All Chapters of The Substitute Heiress : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Alessa's POVDinner felt too cold.Mrs. Rowe moved around the table as she always did, humming under her breath, adjusting plates that did not need adjusting, telling a long story about the florist who had nearly delivered the wrong flowers for an event no one at this table cared about anymore. She talked about lilies versus roses as though that were the most important decision of the week.I nodded when required, smiled when appropriate.Grandfather barely spoke.He cut his food with care, lifted his wine, listened to Mrs. Rowe as though nothing in the world had changed at the launch. As though he had not summoned Nathaniel into his office the today. The silence between us was louder than Mrs. Rowe’s chatter.When she finally cleared the table and left us alone, the air changed immediately.I placed my napkin down carefully and looked at him.“What did you discuss with him?”He did not look up. “Who?”I did not humor him. “You know exactly who I mean.”A faint laugh left him. That w

Third PersonThe penthouse was quiet again. It was not an empty kind of quiet, not the peaceful sort that came after a long day when the city finally softened. This was a hollow quiet, the kind that made space for thoughts Serena usually kept contained. The lights were dim, reduced to a warm glow. From the windows, Manhattan shimmered as it always did, alive and indifferent, but inside the apartment there was no movement, no laughter, no low murmur of conversation that might distract her.She sat in the guest room. Not in the master bedroom.That had been a decision she had examine lately. She found herself trying to know what got her Nathaniel with three years.A champagne flute rested loosely in her hand, the stem pressed between her fingers. She had poured it an hour ago and had not tasted it once. The bubbles had flattened, leaving the liquid dull, and started to warm.Her phone was propped against her thigh. The Vanderbilt launch clip played again.Lucius kneeling, theatrical

Alessa POVNathaniel opened the door with the casual impatience of someone expecting a friend.“Sebastian, if you’re –”The rest of the sentence fell away when he saw me standing there.For a brief second, he simply looked at me, and I watched the assumption drain from his expression. He did not ask why I was here. He did not pretend surprise in an exaggerated way. He stepped aside automatically, the movement instinctive rather than polite.I walked in without waiting for an invitation.The house felt the same. Everything was placed deliberately. I did not allow myself to linger on familiarity. I turned to face him fully.“If you released those photos to force me back into your life, you underestimated me.”I did not raise my voice. I did not accuse wildly. I stated it as a fact to be examined.He closed the door behind me and took a few slow steps forward.“You think I did that?”There was no flare of temper from his voice.“Then who did?” I asked.He exhaled through his nose.“Why w

Third person Marcus entered Silas Vanderbilt’s study without announcing himself. The old man was seated behind his desk, a leather-bound report open in front of him, his reading glasses low on his nose. The room smelled faintly of paper and polished wood, orderly in the way only long-held power could be. Marcus crossed the room and placed his phone on the desk without speaking. Silas did not look up immediately. He finished the sentence he was reading, marked the margin with a fountain pen, then lifted his gaze. “What is it?” Marcus rotated the phone toward him. The headline filled the screen. Vanderbilt Heiress in Secret Relationship with Unknown Man. Subheading. Penthouse images. Speculation. Timeline threads. Questions about Lucius. Silas adjusted his glasses slightly and read the article in full. He did not rush. He scrolled through every image. He paused on none of them. Marcus watched closely. When Silas finished, he handed the phone back. “Should I trace the source

After the club night, Verity texted Riley first.Riley had expected that much.The message was casual, a joke about the DJ. A complaint about a professor. Then, almost as an afterthought: You’re good at Math right? I might need help with something.Riley did not reply immediately. When he did, it was short. What topic?She sent three messages after that. A screenshot of an assignment. A complaint about group work. A selfie she pretended was accidental.He answered the academic question, and just ignored the selfie.That was how it began.She asked if she could come over to study. He said yes without enthusiasm. He did not offer to pick her up. He did not ask when she was free.She filled the silence herself.Within two weeks, she was coming to his apartment twice a week. Sometimes three.Riley kept the pace steady. Never eager. Never unavailable.Verity did the chasing.~~~Now she sat cross-legged on his couch, laptop open, highlighter tucked between her teeth. Books were spread acro