Reborn and Unleashed: The Boss Lady Takes No Prisoners

"Vivian, are you awake yet? Ryan sent someone to deliver the wedding dress..."

Knock knock. The door shook with a couple light taps, paired with a sweet, familiar voice.

Vivian Grant's eyes snapped open.

She sat up straight in bed, her expression instantly cold and sharp as her gaze locked onto the door.

That voice-it was Daphne. But Daphne had died two years ago!

Why the hell...

"I'm coming in, okay?" Before Vivian could make any sense of the situation, the door opened and Daphne walked in.

She was holding a spotless white wedding dress in her hands.

"Come on, Vivian, get changed. We're late for the hotel. Ryan's already called a bunch of times. You were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you." Daphne smiled as she walked over.

Tch, that girl actually managed to win over Grandpa Harris. Even got picked to marry into the family.

Why her?

Daphne was deliberately making Vivian late for her own engagement party. Let's see if the Harris family still thought she was all that.

Vivian stared at the girl in a high school uniform, clearly sixteen or so. Her heart sank with shock.

Daphne Grant, her so-called little sister-not by blood-was two years younger than her.

Vivian had left the Grant family at eighteen and spent three years with Alexander Brooks before he died. That was five years ago.

Even if Daphne were still alive, she should be 21 now.

But this Daphne...

"Vivian? Are you okay?" Daphne waved a hand in front of her face, looking a bit concerned.

Vivian snapped back to herself.

She glanced at her phone by the bed, grabbed it and opened the calendar.

No way-five years ago?

It's the day of her engagement to Ryan.

She'd been reborn.

A wave of excitement surged through her. She shoved Daphne aside and bolted out of the room.

Alexander was going to crash the party today.

She was going to see him again!

"Hey! Where are you going? You haven't even put on your wedding dress!" Daphne shouted at her retreating figure.

Honestly, she'd love nothing more than for Vivian to embarrass herself showing up without the dress.

Still, she put on a show like she cared.

Vivian actually stopped in her tracks at that.

When she turned around, her stare was so icy and intense it made Daphne freeze.

W-What the hell? Why's Vivian looking at her like that?

"The dress?" Vivian slowly curled her lips into a grin, eyes locked on that so-called wedding dress.

She remembered every word of Alexander's diary. Read it over and over again.

Word for word.

For a man like Alexander to die like that in her last life, it all came down to one thing. He thought she'd always loved Ryan.

And that belief started... with that dress.

She spent three years married to Alexander. He treated her like gold. But because of this very dress, he never gave her a real wedding.

He couldn't get over it-that she wore that dress for another man, even for just an engagement.

The dress haunted him.

He didn't want to look at her in it.

He was afraid.

Afraid she'd leave him.

"Vivian, seriously, what's going on?" Daphne took a step back. Something about this version of Vivian seriously creeped her out.

Like she was... about to devour her whole.

Vivian lifted her head again, gaze sharp as ever. Daphne's scalp prickled as she watched her crack a cold smile.

"You don't really want me marrying into the Harris family, do you, Daphne?"

Daphne's eyes went wide. She looked caught and shook her head frantically like a scared rabbit. "N-No! Of course not, Vivian-I'd never-"

Rip!

Before Daphne could finish playing innocent, Vivian reached out and yanked the wedding dress right out of her hands.

Vivian tore it apart. Just like that.

"Sis! What are you doing?!"

Daphne's face was full of panic, tears welling up fast in her eyes.

But inside, she was practically popping champagne.

Rip it! Rip it good! Tear that wedding dress to shreds-let's see you still get engaged to Ryan now!

Vivian tore up the dress in just a couple of moves, totally calm, then grabbed her phone and snapped a few pics.

Without missing a beat, she dropped the photos into the Harris family WhatsApp group-the one Logan had added her to ages ago. Everyone from the family was still in there.

She typed out a message quickly:

The dress is ruined. Bad sign. I won't be going through with the engagement.

Sent.

She didn't even glance back at Daphne as she turned and walked out the door.

"Sis, where are you going?!" Daphne called out, playing her concerned little act while chasing after her.

But all she caught was Vivian's back disappearing out the front gate.

The moment Vivian was out of sight, Daphne's fake tears vanished and a smug little smirk took over.

"Time to beat Vivian to the hotel and spill everything to Ryan, Mom, and Dad," she muttered to herself, then dashed out and hopped into the car headed for the hotel.

Twenty minutes later, Vivian sat in her car, impatiently tapping the watch on her wrist.

Where the hell was that airhead? She figured Daphne would run to tattle first-that's exactly the plan. She needed her to get there just a bit earlier.

Anyway, Alexander hadn't arrived yet.

Suddenly, a message popped up on WhatsApp.

[Boss, all prepped and ready.]

Vivian's eyes froze for a second when she saw the familiar user ID. That's when she remembered-back in her last life, she'd actually arranged something for this engagement party.

