All Chapters of Rebirth: The billionaire's ex wife is a genius : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter 1 He threw the divorce papers at my face. "Sign it," Lucas said. His fingers dug into my jaw, pinning me against the wall like I was something that might bite. Three years of marriage. Three years of silence in a house that was never a home. He'd never touched me gently ....only ever grabbed, only ever when his mother was watching, like affection was a performance he only owed an audience. "I won't." It was the first time I'd faced him without breaking. Victoria Hale stepped out of the shadows behind him, pearls catching the chandelier light, her silk robe cinched tight enough to look like armor. "Barren and useless," she said — her favorite verdict on me, delivered like a compliment to herself. "My son needs an heir. Not a charity case." I'd heard that phrase so many times over three years it had worn a groove into me, the way water wears down stone. Tonight, for the first time, it just slid off. The door opened. Celine walked in wearing red, one hand resting on a stom

Chapter 3 Three hours. That's what I had before the ceremony, and I wasn't spending it in the white dress Victoria had picked to make me disappear into the wallpaper the way she'd trained me to for three straight years. I locked the bathroom door behind me ,the one room in this house that had ever truly been mine .. and looked at myself in the mirror without flinching first, for the first time since I'd married into this family. I touched my collarbone. The body Lucas hadn't touched in three years. The body Victoria called barren, like it was a diagnosis instead of a cruelty she'd manufactured with a teapot. "They buried me small," I told her. "So I rise ugly." I grabbed a robe and walked out barefoot, the marble cold under my feet. The maids flattened against the walls as I passed the way you step back from something that's caught fire and hasn't decided yet what it's going to burn. I called the driver. "Front gate. Ten minutes." A pause. "Madam, Mrs. Hale said you're not to le

Chapter 5 the ballroom hadn't stopped watching me since I walked in. Three hundred people —senators, CEOs, old Hale money dressed in silk and diamonds — and every one of them had found a reason to drift close enough to stare. Celine had already fled toward the bar, humiliated, and Lucas hadn't moved from where I'd left him, my words about Celine still hanging in the charged air between us. I let them look. Crystal chandeliers dripped light onto polished marble, and my red dress caught every bit of it, throwing it back like liquid fire. For three years I'd worn beige in this house and tried to disappear into the wallpaper. Tonight, the room couldn't hold me if it tried. A string quartet played in the corner, though no one was really listening. They were too busy pretending not to stare at the wife who used to be furniture. Victoria found me at the edge of the dance floor, her face still tight from the scene at the front gate two hours earlier. She'd changed her approach — quieter n

Chapter 7 “Marry me, Elena, and I promise to make every single drop worth it.” I stared at him. Marry your worst enemy's wife? I didn't know the real Julian Edelman yet. I only knew one thing about him from the shadows of this city: he absorbs power like a black hole. And right now, power was the only thing I wanted. I let out a sharp, dry laugh. “Hell no. Marry you? Julian, no.” He raised a dark brow. “No?” “No,” I repeated firmly. “We can work together. We can be allies. I’ll give you the code. You’ll give me thirty percent. We’ll break the Hales together. But I’m not signing papers to be someone’s substitute.” Julian tilted his head, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Substitute for who? Lucas?” “Substitute for anything, ” I said, my voice hardening. “I spent years being Mrs. Hale. I spent years being quiet, being picked apart, being grateful for whatever help came my way. I’m done. I am completely finished being claimed by another man just because we happen to share the s

Chapter 9 I woke up to the mouth-watering smell of roasted chicken. My stomach instantly rumbled, reminding me that I hadn't had a single bite of food since the chaotic event last night. To rule an empire, a woman needs fuel. I strutted down to the grand dining room. The second I stepped inside, every eye in the room landed on me, and the maids immediately huddled together, whispering frantic gossip. Ignoring them, I walked straight to the head of the table and sat directly in Victoria's favorite chair, crossing my legs comfortably. I was more than ready for war today. The maids kept staring, standing frozen by the buffet tables without serving a single dish. “Do you like my face that much?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at them. “Why are you all standing there like statues?” An older maid hesitated before nervously stepping forward. “Miss Victoria... she ordered that no one is to be served until she is personally seated at the table.” Victoria’s doing again. I remembered my pa