Reborn To Reign; A Billionaire's Revenge Pact

Hell! I am late,"

Karina murmured as she ran down the stairs, she had an appointment by ten am and right now it was already nine-thirty. She only had thirty minutes to get to the hotel where she would be meeting a client. She should have been on her way already but her wedding planner had not arrived as scheduled and only called her a minute ago to cancel at the last minute.

"You are always running, one would think someone is chasing you,"

Karina paused when her stepmom spoke. She turned to her and flashed a smile at her that she knew wasn't going to be returned.

"Hi, Mom, I have a meeting and I am late,"

She said, her stepmom glared at her in disgust. Karina didn't even know why she still tried to get her stepmom to like her when for the past twenty years since her dad married her and she and her daughter moved in, she had never liked Karina and only pretended to like her when her Dad and grandmother were around. If not, she always has the meanest words to say to her and like always she just had to be mean.

"You look terrible, little wonder how you were able to get a man to look at you and think of marrying you."

She let out in a very demeaning tone. Her words no longer hurt Karina as they used to when she was younger, back then, she would cry herself to sleep when her stepmom told her something hurtful but now, it was as if she was immune to her insults and only just let her say whatever she wanted. Only a couple of days more until she never has to deal with her stepmom or her step-sister, Ava. Ava was just as mean as her mom.

When they were younger, she would deliberately do something bad and frame Karina for it and even when Karina would try to defend herself, her mom would take her side and they would both gang up on her. She couldn't even count on her father to come to her defense because he just didn't care enough about her to say anything. If anything, he would blame her for it.

"Do you have something to say? why are you just standing there,"

Her stepmom asked, Karina shook her head and walked away.

"They are going to be sorry for what they have been doing to me when I cut them off after I get married,"

Karina whispered to herself as she ran towards the car park to get her car. In three days, she was going to become Mrs. Nick Sinclair and honestly, she couldn't wait to marry Nick and be gone from the house. meeting Nick and falling in love with him had happened when she was so close to giving up on ever finding someone.

She met him at one of those high-class parties that her parents hosted. She never used to attend the parties because she always felt out of place but that day, two years ago, she had decided to just go see what all the fuss was about and ran into Nick. It was love at first sight for the both of them and Nick has been her escape from the hell that was her home. He was the second man she had ever been with. Her first was nothing to write home about because he had been a cheat. She caught him in bed with someone she thought was her friend and because of that, she refused to see another man for over five years until Nick came and changed, and in three days, she would be his wife and move out of her family home where she never felt welcomed.

"Where the fuck is my car?"

Karina let out. There were about thirteen cars in the huge family car park but hers was somehow missing when she parked it right at the spot that she used to park her car yesterday after she got back from meeting with a client. Yeah, she was working so hard even though it was only three days to her wedding because that was the only way to get a one-month-long vacation from the company.

She worked as a business development representative sometimes known as a rainmaker under the designing department of her family company. In other words, she was responsible for making sure they had new clients.

Of course, she wasn't the only one in the team, she had a team and an assistant team leader with about eight other people on her team. The fact that she was the president's daughter didn't mean she was let off. She had to work a hundred times more to prove her worth yet her father never seemed to notice no matter how many clients she brought in.

"Well, that's about to change,"

Karina said as she continued looking around for her missing car. Yes, if she managed to get this client, it would seal her place as a top staff member and her father would be forced to acknowledge her role in the company.

"That's not going to happen if I don't get there soon,"

Karina let out. She gave up looking for her car and waved over to the security man she saw.

"Did you see my car, James?"

Karina asked him.

"Yes, Ms. Ava drove it out a while ago,"

Karina bit hard on her bottom lips to prevent herself from saying the words that formed in her head. Of course, Ava. That girl, she always finds a man to take what belongs to Karina even though she always gets the best of everything.

She was never content with what she got. She almost got her claws on Nick too but thank God Nick wasn't a weak man. The first few months after they started dating, Ava had shamelessly thrown herself at Nick and Karina had thought she would lose Nick to her but Nick somehow stuck with her which was why she said yes immediately he asked her to marry him. Nick was the ray of sunshine in her dark world and she couldn't wait to be his forever.

