Reborn And Remade: Ruining My Heartless CEO Ex

Pain! So much pain!

Every heartbeat split her face open. The left side burned—a live brand pressed into raw flesh, leaking heat and something wet she refused to name.

But she was still walking.

He did this. Axel Stone, my fiancé.

Three days ago, he'd kissed her in front of the cameras. This morning, the "toner" he'd given her last week had burned off half her face. He'd handed it to her with that smile—custom-made, just for you, to keep your skin flawless for the wedding. She'd been stupid enough to believe him.

Now she walked into his building, wrapped in bandages.

"Only for you." That was what he'd said, pressing the elegant box into her hands. Now the words scraped through her skull, over and over.

She didn't believe it. She couldn't.

But her face was real. The pain was real.

She needed an answer. She needed to hear it from his own mouth.

The corridor was silent. The wool carpet swallowed her footsteps, but it couldn't hide her broken breathing.

Ahead, his office door stood closed. She stopped in front of it, fingers hovering over the handle, her whole hand trembling.

Stop shaking. Go in. Ask him.

She pushed the door open a crack.

There he was. Axel Stone, her fiancé, standing with his back to her, silhouetted against the Manhattan skyline.

The scars tightened with every breath, as if they were screaming for her. She gritted her teeth and kept moving.

If it was really you...

Her hand slid into her pocket, finding the cold casing of the recording pen. She didn't press it yet.

She wanted to hear him first.

If it was him, she would record every word.

Her throat burned like it was cut with glass. She opened her mouth to call out—

A woman's voice floated from the inner suite.

Chloe froze. Her pulse slammed in her ears.

"Axel, darling, are you sure she won't come looking for you? The way she looks now, I'm worried she might go crazy."

It hit her like a slap. She stumbled back, her spine hitting the wall. One hand clamped over her mouth, trapping the scream in her throat.

She knew that voice.

Sloane Sharp. Her best friend. Her maid of honor.

No. No. No. No.

Axel chuckled, a sound laced with a contempt she'd never heard before. "Let her come. I've been looking for a chance to break it off. The PR department at Stone Corp is already in shambles dealing with the latest scandal from that hick foster mother of hers."

Sloane's voice was closer now, dripping with satisfaction. "The acid worked wonders. No one will ever associate 'America's most beautiful tech hostess' with that face again. You promised me, Axel. Once she's out, I become Mrs. Stone."

"Of course, baby." Axel's voice was smooth, poisonous. "Her value is all used up. Now that I have the formula, she's useless to me. A disfigured orphan from some backwater in Montana. Do you really think she has any right to stand by my side?"

Leaning against the wall, Chloe trembled as the weight of their words crushed her. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the weeping fluid from her burns, a fresh wave of agony.

Her love. Her friendship.

Lies. All lies. The thought scraped against her skull. A beautifully constructed path leading straight to her own destruction.

A laugh tore out of her—silent, jagged, shaking her whole body.

You think this ends here? It's just beginning.

She shoved the door open and strode in. The smile on her ruined face made Axel's jaw tighten and Sloane stumble back—they'd never seen her smile like that. It was the grin of a woman with nothing left to lose.

"Axel Stone, Sloane Sharp," she said, her voice a raw rasp. "You two make me sick."

Sloane shrieked at the sight of Chloe's ruined face, scrambling to hide behind Axel.

Panic flickered across Axel's features before cold indifference took its place. "Chloe. You're just in time. Let's break up."

Chloe ignored him, her eyes locked on Sloane. "I treated you like a sister."

After her initial shock, Sloane's fear morphed into defiance. She wrapped her arm around Axel's, her chin lifted in a taunt. "Sister? Don't be naive, Chloe. I've hated that self-righteous act of yours since the day we met. Everything you had should have been mine!"

Rage ignited in Chloe's chest, a physical heat that drove her forward. She lunged for Sloane.

Axel shoved her, hard. She stumbled backward, her hip cracking against the corner of his massive desk.

"That's enough, Chloe. Stop this pathetic display. Look at yourself. It's embarrassing," Axel said, straightening his tie. His gaze swept over her ruined face without a flicker of remorse.

Chloe stared at the two of them, the last trace of affection in her chest crumbling to dust.

Then she remembered.

She pulled the small device from her pocket, holding it up. "Everything you just said," she announced, "I have it on tape."

The color drained from both their faces.

With a roar of fury, Axel lunged, his eyes fixed on the recording pen in her hand. The inevitable conflict exploded in front of the glittering, unforgiving New York night.