All Chapters of HEIRESS REBORN: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

POV: ELENA CROSSI can feel the shift before I even open my eyes. It's quiet. Not the usual kind that comes from the expensive, controlled silence that comes from triple glazed windows and a penthouse forty stories above the city. No. This is different. This silence has weight. It presses against my skin. It breathes.When I check my phone, I get it.Three canceled meetings. Two unanswered calls. One event invitation pulled, no explanation.I sit up slowly, back stiff just as I receive a text from my assistant saying the foundation gala had in their last minute check ups, reshelved their guest lists and "won't be needing my opening remarks so as to make room for others."I call bullshit. That guest list was confirmed months ago, and I have spoken at that gala every year for nine years.All of a sudden they decide to make room by cutting me out?Absolute bullshit I open my email. Ten unread messages. Two are from donors. They are polite, but cold. The rest? Noise. Questions. Nervous

POV: SASHAI stare at the flash drive like it’s ticking.It has been sitting on my coffee table for an hour. I haven’t touched it. I haven’t even moved. Just watching it. Like if I blink, it will disappear and take the dread in my chest away with it.But it doesn’t.I finally get up. Slowly. Like I’m approaching a bomb and I plug it into my laptop.It takes a second to load, and then… there it is.The same damn video.I don't know why I even played it, it wasn't going to change.It is still the same cold impassioned, non romantic sex. Mechanical. Transactional. His hands on my hips. My face turned away. His eyes gleaming in triumph. Mine dead.There is no sound. But I don’t need sound. I don't think I need to hear it again, it replays in my head.“Damn it!” I curse as I slam the laptop shut. I pace. I stop. I run my fingers through my hair like it’ll squeeze the panic out. It doesn’t. “This sis fucking nightmare. A nightmare!’I grab my phone and dial Jared. He picks on the third rin

POV: SASHA I can't sleep.Not because I can't. But because every time I close my eyes, I see that stupid message. The one with the video warning. The one that made me feel like someone was breathing down my neck. Watching me. Waiting.And now? I can barely keep my hands from shaking as I sit in the car outside Nathaniel's mansion.I shouldn’t be here. I know that. I told myself I wouldn’t. But fear does things to people.I just need to be close to something familiar. To someone who used to make things make sense. I need to feel like I have control again.So I come hereTo Nathaniel's place. Like a live sick puppy that doesn't know where else to go.It is pathetic, I know but I have nowhere else to go or anyone to talk to.It's not like I am going to confess to him, no… but at least, I won't be alone.I am shaking when I press the doorbell at It is already past midnight and I have circled the city twice before I came here. I could have gone to any of the hotels. Could have called J

POV: ALINAThere’s something about watching people cling to power when it's already rotting in their hands. It’s sad. But more than that, it’s pathetic.Elena Cross is hosting a gala. Again.I hear about it through one of Margot's old sources. Some washed-up city councilman she used to babysit legally. Apparently, Elena wants to "reclaim her presence," as if anyone's begging for it. Her political donors are disappearing. Her name doesn't command the room anymore. And this gala—some charity event for underfunded boys’ schools, of all things—is her weak attempt at relevance.She's grasping. Hard.I sit across from Margot in the Ashen penthouse conference room, fingers lightly tapping the table as I stare at the invitation. Gold-trimmed. Desperate. Margot's already looking at me like she knows what I'm about to do."Don't look at me like that.""You haven’t said anything yet.""Exactly."She waits. Quiet. That’s her power move. No pressure, just silence. Makes me fill it in."We hit her

POV: SASHAI haven’t felt this calm in weeks.I’m lying on the chaise by the window, legs stretched out, wine glass in one hand, my other hand lazily scrolling through muted stories on my phone. Sunlight’s filtering in soft through the blinds. The house is quiet, and for the first time in a while, I feel like maybe everything’s going to level out.I know the world is burning right now, but at least… for now… I am at peace No new gossip blogs. No passive-aggressive texts from Elena. No weird glances from Nicholas. Not today.Today, I feel… okay. Just okay. And okay is good.It is better than good. It's perfect.I tilt my head back and close my eyes, letting the quiet in. Maybe this nightmare is winding down. Maybe that first envelope was some twisted prank. A threat, sure, but nothing followed it. Maybe they got bored. Maybe they’re done.Maybe I’m not the target anymore.I let the glass rest on my stomach. My phone drops to the side of the cushion.For a second, I feel peace.And th