Fine, I will just take the other car,"

Karina let out as she ran back into the house to get the keys to the spare car that everyone could share. She couldn't take Ava's car because even though Ava took hers, if she dared to take Ava's car, all hell would break loose and she wasn't ready to deal with that right now. She really didn't want any trouble.

"Fucking late,"

She said when she checked the time again. she wasted ten minutes looking for her car and also walking back to the main house and now she just has twenty minutes to meet up with the client. Her biggest client since she started working for the company five years ago at twenty-three. She grabbed the key and turned to leave but her stepmother stood in her way.

"Sorry, Mom, I have to leave, I have just twenty minutes to meet up with a very important client,"

Karina explained while trying to pass by her step mom who kept blocking her way.

"Give me the keys,"

She said and stretched her hand out.

"I can't I need the car to get to where I am going to,"

Karina told her.

"Take your car then.

"Mom, I was going to take my car but Ava already took it so I have to use the spare car,"

Karina explained to her, trying to walk by her again, but still got blocked. She was running out of time.

"I need the spare car, if your car isn't in the park then use a cab or something, just give me those keys while I am still asking you nicely,"

Her stepmother barked.

"I can't take a cab. You have two cars and they are both in the park. The spare car is for when your car is bad or someone else took your car, in my case, Ava took my car so I need to use the spare car. Please, Mom, this client is important to me and the company,"

Karina pleaded but her stepmom stubbornly refused to step out of the way, Karina checked the time again. Now she had just fifteen minutes left. She had no choice but to drop the keys in her stepmom's hands. She got out of the way and Karina ran out of the house. willing herself not to cry. It was too early to be sad.

It took her five minutes to get to the gate and thankfully, she got a cab as soon as she stepped out of the mansion. There wasn't much traffic so she was able to get to the hotel in about eight minutes. Thank God the client had picked a hotel close to their estate so it was easy for her to get there. She practically ran into the hotel lobby and rushed to the receptionist who directed her to where she would be meeting her client.

She was happy when she arrived and saw that the client wasn't there yet. She checked her phone for any message and saw that the client had sent a message that they would be about ten to fifteen minutes late which gave her enough time to calm down because her mind had been all over the place because of what happened earlier with her car and her stepmom refusing to let her use the spare car.

Karina was used to it. used to getting her stuff taken from her by Ava, she has done it so many times already that it doesn't shock her anymore.

"Soon it will end,"

Karina voiced under her voice as she flipped through her gallery, smiling at the beautiful pre-wedding photos that she had taken with Nick. She just needs to look at Nick's photo and her saddest day will become bright. When he calls her or tells her he loves her, it always lifts her mood no matter what. When he is not available, she reads their messages and gets a confidence boost. Nick was good for her. He was her prince charming and she couldn't wait to experience living with him. She knew it would be better than anything that she has had for the past twenty years of her life.

The seven years before her dad had married Ava's mom was the only time of her life that she had a happy childhood. Everything changed after her stepmom and Ava arrived. Even though they were not blood-related, her dad fully adopted Ava as his daughter and favored her more than Karina even though she was his biological daughter.

"No bad thoughts,"

Karina said as she closed her phone and checked the time, only ten minutes more before her client arrived. She looked around the huge hotel waiting area. People were checking in and out of the hotel. She watched in bored silence until her eyes landed on someone that she thought was very family.

"Ava? This was where she had been?"

Karina let out. She was tempted to confront her about her car but opted not to because Ava was good at creating scenes and playing the victim. She would turn the whole thing on her and that was the last thing that Karina needed right now. Ava was smiling at someone and Karina's eyes followed her eye direction until her eyes landed on the person she was smiling at.

Karina stood up in shock as she watched Ava run to the person and they hugged, not just hugged, they shared a kiss. Karina watched as the couple held hands and smiled at each other as they walked towards the hotel elevator. Karina wiped her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things but that person looked like her fiancée.

"Nick?"

Karina whispered as she picked up her bag and ran in the direction of the hotel elevator, hoping that she was seeing things and making shits up but when she got to the elevator, it was about to close, and yeah, she saw her sister with the same person who looked like her fiancée. They were making out even though the elevator was still pretty much open and Karina doubted that it could be Nick. He would never do something like that to her. She was about to turn around and leave when he looked in her direction just before the elevator closed and she wasn't mistaken. Her bag fell from her hand as she froze in shock.