If Alexander never showed, her plan was to play a slideshow of Ryan's escapades with other women on the big screen during the engagement party.

And there was even a pregnant woman scheduled to show up and make a scene-destroy the event completely.

But last time, just as she walked into the venue in a wedding dress, Alexander had swooped in with people and took her away, making all her plans useless.

A smile slowly curled on Vivian's lips. Then she typed-

[Go for it.]

[Got it, boss!]

She tucked away her phone right as she saw Daphne hop out of a car and jog into the hotel entrance.

Vivian stepped out too, watching her sister head in first before strolling in herself at a relaxed pace.

She was gonna give Daphne her five minutes to lie. and then crash her little pity party with the truth.

The engagement party was on the third floor. As soon as Vivian exited the elevator, she was hit with the unmistakable sight of a tall, familiar figure surrounded by security in black suits.

Alexander.

Her eyes instantly stung.

Two years. She hadn't seen him in two whole years-only photos, from a distance, unable to touch. Her heart had ached every time.

But now, here he was again, right in front of her.

Breathe. Don't freak out.

No running to him. No falling apart.

This time, they were doing it differently.

She wanted to get to know the real him-and let him see the real her too.

No more mess, no more masks.

He looked all cold and in control on the surface, but deep down, he was paranoid, possessive, and borderline unhinged.

She wasn't letting him wear that "gentle and refined" mask around her anymore.

With that reminder, Vivian pulled herself together and stepped forward.

"Hey, could you give me a little space? I need to get through," she said, voice soft but polite.

Alexander had just been scanning the room, eyes casually looking around, when that familiar, gentle voice behind him hit like a punch.

Thump.

Thump, thump.

His heart went crazy out of nowhere.

He turned.

And then froze.

No makeup. Wearing a black shirt and pants-like, full-on mourning black.

Anyone who didn't know better would've thought she came to crash a funeral.

Looking at the young girl in front of him, Alexander was having an internal meltdown.

Should he take her or not?

"Hey, you're really good-looking," Vivian strolled up to him like she had no clue he was planning to kidnap her.

Alexander: "."

Good-looking?

She thought he looked good?

So. was there a chance she'd fall for him for once?

He'd allow that.

Maybe that way, he could resist the urge to lock her up again.

He stared at her, his gaze deep and intense, laced with a bizarre obsession he couldn't hide.

Vivian tilted her head, giving him a look, then turned to the younger guy next to him.

"Is he quiet by nature, or can't he talk?"

That guy was Ethan Pierce, Alexander's right-hand man.

"..." Ethan broke into a nervous sweat.

This girl's guts were unreal. Did she just imply their boss was mute?

But hey, this was the same girl their boss planned to snatch today. He'd seen the photos.

He figured the real question was how long she could survive under Alexander's intense attention...

"Neither of you can talk?" Vivian scrunched her nose, not hiding her disappointment.

"I was actually thinking about picking someone to fake being my boyfriend."

All of a sudden, Alexander yanked her toward him.

"Fake boyfriend?" His deep voice cut through the air as his eyes held hers.

In that moment, Vivian nearly lost her balance.

In her past life, Alexander always had this way of grabbing her waist and staring at her like she was the only person left on Earth.

Every time she looked up at him, he'd lower his voice and coax, "Vivian, kiss me."

He liked it when she took the lead.

And when she tilted up and kissed him first, he'd instantly take over, flipping the vibe hard, deepening the kiss aggressively like he was never going to stop.

Later, she'd found out from his diary that when she initiated, it made him feel like maybe-just maybe-he had a place in her heart.

That was how he tested whether she had feelings for him.

As Vivian stared blankly at him, lost in thought, Alexander felt a sudden pressure in his chest.

Then, he. smiled.

A deep, clean laugh slipped out from his throat, vibrating slightly as he chuckled.

Ethan: "."

Bodyguards: "."

What the hell was going on?!

The boss just. laughed?!

Like, out loud?!

They could swear on their lives-365 days a year, this man never smiled. Not even a forced one.

He had a reputation for being as expressive as a brick wall. Cold, distant. borderline robotic.

And now, a random 18-year-old girl managed to crack his ice wall?

Was this real life?

Compared to their total freak-out, Vivian was cool as ice.

She'd been with him for three whole years. She'd seen him smile too many times to count.

She was used to it.

"Sorry, my bad. But with a face like yours, how could I not get distracted?" Vivian, knowing Alexander was happy she'd zoned out staring at him, just fessed up with zero shame.

Was it really her fault she was crushing on someone this good-looking?

Wasn't this on him?

Ethan couldn't stop himself from throwing a low-key eye roll.

"I'll allow it," Alexander said, surprisingly pleased.

"For real?" Vivian raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, stare all you want," he replied smoothly.

"You're too sweet," she beamed, her eyes lighting up.

Ethan and the crew were shook again.

Was the old boss a lie?

Was this some undercover imposter?

"You just said you're looking for a boyfriend?" Alexander, of course, completely ignored the word "fake."