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214words2026-01-27 09:09

In our world, everyone knew the score: Old Man Mantel had decreed that I was the key to his family's empire.
Whoever married me would inherit it all.
At the engagement party, I stood poised in a custom-made gown, ready to take the stage and announce the union of the Mantel and Vance families.

But then my fiancé, Jude Mantel, strode into the center of the glittering ballroom, his fingers intertwined with my stepsister, Seraphina Vance. He pulled her to his side, a defiant set to his jaw.
"Seraphina and I are in love," he announced, his voice ringing through the sudden silence.
"She is the only one I will ever marry."
He shot a cold glance in my direction.
"Sloane is too headstrong. She is not fit to be Mrs. Mantel."
Just like that, my engagement was transferred to my stepsister.

A sea of faces turned towards me, their expressions a mix of pity and scorn.
What Jude didn't know, what almost no one knew, was the real reason Grandpa Orson had chosen me.
My mother is the matriarch of the Thorne family, a reclusive and powerful dynasty, and one day, I will inherit everything.
Since Jude had made his choice, it was time for the Mantel empire to find a new heir.