Lahat ng Kabanata ng Reborn Rich: My Fiancé and Step-Sister Killed Me Once.: Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

ARDENRita's face went carefully blank, her expression smoothing into practiced innocence. "What are you talking about Ryan? I don't know what you mean."Everyone in the office turned to look at her now. The air went even more tense, charged with the electricity of workplace drama unfolding.Ryan tried to move toward her, his face twisted with anger and betrayal. "Don't you dare play innocent. You know exactly what you did.I told you things. I trusted you.""Ryan, I think you're confused," Rita said, acting confused, "I'm just a contract worker. I barely even have my first main contract yet. What could I possibly have done? I'm not important enough to do anything."Some people in the office nodded at that. It was a fair point on the surface. But others looked skeptical, their eyes narrowing as they remembered things. I could see them thinking about the team dinner, the way Rita had been fishing for information.But no one said anything out loud. Everyone just wanted this situation t

ARDENI pretended to head back toward the building entrance but instead slipped around the corner near the parking garage entrance where I could still see them through the gap between two pillars.At first their interaction was awkward. Lucas shifted his weight. "So... the office stuff seems intense lately.""Yeah, it's been a lot," Rita said.Then she took a step closer and something shifted. The mask she'd been wearing around me dropped away completely. She smiled differently now, warmer and more intimate. She lightly touched Lucas's arm."Congratulations on getting your relationship back on track," she said softly. "I knew even with Arden talking to that guy from the hospital and all your suspicions, she'd never actually cheat on you."Then she asked carefully, "Did you two ever talk about that? Like really talk about it?"Lucas shifted his weight. "Not deeply. But she apologized for leaving with him at the wedding. We're moving past it.""Oh good, I'm glad it worked out." Rita pau

ARDENMy stomach dropped. "Oh, sorry—I thought I'd be checked by Dr. Mercer?""Oh no, you were transferred." She handed me a card with directions. "Just sit in the waiting area until you're called."It felt like a punch to the gut. I took the card numbly and sank into one of the chairs in the waiting area.So much for all my dramatic reunion scenarios.My mind wandered to watching Jett walk away from the fountain at the venue after he saw Lucas kiss me. The way his jaw had tightened and the hurt that flashed across his face before he turned and left."Stupid," I muttered out loud, then immediately looked around to see if anyone had heard me. I bit my lip, trying to calm myself down.What was I expecting? Obviously he wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore after what he witnessed. And honestly, I deserved this."Arden Steele?"I followed a nurse down the hallway to an examination room. The doctor who entered a few minutes later was an older man with a warm smile that immediately

ARDEN The knowledge was still sitting there when I woke up. I reached for my phone before I was even fully awake, which was embarrassing enough on its own. I pulled up his social media and just stared at it. The expo post was still there. There were comments in the thousands, still climbing, people tagging their friends and losing their minds over the fact that ShadowKnight had actually shown up somewhere in person. I put the phone face down on the mattress. I wasn't going to contact him. I had made my choices and I was going to live with them. But lying there in the quiet of my apartment I understood something I hadn't fully put together before. Every single time Jett had shown up for me, it was never just coincidence. I used to think it was a cruel joke, the way he appeared everywhere. It was one person finding every available way to show up for another person without ever being able to say it plainly. After I got reborn, at first, I dreaded it. It felt weird. Why was it

LUCASThe TV was on but nobody was really watching it.Lucas was stretched out on the couch at his parents' place, one arm behind his head, scrolling through his phone without actually reading anything. Across the room his sister Jessica had her legs thrown over the arm of the armchair and was deep in whatever drama was currently happening on her own screen. At the dining table behind them their mother Diane was rearranging the place settings for Saturday's dinner for what had to be the third time since Lucas arrived."Mom," Jessica said without looking up. "You've checked out that blue plate four times.""I'm trying to see if it’s right," Diane said calmly."It's a family dinner, not a photoshoot.""Everything deserves to be done properly, Jessica. You'd know that if you ever hosted anything."Jessica opened her mouth to respond and then decided against it, going back to her phone. Lucas smiled at the ceiling.His phone rang. Rita's name on the screen.He sat up and answered. "Hey."