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

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

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

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

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 finis

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