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Todos os capítulos de The Duke's Daughter Took Back Everything After Rebirth: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

20 Capítulos

Chapter 1

Beep. Beep.The heart monitor beeped steadily in the hospital room.I lay in the hospital bed, fighting for every breath.I was only 35, but the woman in the mirror looked 50."Evelyn, finish going through these numbers on the London commercial properties."The door swung open, and my father walked in. He was Granville Ashbourne, the Duke of Ashbourne. He didn't ask how I was feeling. All he wanted to know was how the work was coming along."Father..." My voice came out in a rasp. "The doctor says my heart and my endocrine system are failing. I'm so tired...""Tired?" My father frowned. "The Ashbourne family business can't grind to a halt just because you're ill. You've had the best education money can buy since you were a little girl. The responsibility is yours to carry. And Adrian isn't here today because he's busy running the charity foundation for you."Adrian Devaux was my husband and the heir to the Devaux family, old money in the world of finance. I hadn't seen him in three mon

Chapter 2

I took a deep breath and forced the hatred back down.My mother's will said that once I turned 25, I could take control of her entire personal fortune.On this day in my last life, my father had handed me a power of attorney. "You've got a wedding to plan," he'd coaxed. "Managing all those assets is too much work. Put them in the family trust and let me handle it for you."Eager for his approval, I signed on the spot and handed my mother's inheritance over to him. In the end, I became his personal ATM, paying for his lover, Lydia Bennett, and his illegitimate daughter.Knock, knock, knock.The knocking interrupted my thoughts.A familiar voice came through the door. "Evelyn, are you ready? Mr. Hudson is here."I opened the door. My father stood outside, with Mr. Hudson and Claire right behind him.The moment Claire saw me, she reached for my hand as if we were the best of friends. "Evelyn, you look gorgeous today! When Adrian sees you downstairs, he won't be able to take his eyes off y

Chapter 3

The next morning, I went to the study.Waiting on the desk were the asset files Lukas had sent overnight from Switzerland by encrypted fax.I turned to the first page and saw my mother's signature.In my last life, I had trusted my father and my fiancé, so I never once took stock of what my mother had left me. Only now did I realize that she had already given me everything I needed to fight back."Three of Bordeaux's top wine estates. Two standalone office buildings in Mayfair, London. A museum-quality art collection fund worth £1.2 billion..."I kept reading.Most important of all was a 31 percent stake in the Ashbourne Group, all of it voting shares.The Ashbourne Group operated in real estate, mining, and private banking, and it was the foundation of my father's power. He owned 35 percent. If I could win over a few minority shareholders, I would outvote him on the board."No wonder Father was in such a hurry to get me to sign the power of attorney." I scoffed.I had ten years of bus

Chapter 4

With the voting rights locked into the independent trust, I told the private investigator to keep a close eye on every move Adrian and Claire made.Once that was taken care of, I headed to a hair salon.I stared at the woman with long hair in the mirror. Somehow, she felt like a complete stranger.For 20 years, my father had insisted that I always wear my hair in a neat, proper updo. Adrian had told me more times than I could count that it was the only style fit for a future duchess."Do as I say. Cut it off."My eyes stayed on my reflection, and my voice didn't waver.The stylist picked up the scissors. With each crisp snip, the long locks fell away until a sleek short cut brushed the sides of my neck.The woman in the mirror finally looked like she belonged to herself.I took off those drab, plain gowns and put on a long red backless dress, the kind my father had never allowed me to wear.That afternoon, I drove the Aston Martin my mother had left me out to Silverstone.In my last li

Chapter 5

On Wednesday afternoon, I went to a private jewelry exhibition in Kensington, London.I was in a dressing room backstage, trying on jewelry for the evening, when Claire walked right in without even knocking."Evelyn..."Once inside, she waved the attendants out and shut the door behind them.I didn't even look up. I just kept polishing the gem in my hand with a scrap of silk."This is a private dressing room. Don't you have any basic manners, Ms. Bennett?"Claire didn't answer.She waited until every attendant was gone. Then she came over to the sofa and, of all things, sank to the floor in front of me."Evelyn, if it bothers you that Adrian and I have gotten too close, then I'll just stop seeing him. I'm begging you, stop tormenting Father and Adrian."Watching her put on this whole performance just made me sick.In my last life, I'd fallen for this act for ten whole years: the tears at the drop of a hat, the sweet, harmless-little-lamb routine."There's no one else here. Who's the sh

