Reborn at Eighteen The Billionaire's Second Chance novel Chapter 67

Chapter 67

A tear slipped free. Then another.

“No one helps me, Julian. Mason tried–you had him transferred. Ms.

Rivera tried–the board silenced her. My mother?” I laughed bitterly.

“She just tells me to apologize. To endure. To not offend the Vanes.”

I looked up at him, vision blurred. “Even when I’m just defending myself, you judge me. Question me. So tell me–what am I to you? A tool that’s supposed to take abuse forever? A pet that doesn’t even

have the right to bite back?”

The tears came faster now, hot against my cold cheeks.

“I’m not a saint! I get scared. I get angry. I want to fight back. Is that wrong?” My voice rose to a desperate shout. “Why can Victoria hurt me again and again, but the moment Lretaliate, everyone blames

me?”

The words echoed off the brick walls. “I just want to survive! As a

person, not as your plaything!”

My legs trembled. The world tilted slightly. All the adrenaline, all the

fear, all the rage–it drained out of me at once, leaving only

1/6

Chapter 67

exhaustion.

Julian stared at me. Just… stared.

His expression shifted through emotions too fast to track–anger,

shock, something that might have been pain. Then his eyes darkened

with a resolve I didn’t understand.

His hand dropped from the wall. But instead of stepping back, he

moved forward. His palm slid to the nape of my neck, fingers

threading through my hair.

I froze. The touch was too gentle. Too intimate.

“I’ll find out who planned this,” he said quietly. Every word was steel

wrapped in silk. “Tristan. Victoria. Anyone else involved. I won’t let a

single one of them walk away.”

I stared up at him, confused and wary. “What-”

“You’re right.” His thumb brushed against the base of my skull,

sending an involuntary shiver down my spine. “I should have paid

more attention. I didn’t.”

His eyes locked with mine, dark and unreadable.

2/6

Chapter 67

“But from now on, anyone who wants to hurt you has to go through

me first.”

My breath caught. For one moment–one dangerous, foolish moment

-something warm bloomed in my chest.

Hope.

Then reality crashed back.

“You’re Vane family,” he continued, voice hardening. “Only I have the

right to discipline you. No one else.”

He didn’t see me as a person. Not really. Just as property. Something

that belonged to him.

“Victoria crossed the line tonight.” His grip on my neck tightened

fractionally. “She and Tristan will pay for it.”

He leaned down, close enough that his breath ghosted across my

forehead. “But next time something like this happens, you tell me

first. Understood?”

It wasn’t a question. It was an order,

I wanted to pull away. To shove him off and run.

3/6

Chapter 67

But my body wouldn’t move.

I managed a small nod.

9

He held my gaze for another moment, then stepped back. His hand

fell away, leaving a cold spot where his fingers had been.

“Come on,” he said, turning toward the car. “You need to eat

something.”

I blinked. “What?”

“You haven’t eaten all night.” He glanced back at me, expression

unreadable. “Let’s go.”

“I’m not hungry-”

My stomach chose that exact moment to growl. Loud. Unmistakable.

Silence.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify