Reborn From Ashes: The Heiress's Comeback

The windshield wipers slashed frantically across the glass, but they couldn't keep up with the Manhattan storm.

Brynn Vance gripped the leather steering wheel of her Porsche. Her knuckles were bone-white. Her palms sweat so much they slipped against the material.

She glanced down at the passenger seat. The white plastic pregnancy test sat there, two pink lines glaring up at her in the dim dashboard light.

She pressed the dial button on her phone again.

"You have reached the voicemail of Haden Mason..."

The automated voice was like ice water down her spine. She threw the phone onto the passenger seat. Her stomach twisted into a tight, painful knot.

Suddenly, a massive shape loomed in the headlights. A heavy semi-truck swerved violently into her lane.

Brynn slammed her foot on the brake pedal.

It went straight to the floor. Soft. Useless.

Her heart stopped. The air vanished from her lungs.

The Porsche spun. Metal screamed as it tore into the steel guardrail. The airbags exploded outward, punching her in the face with the force of a concrete wall.

Blackness swallowed her vision.

When she opened her eyes, the world was sideways. Blood dripped from her forehead, burning her eyes. But that wasn't the worst of it.

A sharp, tearing agony ripped through her abdomen.

She gasped, choking on the smoke filling the cabin. She slammed her bloody hands against the jammed door.

"Help!" she screamed, the sound tearing her throat.

Headlights cut through the rain. A black Maybach rolled to a smooth stop on the shoulder.

The rear door opened. A black umbrella bloomed in the dark.

Corrie stepped out. Her designer heels clicked sharply against the wet asphalt.

Brynn let out a sob of relief. Her sister was here.

Corrie walked up to the shattered window. She didn't reach out. She just smiled.

"Beauvais Fashion is gone, Brynn," Corrie said, her voice perfectly calm over the roaring rain. "Forced liquidation. Dad had a heart attack. He's in the ICU."

Brynn's pupils dilated. Her chest he heave. She tried to speak, to call Corrie a liar, but another vicious cramp in her stomach stole her voice.

The driver's door of the Maybach opened. Haden stepped out.

He walked over and stood under Corrie's umbrella. He didn't look at Brynn's bleeding face. His eyes were dead.

Brynn's brain short-circuited. The man she loved. The father of the baby inside her. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her sister.

Haden pulled a folded document from his coat. He shoved it through the jagged gap in the window. Rain splattered against the paper.

"Sign the equity transfer," Haden said, his voice devoid of any warmth. "And I'll call an ambulance."

Brynn stared at the paper. She bit her lower lip until she tasted copper. The physical pain in her stomach was nothing compared to the violent ripping sensation in her chest.

She gathered every ounce of strength left in her broken body. She grabbed the wet paper, ripped it in half, and threw it back