Rising From Ashes: The CEO's Secret Twins

Despite being the high and mighty legitimate heiress of the Burch family, half a year ago, Hedy Burch was kidnapped by thugs to the countryside, where she was brutally stripped of her innocence. Later, dumped half-naked at the entrance of a luxury hotel owned by her family, she became the ultimate laughingstock of New York's elite overnight.

She thought her family would protect her, but the Burch family, which was supposed to be her shelter, deemed her a disgraceful stain, ruthlessly throwing her into a dark, freezing warehouse to rot.

Now, eight months pregnant, Hedy tightly gripped the rough, moldy burlap sack beneath her as a tearing contraction ripped through her excessively swollen belly.

Crimson blood mixed with amniotic fluid pooled on the freezing concrete beneath her trembling thighs. She hadn't had a drop of water in three days, and her vision was already turning black at the edges.

Driven by the sheer primal instinct to keep her babies alive, Hedy dragged her heavy, bleeding body across the floor and smashed her fists against the heavy iron door. "Someone! Let me out! I need a hospital!"

From the other side of the thick metal, Britney Burch's sweet, venomous giggle drifted in.

"Aw, big sister, if I were you, I'd just bite my tongue and die. You're carrying a stray dog's litter, and you still expect to give birth? Hasn't our family been humiliated enough by your scandalous little spectacle?"

"Britney, please..." Hedy gasped, clutching her stomach as another wave of agonizing pain hit. "I'm having the babies..."

"Help you?" Britney snorted, dropping her sweet facade. "Do you have any idea how much it cost me to hire those thugs to ruin you in the countryside? Or how long I planned that little hotel exhibition?"

Hedy's pupils shrank. She pressed her pale face against the cold iron. "You... you did this?!"

The sharp stench of gasoline seeped under the door gap, followed by the terrifying crackle of flames.

"Why shouldn't I?" Britney spat, pure hatred lacing her voice. "We share the same father! But just because you crawled out of the legal wife's belly, you get the family trust, while I'm treated like a dirty secret! I'm sick of your high-and-mighty, hypocritical face, Hedy."

The flames licked under the door, roasting the air inside. "Have a nice trip to hell. I'm taking everything that was supposed to be yours."

The fire rapidly crawled toward Hedy. Blistering heat scorched her skin. She couldn't die here. Her babies couldn't die here!

"Britney!" Hedy screamed, her voice tearing. "You want Mom's shares, right?! I'll give them to you!"

She desperately yanked the emerald pendant engraved with the letter 'H' off her neck. "The equity transfer documents are locked in a Swiss bank vault! This emerald pendant is the only key! Open the door, and it's yours!"

Silence. Then, a heavy clank. The iron door was yanked open.

Britney stood there, her amber eyes blazing with greed as she reached for the glowing green stone.

But in that split second, Hedy grabbed a heavy wooden plank she had hidden behind her back. With every last ounce of her remaining strength, she swung it directly at Britney's face!

"Bitch!" Britney shrieked as the plank connected with a sickening crack. She crashed backward into the flames, her designer dress catching fire.

While the bodyguards panicked to put out the screaming Britney, Hedy clutched her stomach and plunged into the stormy night.

Pitch-black mountain road. Freezing rain lashed against the asphalt.

Inside a sleek, speeding Rolls-Royce Phantom, the temperature was sub-zero.

"Still nothing?"

The man's deep, gravelly voice sent a violent shiver down his assistant Colin's spine.

"Boss... we've turned the city upside down for months, but there's still no sign of that emerald pendant with the letter 'H'..."

"Useless," Gordon Nieves sneered, his eyes as cold as an abyss.

The ruthless head of the Wall Street Nieves empire sat in the shadows, fighting a raging fire in his blood. He had been drugged with a potent neurotoxin at a private club tonight. The chemical burned through his veins, making his muscles twitch with the violent urge to snap someone's neck.

Screech-!

A dark figure stumbled out of the woods, forcing Colin to slam on the brakes.

Hedy collapsed onto the wet hood of the Phantom. She slid down to the asphalt, using her bloody fingers to slap the rain-streaked window. "Save me... hospital..."