Chapter 6

My father probably thought I was just being willful.He had no idea I'd already set the trap.On Friday night, the Ashbourne family held a charity gala at a hotel in London.It was one of the social events my father cared about most. Aristocrats, financiers, and reporters packed the ballroom, and he was working the room with Lydia and Claire in tow, chatting with guests as if nothing were wrong.Adrian kept glancing at the ballroom doors.Because I still hadn't shown up.Then, just as the gala officially began, the lights in the ballroom suddenly went dim.The charity's promotional video vanished from the big screen onstage. In its place, financial statements and bank records appeared one after another.The whole room erupted."Oh my God, what is that? Records from a secret Swiss bank account?""Look at those amounts! Five million pounds... eight million pounds! All of it went into the account of a woman named Lydia Bennett!""Lydia? Isn't that the woman who's been on the Duke's arm al

Chapter 7

Three weeks later, I stood in the ballroom at the Ritz in London.The Ashbourne and Devaux families were co-hosting a press reception, billed as a celebration of the wedding plans and the restructuring of their assets. Every aristocrat, financier, and major news outlet in London had turned up.My father's scandal had only just broken, but Adrian still seemed convinced that I would meekly go through with the wedding for the sake of both families.As far as he was concerned, if the two families' assets merged without a hitch, he would still come out on top.Adrian stood center stage with a microphone in hand."Thank you all for coming tonight. I'll admit we've been through some turbulence lately. But Evelyn has always been the right woman for me."He smiled easily, as if he still had everything under control."The wedding will go ahead as planned."There was only a smattering of applause.Dressed in a black tuxedo, I took my time walking onto the stage.I took the microphone from Adrian

Chapter 8

Well over ten hours later, my plane touched down at a small airport in Montana.I wheeled my luggage out of the terminal.The September wind hit me in the face, carrying the smell of hay and dirt. In the distance, the snow-capped Rockies stretched beneath the sun, vast and silent.I looked down at my Chanel jacket and my stiletto-heeled leather boots.Everywhere I looked, there were pickup trucks, cowboy hats, and mud-caked boots. Next to all that, I had to admit I stuck out like a sore thumb.I had used a small part of my inheritance to buy an abandoned apple orchard on the edge of a little town.Once the paperwork was done, the real estate agent left me an old pickup. I stuffed my luggage inside and drove out to the farm on my own.Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up in front of a run-down cabin.A huge, neglected orchard surrounded the cabin, and most of its fence had fallen down. It had rained the night before, so puddles covered the muddy ground.I'd barely taken two steps when my

Chapter 9

Firelight flickered behind him. Cole leaned in the doorway with an ice-cold beer in his hand, smelling of sweat and sunshine. His gray-blue eyes gleamed with teasing amusement, but there was no malice in them. If anything, he looked at me as if I were a small creature lost in the wild."Come on in, Princess," he repeated as he stepped aside, his tone easy and offhand.I straightened my back, trying to salvage what remained of my aristocratic pride. But my soaked silk robe clung to my body, and my teeth wouldn't stop chattering. Cole saw what a state I was in. Without a word, he pulled a big flannel shirt from a cabinet, tossed it to me, and pointed to the leather sofa in the living room."You're sleeping here tonight." He popped the cap off his beer and took a swig. "Guest room's taken.""Taken?" I frowned and glanced down the hallway, not sure what he meant.Cole jerked his chin down the hall, telling me to see for myself. I walked over, pushed open the guest room door, and stopped sh

Chapter 10

Cole never asked where the scars came from. He must have seen the flash of embarrassment and panic in my eyes and understood that they came from a suffocating past. Yet all he did was quietly look away and pretend he hadn't seen a thing.But from that day on, he never put the heaviest or most dangerous jobs on my list of chores again.Whenever I tried to lift a heavy feed sack, Cole would appear out of nowhere, hoist two over one shoulder with one hand, and walk off, calling back to me, "Go sit down. You're in the way."I didn't turn down his kindness, but I definitely hadn't come here to sit around and waste my days.Over the next month, I stopped wearing designer jewelry and lived in sturdy jeans and work boots. Cole taught me how to prune apple trees and drive the beat-up old tractor. I even got good at bottle-feeding newborn calves.More importantly, I put every management skill I'd learned during ten years in London's business and political circles to work on my run-down farm.I o

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