Read The Heiress's Second Chance at Vengeance

CHAPTER ONE

Chapter 1 She Is a Death Row Inmate

"Eliza, it's time to go." The cold voice of the prison guard reminded Eliza.

"Eliza, it's time to go." The cold voice of the prison guard reminded Eliza. Today was the day of her execution. Inside jail, Eliza sat curled up in the corner; her hair was disheveled, and she looked like a complete mess. "Where is Zayden? Why hasn't he come to see me?" Eliza’s voice choked with emotion. Today was the day of her execution. Was he really that heartless? The guard’s tone carried a hint of impatience as he said, "Today is the wedding between Mr. Zayden and Naomi. He already said he wants nothing to do with you, even until death. Stop wasting our time." Upon hearing him, a sharp pain shot through Eliza’s chest. Naomi? The girl from the Rivers family? She was also from that family! A month ago, Zayden was still her husband. Less than a month after their divorce, was he already in such a hurry to marry Naomi? Well, of course. Naomi had always been adored and swarmed by devotion since childhood. She was even Zayden’s first crush. As for her, she was just a murderer awaiting execution. Thinking of this, Eliza let out a bitter laugh. The guard urged her, asking, "If you have any last wishes, speak up. Don’t delay our work." Eliza asked, "My parents… did they ever bring me up?" The guard roared, “No!” Eliza had run someone over, causing their death. The Rivers family had long cut ties with her. How could they possibly remember having a daughter as a murderer? In fact, the Rivers family strongly demanded her execution. Everyone in Westbrook knew that the Rivers family’s eldest daughter had a low educational qualification and a bad reputation. Compared to the second daughter, Naomi, who had a prestigious degree and a good image, the contrast was like night and day. Hearing the guard’s words, Eliza felt throbbing pain in her chest. That was right. How could she dare to hope her parents, who pushed for her death sentence, would come and see her one last time? It turned out that all these years of her life - her cautious efforts and careful flattery—were all in vain. Whether it was her parents or Zayden. They had only Naomi in their eyes. Eliza suddenly felt herself so laughable. She had humbled herself, endured endless grievance, and she ended up paving the way for Naomi in the end. A bitter smile spread across Eliza’s lips. Be it Zayden or her parents, love or kinship - if she had a second chance, she wouldn’t want any of it. The two guards escorted her to the execution room. She was pinned to the ground; the gun aimed at her heart. Eliza slowly closed her eyes. With a sudden jolt of pain, a loud ringing echoed in her ears. She didn’t know how long it had passed. Eliza felt her soul detach from her body and then suddenly plummet. As if plunging straight into the sea, she was freezing cold all over. Voices of men shouting and whistling enveloped her. "Damn, that was intense! She just jumped without hesitation." "Zayden, your clingy girlfriend is really obedient. You told her to jump off the boat, and she actually did it!" "Girlfriend? Come on, Eliza’s not even worth that title. There is no way Mr. Zayden would fall for someone like her!" What was going on? Wasn’t she dead? Before Eliza could make sense of it, the overwhelming suffocation of being submerged in water welled up within her. She had no time to think as she struggled and surfaced. She flailed around and finally climbed onto a lifeboat; she looked wrecked. The mocking voices continued to echo from the ferry. "She only stays underwater for three minutes. Zayden, I don’t think she likes you that much." "Yeah, I thought she was more than this." "Zayden, let’s drive the boat off and make her swim back—what do you think?" Zayden’s group of friends spoke with scorn and disdain. But on the lifeboat, Eliza felt a strange familiarity hearing those voices. She looked down at her delicate, fair hands and froze. She had done housework for years—her hands had long become swollen and calloused. How could they now be so soft and smooth? What was going on? Eliza looked around. It hit her soon—this was Zayden’s 17th birthday party! The Rivers Group was a publicly listed company, and it was one of the biggest corporations in Westbrook. So Zayden was a well-known rich kid. For his 17th birthday, the Holt family had rented an entire ferry to celebrate. All his friends were there. Among his friends, Eliza wasn’t on the list initially. It was Naomi who said she wanted to attend his birthday party, so she persuaded Zayden to let her come. Zayden didn’t want to reject Naomi, so he allowed her on board. The cold sea breeze made Eliza shiver. She spotted Zayden on the deck; he was dressed in a white shirt, his youthful face already showing signs of cold detachment. Zayden was the school heartthrob—his chiseled face and delicate facial features could captivate anyone. His mature, serious personality attracted countless girls at school. He was never short of people wooing him. But Eliza was the most shameless among them. That time, she had come to the birthday party and handed the gift that she had spent effort preparing over to Zayden full of joy. But without even looking at it, Zayden threw it into the sea. The others jeered, saying that if she dove in to retrieve the gift, Zayden would accept her feelings. The result was she really jumped. She couldn’t swim. In the end, she didn’t get the gift back and had to climb onto the lifeboat in humiliation, heartlessly abandoned by Zayden in the sea. She rowed the lifeboat for three hours before making it back to shore. Thinking of all the foolish things she’d done for Zayden, Eliza felt laughable. Staring at the lifeboat beneath her, Eliza’s eyes darkened. This time, no one would make fun of her again. With the sound of gas hissing from a valve, screams erupted from the deck. "Holy crap! Has Eliza gone mad?"

