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Chapter Five: The return

ARTEMIS POV

The cameras clicked like a hundred ticking bombs, their flashes exploding in my face as I stepped out of the sleek, black limousine.

The Paparazzi crowded the entrance of Mercedes Tower, screaming questions that blurred together, but I kept my expression stern, my posture rigid.

I am used to this now, the chaos, the noise, the intrusion.

They’d gotten their first taste of me the moment I stepped off the plane. Five years had passed, and Hyperion Heights was still the same.

Nothing changed.

"Miss Mercedes! How do you feel about your upcoming role as CEO?"

"Can you tell us more about your plans for the company?"

"Artemis, is it true you spent time in a comma before your return?"

I ignored every word, keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead.

My security personnel stood beside me, making their way through the crowd.

They have become a regular and familiar part of my daily life.

They were always there to shield me. If only they could have shielded me from the past.

My heels clicked against the marble floor as I entered the towering building, my company’s name fixed in shimmering silver across the walls.

Mercedes Enterprise. My father's legacy. My new domain.

The air was filled with anticipation as employees, journalists, and board members awaited my arrival for the inauguration ceremony.

This was the day the world would know: Artemis Mercedes was no longer the naive girl they once knew.

I was back. And I was ready to take over.

While riding the elevator to the highest floor, I saw my reflection in the mirrored walls.

I hardly saw the person looking at me.

I leaned back against the cool glass, my mind pulling me back to the day my life changed forever.


Five years ago, I woke up to the harsh beeping of machines. My body felt weak.

My mind was struggling to piece together the fragments of consciousness.

The last thing I remember was committing suicide, so why was I back?

Was this hell?

The hospital room was cold and unfamiliar.

When I opened my eyes, I saw them, two strangers standing by my bed.

A man and a woman with tears all over their eyes red from crying.

I didn't know them.

But they knew me.

"Artemis," the woman whispered, her voice shaky but soft.

"We are your parents."

I stared at her, disbelief flooding through me.

My parents were dead—weren’t they? Or maybe they never really existed.

After all, I had been abandoned, cast aside, and adopted by a man who spent more time tearing me down than building me up.

"You... you are mistaken." My voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.

The man stepped forward, shaking his head.

"We’re not. We’re so sorry, Artemis. We abandoned you at an orphanage when you were a baby. We were too poor to take care of you then, but we’ve spent years looking for you."

As it turns out, I stepped in front of my birth father's car, and he ran over me before he could avoid it. The accident was fatal and I needed a blood transfusion.

My dad offered to help because he was guilty about hurting me.

That was how the truth had come to light. The DNA was accurate, as was the empty feeling in my chest when I discovered that all I believed was false.

I was in a coma for one year.

The infant... disappeared.

The heaviness of that defeat almost overwhelmed me. I was unable to shed tears.

I was unable to utter a sound. I had gazed at the ceiling for hours after they informed me, the pain too immense, too profound to be held back by just tears.

I was granted another opportunity to live, but it came with a price that I was unsure I could handle.

Though my heart was broken and my body feeble, I was still breathing. And that was sufficient to begin again.

Today******

The elevator doors opened, bringing me back to reality.

I felt my heart become cold as I remembered, but I made sure not to display it.

The top executives of Mercedes Enterprise filled the boardroom, taking over my father's duties as he was sick.

As I walked in, they observed me with curiosity, skepticism, and maybe a touch of fear in their eyes.

Well. I should be a source of fear for them.

I sat at the head of the table, straightening the sharp edges my tailored suit.

As I lifted my head, the whispers in the room faded away, my words piercing the quiet like a sharp knife.

"I want to clarify one thing," I started, my tone icy and deliberate.

This Mercedes Enterprise is different from the one you've been familiar with for two decades.

This company will be guided solely by me and will not be driven by outdated concepts.

Some of the senior board members squirmed in their chairs, but I was not bothered.

I wasn’t here to appease them. I was here to take what was mine.

“My father built this company from the ground up,” I continued, my gaze sweeping over them.

“But it’s time for a new vision. My vision. And anyone who cannot keep up will be left behind.”

The room was silent for a moment, the weight of my words sinking in. I could see the doubt in their eyes, the unspoken challenge. They thought I was just a young girl playing dress-up in my father’s empire.

Let them doubt me.

It would only make my victory sweeter when I prove them all wrong.


As the ceremony began, the flashes from cameras outside the glass walls flickered like distant stars.

My parents were in the front row, looking proud, but I only felt determined to succeed and show that I was more than just a girl who had been rejected.

When I stepped onto the stage, the sound of applause filled the room, but I couldn't hear it.

The only thing on my mind was the past - the betrayals, the pain, and the countless nights spent by myself in a hospital bed.

"Today we.."

I paused, with my hand resting on the podium, the microphone just a few inches from my mouth as I froze.

Hot tears whelm up in my eyes when I caught sight of him

I whispered to Jamie, my voice barely heard over the crowd's applause.

The world felt dangerously unsteady as the applause resounded around me.

I was no longer just reclaiming my father’s legacy; I was stepping into a battle with someone who knew my deepest vulnerabilities.

And I was ready to fight.

The lights dimmed, and Jamie took a step forward.

"Long time no see, Artemis." He said, tucking his hands in his pockets.

"What do you want?" I said with a frown, my voice barely above a whisper.

He smirked as he moved closer to me and I stiffened.

“I’m here to finish what we started,” he declared, his voice was smooth, but yet I could feel fear creep inside my heart.

And with that, my heart sank, the crowd around me fading into oblivion as dread coiled tightly in my gut.

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