All Chapters of Second Vows Of A Scorned Wife : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

*Zeke* The air in the ballroom was thick with the scent of lilies and expensive champagne, but to me, it smelled like old incense and damp stone. I adjusted the cuffs of my shirt, feeling the weight of the silver links against my wrists. I leaned against a marble pillar, watching the crowd. They were like ants scurrying around a golden hive, oblivious to the fact that the floor beneath them was hollow. Squinting slightly, a small smirk curved my lips as my eyes found her immediately. She was standing in a circle of light, draped in white silk that looked like wings. Tabitha. The city’s "Angel." She was smiling, that soft, serene smile that made people want to confess their sins to her. But I knew the shape of the darkness behind that smile because I had helped carve it. I waited until the crowd thinned around her, until she moved toward the terrace to seek the cool night air like she always does. I followed, my steps silent, as I slowly closed the space between us. She w

*Avina* Xavier looked between us, his brow furrowing. "What? What are you talking about?"That the love of your life was faking a pregnancy to try and trap you into a marriage? "Ask your fiancée, Xavier," I said, stepping back. I felt a cold, jagged sense of triumph. "She seems to have a very... selective memory when it comes to her health."Daphne finally found her voice, though it was thin and reedy. "She’s lying! She’s just trying to cause trouble because she’s jealous!""Am I?" I reached into my clutch and pulled out a handkerchief and daintily patted my brow, ensuring the movement caught the light on my ring.Xavier’s eyes snapped to my hand and he went completely still. I watched the realization dawn on him—the size of the stone, the quality of the platinum, the sheer, unmitigated wealth it represented. "That ring..." Xavier whispered. "Avina, where did you get that?""From a man who knows how to treat a woman," I said. I tucked the handkerchief away and looked at them both w

*Ronan*The hum of the private jet’s engines was a low, constant thrum in my bones, a sound that usually signaled the end of a successful deal. But as the wheels hit the tarmac of the private hangar, success was the last thing on my mind. Zurich had been a blur of grey skies, sterile boardrooms, and Swiss bankers who talked too much and said too little. I’d spent forty-eight hours wanting to reach through the phone and pull Avina into the seat next to me.The cabin door hissed open, and the humid, heavy air of the city rushed in, smelling of rain and jet fuel. I stepped down the stairs, my suit jacket slung over one arm, my neck stiff from a flight spent staring at a blank laptop screen. Archer was waiting by the black SUV, his face as unreadable as a stone wall. He didn't offer a greeting. He just opened the door. That was the first sign that the gala hadn't gone as quietly as I’d hoped.I handed my briefcase to Zach, who stood behind me and got into the car."Report," I said, the

*Avina*The phone in my hand felt like a live wire in my hand. Shooting up to my feet, I began to pace the length of my room, my heart hammering a rhythm of pure anxiety against my ribs. I was deviating. I knew it. My initial plan was simple: burn everything Xavier loved to the ground and dance in the ashes. But the more I pulled at the threads of my past life, the more the fabric of my reality unraveled. Xavier killing me in my last life wasn’t just a freak accident or a simple cover-up. It was tied to something deeper, something ancient and rotting. And I desperately wanted to uncover whatever it was. My mind flashed to the gala—to that woman in the charcoal gown. I heard many people there call her an angel, but when our eyes, hers shrouded in shadows, I'd felt a chill that didn’t come from the air conditioning. And then there was Chloe, whispering in corners with that woman. My hand clenched into fists by my side. I had questions that were eating me alive. Blowing out a shaky

*Avina*I felt a cold, sickening realization dawning on me. My stomach flipped, the lunch I’d barely touched turning to lead."Me," I whispered. "I was the revenge."Ronan didn't look away. "When you showed up at my club that night... I knew exactly who you were. I knew you were the Drene Princess he’d discarded in favor of his other daughter. I saw the opportunity to take his you, to make you mine, and to throw it in his face. Until things became complicated. It was supposed to be a game, Avina. A way to settle a debt."A small disbelieving scoff slipped past my lips. No wonder everything concerning him had felt easy to access. Way too easy. My heart shrank. It felt like a small, withered thing in my chest. I thought about those few nights he’d held me. All the times he’d told me I was safe. I had approached him for my own revenge, yes. I had used him as a tool to get back at Xavier. But hearing it from him—hearing that I was just a 'chip' in his long-standing feud—felt like a knif