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CHAPTER TWO

Chapter 2 Eliza Had Gone Mad

"Zayden! Look at Eliza! Has she gone mad? She punctured her lifeboat!" Zayden had no intention of looking at Eliza in the beginning, but upon hearing the exclamation from someone beside him, he shifted his gaze toward the water. The person who was supposed to be on the lifeboat was now gone. Another person’s face turned pale, and they said, "Did she go into the water to retrieve the gift again? Does she have a death wish?" The onlookers also paled in shock. They had just wanted to mess with Eliza a bit; no one actually hoped for someone to die. In such cold weather, she dove in the sea again. What if she really died? Naomi, who had been hiding in a corner, also looked very unsettled when she saw that Eliza actually punctured her lifeboat. She only meant to embarrass Eliza! She couldn’t actually die! The monthly exam was coming soon. If Eliza weren't around to help her cheat, she’d be in big trouble! Thinking of this, Naomi rushed out from the corner and anxiously held Zayden’s arm. "Zayden! Please get someone to save Eliza! If anything happens to her, I won’t be able to live with myself!" Tears streamed down Naomi’s cheek; her face looked aggrieved. Zayden frowned. The next second, he took off his coat and jumped into the water. The seawater was icy and biting. Zayden hadn’t expected the night sea to be this cold. Every second in the water was a torment. "Eliza! Give me your hand!" Just as he found Eliza and tried to pull her up, Eliza suddenly opened her eyes and kicked him in the stomach underwater. The kick stunned Zayden, causing him to panic and swallow several gulps of seawater accidentally. Seeing Zayden struggling in pain underwater, Eliza felt a rush of satisfaction. She had held her breath for a long time and knew that Naomi wasn't bold enough to really let her die. Even those on the shore only wanted to mock her; they weren't bold enough to let anything happen to her. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have thrown down the lifeboat. Seeing Zayden about to drown, Eliza finally reached out and pulled him to the surface. The rescue staff on the ferry quickly pulled them both up onto the deck. Seeing Zayden coughing up several mouthfuls of water, Naomi rushed forward, worriedly asking, "Zayden, how do you feel? Are you alright?" Zayden didn’t respond; his eyes fixed on Eliza in the distance. That kick underwater—he was almost certain it was intentional! "Eliza! How could you be so reckless? You can’t even swim, yet you still jump in on purpose! Everyone throws you the lifeboat out of goodwill, yet you sabotage it! Are you troubling us all on purpose?" Naomi stood on the moral high ground, telling Eliza off with righteous indignation. As if Eliza were the one making things difficult for everyone. Naomi completely kept quiet about how they had all coaxed and bullied her into jumping in the first place. That was her dear Naomi—always kind and understanding. Others chimed in: "Yeah, Eliza, you went too far! Do you know how expensive a lifeboat is? You dragged us all into this mess for just a lousy gift. How selfish of you!" "Exactly! Given that worthless stuff, even if you got it back, Zayden wouldn’t want it!" The people around Zayden were long used to mocking Eliza. To them, she was nothing but a shameless lapdog. Under all those scornful stares, Eliza slowly pulled out a fountain pen from her hand. Then she said calmly, "Zayden, this is the birthday gift from Naomi. I went to retrieve it for her." Upon hearing her, Naomi froze and thought, What gift? She hadn’t prepared anything for Zayden. After all, simply attending Zayden’s birthday banquet was more