All Chapters of The Hidden Heiress Returns : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

129 Chapters

Territory

Hailey's POV Janet Lut’s entrance was not loud.That was the first thing that struck me.She didn’t burst into the room or announce herself in any dramatic way. She didn’t raise her voice or demand attention. Instead, she slipped in like she belonged there, like the hospital room had been waiting for her all along.The door closed softly behind her.Then she gasped.“Oh, Kingsley…”Her voice broke perfectly on his name. It was Soft, trembling. Just loud enough to draw focus without appearing intentional.She crossed the room quickly, heels silent against the polished floor, hands already lifting as if pulled by instinct. Her eyes—ocean-blue and glossy with tears—locked onto him with an intensity that bordered on reverence.I felt it immediately.That itch.It started low in my chest and spread outward, sharp and uncomfortable, like my body was rejecting something poisonous before my mind could catch up. A visceral, biological response I couldn’t explain and didn’t want to examine too

The Girl Who Went Missing

**Hailey's POV**Janet's voice followed me all the way home.Substitute.The word lodged itself somewhere deep in my chest, heavy and malignant, like a bell tolling long after the sound should have faded. It rang in my ears during the drive back to the Norway Mansion, during the silent ascent of the staircase, even as the staff greeted me with cautious politeness and concern I didn't have the patience to acknowledge.I didn't respond to any of it.I went straight to the library.The room smelled the same as it always had—old paper, polished wood, faint traces of leather and dust. Floor-to-ceiling shelves lined the walls, filled with books my grandfather collected more for appearance than use. The chandelier above cast a warm, golden light that should have felt comforting.But it didn't.It felt like a stage set for a life I no longer remembered how to play.I locked the door behind me.The click echoed too loudly.I stood there for a moment, breathing slowly, trying to calm the restle

Against Medical Advice

Hailey's POV Kingsley was discharged against medical advice.The doctor said it twice, slowly, as if repetition might somehow penetrate arrogance reinforced by money and entitlement. Kingsley listened with the faint, polite smile of a man who had already decided the conversation was over.“I’m aware of the risks,” he said calmly, adjusting the cuff of his jacket as though he were preparing for a board meeting instead of leaving a hospital bed less than forty-eight hours after surgery.The doctor glanced at me, clearly hoping for backup.I offered none.If Kingsley Geralt wanted to bleed internally on his Italian marble floors, that was between him and his insurance provider.What was my problem was that, for the sake of optics, I was required to be the one to take him home.The deal, it turned out, had clauses within clauses. Public image. Appearances. Continuity. A fiancée hovering attentively at his side made for excellent press, especially after the spectacle at the banquet.So I

Under The Skin

Hailey's POV The penthouse was too quiet.Not the peaceful kind of quiet—this was the heavy, expensive kind that came from too much glass and insulation, where sound had nowhere to hide and every breath felt like an intrusion. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and sandalwood, the ghost of the hospital clinging stubbornly to him.He stood by the kitchen island, half dressed, trying—and failing—to button his shirt.The movement was stiff, every breath drawing a faint wince he didn’t bother to mask. I pretended not to notice, leaning against the opposite counter, pretending to read a text that didn’t exist. My reflection in the chrome appliances looked back at me, unimpressed.He cursed under his breath when the fabric tugged against his side.“Language,” I said, without looking up.“I’m injured,” he replied flatly.“You’re impossible.”“That too.”Another tug. Another soft hiss of pain.Then, finally, a quiet admission: “I can’t reach the bandage.”I turned my head slowly. “What?”

The First public Appearance

Hailey's POV The ring was supposed to cost more than ten bucks.That was Kingsley’s exact phrasing when he told me to get dressed.It was not valuable, not appropriate and definitely not symbolic.Just: more than ten bucks.I should have known that meant excess.The boutique sat on a private stretch of Orchard Road, discreet in the way only obscene wealth could afford to be. There was no sign outside, no display windows, just a single pane of smoked glass and a security detail that scanned Kingsley before the door even opened.The moment we stepped inside, the air changed.It felt cooler, more quieter.The kind of silence that swallowed sound instead of reflecting it.Every surface gleamed—marble floors without a single scuff, glass cases that looked bulletproof, spotlights angled with surgical precision toward diamonds that could probably fund a small nation. The staff didn’t greet us immediately, they didn’t need to.They already knew who he was.Kingsley’s hand settled at the sma

