THE BILLIONAIRE'S SECRET HEIRESS

e place, and the little moments of banter that made up her day. But despite all of it, there was an unshakable sense of something missing. Maybe it was the fact that she spen

bed, she glanced at the small mirror near the door and fixed her messy hair into a quick ponytail. Her uniform was the same every day-a faded white shirt, a worn apron, and a pair of sneake

d of place that never got any love except the few who knew its charm-the greasy food, the watered-down coffee, and the staff who tried their best to make it all feel a little

just a waitress. She was someone who had dreams-dreams that seemed unreachable, like the distant stars that shone in the night sky but were impossible to touch. Lena had always dreamed of a

he lunch crowd had dispersed, and the late-night regulars hadn't arrived yet. Len

rk, mysterious aura that surrounded him made it clear that he wasn't a usual diner patron. His sharp jawline was set in a permanent frown,

loud, too deliberate, in the otherwise quiet diner. For a moment, Lena wondered if he had the wrong place.

s presence that commanded attention, though not in an obvious way. It was more like the air aro

ne. "Excuse me, are you Lena Carter?" His voice had a rich

liar about his words. She glanced at him, trying to gauge if this was a joke or some kind of prank. "

, pulling out a thick, ivory envelope. He slid it across the counter to her, and her heart skipp

ever this man was about to tell her. But she felt the pull of curiosi

too important to be in the hands of someone like her. She tore open the seal and unfolded the letter in

Victor Carter, a man who-until now-has been lost to you and the world. Upon his death, a vast fortune was left to you, contingent upon the fulfillment o

billionaire? The same man who had disappeared from her life before she co

e low, though it trembled with disbelief. "My father wasn't-he

Carter, this isn't a mistake. Victor Carter was a man of great wealth, but he was also a man with enemies. Th

o face. She didn't know Alexander Blackwood, but everything she had heard about him from whispers in the diner, from the hushed conversation

Deci

think or how to feel. Her mind raced, her heart pounding in her chest. What was she supposed

tion. "You have one week to decide, Lena. If you choose not to accept, the inheritance will

ena to sit in the stillness of the diner, the

kind of life had she just been thrust into? And was this the

o answers

questions, and we see her torn between the life she knows-the life she's been struggling to survive-and the unknown,