Reborn at Eighteen The Billionaire's Second Chance novel Chapter 160

Chapter 160

Elara

The market went silent around us. Or maybe that was just my

perception narrowing to this single moment of crystallized injustice.

“You want me to pay you,” I heard myself say, testing the words for reality. “For a portrait you commissioned. That you sat for. That you

just said you didn’t want.”

“Exactly.” Her smile widened. “Now, you can either pay me, or-

“Or I’ll call the police,” I said, pulling out my phone before I could second–guess myself. “And we’ll let them decide who’s trying to extort

whom.”

Her face went pale beneath her makeup. “This is ridiculous. I’m not staying here to be insulted by some-”

“Please don’t leave, ma’am,” I said, my voice artificially calm. “The police will want to hear both sides.”

The patrol car arrived within twenty minutes. Two officers–one older and clearly tired, one younger and trying to project authority. The

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older one, listened to both our stories with the weary patience of

someone who’d seen every variation of human stupidity.

In the end, he made her pay me the fifty dollars. Made her throw it at

me like I was a servant being tipped for poor service. And when she

stalked off, her Birkin bag swinging with enough force to be a

weapon, I felt hollow despite the victory.

Three hours of my life. Three hours of being systematically

humiliated. All for fifty dollars.

“You okay?” the older police officer asked.

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

But I wasn’t okay. I wasn’t even close to okay.

We were packing up, Raven muttering creative threats under her breath, when her phone buzzed. She glanced at it, and her expression shifted from anger to something darker.

“Elara.” She held up her phone. “That woman. Right before she got in

her Uber, I saw her making a call. And I’m pretty sure the name on her

screen was ‘Victoria Vane.“”

The world tilted sideways.

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wall. Through the archway ahead, I could see into the grand ballroom

where the engagement party was in full swing. The space had been

transformed into something out of a fairy tale–or perhaps a

magazine spread on how the one percent celebrated their unions.

Enormous floral arrangements dominated every surface, their blooms

so perfect they looked artificial. Crystal chandeliers cast prismatic

light across the assembled guests, making their jewelry sparkle and

their champagne glasses gleam.

And there, at the center of it all, stood Sloane.

She was radiant in a champagne–colored gown that draped elegantly

over her growing belly, one hand resting protectively on the subtle

swell. Her hair was swept up in an elaborate style that must have

taken hours, her makeup flawless, her smile serene and satisfied as

she accepted congratulations from a circle of admirers. She looked

every inch the perfect bride–to–be, the ideal partner for a man like

Julian Vane–beautiful, accomplished, pregnant with his heir.

But Julian himself was conspicuously absent from her side.

I scanned the crowd, searching for his familiar form among the sea of

tuxedos and evening gowns, but he was nowhere to be seen. Sloane’s

smile had a brittle quality around the edges, I noticed, and her free

hand kept adjusting the diamond bracelet on her wrist in a gesture that might have been nervousness if she were anyone less composed.

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Chapter 160

reality itself was fracturing.

“Elara?” Raven’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “What is

it?”

I handed her my phone wordlessly. Watched her face cycle through

confusion, recognition, fury.

“That motherfucker.” She looked up, eyes blazing. “He even came to the school to look for you the day before yesterday, and now he’s—” She seemed to choke on her own rage. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Get in line,” I said, my voice strange and light, like this was happening to someone else.

“This isn’t funny!”

“I know.” And I did know. I knew it should hurt more than it did,

should feel like the betrayal it obviously was. But all I felt was a cold, crystalline clarity. “But I’m going anyway.”

“Going where?”

“To Blackwood.” I started walking, not waiting to see if she’d follow.

“I’m going to that engagement party.”

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“What? Elara, no–that’s exactly what they want!”

“Then I will do what they want.” I kept walking, my pace steady

despite the trembling in my hands.

The sun had already dipped below the horizon by the time I stood outside Blackwood’s perimeter wall, my black hoodie blending into the deepening shadows. Behind me, Raven shifted her weight nervously, her purple hair tucked beneath a dark beanie that made her look like a particularly anxious burglar.

“Elara, you’re sure about this?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, though we were still a good fifty yards from the estate’s main

entrance. “If they catch you—”

“They won’t catch me.” I cut her off, studying the familiar brick pattern of the wall. My fingers traced the mortar lines, finding the same handholds I’d used countless times before. “I lived in that house for years. I know every entrance, every blind spot in the security cameras, every place the guards don’t bother to check.”

What I didn’t say was that I’d learned those routes for different reasons in my previous life–sneaking out to prepare surprises for Julian, slipping back in after curfew with art supplies I’d bought with saved allowance money, always hoping he’d notice my efforts. The irony of using that same knowledge to infiltrate his engagement party wasn’t lost on me, but I shoved the thought aside. Sentiment

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had no place here tonight.

Raven grabbed my arm as I prepared to climb. “What if you run into

him? What are you even going to say?”

I paused, one foot already finding purchase against the wall. The question hung in the air between us, and for a moment I couldn’t answer. What was I going to say to Julian? That I’d spent three hours being humiliated by Victoria’s hired proxy while he’d been selecting champagne for his engagement toast? That his “you’re mine, I’m keeping you” meant nothing when measured against the cream

cardstock invitation announcing his future with Sloane?

“I don’t know,” I admitted finally. “But I’m tired of hiding. Victoria sent someone to torture me because she knew I needed the money and couldn’t fight back. And Julian-” His name caught in my throat. “Julian is getting engaged today. So yeah. I’m going to their party.”

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