Colin swallowed hard. "Boss, it's a pregnant woman... I'll get rid of her right now!"

Gordon's jaw clenched. He kicked the door open and stepped into the freezing downpour, intending to toss the filthy obstacle aside. He was a severe germaphobe, and the neurotoxin made him highly volatile.

Hedy grabbed the hem of his bespoke trousers with icy fingers. "Please..."

Gordon looked down in disgust. But as his dark eyes swept over her bloody, pale hand, his entire body froze.

Clutched tightly in her fingers was a vibrant green stone. An emerald pendant. Engraved with the letter 'H'.

Gordon's breath hitched. Ignoring the mud, the blood, and his crippling germaphobia, he bent down, hooked his strong arms under her knees, and lifted the dying woman against his burning chest.

"Boss?!" Colin gasped.

"Drive," Gordon barked, his pitch-black eyes locked on Hedy's pale face. "To the hospital. Now."

As the Phantom roared forward, three black SUVs belonging to the Burch family sped out of the woods, their headlights locking onto the Rolls-Royce's taillights.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom screeched to a halt in the underground emergency bay of a top-tier Manhattan private hospital.

Ignoring his severe germaphobia and the neurotoxin still burning through his veins, Gordon kicked the car door open and carried the blood-soaked Hedy straight into the blindingly white lobby.

"Gurney! Now!" Colin roared as a team of elite obstetricians sprinted forward.

Hedy was immediately rushed toward the VIP operating room. Her haggard face was deathly pale, and her weak breath seemed like it could stop at any second.

Moments later, the head surgeon rushed out, his forehead dripping with cold sweat. "Sir, the patient is suffering from a massive hemorrhage! She's in critical condition. We need a family member to sign the consent form immediately!"

Colin frowned, stepping forward. "We aren't her-"

Before Colin could finish, a large, well-defined hand snatched the pen from the doctor. Gordon signed his name with sharp, forceful strokes.

"I want her alive," Gordon ordered, his deep voice radiating a terrifying, bone-chilling pressure. "If she dies on that table, I will tear this hospital to the ground."

The surgeon shuddered under the man's abyss-like gaze. "Y-Yes, sir! We will do everything we can!"

Ten minutes later, in the top-floor VIP lounge.

A doctor carefully pulled an IV needle from Gordon's arm. The serum was finally suppressing the neurotoxin, but it left his mind slightly exhausted.

Gordon leaned back against the dark leather sofa, his long fingers absentmindedly tracing the mud-stained emerald pendant. The delicate letter 'H' carved into the back gleamed under the light.

Down the hallway, Britney Burch, who had tailed the Phantom through the storm, pressed herself against a marble pillar.

Her eyes widened in shock. That was Gordon Nieves, the ruthless tyrant of Wall Street! And in his hand was Hedy's emerald pendant!

Britney swallowed hard, her heart hammering in terror. She was terrified of this legendary tyrant, but that pendant was the only key to the Burch family trust! If she didn't get it back, the shares would be lost forever.

Biting her lip, she forced down her fear. She quickly messed up her hair, pinched her thigh to force out tears, and stumbled out from behind the pillar.

"Mr. Nieves!" she cried out, her voice trembling with manufactured vulnerability.

Two black-suited bodyguards instantly blocked her path, reaching for their holsters.

Gordon turned around, his pitch-black eyes locking onto the weeping woman. "Let her through."

Britney walked forward with trembling knees and dropped to the floor, her tear-filled eyes staring longingly at the stone in his hand. "That... that pendant is mine!"

Gordon's eyes narrowed dangerously. He took a long stride forward, his large hand shooting out to grip her chin. With a bruising force that nearly crushed her jawbone, he forced her head up, his gaze filled with a heavy, predatory scrutiny.

"Yours?" Gordon's voice was deathly quiet.

Swallowing a scream from the pain in her jaw, Britney squeezed out more tears. "Yes... It's my mother's relic. It has the letter 'H' engraved on the back. It was stolen from me a few days ago by a thief... I tracked the thief in the rain all the way here!"

