for cutting remarks, finding ways to humiliate me in front of any guests who visited. “Oh, that’s just Seraphina,” she’d say with a sneer, “our little house help.”Their mother, Eleanor, was the worst of them all. She made no effort to hide her

I walked into school the next day, my head was hung low and my heart was heavy with fear sprinkled with sadness. I told myself that the comments would fade if I just stayed invisible, like I always had. If I didn’t look at anyone, if I didn’t speak, they’d forget eventually, wouldn’t they? It had worked before. Being invisible had always been my armor, thin as it was.But this time, it didn’t work.Everywhere I turned, there were whispers, muffled giggles, and mocking stares. I caught snatches of their cruel words, each one slicing into me like a knife."Madwoman’s daughter.""Guess insanity runs in the family.""Careful, she might snap any second."By lunch, the whispers turned into open jeers. Isla’s posse made sure of that, they kept fanning the flames she had lit. Even Dane, who once smiled at me like I mattered, joined in. He leaned against a locker, smirking as he said loud enough for everyone to hear, “No wonder she’s such a freak. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the craz

Seraphina sat upright in the hospital bed, her fingers curling around the rough fabric of the blanket draped over her lap. The air in the room was filled with tension as Eleanor, Bianca, Lila, and her father loomed over her like a pack of vultures circling their prey. Their faces twisted with irritation, barely concealed behind the thin veneer of forced concern.“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Seraphina,” Eleanor snapped, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “After everything we’ve done for you, this is how you repay us? Telling us to leave?”She couldn’t accommodate any longer after what she heard on the rooftop. Although she kept wondering where they heard about the fortune from because it was foreign to her, even as the owner. Her father was the only sane option and that got her wondering why he never mentioned it to her.The sense of betrayal was more than she could bear. Their presence irritated her soul to the point it made her retch. They were all planning to steal the la

Seraphina’s fingers trembled slightly as she moved her knight across the board, her heart pounding in her chest. Adrian watched her with a serious expression, his sharp gaze flicking between her face and the board. She held her breath, waiting for his next move.Then, without hesitation, Adrian captured her knight with his bishop. “Pathetic,” he murmured, barely looking up at her. “You hesitate too much. That’s why you’re weak.”She clenched her jaw, refusing to let his words affect her even though she knew he was very right. She studied the board again, trying to think two steps ahead, but her mind was clouded with frustration. When she moved her rook, Adrian sighed and immediately countered with a devastating play.“Tell me, Seraphina,” he said, his voice smooth but sharp as a blade. “Do you plan to continue walking through life hoping people will hand you victories? Because that won’t happen.” He moved another piece, trapping her king. “Check.”She swallowed hard, sweat gathering a