Jilted Heiress Strikes Back

"No! Mom, stop! Please—!"

Raina flinched as her mother’s hands reached for her again.

Her face burned.

Glass shattered.

Her scream echoed—

She woke with a start, heart pounding.

Silence.

Only the low hum of the air conditioner filled the hotel room. Sweat clung to her back. Her hand shot to her cheek as if expecting blood or bruises.

It was dry. Smooth.

But the ache was still there.

She sat up, pushing off the heavy blanket and perching on the edge of the bed, elbows on her knees. Her breath came in shallow waves.

"Five years," she whispered. "And she’s still haunting me."

The nightmare was always the same.

Her mother. The screaming. That cold, twisted smile.

And the baby—the one she never got to hold.

She stood and walked into the bathroom, flicking on the light. Cold water. Splash. Again. Again.

She stared into the mirror.

Her reflection stared back—elegant, polished, but exhausted. 

Her phone buzzed on the counter.

Unknown number.

[The truth you’re looking for lies in Elaris. Go back—if you dare to face it]

Her blood went cold.

She scrolled back. Dozens of similar messages.

Different numbers. No names.

One had included a photo of her mother’s old research lab—burned down years ago.

Another had shown a baby bracelet.

A name tag she wasn’t supposed to have seen.

Elaris.

She hadn’t said that name aloud in years.

...

That morning, Raina packed all her belongings and rushed to the airport.

Jasper Hale—her ex-fiancé—had come in person to invite her to his engagement ceremony. She rejected him without hesitation.

But after the text she received last night, everything changed.

It was time.

Time to uncover the truth buried five years ago.

The plane hummed steadily through the clouds, but Raina’s mind was anything but still.

Her eyes stared out the window, blank and unfocused.

It had been five long years.

She hadn’t even been allowed to hold her baby after birth. Just one sound—that single, soft cry—and then... nothing. They took the child away before she could even see their face.

She was told the baby didn’t survive. But something deep in her soul had always said otherwise.

Later, a man claiming to be her uncle had whisked her out of Estravia after the scandal. Under his protection, she’d undergone treatment, reconstructed her face, and vanished from public view.

But she hadn’t come just for the child.

She was back to settle old debts.

She pulled out a slim folder from her bag. Inside were profiles and updates on the current elites in Elaris. If she was going to stir the hornet’s nest, she had to know who still held the power—and who would stand in her way.

She barely had time to flip the first page before a loud crack and an angry voice split through the cabin.

“What are you, blind? Do you know how much this suit cost? You better get on your knees and wipe this up before I have your job!”

Raina