All Chapters of The Heiress' Return For Vengeance : Chapter 61 - Chapter 65

NATASHADad's not even looking at me anymore.I can see the disappointment radiating off him in waves, and it makes me want to crawl into a hole and die.Dad's always been selfish, always put his own interests first. It's one of the reasons he neglected Elise all her life, because he couldn't risk her rising up against him one day. But he expected me to be smarter than this. He expected me to win.Instead, I handed Elise the perfect weapon to destroy us all.My legs give out and I collapse on the velvet ottoman, sobbing so hard I can barely breathe.Everything hurts. My chest feels like it's being crushed in a vice.My head is pounding from crying. My throat is raw from screaming. My hands are shaking so badly I can't even wipe the tears from my face.But worse than the physical pain is the knowledge that this is all my fault.I'm the one who pushed too hard, too fast. I'm the one who got greedy and tried to destroy Elise before she could fight back. I'm the one who underestimated her

ELISEThe simple, repetitive motion of putting one foot in front of the other. The burn in my lungs reminding me I survived when they tried to kill me.The steady thump of my heartbeat drowning out the voices in my head that whisper about failure and helplessness and the terrible price of survival.But as my body settles into the familiar rhythm of running, as my breathing deepens and my muscles warm, my mind starts to drift. And that's when the memories surface, unbidden and unwelcome, rising from the depths where I've tried so hard to bury them.The mental institution. Those sterile white walls that seemed to close in a little more each day, making the already small room feel progressively more claustrophobic.The smell of disinfectant that never quite masked the underlying scents of despair and madness, of human waste and unwashed bodies and the particular staleness coming from too many broken people confined in too small a space.The way the staff looked at me, not with compassion

ELISEThe weight of everything crushes down on me the moment I step into my room. My legs feel like they're made of lead, each step requiring more effort than the last.I drag myself toward the bathroom, peeling off my clothes with shaking hands.The shower handle turns with a sharp squeak, and scalding water pours down from the rainfall showerhead. Steam fills the marble-enclosed space within seconds.The hot water hits my skin like a thousand tiny needles, but I welcome the pain. It's better than the numbness that's been spreading through my chest since that woman left. Better than feeling nothing at all.Then the dam breaks.A sob tears from my throat, raw and ugly. Then another. My knees give out and I sink to the shower floor, letting the water pound down on my shoulders while tears stream down my face.The sound echoes off the marble walls, mixing with the steady rush of water."Why?" The word comes out broken, barely audible over the rushing water. "Why did I think he'd be diff