All Chapters of The Billionaire Heiress: yes, Use me : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The five years following my mother’s "funeral" were a slow, agonizing lesson in survival. My father hadn't thrown me out not out of love, but because I was a convenient, unpaid servant. I cooked, I cleaned, and I worked two jobs at a diner and a library just to afford the "rent" he charged me to live in my own mother's house. But I had Mark. Or so I thought.I walked home through the biting wind, clutching a small, bruised cupcake I’d bought with my last five dollars. It was my twenty-fifth birthday, the age my mother always told me would be "the beginning.""I’m home, Mark!" I called out as I entered the small apartment we shared. "I got off early. I thought we could…. "I stopped. A pair of red designer heels shoes that cost more than my monthly salary were tossed carelessly in the hallway. I knew those shoes. They belonged to my stepsister, Tiffany.My heart didn't just sink; it went cold. I walked toward the bedroom, every step feeling like I was treading on broken glass. The door

Xavier’s grip on my jaw didn't loosen. If anything, his fingers pressed harder into my skin, marking me before the deal was even signed. Around us, the music of the gala seemed to fade into a dull hum, leaving only the sound of my ragged breathing and the predatory silence of the man in front of me."You say that now," Xavier whispered, his eyes scanning my face for a flicker of regret. "But you have no idea what it means to belong to a Vane. I don't do 'partnerships,' Lara. I do total surrenders.""Then let’s call it a surrender," I snapped, my voice laced with a coldness that matched his own. "My father took my past. My stepmother took my mother. My fiancé took my pride. I have nothing left to lose, Xavier. So yes... use me. Use me to get what you want, as long as you provide the knife I need to slit their throats." A dark spark lit up in his grey eyes. For a second, I thought he might actually kiss me or crush me."Brother, stop terrifying the poor girl. You're getting water on y

The bedroom door clicked shut behind us, a sound that felt as final as a prison cell locking. But in this room, I wasn't the prisoner I was the prize.Xavier didn't turn on the lights. He didn't need to. He moved with the confidence of a man who knew every inch of this dark empire. He stood in the center of the room, his silhouette framed by the floor-to-ceiling glass, watching me with a hunger that made my knees weak."Come here, Lara," he commanded. It wasn't a request.I walked toward him, the silk of my gown whispering against my thighs. Every step felt like a surrender. When I reached him, he didn't kiss me. He simply grabbed my waist with both hands, his fingers digging into the soft skin above my hips, and hoisted me up until I was sitting on the edge of his massive mahogany desk."You’ve been playing the brave little soldier all night," he murmured, stepping between my legs, forcing them apart so he could stand flush against me. "But your heart is racing. I can see it pulsing

The black SUV tore through the midnight fog, Xavier’s hands steady on the wheel. I sat in the passenger seat, my body still screaming with every bump in the road. The soreness between my thighs was a constant, pulsing reminder of the night before, but I gritted my teeth. I couldn't be weak now. Not when my mother was so close."Five minutes out," Xavier muttered, his eyes fixed on the GPS. "The transport is a white medical van. Adriana says they’ve bypassed the main highway to avoid cameras. They’re taking her to the 'Blackwood' facility.""My father is a monster," I whispered, clutching the door handle. "He knows she’s not insane. He just wants her silenced so he can keep the inheritance."Xavier didn't offer comfort. He wasn't that kind of man. "Then we silence him. Forever."We saw the van as we rounded a sharp bend in the coastal road. Xavier didn't hesitate. He accelerated, the engine roaring like a beast, and swerved in front of the van, forcing it to screech to a halt inches fr

The penthouse felt like a kingdom perched atop the clouds, far removed from the damp, gray walls of the asylum I had called home for five years. Xavier didn't take me back to the windowless room where we had signed our dark contract. Instead, he led me to a master suite that made my breath hitch in my throat.The room was bathed in the amber glow of the setting sun, floor-to-ceiling windows offering a panoramic view of the city I intended to burn. It was beautiful, but as my fingers brushed against the reinforced glass, I felt the familiar weight of a cage. This one was just lined with silk and gold."You'll find everything you need here," Xavier said. His voice was a low, gravelly vibration that seemed to bounce off the marble floors. He stood by the door, his silhouette imposing and dark against the luxury of the room. "Clothes, jewelry, and the vanity is stocked with the exact perfume your mother used to wear. I spent a considerable amount of money tracking down the original formul