A Reckoning in Flames

A Reckoning in Flames

Zhen Xiang

5.0
Comment(s)
9.6K
View
11
Chapters

My life was beautiful: a loving husband, Ethan, a precious baby on the way, and the serenity of our lake house getaway. Then, during a quiet afternoon, Ethan's ex, Olivia, found her daughter Daisy drowned in the lake, turning on me with a shaking finger, screaming, "You did this! You let her drown!" Ethan, my husband, the man who once adored me, instantly believed her monstrous lie, his eyes cold, his family's powerful influence ensuring my pleas were dismissed as weak, condemning me without trial. Weeks later, our newborn son, Noah, died from a preventable illness after Olivia's dubious "home remedy" was chosen over hospital care, and in my raw grief, Ethan demanded I carry a child for them-a cruel "penance" for "my crimes," threatening to destroy what little remained of me if I refused. Imprisoned in a forgotten wing of the mansion, physically and mentally reduced to an incubator, I was haunted by the unspeakable injustice, struggling between despair and a flicker of rage as Olivia gloated, revealing the chilling truth: she herself orchestrated Daisy's "accident" to reclaim Ethan and ruined my life for her own gain. My body became an empty shell, my mind retreated beyond their reach, but the shocking truth Olivia confessed was unknowingly witnessed, eventually setting a deadly chain of events in motion that would expose her monstrous heart and unleash a final, fiery reckoning for the Cole family's dark secrets.

Introduction

My life was beautiful: a loving husband, Ethan, a precious baby on the way, and the serenity of our lake house getaway.

Then, during a quiet afternoon, Ethan's ex, Olivia, found her daughter Daisy drowned in the lake, turning on me with a shaking finger, screaming, "You did this! You let her drown!"

Ethan, my husband, the man who once adored me, instantly believed her monstrous lie, his eyes cold, his family's powerful influence ensuring my pleas were dismissed as weak, condemning me without trial.

Weeks later, our newborn son, Noah, died from a preventable illness after Olivia's dubious "home remedy" was chosen over hospital care, and in my raw grief, Ethan demanded I carry a child for them-a cruel "penance" for "my crimes," threatening to destroy what little remained of me if I refused.

Imprisoned in a forgotten wing of the mansion, physically and mentally reduced to an incubator, I was haunted by the unspeakable injustice, struggling between despair and a flicker of rage as Olivia gloated, revealing the chilling truth: she herself orchestrated Daisy's "accident" to reclaim Ethan and ruined my life for her own gain.

My body became an empty shell, my mind retreated beyond their reach, but the shocking truth Olivia confessed was unknowingly witnessed, eventually setting a deadly chain of events in motion that would expose her monstrous heart and unleash a final, fiery reckoning for the Cole family's dark secrets.

Continue Reading

Other books by Zhen Xiang

More
The Wolf's Gambit: The Heiress's Revenge

The Wolf's Gambit: The Heiress's Revenge

Modern

5.0

It was our fifth anniversary, and I sat alone in a Michelin-starred restaurant, staring at a diamond ring that felt more like an anchor than a promise. I kept telling myself Caleb was just busy, rationalizing the sharp, spasmodic pain in my stomach as mere nerves rather than my body's final warning. But when I went to his penthouse to surprise him, I found the double doors ajar. Through the gap, I watched my fiancé devouring Beatrice Blackwood on the sofa-the woman who had the family backing and confidence I supposedly lacked. He wasn't working; he was celebrating our anniversary by replacing me. The fallout was a calculated humiliation. The tabloids branded me a "pathetic orphan," and my Uncle Richard didn't care about the betrayal. He slammed his hand on his desk, claiming I was having another "psychotic episode" and accusing me of paranoia. He threatened to pull the plug on my mother's life support unless I went to the Hamptons to beg Caleb for forgiveness. My family even tried to force me onto heavy antipsychotics to keep me quiet for the sake of a corporate merger. I was being sold to a man who hated me by the very people who were supposed to protect me. I didn't understand why they wanted me broken, or why a mysterious stranger in an elevator had suddenly paid my mother's astronomical medical bills in full. Everything changed at a dinner where my uncle tried to trade me to a predator for a real estate deal. I didn't cry; I shattered a wine bottle and held the jagged glass to the man's throat. That's when Julian Blackwood, the most feared man on Wall Street, walked in and seized the house, the debt, and me. "I take my contracts seriously, Vanessa," he whispered, pulling me into his armored car as my family was thrown onto the street. I had escaped my uncle's cage, but as I looked into Julian's storm-gray eyes, I realized I had just traded a common bully for a beautiful, deadly king.