Gordon stared into her flickering amber eyes. The contours of her face bore a slight resemblance to the blurry silhouette from his memory.

Slowly, he released her chin.

"What is your name?" Gordon asked coldly.

Britney lowered her head, acting timid. "Britney... Britney Burch."

Hearing the name, Colin frowned and stepped closer to Gordon. "Boss, we should verify her identity. The Burch family doesn't exactly have a clean reputation."

Gordon picked up the emerald pendant and gave Britney a flat, emotionless look.

"Since the pendant belongs to you, the Nieves family pays its debts," Gordon said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Tomorrow, my lawyers will send an engagement agreement to the Burch estate."

Britney's breath hitched. She pressed a trembling hand over her mouth to trap a shriek of pure, ecstatic joy.

She had only risked her life to get the key to the trust fund, but she had just effortlessly landed the richest man in the world! Hedy, that bitch, was probably bleeding to death on the operating table right now, while she was about to become the most powerful woman in New York!

Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared through the corridor.

A nurse bolted out of the elevator, her face as pale as a ghost. "Code Red! The patient in the VIP delivery room... she knocked out the doctor and escaped!"

Gordon stood up so fast he knocked the medical tray off the table. A terrifying, suffocating rage instantly gripped his chest.

He strode out of the lounge and kicked the delivery ward door open. The room was a complete mess. Bloodstained sheets trailed across the pristine floor, leading straight to the wide-open window. The freezing night wind howled into the empty room.

Colin rushed in, holding a printed security frame, his face full of sheer disbelief. "Boss... it's unbelievable. She actually escaped down the fire escape right outside the window."

Gordon stood by the sill, staring down into the pitch-black alley below. His knuckles turned white as his grip tightened around the emerald pendant.

"Find her," Gordon ordered, his voice dripping with an obsessive, bone-chilling absolute authority. "Even if you have to tear New York apart, find her!"

Six years later.

Bright afternoon sunlight poured through the skylight of a hidden top-floor art studio in Paris. Hedy stood before a massive canvas, a thin callus on her right middle finger steadying the brush as she worked.

In the bottom right corner of the painting, a subtle emblem of a rose hidden in clouds gleamed under the wet oil-the signature of Isolde, the mysterious master artist whom Christie's and Sotheby's fought tooth and nail to auction.

In the corner of the studio, five-year-old Jaden Burch sat cross-legged in a wide leather chair. His small fingers flew across a custom mechanical keyboard, streams of green code reflecting in his dark eyes.

Jaden hit the 'Enter' key, shoving his hands into his pockets as he tilted his chin up. "Mommy, Uncle Irwin is in trouble."

Hedy's brush froze. A heavy drop of crimson paint splattered onto the canvas. She walked quickly to the desk.

A New York federal court subpoena flashed on the screen: Irwin Montoya, her late mother's brother, had been arrested by the FBI for massive commercial fraud.

Hedy pinched the bridge of her nose, a bone-chilling coldness settling into her ink-black eyes. Uncle Irwin was a righteous cop; this was obviously a frame-up by her father, Dolphus, to swallow the last of the Montoya family's assets.

She needed to return to New York immediately to bail Irwin out and finally settle the score with the Burch family. However, Dolphus had canceled her passport six years ago, and Burch informants were watching customs closely.

Seeing her cold expression, Jaden curled his lip and tapped a few keys, pulling up two new digital passports bearing top-level EU encryption stamps. "Already handled. They couldn't crack Asteria's firewall if you gave them a hundred years."

Looking at her five-year-old son, who treated global cybersecurity systems like his personal toys, a deeply complex emotion flickered in Hedy's eyes.

That night six years ago was the darkest nightmare of her life. The pitch-black room, the scent of blood mixed with cold cedar, and the strange man who forcefully stripped away her innocence had nearly destroyed her.

Yet, fate had given her the most precious treasures in return. From a young age, the twins had displayed a terrifyingly high IQ, especially Jaden, who was an absolute prodigy.

Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder-who exactly was that man in the dark? What kind of terrifying genetics did he possess to father such impossibly brilliant children?

