CHAPTER 1

ZARIA POVThe heavy, metallic scent of expensive perfume always made my head spin, but today, it felt suffocating.I stood outside the grand double doors of the Ellison Corporation penthouse boardroom, clutching a leather-bound folder against my chest. Today was the day. My twenty-fifth birthday. The exact day my late father’s will dictated that the entire Ellison empire—the real estate holdings, the shipping lines, the billions in offshore accounts—would officially be handed over to me.I should have been ecstatic. I was finally fulfilling my dad's legacy. But my chest felt tight, an inexplicable weight pressing down on my lungs.Just nerves, I told myself, taking a deep, stabilizing breath. You’re just overwhelmed.I smoothed down the fabric of my tailored white dress, the one Tristan had picked out for me. Tristan. My fiancé of three years, the man who had held my hand through the darkest days after my parents died. In just an hour, he would be sitting by my side as I signed the pa

Last Updated : 2026-07-20

CHAPTER 2

ZARIA POVThe smell of cheap disinfectant and damp mold was a brutal downgrade from the lavender-scented silk sheets I used to sleep on.I sat on the edge of a sagging mattress in a cramped, windowless boarding house room at the edge of the city. The ceiling fan hummed a rhythmic, irritating buzz overhead, doing absolutely nothing to clear the stifling heat. This room cost fifty dollars a week, paid in crumpled cash under a fake name, and it was officially my entire world.I reached out with trembling fingers, picked up a small, cracked plastic mirror from the wobbly nightstand, and forced myself to look.The reflection staring back at me wasn’t Zaria Ellison.The girl in the mirror had jagged, pink burn scars rippling across the left side of her jawline and neck—courtesy of the jagged rocks and the exploding engine of a boat that had crashed near the shore where my broken body had washed up. A group of reclusive, off-the-grid fishermen had pulled me from the water three months ago. T

Last Updated : 2026-07-20

CHAPTER 3

ZARIA POVThe quietness of the 40th floor at 2:00 AM was eerie, broken only by the low, mechanical slosh of my mop dipping into soapy water.For the past three weeks, this had been my routine. While the rest of the city slept, I scrubbed toilets, dusted mahogany shelves, and emptied trash cans filled with shredded corporate secrets. My back constantly ached, and my hands were raw from the cheap rubber gloves, but I couldn't afford to complain. I was closer to my goal than I had ever been.I pushed my heavy glasses up the bridge of my nose, adjusting the coarse fibers of my wig as I wheeled my utility cart toward the end of the long hallway. The massive frosted glass door at the end bore a sleek, silver inscription: Soren Ellsworth, Managing Partner.According to the night logs, his office was supposed to be empty by now. He had an elite charity gala to attend tonight.I swiped my restricted keycard, the lock clicking open with a soft beep. Stepping inside, the sheer scale of the offic

Last Updated : 2026-07-20

CHAPTER 4

ZARIA POVThe cold air of the basement changing room felt like a slap in the face.I sat on a rusty metal bench, staring at the scuffed toes of my sneakers. Twenty-four hours. That was all the time Soren Ellsworth had given me before he unleashed his security team to tear my fake identity to shreds. If they dug too deep, they wouldn't just find a forged ID card; they would find a trail leading straight to a girl who was supposed to be at the bottom of the ocean. And if Tristan found out I was breathing, he wouldn't hesitate to finish the job.You can't leave, I told myself, gripping the edge of the bench until my knuckles turned white. If you walk away now, you lose everything forever. This is your only shot.I looked up at the tiny, grime-covered mirror on the locker door. The scarred, plain-looking girl stared back. Soren was smart—too smart. He hadn't built a multi-billion-dollar legal empire by letting things slide. He saw me as an anomaly, a variable he couldn't control in his pr

Last Updated : 2026-07-20

CHAPTER 5

ZARIA POVSoren walked over to his desk, but he didn't sit down. Instead, he leaned against the edge, ankles crossed, arms folded over his chest as he tracked my every movement. The silence in the room stretched, heavy and suffocating, but I refused to look down this time."You have exactly three minutes before I call security to escort you out, Gia," he said, his voice flat, completely unimpressed. "Make it count."I reached into my pocket, pulling out the folded Ellison Corp agenda I had taken from the conference room, and placed it flat on his immaculate desk."Tristan Vance is liquidating the core assets of Ellison Corporation this Friday," I said, my natural voice echoing clearly in the quiet room. No stutter, no submissive pitch. "He's using a forged digital proxy from my late father to bypass the board. If he succeeds, he leaves a shell company, bleeds the minority shareholders dry, and vanishes with billions into offshore accounts."Soren glanced down at the paper, then back u

Last Updated : 2026-07-20

All Chapters of The Disguised Heiress And The Ruthless Lawyer: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5