Reborn To Ruin The Rich

The scent of roses filled the bridal suite-lavender candles, ivory silk, and the clink of champagne glasses. Selena Moore stood in front of the full-length mirror, her hands trembling slightly as she adjusted the lace sleeve of her wedding gown. She looked like a dream-flawless makeup, loose curls, a diamond tiara glinting beneath the soft lights.

But something felt...wrong.

"Cold feet?" Vanessa laughed behind her, swirling a glass of bubbly. Her best friend-maid of honor-wore a crimson satin dress, hugging every curve like it was stitched to her skin.

Selena smiled faintly. "No. Just nerves. It's the biggest day of my life."

Vanessa walked over and rested a hand on her shoulder, but her grip was tight. Too tight. "Then relax. You've already won, Sel. You're marrying Lucas Blackwell. The man every woman in this city would kill for."

Selena's smile widened, but her heart didn't lift. Something about those words made her skin crawl. She turned back to the mirror and whispered, "I still can't believe he chose me."

Vanessa's smile sharpened. "Believe it."

A soft knock interrupted the tension. One of the hotel staff poked his head in. "Miss Moore, the groom sent a package. He said to open it privately."

Selena took the small black box, her fingers brushing the velvet like it might bite her.

When the door shut behind the staffer, she sat on the edge of the couch, heart hammering. "Probably earrings," she muttered.

But when she lifted the lid, she froze.

Inside was a single USB flash drive. Nothing else.

Vanessa leaned in. "Weird. Did he forget the jewelry?"

Selena's chest tightened. Her instincts screamed something was off. "No. He's never been the sentimental type."

Alone in the room a few minutes later, Selena slid the USB into her laptop.

A video file popped up. Titled only: "WATCH ME."

She clicked.

At first, it was dark. Then a flicker of hotel room lighting. A male voice-Lucas's-low, unmistakable.

"Don't worry, baby," he murmured. "After the wedding, her money's as good as ours. Then she's gone."

Selena's blood iced.

Another voice joined in. Light. Feminine. Laughing.

Vanessa.

"She actually thinks you love her," Vanessa said, mockingly. "Poor, stupid Selena. But hey-at least she'll die married."

Selena shot up from the chair, gasping.

This had to be fake. It had to be. A prank. A cruel joke.

But deep down, she knew it wasn't.

Her fingers hovered over the trackpad, and she clicked again-rewinding the video, needing to be sure she hadn't misheard.

"-she'll die married."

The words rang in her ears louder this time. The camera panned to a blurry view of Vanessa straddling Lucas in a hotel bed-her bed. Her white sheets. Her betrayal.

Selena stumbled backward, knocking over a glass vase. It shattered, spraying petals and water across the marble floor.

Her phone buzzed with a message from Lucas:

"Can't wait to see you at the altar, sweetheart. Let's make forever official." 💍

Her legs gave out. She collapsed to the floor in her wedding gown, tears blurring her vision, lungs tightening with betrayal, rage, and disbelief.

She'd given Lucas everything. Her love. Her trust. Her inheritance.

And now they planned to bury her in a silk coffin, veil and all.

A knock sounded at the suite door. Then a voice she once trusted more than her own whispered sweetly through the gap-

"Selena? It's time."

Selena didn't answer. Instead, she looked down at her trembling hands.

Then she looked up into the mirror, and for the first time, she didn't see a bride.

She saw a woman born to burn them all.

To be continued...

Selena didn't move for a long time.

The wedding gown felt like a prison. Every layer of tulle and lace clung to her body like a shroud. Her breath came in shallow gasps. She stared at her reflection in the mirror-the dress, the tiara, the makeup-and didn't recognize the woman looking back.

Just hours ago, she thought she was about to marry the love of her life.

Now she knew better.

They planned to kill her. Lucas. Vanessa. The two people she trusted most.

A knock came again, louder this time.

"Selena!" Vanessa's voice was laced with fake concern. "The ceremony's starting. Everyone's waiting."

Selena didn't answer.

She unplugged the USB drive and slipped it into her bra, then grabbed her phone and a coat, tossing it over her gown. Her hands moved with cold purpose. Her vision had narrowed. She didn't cry anymore.

She'd already died once inside.

---

She slipped out the back entrance of the hotel, avoiding the main corridor and security guards. Nobody noticed the bride escaping into the snow.

Taxi. Anywhere but here.

"Where to?" the driver asked, glancing at her strange attire.

She hesitated, then said, "Westbridge Cemetery."

The man blinked, surprised. "You sure, miss? In that dress?"

She nodded once. "Drive."

---

By the time she reached the gates, the sky had turned a bruised shade of gray. Snow drifted in soft flurries around her, clinging to the hem of her white gown.

She knelt beside her father's grave.

The headstone was simple. Dignified.

"Charles Moore. Loving father. Fierce protector."

"I'm sorry, Dad," she whispered, touching the cold marble. "I let them take everything you built. Everything you left me."

She bit back the sob in her throat.

