"I never expected to be branded a 'fake heiress' and a 'scheming b*tch' on my own wedding anniversary.
""Did you really think we'd never find out you faked the DNA test?"" My mother's voice cut like a blade. ""You've been impersonating our real daughter all along.""
The irony was suffocating. They were the ones who stormed into my peaceful life, insisting that I was their long-lost child—no proof needed. And now they dared to call me the fraud.
""Since Camille has finally returned to where she belongs,"" my father declared coldly, ""it's time for you to crawl back into whatever shadow you came from.""
Then came the final blow. My husband of five years didn't even hesitate.
""I'll have the divorce papers drawn up immediately. Don't make this difficult, Mirena. You were never meant to be my wife.""
Overnight, I was discarded. The scandal of the city. The woman who stole a life that was never hers.
But they forgot one thing: I never needed them.
Before I was George Ashton's wife, I was Mirena Sterling—the Investment Queen. The woman who broke Wall Street records before she turned twenty-five. A racing champion. A tech prodigy.
I walked away from all of it. Gave up my empire. My crown. My name. All for a man who threw me away like garbage the moment someone ""better"" came along.
Big mistake.
On the night they cast me out, soaking wet and humiliated, I ran into the last person I ever wanted to see.
""Look at you now, Mirena,"" Alexander Pierce murmured, watching me with those piercing eyes. ""The woman who once ruled the financial world. Reduced to this."" He tilted his head. ""And for what? Love?"" A dark laugh. ""Pathetic.""
My former rival. The man who spent years trying to beat me—and never once succeeded. Now he stood before me, a Wall Street titan, watching my downfall with hungry satisfaction.
He thought he'd seen the last of me.
He was wrong.
The game was simple now: drop the dead weight, reclaim what's mine, and remind everyone why they feared my name.
Within months, I was back. Every market moved when I breathed. Every headline screamed my return. The Sterlings came crawling, begging for mercy they'd never shown me. And George? He watched in horror as I bought his most prized company without blinking.
The divorce he'd so eagerly signed? His greatest regret.
""Mirena, please,"" he begged, groveling at my feet. ""Give me another chance.""
I didn't even look at him. ""Sorry, darling. I don't recycle trash.""
But what I didn't expect was him.
Alexander Pierce dropped to one knee in front of me—the man who had once mocked my fall, now looking up with something raw and undisguised in his crimson gaze.
""I knew you'd take back everything they stole,"" he said, voice low. ""Now…"" A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips. ""Take me too.""
"