The Forgotten Heiress: A Decade Erased

I woke up to the smell of expensive cologne and the familiar weight of a man's arm, smiling.

For a second, I thought it was my Ethan, the passionate law student I loved.

But the man beside me was a stranger-harder, older, and radiating a cold fury.

"What now, Stella?" he spat, his eyes sharp and unforgiving. "What kind of game are you playing today?"

He called me thirty, not twenty, a number that hit me like a physical blow.

My reflection confirmed his cruel words: a pale, exhausted woman stared back, devoid of the vibrant spark I knew.