Replacing A Shadow With My True Billionaire

For five whole years, I broke myself to pieces on motocross tracks, all to chase Chaim Barrett's obsession with extreme sports.

But on the very night I won my race, he sat in a VIP booth and read my viral romance novel aloud to everyone-every humiliating page of my one-sided devotion to him.

"Aislinn, I've only ever seen you as a little sister. Where did this filthy little mind of yours come from?"

My injured skin was still bleeding, while Chaim and his new fling made a joke of my pain, mocking everything I'd ever done.

They all believed I loved Chaim deeply. But no one knew that every time I looked into his eyes, I was really seeing the boy who vanished from my life eight years ago.

The moment I saw the replica ring at Chaim's throat-the same ring the boy used to wear-I finally woke up for good: he was not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as the man I truly loved.

I hurled that black stud earring into the mud, turned my back without hesitation, and never looked back.

Because my real first love-the boy who is now a self-made billionaire-was coming home.

Chapter 1

Aislinn's POV

Yesterday, the indie romance novel I wrote about my five years of pathetic one-sided love went viral, topping the recommendation charts on my publishing platform.

Readers dragged the heroine without mercy, calling her a spineless doormat groveling for scraps.

Total strangers demanded to know what kind of woman would break herself to pieces on a motocross track just for the privilege of being noticed by a rich adrenaline junkie.

I knew the answer, because every word in that book was my own blood and tears.

And tonight-the same night I won my motocross race-the man I'd been chasing sat in a VIP booth, reading its most humiliating passages out loud in front of thirty people.

"Everybody, listen to this part!" Felicity shouted to the whole room.

"She writes: 'Every time his engine roared to life on the dirt track, I stood in the stands silently praying he would look my way-even if it meant breathing in exhaust fumes for three straight hours.'"

The entire VIP booth erupted in nauseating snickers.

Felicity dabbed at tears that didn't exist, then turned to Chaim.

"Chaim, I dug up this little gold mine for you, so you'd better reward me," she said smugly. "Our sweet little Aislinn has been writing a self-insert romance with you as the hero for five whole years."

Chaim lounged back against the sofa, one arm draped carelessly along the backrest behind Felicity.

He wore a fitted black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows.

A silver chain hung around his neck, weighted with a thick black tungsten ring.

He took a slow sip of tequila and looked down at me, his eyes cold with mockery.

"Aislinn, I've told you before-I only ever saw you as a sister," Chaim said, raising his voice. "How did your mind get this filthy?"

"The only person who can keep up with my life and doesn't burst into tears every five minutes is Felicity."

Another round of scornful laughter rolled through the group of rich kids.

Someone near the bar wolf-whistled and heckled me to write a sequel all about my own despair.

Felicity climbed down from the sofa and pouted her way over to my booth.

"Don't be mad at us, Ash," Felicity cooed, patting my shoulder with fake sympathy. "We're only trying to help you face reality."

"A girl like you belongs at home, not chasing after us like a dog."

I rose slowly and brushed her hand away.

The alcohol was buzzing in my ears, but my mind had never been clearer-not once in the past five years had it been this clear.

I walked straight up to Chaim and stopped between his open knees.

I reached out and picked up the black tungsten ring dangling against his chest.

The heavy metal was cold against my fingertips.

"Chaim, do you really believe every word in that book was about you?" I asked softly.

Chaim raised an eyebrow, his smirk deepening.

"Who else would it be about, Aislinn?" he shot back. "You followed me to every race in California. At Mammoth you broke your arm just trying to keep up with me on the slopes."

I tilted my head, then let go of the ring and let it fall back against his black shirt.

"You're just the only man in Los Angeles with his face and his ring," I said evenly.

The smirk froze on Chaim's face, then died completely.

His jaw snapped tight, and he shot out a hand and clamped it around my wrist.

"What did you just say?" Chaim lowered his voice, cold all at once.

I leaned in close and looked straight into his deep brown eyes.

"You really think an arrogant bastard like you was worth five years of my pain?" I mocked softly against his ear.

Before he could answer, Felicity grabbed my arm and yanked me back.

"Stop embarrassing yourself, Aislinn!" Felicity shrieked, planting herself between us. "Inventing an imaginary boyfriend is the oldest trick in the book. Is admitting you got rejected really that hard? Just let go, with a shred of dignity, for once."

One of Chaim's riding buddies snickered by the bar and shouted his agreement at the top of his lungs.

"That's right," the guy hollered.

"When she found out Chaim was into the biker look, she cleared out her whole closet and replaced it with leather jackets."

"When he crashed in Baja, she sat outside the ER for eight hours clutching his spare helmet!"

Felicity turned to Chaim, arms crossed.

"You hear that?" Felicity asked sweetly. "Chaim, did any of her pathetic little stunts ever move you, even once?"

Chaim stared at my wrist, then slowly lifted his eyes to my face.

"No," Chaim said, spitting the word out like ice. "It was all her wallowing in her own one-sided drama. I never asked her to do any of it."

"Besides," he paused, "the thing I hate most is emotional blackmail."

He raised a hand and pointed toward the booth exit.

"If you can't accept being a sister, then don't come to our get-togethers anymore," Chaim added.

A sharp memory slammed into my chest like a hammer-those words that had torn my life apart eight years ago, echoing in my ears all over again.

Before I could stop it, a single tear broke free and slid down my lashes.

Chaim caught that tear, and the faintest flicker of hesitation crossed his face.

He set his glass on the table and stood up.

"Come on," Chaim sighed, reaching for his car keys. "Let me drive you home before you make an even bigger scene."

Felicity immediately latched onto his arm, melting softly against him.

"Chaim, the party's just getting started," she pouted, tilting her face up at him. "Just order her a rideshare on the company account. She's an adult, not a three-year-old."

A party? I sneered inwardly. What kind of party needs to humiliate its own guest of honor?

Chaim glanced at Felicity, then pushed the keys back into his pocket.

"Fine," Chaim said, turning to me. "I'll have a car waiting out front."

I spun around and walked straight toward the heavy velvet drapes at the exit.

On my second step, my injured right knee buckled and my shin cracked hard against the brass edge of a low table.

Pain from my old motocross injury flared violently, radiating down my shin.

I sucked in a breath and crouched on the floor, clutching my leg.

"Oh, look," Felicity giggled behind me. "Now she's throwing herself on the floor for attention."

Chaim had just taken a step toward me when Felicity caught his sleeve and stopped him short.

Open impatience crossed his face.

"Get up, Aislinn," Chaim called from the other end of the booth. "I don't have time for these games tonight."

I pulled myself up using the wall, without sparing him a single glance.

Limping, I pushed through the VIP drapes and into the main hallway near the elevators.

Through the double glass doors at the end of the hallway, a tall, upright figure was walking past, wrapped in a perfectly tailored charcoal coat.

The sharp line of his profile, the way those broad shoulders moved, stole every breath from my chest.

I shoved off the wall and sprinted for the end of the hallway on my ruined leg.

Behind me, Chaim's shrill sneer rang out by the velvet drapes.

"Look at her," Chaim muttered to the booth. "Ten minutes from now she'll be waiting by my car like she always does."