Semua Bab The Billionaire Heiress: yes, Use me : Bab 11 - Bab 20

The Grand Ballroom of the Zenith Hotel was a sea of shimmering silk and suffocating luxury. For five years, I had lived like a ghost in the shadows of my father’s mansion, scrubbed floors, and listened to the echoes of the night my mother was dragged away to that horrific psychiatric ward. Tonight, I was no longer the girl in the shadows.My heart felt like a trapped bird against my ribs as we stepped out of Xavier’s black Maybach. The cool night air hit my skin, and for a moment, the trauma of my "prison" life at home made me want to shrink away. But Xavier was there, his hand firm and steady on the small of my back."Breathe, Lara," he murmured. He looked like a dark god in his bespoke tuxedo, a man who owned the very air he breathed. "You aren't the girl they locked in the attic anymore. Tonight, you are the woman who is about to make this entire room tremble."I took a deep breath, the scent of the jasmine perfume Xavier had given me the same scent my mother used to wear before t

The air in "The Vault an underground gambling den hidden beneath an old clock factory was thick with the scent of expensive cigars, aged bourbon, and the desperate sweat of men who had run out of luck. It was the kind of place where fortunes were bled dry and secrets were the only currency more valuable than gold.I stepped out of the shadows, wearing a dress that was little more than a whisper of black silk. It was backless, held up by thin gold chains that crossed over my spine, dipping dangerously low at the hips. Every time I moved, the fabric shimmered, teasing the eye. Xavier had picked it out himself, his eyes dark and hungry as he watched me put it on back at the penthouse."He’s at the far table," Xavier’s voice crackled in the tiny earpiece hidden in my ear. "Seat four. Don't look at the cameras, Lara. Just look at the prey."I spotted him. Dr. Sterling looked even more pathetic in person. His tie was loosened, his face flushed with the fever of a losing streak. He was the m

The morning air in the penthouse was heavy with the scent of expensive coffee and the lingering musk of the night Xavier and I had shared. I sat at the marble breakfast bar, wrapped in one of his white silk shirts, my legs bare and my skin still tingling from his touch. For the first time in five years, I didn't feel like a servant. I felt like a queen in training.The peace was shattered by the sharp chime of the elevator. My heart skipped a beat. Xavier was downstairs in the private gym, and the staff knew better than to interrupt us. When the doors slid open, Tiffany Crestview stepped out, looking like a whirlwind of desperation and overpriced designer labels.She stopped dead when she saw me. Her eyes traveled from my messy hair down to the oversized shirt that clearly belonged to Xavier. Her face turned a sickly shade of pale, then a furious, burning red."You," she hissed, her voice trembling. "How did you get in here? My father has been looking for you everywhere since the gala

The Grand Ballroom of the Obsidian Club was a cathedral of excess, lit by chandeliers that dripped with real diamonds and filled with the scent of gardenias and old money. This was the territory of the elite, the place where reputations were made or slaughtered over glasses of vintage Cristal. I stood at the top of the marble staircase, my hand resting on Xavier’s arm. I was wearing the gown of liquid gold he had chosen for me; it was backless, plunging nearly to my waist, and so tight it felt like a second skin. Every time I breathed, the fabric shimmered, making me look like a flame caught in a glass bottle."Remember what I told you," Xavier whispered, his voice a low, masculine rumble in my ear. He looked devastating in a midnight-black tuxedo, his presence so commanding that the room seemed to tilt toward him the moment we appeared. "You don't need to earn their respect, Lara. You simply need to remind them that you are the woman standing beside me. That is enough to make them fe

The Vane Global Headquarters stood like a monolith of glass and steel in the center of the financial district, a silent testament to Xavier’s absolute grip on the city. I stepped out of the private elevator on the top floor, my heels clicking with a newfound rhythm of authority on the polished marble floors. I was dressed in a tailored, ivory silk power suit that hugged every curve, the diamond necklace I’d "purchased" earlier shimmering against my skin like a trophy of war.The atmosphere in the executive lobby shifted the moment I entered. The hushed whispers of assistants and the frantic tapping of keyboards ceased. They didn't see the broken girl from the Crestview attic anymore; they saw the woman who held the Black Card. They saw the woman who had spent five million dollars in a single hour and made their cold, untouchable boss laugh with pride."Miss Crestview," Xavier’s head of security bowed slightly as he opened the double mahogany doors to the inner sanctum. "Mr. Vane has c