"Nick?'

She couldn't believe what she had just seen. No, it had to be a dream. A very bad dream. Nick would never cheat on her. She lifted her hands to her face slowly and slapped herself to wake up from the dream but she only felt pain where her hand landed. She got herself back, picked up her bag that fell from her hand, and ran towards the elevator, she got in the other elevator and entered the floor she knew Nick always booked whenever they used the hotel.

Nick doesn't leave close by but sometimes when he is in town, he stays at this hotel because it is part of the family-owned hotel. Yes, Nick's family owned a chain of hotels, he was the second child of the family. He had an older stepbrother that Karina only heard of but had never met because he was like a black sheep and didn't like to get involved in the family business.

"Please let me be mistaken, please let me be mistaken,"

She prayed as the elevator started moving up. She prayed that it should be someone who looked like Nick and not him. She couldn't bear the thought of Nick cheating on her and with her step-sister. It would only mean everything that he told him since they met had been a lie. All the times he told her that he told her sister off when she tried to get on him would be a lie. It just didn't make any sense. Why would Nick cheat on her in broad daylight, in a hotel close to her family house, and three days before their wedding?

He wouldn't do that to her, right? She must have made a mistake. The elevator came to a stop and it opened. She walked out of the elevator pretty fast and stopped dead as soon as she turned the corner, there they were kissing again, they couldn't even wait to be inside the hotel room to start kissing. Karina was still in disbelief. She still hoped she was seeing things but it wasn't hard to know that it was indeed Nick and he was indeed kissing. No! making out with her sister in the hallway of a hotel they used to share. The same suite she has slept in with him.

Karina couldn't just stand there and watch them. She had to do something, she started walking towards them but then they entered the room and closed the door. She increased her pace and wasn't looking properly because she was almost blinded with tears. Her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces. Watching where she was going was the last thing on her mind. She bumped into someone and heard the person yell but she didn't even look at the man or stop to apologize. She was pulled to a stop by a strong hand.

"What the fuck is wrong with you and why aren't you looking? Look what you did to my suit,"

The man yelled. Karina finally realized what she had done. She blinked back tears and turned to apologize to the man but she couldn't get any words out because her throat was blocked by unshared tears.

"You have to pay for this. You are going to pay for ruining my suit."

The man yelled at her which triggered the tears she had been trying to keep away. She started sobbing and that made the man madder.

"Why the fuck are you crying like I hit you or something. You were the one that wasn't watching where you were going. You are the one that bumped into me and sipped my coffee all over me. Crying will not save you so wipe those tears and fix what you did,"

the man yelled which drew the attention of other people walking around the hallway. He was still grabbing at her arms. Karina turned in the direction of the suite, Nick had entered with Ava just as the door flew open and they both stepped out. the noise must have made them come out.

The first thing that Karina noticed was Ava was no longer wearing the dress she had on but was now wearing the hotel robe. The same robe that Karina has worn countless times when she spent time with Nick and Nick? He was only wearing shorts. They saw her. they had to have seen her. She saw when Nick had recognized her.

There was a moment of shock before he shrugged his shoulders and just kept watching her. Ava on the other hand had a triumphant smile on her face. Like she finally got what she wanted. As if to make it more obvious, she linked arms with Nick who looked at her and smiled.

Meanwhile, the man she bumped into was still screaming at her. Karina could barely hear what the man was saying because all her focus was on Nick and Ava. She managed to shake the man's hand off and started walking towards them.

She needed to know what they thought they were doing. She needed to ask them why they decided to do this to her. what her offense was and why now? How long has it been going on? She had a lot of questions. She was almost reaching them when the man she bumped into grabbed her again and started pulling her back to the elevator while yelling at her.

"Let me go, I need to ask them something, please,"

Karina pleaded when she got her voice back but the man refused to listen. Karina turned around one last time and saw Nick and Ava kissing again. they didn't care that she just caught them. They were acting like they didn't know her. The pain in her heart intensified as she struggled to be free from the man who was way stronger than her.

"I don't know what you think you are going to achieve from struggling against me but just so you know, I am not going to let you go until you buy me a replacement for the suit you damaged. You owe me because this suit is fucking expensive,"

He yelled at her.