• Thanatophobia HP •

Phoenix Rising: The Scarred Heiress's Revenge

Xiao Hong Mao

I lived as the "scarred ghost" of the Stephens penthouse, a wife kept in the shadows because my facial burns offended my billionaire husband's aesthetic. For years, I endured Kason's coldness and my family's abuse, a submissive puppet who believed she had nowhere else to go. The end came with a blue folder tossed onto my silk sheets. Kason's mistress was back, and he wanted me out by sunset, offering a five-million-dollar "silence fee" to go hide my face in the countryside. The betrayal cut deep when I discovered my father had already traded my divorce for a corporate bailout. My step-sister mocked my "trashy" appearance at a high-end boutique, while the sales staff treated me like a common thief. At home, my father threatened to cut off my mother's life-saving medicine unless I crawled back to Kason to beg for a better deal. I was the girl who took the blame for a fire she didn't start, the wife who worshipped a man who never looked her in the eye, and the daughter used as a human bargaining chip. I was supposed to be broken, penniless, and desperate. But the woman who stood up wasn't the weak Elease Finch anymore; she was Phoenix, a tactical predator with a $500 million secret. I signed the divorce papers without a single tear, walked past my stunned husband, and wiped the Finch family's bank accounts clean with a few taps on my phone. "Your money is dirty," I told Kason with a cold smile. "I prefer clean hands." The cage is open, the hunt has begun, and I'm starting with the people who thought a scar made me weak.

Modern Revenge

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In the duty room of the hospital, Camila Haynes was putting on her doctor uniform.

Tonight was the first night of her marriage.

But when a colleague had asked Camila to take her shift for the night, she had gone straight to the hospital without hesitation.

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Camila straightened her lab coat and smiled bitterly. No one cared where she went anyway.

All of a sudden, the door was violently kicked open from the outside, sending it crashing against the wall.

Before Camila could look up to see what was going on, she heard the click of the light switch, and the whole room became pitch black.

Scared out of her wits, Camila trembled, her hair standing on end.

"Who's—"

Before she could get another word out, she was suddenly shoved down onto the table. With a loud clatter, the things on the table fell to the floor. Camila could feel the coldness of a sharp blade being pressed against her neck, and a strange voice barked, "Quiet!"

When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could barely make out the man's face, though his eyes stood out. They were sharp and cold.

The metallic smell of blood filled her nose. Instantly, she knew that this man was injured.

Maybe it was because of her training as a doctor, she was used to staying calm and level-headed even in situations as scary and stressful as this.

She subtly lifted her leg in an attempt to kick the man. But the second she moved, the man noticed and forcefully pressed her restless leg down.

"I saw him heading this way!" a voice sounded from the distance.

Then, Camila heard the sound of footsteps approaching them.

It seemed that they'd barge in any second now.

In a moment of desperation, the man suddenly lowered his head and pressed his lips against Camila's.

Wide-eyed, Camila struggled to free herself from his forceful kiss and shoved the man away. Fortunately, he didn't hurt her with the knife he was wielding.

Camila touched her lips in a daze, unable to wrap her head around what just happened.

Just then, she heard the sound of the doorknob turning.

Making up her mind, Camila gritted her teeth and wrapped her arms around the man's neck. Without hesitation, she raised her head and kissed the man.

She whispered in a trembling voice, "I can help you..."

The man swallowed audibly. The next second, he made his move. His hot breath sprayed against her ear, and his voice was low and sexy. "I'll take responsibility for this."

But he seemed to have misunderstood her. Camila only meant to put on an act.

When the door was pushed open, she moaned as loudly as she could, mimicking the sounds she had heard on porn videos.

For a second, the man was stunned. She was so fascinating and seductive.

The people at the door were also in a daze when they heard her moan.

"What the fuck? It's just a couple making out here! I can't believe they'd do this at a hospital."

The door was pushed open a little more. The light in the corridor shone on Camila's body. The man shifted his body, trying to block the sight of those prying eyes. In the dim light, the people outside could only see that the two were hugging and kissing.

"That's definitely not Isaac. He's badly injured. He wouldn't have the strength to do this no matter how sexy that girl is."

"You have to admit, that girl's really good at making slutty sounds."

"Shut up and move! If we can't find Isaac, we're doomed!"

Soon, the sound of footsteps faded away.

The man knew that his assailants had left, but he found that he couldn't move away from the woman. He licked his lips, his lust blinding his reason.

The crisis was solved now, so Camila tried to push the man away. But just as her palms pressed against the man's chest, she suddenly thought about her marriage.

Her whole life had been controlled by others, including her marriage.

Her father, a man ruled by his greed, had forced her to marry into the Johnston family.

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