All Chapters of The Costa Heiress in Disguise: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

"It's filthy now that a slut like you has worn it." Ada drove her stiletto heel into the necklace and ground it against the floor.I looked at the ruined necklace and suddenly smiled.Growing up with the Costa name had made genuine friendship almost impossible, and my identity created endless trouble for my brothers. Before starting university, I took the maiden name of my late mother, Catherine Connelly.I had planned to keep a low profile through my university years. Clearly, that plan had failed.The necklace Ada had just destroyed was a gift my brothers commissioned from master jeweler Victor Hale. It had taken three months to create, a celebration of my earning the top merit scholarship. Now Ada was calling it a cheap imitation.I slowly lifted my head and fixed my gaze on Ada.My silence only made Ada more smug. "Elena, do you have any idea who my brothers are? Once they get here, you won't last another day at this school. Get on your knees and apologize while I'm still willing t

Chapter 2

"You can ace every exam and win the biggest scholarship in the school's hundred-year history, but none of that will save you, Elena. The Costa family will crush you like a stray dog." Ada leaned close enough that only I could hear her. "Try to steal my spotlight again, and you're signing your own death warrant."I stepped back and pitched my voice so the entire ballroom could hear me."I earned my scholarship. You haven't earned a thing, Ada. All you do is trade on the Costa name and terrorize people with an identity that was never yours."Ada went rigid, staring at me in utter shock.She clearly had no idea how I knew the truth, much less who I really was.I let out a quiet laugh. "If my brothers found out what you did tonight, what do you think would happen to you?"The ballroom exploded with shocked whispers."Is Elena trying to get herself killed? She just called Ada a fraud in front of everyone!""We're talking about the Costa family. Who would be stupid enough to impersonate one

Chapter 3

He turned on me, his gaze cutting like a knife."Elena Connelly." He read the name on my badge slowly. "You've got nerve."He had brought only four men, which meant he was probably a low-ranking soldier in the organization. It was no surprise he didn't recognize me.My brothers had always kept me away from family business. All they wanted, they said, was for me to grow up safe and happy. Very few people outside their inner circle even knew what I looked like.That secrecy had given Ada the perfect opening to steal my identity.Ryker's stare hardened. "You do not want to make an enemy of the Costa family.""Since when does an outsider like Ada speak for the Costa family?"He towered over me. "You put your hands on Ms. Kelly's property. That's an insult to the entire Costa family."He leaned closer and lowered his voice, though not enough to keep the crowd from hearing."I'll give you one way out, Elena. Get on your knees, apologize to Ms. Kelly, and replace the necklace.""It cost five

Chapter 4

Ada slapped the phone from my hand and stamped on it until the screen went black."Ada, you need to apologize. Now!"Ada burst out laughing. "Apologize to you? You think I'd apologize to a slut like you? That's the funniest thing I've heard all night.""If you want to live, get on your knees. Now!" She dug her nails into my shoulder and tried to force me down.I seized her wrist and threw her off.She crashed into the champagne tower. Half her careful updo came loose, and mascara streaked down her face."You... you!" Ada sat among the broken glasses, sobbing so hard her nose was running. "Tie her up! Drag her outside!"Ryker went livid. "What are you waiting for? Bind her, put her in the car, and take her back to the estate!"I drew a breath. When I spoke, my voice had gone cold. "Ryker."He turned to me. I made every word count."My name is Elena Costa. Connelly was my mother's maiden name.""My eldest brother, Luca Costa, is the current Don of the Costa family.""My second brother, D

Chapter 5

Ryker stood frozen, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.Information about the three men who led the Costa family was easy to find online. The fact that Connelly was their late mother's maiden name was known only to the family's inner circle.Could the girl in front of him really be the Costa heiress?The thought sent his gaze snapping to Ada.Ada caught the doubt in his eyes. Humiliation twisted her face, and she lunged at me. "She's lying! She's trying to steal my identity right in front of me. Look at her dress. It doesn't even have a label. You think a slut in bargain-bin rags could be a Costa?"Ryker studied my clothes, then gave a contemptuous laugh."Do you have any idea how the Costa heiress lives? Every designer in the world sends her new collections before anyone else sees them. She has been treated like royalty since birth. You're a scholarship student who can barely pay tuition.""You must have a death wish, impersonating Ms. Kelly."I glanced down at my clothes, then back at Ry