But it didn't matter. They were hers, and they were her only weakness and greatest armor.

Taking a deep breath, Hedy forced those trembling memories back down. The fleeting vulnerability in her eyes was instantly replaced by an unbreakable, icy resolve. She smiled and ruffled his messy black hair. "Good job, my little genius. Pack your things. We are going back to hell."

Thirteen hours later, Hedy walked out of the VIP arrival tunnel at JFK International Airport in New York.

She wore a sharp black trench coat and oversized sunglasses, holding the hands of her five-year-old twins.

Her daughter, Ever, wore a ruffled princess dress and blinked her big, grape-like eyes at the terminal. "Mommy, New York doesn't smell like sweet perfume like Paris does."

Jaden pulled a mini titanium suitcase with one hand, his eyes sharply scanning the overhead security cameras.

Near the exit, several burly men holding a Burch family sign were stopping dark-haired women to check their faces.

Hedy pressed her lips together, preparing to take a side exit, when a heavy commotion broke out behind them.

Thirty armed bodyguards in black suits cleared the VIP corridor in seconds.

Gordon Nieves strode through the center of the formation. Six years had made the lines of the Wall Street tyrant's face even harder and colder.

Hedy's spine stiffened. She immediately pulled the twins behind a massive advertising pillar.

It was him. His face was plastered on every major financial magazine. But more importantly, Gordon Nieves was the man who had publicly announced his engagement to Britney Burch six years ago. He was her ultimate enemy's biggest shield. Before she could secure Uncle Irwin, she absolutely could not afford to clash with the Nieves empire.

Gordon walked past at a brisk pace, the crisp scent of cold cedar trailing in the air without him sparing a glance toward the shadows.

Yet the moment he passed, Jaden stared hard at Gordon's profile.

As a top-tier hacker, Jaden had thoroughly investigated the Burch family's background, including Britney's untouchable fiancé. But seeing the man in person, Jaden's dark eyes narrowed. That man's face... looked exactly like his own.

While Hedy was watching the Burch guards ahead, Jaden slipped his hand out of hers and darted straight into the path of the Nieves security detail.

Colin was walking half a step behind Gordon when a small body suddenly blocked their way.

Colin looked down. A five-year-old boy in a miniature bespoke suit stood there, hands in his pockets, his chin raised with an arrogant, icy aura that felt terrifyingly familiar.

The bodyguards instantly reached for their holsters.

Gordon stopped. He looked down at the boy, a cold glint flashing in his dark eyes.

Unfazed by the terrifying pressure radiating from the billionaire, Jaden sneered, his crisp, childish voice ringing out clearly. "You are Gordon Nieves? The man about to marry Britney Burch?"

Dead silence fell over the VIP corridor. Every executive sucked in a cold breath at the kid's audacity.

Gordon's pupils contracted. It wasn't just the boy's fearless attitude-it was that face. It was like looking into a mirror of his own childhood.

Jaden shook his head, his tone dripping with high-IQ mockery. "I thought the tyrant of Wall Street would be smart. But to be blind enough to choose a piece of trash like Britney... what a disappointment."

Gordon's breath hitched, his heart skipping a violent beat.

Hearing her son's voice, Hedy's blood ran cold. She bolted out from behind the pillar.

"Jaden!" She grabbed the boy's arm, yanking him back.

The sudden, frantic movement caused her oversized sunglasses to slip down her nose, exposing her striking, ink-black eyes and the pale, beautiful contours of her face.

Gordon's gaze cut past his guards and locked onto Hedy. In that split second, a violent shudder shot down his spine. Those eyes... that stubborn, desperate defiance in her gaze violently overlapped with a blurry, bloodstained shadow buried deep in his memory from a rainy night six years ago.

Before Hedy could turn away, Gordon took a long, dominant stride forward, his tall frame completely blocking her escape route.

His dark, abyss-like eyes dropped to Jaden, then slowly shifted back to Hedy's face, his voice dangerously low and thick with sudden, overwhelming suspicion.

"Ma'am," Gordon said, his gaze pinning her in place. "Before you leave, don't you think you owe me an explanation for this boy's face?"