All Chapters of Reborn as the True Billionaire : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Morana’s POVWe were invited to dinners at Mabel’s penthouse on the Upper East Side. The space was all white marble and floor-to-ceiling windows that screamed old money pretending to be new money. She invited eight people. The three most crucial board members. Theodore, Felix, Me and Tristan.I wore black Black Givenchy that looks like armor. My hair pulled back so severely it pulled at my scalp. My ears were adorned with diamond earrings. Tristan’s hand settled at the small of my back as we stepped into the elevator. The touch was possessive and exactly what I needed before walking into a room where Mabel was about to try to break me with smiles and wine and casual cruelty that only family could deliver.She greeted us at the door wearing champagne silk and pearls and a smile that was warm enough to be dangerous. She kissed my cheek and whispered something that sounded almost affectionate before turning to Tristan with an expression that suggested she was genuinely delighted to see

Morana’s POVThe first thing I learned after disappearing for five years was that the world doesn’t give a shit about you until you’re suddenly worth attention again.By noon my face was everywhere.It was not the version Xavier has trained me into that is always in the shadows. Morana Mortaine Returns screamed across every headline like I’d come back from the dead instead of just from hiding.I stood barefoot in Tristan’s kitchen with coffee cooling between my hands and scrolled through articles that felt obscene in their speed. Someone has somehow photographed me leaving the Rothschild building. I was wearing a black coat, dark glasses and his security behind me. My actual name attached to my actual face for the first time in five years. It wasn’t how I planned to go public. I wanted to win the CEO position before letting the world know I was back. The internet has lost its collective mind and there is nothing like damage control right now. “Trending in six countries” Tristan s

Tristan’s POVMorana fell asleep with her head against my chest and her hand gripping my shirt like she was afraid I’d disappear if she let go.The integration had taken longer than I expected. Not because it was difficult physically but because every time I tried to keep it clinical, she’d shift slightly and I’d catch the scent of her perfume and something in my control would slip. I’ll pull back then she will notice and we start again.This happened four times before I finally accepted that there was nothing clinical about having her blood on my tongue or mine on hers. Now she was asleep and I was awake and the city was doing that thing it did at three in the morning where it got quieter but not actually quiet. Just a different kind of noise.Her hand was still twisted in my shirt. I looked down at it and saw the bruising.Dark marks wrapped around her wrist from one of the extraction sessions. The skin was still slightly discolored, the kind of bruising that came from restraints

Tristan’s POVBy the time I left Morana at Theodore’s townhouse, Manhattan was already drowning in rain. She barely looked back before walking inside.That should not have irritated me as much as it did. After what we did in the bathroom, I felt like I deserve a kiss. I don’t go down on women. Ever. I watched the front doors close behind her from the backseat anyway, my thumb tapping once against the armrest before I finally spoke.“Keep someone outside.”The driver glanced at me through the mirror. “Sir?”“Theodore’s house.” My gaze stayed on the townhouse windows. “I want eyes on every entrance.”“Yes sir.”“And if Xavier Lancaster comes within fifty feet of that property—”“I understand.”The car pulled away from the curb smoothly after that though the irritation stayed beneath my skin the entire drive back downtown. I don’t know when I started needing Morana’s attention like this but I do. Possessiveness was inefficient ans I knew that. Unfortunately knowing something rarely sto

Morana’s POVThe boardroom felt smaller than it had before or maybe I felt larger. Either way walking through those doors in the Valentino dress with Tristan’s hand steady at the small of my back, felt like stepping into a war I’ve already won before anyone started fighting.Theodore was already seated and so was Felix. Mrs. Sun sat with her hands folded on the mahogany table like she was waiting for someone to give her permission to breathe. Lance was at the head of the table—my father’s chair—with his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscle working beneath his skin.The sheer audacity. The other board members filed in slowly. Gerald. Richard. The ones who’ve questioned my competency. The ones who’d listened to Mabel’s carefully constructed suggestions that I was unstable. They all look at me like they were trying to reassess something they’d already decided about.Tristan took a seat in the observer’s chair without being asked. His presence was impossible to ignore. By sittin