All Chapters of Betrayed : The Rival Alpha’s Obsession: Chapter 1 - Chapter 6

Ava didn’t knock. In this house, privacy was a luxury reserved for those with a high "market valuation."Marcus Hale was in his study, legs crossed, swirling a glass of amber whiskey. He had a rugged, sun bronzed face and a sharp, calculating gaze that made him look more like a predatory wolf than a father. He didn’t look up. The scent of expensive cigars and "old-money" arrogance hung in the air like a physical weight, pressing against Ava’s lungs.“You’re trending,” he said lazily, his voice as smooth and cold as a serpent. “Congratulations. You’ve become the most expensive joke in the city.”Ava’s hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms until they bled. “Ryan dumped me.”“Mhm.”“In front of the entire city. He threw me away like a used napkin.”“Strategic timing,” Marcus replied, finally setting his glass down with a sharp clack. “The Vales bring liquidity and territorial expansion. You? You bring a ‘mid-tier’ lineage and a sentimental attachment that has zero ma

By the seventh night, Ava Hale’s hands no longer smelled of expensive French perfume or the high end lotions her mother insisted upon. They smelled of "iron and antiseptic."The "soft-tempered" heiress was being systematically erased. In her place was a girl with raw knuckles and a "calculating" gaze. She had spent the last 168 hours in the "Gray Zone," and the transition was brutal. She had scrubbed every inch of the Crown & Claw’s cracked tiles until her back felt like it was breaking. She had stitched three broken knuckles and one torn ear under Silas’s "iron-hearted" supervision.She was no longer wearing the ruined silk of a socialite. Silas had tossed her a pair of faded gray sweatpants and an old, oversized black hoodie that swallowed her "willowy" frame. On her feet were a pair of scuffed, heavy combat boots— man sized and two sizes too big, requiring her to thick-wrap her feet in gauze just to keep them on. They were heavy and clunky, a far cry from the glass-slipper life she

Ryan Blackwood stood in front of a mahogany framed mirror, adjusting his silk tie with the precision of a man who viewed himself as a god. His office at the top of the Blackwood Tower was a shrine to "arrogant dominance." The glass walls offered a panoramic view of the city he intended to own.Life had been remarkably quiet for the last seven days. No tearful phone calls. No "soft-tempered" pleas for an explanation. No dramatic scenes at the front gate.“Has there been any word?” Ryan asked, his voice smooth and "camera-perfect."His head of security, a burly Beta named Marcus, shifted uncomfortably. “Nothing, sir. We’ve monitored the Hale estate. Her father has officially wiped her from the family registry. Her credit cards were flagged, but they haven't been swiped. It’s like Ava Hale vanished into the rain.”Ryan felt a surge of "shameless relief." He didn't feel guilty; he felt unburdened.Ava had been a three-year habit he had finally outgrown. She was the girl who stayed up lat