Vows to Ashes: Dark Billionaire Affair of Lies, Hidden Child, and the Woman Who Rose from Revenge. (She rises: Standalone stories of Reinvention Book 3)

Isla Hart's life was based on love, status, and small concessions. Her husband, Marcus Hale, is the charming CEO of Hale Industries. In public, he is polished, but in private, he is vicious. When Isla opens a letter meant for Marcus, she finds photographs, DNA test strips, and a note claiming Lena — her college best friend who vanished the night of Isla’s wedding — as the mother of Marcus’s kid. The news blows Isla's mind. Isla doesn't want to be a silent victim, so she comes up with a strategy to take down Marcus's empire from the inside. She utilizes the same tricks he taught her to get around in their world: charm in the boardroom, charity galas, back-channel contacts, and her father's power. But she finds out that he had coached some of Marcus's lies for his own benefit. As Isla gathers evidence of financial malfeasance, bribery, and personal betrayals, she has to deal with a media circus that likes neat villains and sympathetic victims. Isla chooses not to give them either; instead, she will control the story and use the truth as a weapon. But revenge can teach you something. Each uncovered secret generates collateral damage, and Isla’s crusade drives her to consider the person she’s becoming. Is it worth it to wreck things for justice? Can she reclaim love and identity after pulling down all she ever believed in? The conclusion imposes a choice: public eradication of the Hale legacy with irrevocable ramifications, or a quieter, wiser restoration that rebuilds from the ruins. View Less