Under Observation

Hailey's POV The ride back was nothing like the first.The Rolls Royce glided through the city with the same smooth efficiency, but the atmosphere inside had frozen solid. The bubble of luxury had turned brittle, the silence sharp enough to cut. The city lights outside the tinted windows blurred past, distant and irrelevant.Tyler’s words replayed in my mind like a cracked record.Ask him about the 2012 merger.Ask him what he did to your father.I didn’t wait.The moment the door sealed shut, I turned.“What was the 2012 merger?”The question landed between us like a thrown blade.Kingsley didn’t answer.He didn’t even look at me.His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, the muscle there jumping once before stilling. He adjusted the cuff of his jacket slowly, deliberately, as though buying time were a conscious choice.“Hailey,” he said at last, voice calm and clipped, “you shouldn’t listen to the ramblings of a bankrupt loser.”I laughed.The sound was sharp, humorless. “That’s not

Satelite

Hailey's POV The suite was quiet in the way only expensive spaces ever were.It was not peaceful, it felt controlled.The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city, Singapore laid out below like a field of carefully arranged lights. Everything glittered, everything pretended permanence. I stood in the center of it, barefoot on cool marble, while two stylists hovered behind me like obedient ghosts.The dress waited on its stand.Midnight blue, liquid silk. Cut low enough to be unmistakable, structured enough to be deliberate. It clung without apologizing, the kind of gown that wasn’t meant to flatter so much as announce.I watched my reflection as they zipped me in.This wasn’t armor.This was a challenge.The first major gala since my return. The first time I would be seen—not as a scandal, not as a ghost dragged back into relevance, but as Kingsley Geralt’s fiancée. The main attraction. The thing people would pretend not to stare at while memorizing every detail.I let them finish

The Perfect Appearance

Hailey's POV The whisper didn’t leave even when the lights came back on.It stayed with me.It followed me through applause and polite laughter, through the polite clinking of glasses and the low murmur of conversations resuming as if nothing had happened. As if someone hadn’t just reached into my head and rearranged something fundamental.“You look just like her tonight.”I sat very still.Too still.My smile held, frozen in place, the muscles in my face aching faintly from the effort. Anyone watching would have seen the perfect picture of composure—Kingsley Geralt’s fiancée, poised and unbothered, bathed in chandelier light.But inside, something splintered.I scanned the faces around me slowly, methodically, searching for recognition, for malice, for anything that would tell me who had spoken. But the darkness had already swallowed them, everyone looked normal. Some looked bored, mildly impressed.No one looked like a messenger.My reflection caught my eye in one of the gilded mir

Ice And Fire

HAILEY'S POV I didn’t bother to confront them.I didn’t storm the garden or demand explanations or make a scene worthy of the chandeliers inside the ballroom. I didn’t let Janet see me fracture, I didn't let Kingsley see me break.I turned away.The walk back to the car felt unreal, like moving through water. Every step was deliberate, controlled, as though my body were on autopilot while my mind lagged somewhere behind, replaying the image over and over again.Her hands on his chest.The angle of his head.The way it looked like something that had happened before.I didn’t cry.I didn’t feel anything at all.By the time I reached the penthouse, whatever heat had lived in me these past weeks had frozen solid.The lights were off when I entered.I didn’t turn them on.I kicked off my heels near the door and walked barefoot into the living room, the marble cold against my skin. The city glowed beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, distant and indifferent, all those lights belonging to l

The Memories He Kept

Hailey's POV The moment stretched until it hurt a lot.I was still pinned between him and the glass, my breath shallow, my pulse loud enough that I was sure he could feel it. His words lingered in the air, dangerous and intimate, and for one terrifying second, I thought he might close the distance and perhaps kiss me.He didn’t.Kingsley pulled back abruptly, as if some invisible line had been crossed. He dragged a hand down his face, breathing hard, the tension in his body shifting—not easing, but redirecting.“This,” he said hoarsely, gesturing vaguely between us, “isn’t how this ends.”I swallowed. “Then how does it?”“With the truth,” he replied.He turned away from me without waiting for permission, crossing the living room toward the corridor that led deeper into the penthouse. I hesitated only a second before following. My legs felt unsteady, my thoughts even worse.His study was darker than the rest of the penthouse.The lights were dimmed low, the walls lined with shelves th

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