than enough to please him. The crowd was stunned as they thought, A gift from Naomi? Wasn’t it from Eliza? "Here you go," Eliza said as she tossed the pen into Zayden’s arms without a change in expression. Zayden looked at her and felt that her expression had changed. Usually, Eliza would have looked at him with hope, waiting for praise. But now, her gaze was calm, as if looking at a stranger. Eliza didn’t spare him another look and turned to leave the deck. Silence filled the air for a moment. Then someone suddenly shouted, "Isn’t that Albert's pen? Naomi, you are impressive! You actually managed to get that?" "Albert..." Naomi stammered; her smile froze on her face. She didn’t even know who that was! Back in her cabin, Eliza let out a cold laugh. Of course Naomi didn’t know. Albert was Zayden’s favorite scholar. The black fountain pen wasn’t expensive but rare. In her previous life, Eliza saved up for a long time and chased after Albert every day, tirelessly as a fan, just to have him sell one of his pens to her. But in the end, the fountain pen was thrown into the sea by Zayden without a second thought. Now, she had no intention of wasting any more effort on Zayden. She might as well push him straight into Naomi’s arms and tie them together. "Eliza! Why did you say that just now?" Just as Eliza was about to return to her room, Naomi rushed up frantically. She had no idea who Albert was and had nearly embarrassed herself in front of Zayden. Eliza looked at Naomi, who was enraged and accusing. She said calmly, "What? Don’t you like Zayden a lot?" "How could I like Zayden? Eliza, I have said that I’d never take what belongs to you!" You would never take what’s mine? Eliza thought to herself, You would never take what’s mine? and sneered. She had heard those exact words in her previous life. In her previous life, Naomi had always known she liked Zayden. She even held Eliza’s hand once and promised, "Eliza, Zayden is someone you love, and I’ll never compete with you over him." Eliza had been naïve, believing her sister truly treated her well. She even felt gratitude and took the blame for her over and over. Later, she realized that Naomi loved stealing things from her. Every time she succeeded, she felt a sense of triumph. Eliza remembered—after she went to jail in her previous life, Naomi visited her once. Her smile was as pure and innocent as ever, yet full of disdain. She casually said, "Zayden's just mid; I don’t even really like him. But what can I say? I love taking what belongs to you." As she spoke, Naomi raised her delicate hand; her fingers were as pristine and smooth as ever. What was more important was that her ring finger was adorned with a sparkling diamond ring - the one thing Eliza had longed for over twelve years. Zayden had once said that when he had the money, he would give her a proper wedding and put a ring on her finger with his own hands. She believed him. She waited, and waited. Even until the divorce, that wedding never came, nor did that ring. Naomi said with feigned regret, "This was from Zayden. It’s only worth 420,000 dollars. But honestly, the quality and craftsmanship are just mid. I don’t really like it." Then she took off the ring and casually tossed it in the rubbish bin. Eliza knew that she did that on purpose. But she also knew that even if Naomi threw the ring away, Zayden would smile and buy her an even bigger one. Zayden was never short on money—he just didn’t think she was worth spending it on. Thinking of that, Eliza pulled her hand away from Naomi and said, “Then it seems we really are sisters through and through. I just realized today that Zayden is just mid.” "Is that so?" Suddenly, Zayden appeared before her, sneering coldly.