The Vow of Vengeance, The Veil of Love

The Vow of Vengeance, The Veil of Love

Romance

5.0

The air at my welcome-home party was thick with the smell of old money, but I smelled only betrayal. After years building my empire overseas, the last thing I wanted was to play nice with the ghosts of my past. Then I saw her, my ex-girlfriend, leaning into Andrew, my half-brother, the constant reminder of my mother's tragic death. The smile froze on Jen's face when she saw me, a flicker of panic in her eyes, but it was too late. I cut her off, my gaze cold enough to shatter glass, and made it clear: he was nothing, a cheap copy, and she, unworthy. What followed was a brutal, calculated war waged in boardrooms and on national television, where I systematically dismantled Andrew's life, exposing him for the parasite he was. But driven to desperation, he played his final hand, pushing me off a cliff into darkness, leaving me for dead, just as his mother had killed mine. I woke up weeks later in a hospital bed, the world buzzing with the scandal, but it was a single image that consumed me: Gaby Chadwick, the reclusive heiress, a woman I barely knew, praying for me, her silent vigil a public spectacle of devotion. Why? Why would she sacrifice her untouchable anonymity for me? I decided then and there to make her mine, proposing a cold, strategic merger, a union of power and dynasties. She accepted, but then, with unnerving calm, used my own words against me, creating a wall of polite distance, turning our marriage into a corporate contract. I had won the war, yet I was lost, trapped in a loveless arrangement of my own making, desperate to break through her serene facade. Then, hidden away in a journal, I found it: a decade of silent adoration, deep, unwavering love for me, a love that transcended any business deal. I had been blind, a fool. Now, the real story begins.

Twenty-Four Hours to Live Again

Twenty-Four Hours to Live Again

Romance

5.0

Eleanor Vanderbilt, the scion of a powerful dynasty, found herself in a moment of gilded tradition, presented with a curated selection of aristocratic bachelors, poised to make a choice that would shape her future. Yet, as her fingers hovered over the portrait of Ethan Hayes, the man her heart once chose, a searing flash of blinding light propelled her into a terrifying past life, revealing the unimaginable truth: this charming fiancé had callously condemned her to a brutal death. She vividly remembered every agonizing detail: abandoned on a freezing Manhattan skyscraper rooftop, a blade against her neck, Ethan's dismissive laughter echoing as she desperately begged for help, enduring hourly cuts and slow bleed-out for twenty-four horrific hours until her life, and the innocent one newly growing within her, agonizingly slipped away. The profound injustice of his calculated betrayal, the soul-shattering cruelty concealed beneath his polished facade, fuelled an unyielding fury that demanded retribution and a desperate understanding of why her closest confidant became her executioner. Now, miraculously granted a second chance on the very day it all went wrong, Ellie, armed with searing memories and an iron will, defiantly rejects her predetermined tragic destiny and, instead, chooses Jackson "Jax" Knight – the family's disowned "black sheep" and the last person to offer her a flicker of hope – determined to rewrite her past and carve out a path of vengeance and true survival.

You'll also like

THE SPITEFUL BRIDE: MARRY TO RIVAL'S SON

THE SPITEFUL BRIDE: MARRY TO RIVAL'S SON

Ray Nhedicta
4.6

"Let's get married," Mia declares, her voice trembling despite her defiant gaze into Stefan's guarded brown eyes. She needs this, even if he seems untouchable. Stefan raises a skeptical brow. "And why would I do that?" His voice was low, like a warning, and it made her shiver even though she tried not to show it. "We both have one thing in common," Mia continues, her gaze unwavering. "Shitty fathers. They want to take what's ours and give it to who they think deserves it." A pointed pause hangs in the air. "The only difference between us is that you're an illegitimate child, and I'm not." Stefan studies her, the heiress in her designer armor, the fire in her eyes that matches the burn of his own rage. "That's your solution? A wedding band as a weapon?" He said ignoring the part where she just referred to him as an illegitimate child. "The only weapon they won't see coming." She steps closer, close enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume, gunpowder and jasmine. "Our fathers stole our birthrights. The sole reason they betrayed us. We join forces, create our own empire that'll bring down theirs." A beat of silence. Then, Stefan's mouth curves into something sharp. "One condition," he murmurs, closing the distance. "No divorces. No surrenders. If we're doing this, it's for life" "Deal" Mia said without missing a beat. Her father wants to destroy her life. She wouldn't give him the pleasure, she would destroy her life as she seems fit. ................ Two shattered heirs. One deadly vow. A marriage built on revenge. Mia Meyers was born to rule her father's empire (so she thought), until he named his bastard son heir instead. Stefan Sterling knows the sting of betrayal too. His father discarded him like trash. Now the rivals' disgraced children have a poisonous proposal: Marry for vengeance. Crush their fathers' legacies. Never speak of divorce. Whoever cracks first loses everything. Can these two rivals, united by their vengeful hearts, pull off a marriage of convenience to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs? Or will their fathers' animosity, and their own complicated pasts tear their fragile alliance apart?

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book