Chapter 6

Triumph blazed in Ada's eyes. "I told you! My brothers came to defend me. You're dead, Elena!"I glanced at her, unimpressed. "We'll see."The door opened fully. The first man out wore a bespoke black suit. Tall and rigid, he carried the kind of menace that made strangers step back without being told.He was Luca Costa, my eldest brother and the current Don of the Costa family.Every bodyguard lowered his head. No one dared make a sound.Dante stepped out of the first Bentley.With one hand in his pocket, he swept a furious gaze over the scene until it locked on me.Adrian emerged last.Usually warm and composed, he now showed not a trace of a smile. His features looked as if frost had settled over them.The three brothers stood shoulder to shoulder and commanded the entire scene.The street fell silent. Even the wind seemed to stop.Everyone who had spilled out of the ballroom froze, too frightened to breathe.They had never seen the real Costa brothers.Ada shoved me aside and stumbl

Chapter 7

The students' whispers closed in on Ada, each one needling deeper than the last."She really did fake the whole thing. She spent two years pretending to be a Costa!""She used that stolen name to bully people and steal the spotlight from the top student. Now she picked a fight with the real heiress."Every comment landed like a slap across Ada's face.Adrian's gaze moved from my shattered phone to the emeralds scattered across the floor. His expression turned lethal."Who destroyed the necklace?" His voice was low and rough with fury.Louise Parker hid in the crowd and tried to make herself invisible.At the memory of helping Ada humiliate me, Louise went paper-white and lowered her head.Every student who had once fawned over Ada edged away from her.A voice rose from the crowd. "Ada did it! She ripped the necklace off Elena, smashed her phone, and called her a thief!"Ada's denial came out in a rush. "I didn't do anything! She was jealous of me! She provoked me first!""Jealous of yo

Chapter 8

The sight of Ada unraveling took me back three years.Three years ago, I was kidnapped by my brothers' enemies.My kidnappers were amateurs. In the chaos, I jumped from their car, and a kind woman hid me in her van.After my rescue, my brothers tried to reward her, only to learn that she had died in a car accident.Her name was Jennifer Kelly. She was Ada's older sister and her only living relative.To repay her, I asked my brothers to support Ada and give her a secure, respectable life.Instead, Ada twisted that kindness into permission to become crueler and more arrogant by the day."Ada, stop lying to yourself," Uncle Mike said."Lying to myself?" Ada let out a shrill, broken laugh. "Fine, I lied to myself! But I would rather have lived inside that lie forever! Why did you have to expose me? Why did you have to destroy me in front of everyone?"She whipped toward me, her eyes twisted with hatred. "Elena, you're cruel! You knew everything all along!"I stood beside Dante and watched

Chapter 9

It was late at night by the time we returned to the Costa estate.The main house glowed with light. When our longtime butler, Henry Walsh, saw the bruises on my wrists, his eyes reddened. He turned on my brothers, openly displeased."Three grown men, and you let your sister come home like this? If the old Don were alive, he'd beat all three of you himself!"My brothers did not offer a single excuse. They stood quietly and took the scolding.I patted the back of his hand. "I'm fine."Adrian poured me a mug of warm milk and stirred in a spoonful of honey. "Still thinking about her?"I cradled the mug, letting the warmth of the ceramic seep into my palms.Beyond the windows, the estate's lawn rolled toward a private lake. Moonlight shivered silver across the water.I nodded. "I keep wondering if I made a mistake. I gave her comfort and respect, and somehow helped her lose sight of who she was."Adrian was quiet for a moment before sitting across from me. "People can convince themselves th

Chapter 10

Several months later, final grades were posted. I had finished first in my class again.Elena Connelly stood alone at the top of the scholarship list.Ada's name never appeared again.Some said Ada attended a public high school across town, earned average grades, and kept so quiet she seemed like a different person.Others claimed they sometimes saw her at a jewelry workshop.They were only rumors.I never went looking for her or asked anyone to keep watch.That chapter was over. Just as Ada had promised in her letter, she stayed out of our lives.I earned a place at an Ivy League university. On graduation day, sunlight flooded the Saint Isabella quad.I delivered the commencement address in my cap and gown. In the front row sat three men whose names I could never put under "family" on school paperwork.They wore black suits and expressions solemn enough for a diplomatic summit.When the headmaster placed the medal in my hands, the corner of Luca's mouth twitched.During the photograph

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