All Chapters of Reborn to Seduce the Devil CEO : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The clock on my vanity said 6:00 PM. In thirty minutes, I was supposed to walk downstairs in the white dress they picked for me, smile like a lovesick idiot, and let Arthur Vance slide a three-carat diamond onto my finger. In my past life, I did. I blushed. I cried happy tears while all of high society clapped for the perfect couple. How many of them knew? How many of them watched me walk into a slaughterhouse and said nothing? Not anymore. I stood up. My hands were still shaking, but my mind was ice. The white dress was laid out on the bed. Pure, innocent, virginal. Chloe picked it. She said it made me look angelic. I grabbed it and threw it into the bathtub. Then I opened my closet and pulled out the dress my stepmother always told me was too aggressive. A blood-red Valentino, off-shoulder, with a slit that went up to my thigh. My father had bought it for me for my 21st birthday. He said red was my color. Powerful. I put it on. I put on red lipstick like war paint. I left my h

I should have known the Lin mansion's security was useless. My stepmother Margaret had fired all of my father's old guards after he died and replaced them with cheap men who spent more time looking at their phones than at the cameras. In my past life, that was how Chloe was able to bring Arthur into my bedroom while I was still technically married. That was how they were able to take me away to the asylum without anyone stopping them. I made a mental note. The first thing I would do after I secured the Sterling name was fire every single one of them. Because at 11 PM, when I had just come back from Sterling Tower and was trying to take off this red dress that felt like armor, my bedroom door clicked open. I froze. "Vivian?" Arthur's voice. Hoarse. Broken. Like he had been crying. He slipped inside and closed the door behind him, locking it. He was still in his wrinkled tuxedo from this morning, his eyes red, his hair a mess. He looked like a man who had lost everything overnight

Sterling Manor was not a house. It was a fortress. I had seen photos of it in magazines — the most expensive private estate in the city, hidden behind ten-foot black gates and a forest of old pine trees. No reporter had ever gotten a clear shot inside. The rumors said Julian Sterling never brought anyone home. Not women, not business partners, not even his own cousins. He lived alone with his servants like a king in an empty castle. And now the gates were opening for me. The Maybach drove up the long, winding driveway. Mark was driving. Julian sat next to me, his long legs taking up most of the back seat, his cane resting against his knee. He hadn't said a word since we left the Civil Affairs Bureau, but his hand had never left mine. His thumb was drawing slow, unconscious circles on my skin. I should have pulled away. It was a contract. I didn't. When the car stopped, the front doors of the manor were already open, and every servant in the house was lined up in two perfect rows

The black card stopped working at 9:17 AM. I was in the Sterling Manor's massive walk-in closet that Finch had opened for me — a room bigger than my old bedroom, filled with designer dresses that had been delivered overnight with tags still on them. Julian's doing, obviously. I had picked a simple white Chanel suit for my meeting with Grandpa, and I was about to buy a pair of nude heels to match it online. Transaction declined. I frowned. Tried again. Transaction declined. Please contact your bank. That was weird. The Sterling black card had no limit. Julian had said to buy whatever I wanted. I tried my own personal debit card. The one linked to my private trust fund from my mother. The one Margaret — sorry, Margaret — had always told me was "being managed for my own good." Your account has been frozen due to suspicious activity. Please visit your branch. My blood went cold. I tried my other account. The Lin family allowance account. Frozen. All of them. Every single account

The high of watching Arthur collapse on stage lasted exactly until I reached the parking lot. The Maybach was parked in the underground garage of the Vance building — dark, damp, empty because everyone was upstairs watching the press conference implode. Mark's two lawyers had gone back to file the fraud report with the police, leaving me alone for just a minute. One minute. That was all it took. I was scrolling through the headlines — #ArthurVanceBankrupt was already number one, with my photo of me staring him down as the cover — when I heard footsteps behind me. Fast. Too fast. Not the echo of heels. I turned. Three men. Black hoodies, black masks, baseball caps pulled low. Not random muggers. Their eyes were fixed on me with a purpose that made my blood freeze. "Miss Lin," one of them said, his voice rough. "Boss wants to have a word with you. About keeping your mouth shut." Boss. Arthur. It had to be Arthur. He had lost everything an hour ago. Of course he would send thugs. I