The Heiress Returns: Too Late For Your Regret
Chapter 1
The freezing water of the pool rushed into Adela's nose and throat.
Her lungs burned.
The violent lack of oxygen tore through her brain, shattering the lingering hallucination of the high-end psychiatric ward where she had just died.
She snapped her eyes open, her mind plunging into absolute chaos. The twisted, rippling blue light above her made no sense. Was this a hallucination? The afterlife? The agonizing sting of the lethal injection still ghosted through her veins, but it was quickly being replaced by a different kind of physical panic. The sharp, chemical bite of stinging chlorine flooded her senses, forcing her to recognize her surroundings. This wasn't the sterile white ceiling of the asylum. This was the infinity pool at the Hamptons estate. The sheer impossibility of it crashed over her-she wasn't dead. She had returned to three years ago.
The stinging chlorine confirmed this was not a nightmare from hell.
Instinct took over. She thrashed her arms, kicking her legs to break the surface for a single breath of air.
Through the murky, churning water, she saw her second brother, Preston, dive into the pool.
He did not swim toward her.
Preston kicked hard, swimming in the exact opposite direction.
Adela's stomach dropped.
The familiar, sickening weight of his blatant favoritism hit her harder than the freezing water.
Preston reached Kalyn, who was merely splashing the surface and pretending to choke, and lifted her securely into his arms.
He did not spare a single glance backward at Adela, who was actually sinking.
That absolute, chilling disregard acted like a physical switch in Adela's brain.
She stopped struggling for his attention.
On the pool deck, her fourth brother, Brock, paced frantically, screaming Kalyn's name.
Brock grabbed a life ring and hurled it.
It landed with a heavy splash right next to Adela's head.
"Kalyn! Swim to the ring! Grab it!" Brock yelled, his eyes completely bypassing Adela.
Adela swallowed the burning sensation expanding in her chest.
She closed her eyes for a split second, shutting out the last pathetic shred of hope she ever had for this toxic family.
She turned her body away from them.
Kicking her legs, she swam alone toward the metal ladder at the deep end of the pool.
The icy water stripped away the weak, people-pleasing girl who had died in her past life.
Her numb fingers gripped the cold metal rails.
She pulled herself up.
Her expensive haute couture dress was soaked. It weighed fifty pounds, dragging her backward like a heavy chain.
She bit down on her lower lip until she tasted copper.
The sharp pain forced her muscles to work, and she dragged her heavy body out of the water.
Adela collapsed onto the freezing ceramic tiles.
She rolled onto her side and vomited the pool water she had swallowed.
Behind her, Preston broke the surface of the water, carrying Kalyn in his arms.
Brock immediately rushed forward with a thick cashmere towel, wrapping it tightly around Kalyn's shoulders.
The two tall men hovered over Kalyn, who had barely swallowed a drop of water, asking if she was hurt.
Kalyn leaned into Preston's wet chest, shivering violently and pretending to be terrified.
From beneath the edge of the towel, Kalyn shot a mocking, triumphant look directly at Adela on the floor.
Preston finally finished comforting Kalyn and turned his head.
He looked at Adela's pathetic, soaking wet figure on the tiles.
His eyebrows pulled together in a deep frown, and he opened his mouth, ready to launch into his usual harsh lecture.
Adela did not cry.
She did not explain herself, and she did not scream about how unfair they were being, like she would have in her past life.
She pushed herself off the ground, her face completely blank.
She walked straight past the three of them, leaving the men staring after her in absolute shock.
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