All Chapters of The Substitute Heiress : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Alessa’s POVThe gallery was quiet when I arrived. The front lights were off, the street-facing windows reflecting the city back at itself. Canvases leaned against the walls, some finished, some abandoned halfway through an idea. The smell of paint still filled the air, faint but present, as if Chloe’s work never fully left the room even when she did.I sat on a stool near the back workspace, hands resting loosely in my lap. Across from me, Riley leaned over his laptop, shoulders slightly hunched, eyes locked on the screen. Multiple windows were open. He had been working before I arrived.I watched him without speaking.The awareness that whatever came next from his research would settle something that had been hovering unresolved for too long.“Okay,” Riley said finally, pushing his chair back a few inches. “I’m going to show you what I can confirm without assumption,”I nodded.He turned the laptop toward me.“This is Serena Sterling.”Her name sat cleanly at the top of the screen

The day had started wrong, and I felt it before anything actually went wrong.It was the kind of morning where my body showed up to work but my mind lagged behind, like a shadow that refused to line up properly. I had been in my office since early, jacket off, with my sleeves rolled. The laptop screens lit in front of me, and still nothing held my attention for more than a few seconds.I read the same line on my tablet three times before realizing I wasn’t reading at all.My thoughts kept drifting back to the same quiet place I had been avoiding for weeks. A guest room that no longer felt like a guest room. A woman who had vanished without warning and left the kind of absence that didn’t heal cleanly.The door to my office opened without a knock.Serena walked in.She looked composed at first, her chin lifted, shoulders squared, but no matter how much she tried to hide it, the tension was evident. I could see it in the way her fingers flexed at her side, in the way her gaze skipped

Silas stepped back into the corridor, timing precise, as though he’d known exactly when Chloe and Riley would emerge. They almost collided with him. Chloe stopped short, breath catching. Riley’s posture changed instantly, subtle but unmistakable, shoulders squaring, with his attention sharpening. Silas Vanderbilt stood waiting, hands folded neatly in front of him, coat draped over one arm, expression unreadable. “Miss Chloe,” he said calmly. “Riley.” Neither of them spoke. “You will come with me,” Silas continued, conversational in a way that carried no room for refusal. “There is something we need to collect for Alessa.” Chloe blinked. “Collect… what?” Silas did not answer. Marcus stepped forward and opened the rear door of the car parked just beyond the hospital entrance. The gesture was polite. Riley glanced at Chloe. She swallowed, nodded once, and stepped forward. The door closed behind them with a soft sound. The drive passed without a word. The city lights slid a

Nathaniel’s POVMonday morning felt like punishment.The boardroom lights were too bright.I sat at the head of the long table, fingers laced loosely in front of me while executives rotated through quarterly updates. Slides changed. Revenue graphs rose and dipped. Projections stretched into the next fiscal year with confident arrows and clean margins.I heard none of it.My phone lay face-up beside my hand. The screen was dark, but it pulled at me like gravity.All weekend the internet had been merciless.Clips from the launch replayed across every platform. Press outlets dug into Lucius Black’s history with enthusiasm. The five-year relationship was confirmed with Alessandra Vanderbilt. Old vacations of theirs resurfaced. A private yacht in Monaco. A winter retreat in Aspen.There was one photo I couldn’t stop looking at.Lucius was standing close behind her, his hand resting low on her back.My jaw tightened.The ache in my chest was no longer confusion.I knew it was territorial.I

Nathaniel’s POV“Vanderbilt Group declined our proposal again.”Sebastian had said it so many times this week it almost sounded rehearsed.We were in my office. I barely looked up from the file in front of me.“On what grounds?”Sebastian leaned back in his chair. “No grounds or counteroffer. No suggested amendments. Just a simple decline.”A short laugh left me before I could stop it.“She’s doing it intentionally.”Sebastian rolled his eyes. “What did you expect? That she would see your collaboration deck and suddenly feel nostalgic?”My jaw tightened. “You think I’ll give up?”“I think you should.”“I won’t.”That was the problem. It wasn’t strategy anymore.It wasn’t even pride.It was something far more personal, and far less controlled.Before Sebastian could reply, there was a knock. My secretary stepped in, her expression unusually tight.“Sir, I just received a call from Chairman Vanderbilt’s office.”The air in my office changed instantly.“He’s requesting a meeting.”I was