"I was stupid. I trusted the wrong people. I thought... I thought love would protect me."

She pulled the USB from her bra and clenched it tightly.

"Lucas used me. Vanessa betrayed me. And now they think they've won."

Tears froze on her lashes, but she didn't wipe them away.

"I'm done being the girl who forgives."

For a brief second, the wind howled louder-as if something unseen heard her vow.

She stood, eyes blazing. "I don't care what it costs. I will destroy them both."

And at that exact moment, her phone buzzed again.

A new message from Lucas:

> "Everything okay? You're not getting cold feet... are you?"

She stared at the screen, then slowly typed:

> "Just making sure I look perfect... for you."

She hit send.

Let them think she was still coming.

Let them wait at the altar while their carefully laid trap unraveled.

Because if they wanted to bury her...

She'd make sure they went six feet under first.

To be continued...

Snow was falling faster now.

Selena's gown, once pristine, trailed behind her in slushy grey as she walked down the empty sidewalk away from the cemetery. Her fingers were frozen. Her lips chapped. But her mind burned.

Every step took her farther from who she used to be.

She no longer cared about makeup or diamonds or the perfect venue.

All she wanted was retribution.

---

At a coffee shop a few blocks down, she ducked into the bathroom, locked the door, and stared at herself in the mirror. Her face was pale, her curls flattened by the wind, her lipstick smudged.

She didn't fix any of it.

Instead, she pulled out her phone and opened her banking app. Her heart sank-just like she remembered, most of her accounts had already been drained. Lucas had convinced her to "merge finances" in the months leading up to the wedding.

He'd robbed her before the vows were even spoken.

She had one card left. An emergency account her father made her promise never to touch unless she had no one else to turn to.

Well. She had no one now.

She transferred a few thousand into a fresh digital wallet and walked out into the street like a woman with nothing to lose.

---

She booked a room in a run-down hotel on the edge of downtown. It was the kind of place where no one asked questions. The kind of place that didn't care if a woman walked in wearing a wedding dress and a dead stare.

The clerk handed her the key with wide eyes, but she said nothing.

Once inside, she peeled off the dress and stood in silence for a long moment, letting the cold air bite her skin. Then, she pulled out her laptop and inserted the USB again.

This time, she watched it all.

Not just the voices, but the faces. Lucas's lazy smirk as he talked about "marrying into her inheritance." Vanessa, still wearing her maid of honor robe, curled up in his lap, sipping champagne and bragging about how easy Selena was to manipulate.

"Once we get her out of the way," Vanessa purred, "we'll have the company, the assets, the penthouse... everything."

Lucas chuckled. "And the press will write sob stories about the poor bride who tripped and fell from the balcony."

Selena flinched.

She hadn't fallen. Vanessa had pushed her.

The memory was still blurry-the wind, the screaming, the sharp crack of her skull against the railing-but she remembered Vanessa's eyes.

Cold. Smiling.

That was the moment Selena had died.

And now she was back to make sure they both joined her.

---

The next morning, the headlines were exactly what she expected:

"Heiress Disappears on Wedding Day-Cold Feet or Scandal?"

"Lucas Blackwell Left at the Altar: Sources Say Bride Vanished Without a Word."

"Vanessa Clark Steps in to Comfort Devastated Groom."

Selena scoffed and threw her phone aside. "Devastated," she muttered. "He probably popped a bottle the minute I left."

But it worked in her favor. No one was looking for her. They'd all assume she ran out of fear or guilt. Her absence wasn't a threat.

Yet.

---

Later that afternoon, she slipped into an old internet café under a fake name and began phase one: Take back her father's company.

She still remembered the exact day Lucas had approached her with the idea of consolidating ownership. "It'll be easier," he'd said. "We're going to be married anyway. No need for secrets."

She'd signed everything without reading.

Naive. Blind.

But this time, she had five years of knowledge on her side.

She pulled up corporate filings and cross-referenced Lucas's financial dealings. A few buried names appeared-shell companies used to funnel her family's assets into Lucas's hands. Accounts in Belize. Wire transfers marked as "investments" but ending in zero returns.

Fraud. Embezzlement. Insider trading.

She downloaded everything.

Vanessa was no better. A little digging brought up her fake social media following, doctored endorsements, and a history of dating investors before ghosting them after fund transfers.

"Perfect," Selena whispered, archiving every screenshot into a folder labeled:

RUIN.

Then came the message. A new number. Unlisted.

Unknown:

> You disappeared. Smart move.

But if you want real revenge, you're going to need help.

Her fingers froze.

Selena:

> Who is this?

No reply. Not for a minute.

Then-

Unknown:

> Let's just say I've been burned by Lucas Blackwell too.

Meet me tomorrow. 3PM. Corner of 7th and Harrow.

Wear black. Come alone.

Selena stared at the message, heartbeat pounding.

A trap? Possibly.

But if someone else wanted to destroy Lucas... she wasn't the only one with fire in her blood.

She closed her laptop slowly, a grim smile curling her lips.

Let the games begin.

---

To be continued...