The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot

William’s eyes widened in disbelief as he realized Gracia was alive. Ignoring the fact that he was slapped in front of the entire world, he took a step forward and hugged her tightly.

"Gracie...." Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, his throat tight with emotion. He couldn’t express how happy and relieved he was to know that she wasn’t dead! She wasn’t gone from his life forever.

Meanwhile, Sophia could barely hide her expression. Her face turned paler than a ghost, her eyes almost popping out as cameras zoomed in on her for better TRP.

Now that the real madam was miraculously back, what would happen to her? Would she be kicked out? Many could already see the future unraveling—Sophia was just a placeholder. William loved Gracia, and no one could save her from being thrown out now.

Sophia then turned to Evelyn, who was smirking with satisfaction. Feeling her gaze, Evelyn raised her glass and took a sip of the wine Sophia had herself prepared for this party.

Sophia gritted her teeth, realizing why Evelyn had been so silent all these weeks. It seemed Evelyn had forgotten entirely about Annabelle, her thirst to bring her down, and had focused instead on her happiness and family. At least, that’s what Sophia’s spies inside the Reign mansion had told her. But who knew Evelyn had been planning this surprise all along? Sophia sneered, ashamed of herself for believing the act and letting the victory taste cloud her intuition.

"That annoying prick! He couldn’t do one job right!" Sophia muttered, thinking about Maverick. When they had received intel that someone had visited Gracia, they decided to get rid of her quickly.

Maverick had even happily reported that Lobos had finished her, assuring Sophia she no longer needed to worry. The memory of their celebration turned Sophia’s face red with anger, her eyes falling on Zevian beside Evelyn. Of course, he must have been the mastermind behind all of this! Without him, they would never have discovered Gracia was still alive.

But she still couldn’t understand how quickly Gracia had recovered. Declared completely mad, and mentally unstable, Sophia had decided to let her live and enjoy the madness. No way... did Gracia fool them all this time?

"Get your dirty hands off me!" Gracia’s voice broke through the crowd’s murmurs. She pushed William away so hard that he stumbled back in shock.

Sophia quickly moved forward and helped him, "Honey! Are you fine?"

But William completely ignored her. Shoving her away, he moved toward Gracia again, making Sophia’s face fume with frustration.

"Where were you all these years? Why didn’t you contact me?" William asked, his mind a museum of questions. If she had been alive for the last two decades, why had she stayed away from him all these years? 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Gracia didn’t bother to reply to him, her eyes fixed on Sophia. She raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms, and looked at her once-best friend as if asking if she should reveal everything. Sophia’s face twisted in fear, sweat breaking out on her caked-up forehead. Gracia smirked in satisfaction. The game had just begun, and she wouldn’t end it so early. Sophia needed to go through the torture, live every minute in fear, and wish to kill herself.

"Gracie... Please talk to me!" William moved forward again, clutching her hand, begging her to look at him. But to his horror, Gracia pushed him away again, as if disgusted by him.

Elias withdrew a few steps back, away from the limelight. He glanced at Evelyn, finding her eyes glowing with the light that had long been lost in this battle. He sighed in relief, glad to see her smartly winning over his mom without letting her emotions play. She could have brought Gracia back the day they landed, but she waited for the perfect opportunity. Finally, he felt the heaviness in his heart melt away a little.

Gracia pushed William away and took the papers on the desk. She read through them, a sneer leaving her lips. Lifting them, she tore them into pieces, surprising everyone.

Sophia watched her dreams being shattered into pieces, her eyes burning with tears of rage. No... No... she had worked so hard for this day, sacrificed so many lives just for this moment, and it was so easily being torn away right in front of her eyes!

The assistant holding the mic snapped out of his shock and quickly moved over. "You... You can’t do this, ma’am! It’s already been signed and-"

But his words were cut short as Gracia threw the torn papers at him, right on his face.

The guests around snickered, finding the scene dramatically funny. Now they understood where Evelyn got all that guts they usually pointed out as arrogance. Her mother seemed bolder than her.

The assistant’s mouth fell open in shock. He turned to look at Sophia, who was equally stunned. Were they losing this battle? Did he just dig a grave for himself by siding with her?

Gracia turned to the crowd down the stage. Adjusting her fur coat, she took the mic from the desk. Turning it on, she declared, "Many of you might not know that my late mother-in-law, Charlotte Wright, had already written a will."

The press moved forward, ready to collect the news that would be trending for months on their channels.

"It was clearly written in it that if her son..." Gracia paused and continued, "Her. Useless. Son. married another woman, her granddaughter Evelyn would be the sole heiress of the Wrights."

Many gasped out loud, finding it confusing, while Sophia’s lawyers shivered in their spots. They had tried to twist the will in Sophia’s favor, making Evelyn non-eligible for the claims after Annabelle’s arrival. But Gracia knew more, something they might soon pay heavily for.

"She already knew that Evelyn was adopted and yet wrote the will." Gracia dropped the bomb, creating many confusion and questions. Pointing at the success banner on the screen behind, she added, "So all this nonsense was just a waste of effort."

"Evelyn will be the sole heiress, and whoever doesn’t like it, feel free to meet us at the court." Gracia’s final blow surprised everyone; even Evelyn wasn’t expecting this from her mother.

They had talked a couple of times already about what she was going to do, and Gracia said she had no idea. It seemed like she had been planning to surprise her as well.

"And I know you all have lots of questions. Especially about Annabelle, whom you assumed to be my real daughter. I will soon answer them through a press conference." Gracia ended her speech, glancing over at Zevian, who nodded in approval. They had practiced it secretly many times, and she had done better than ever.

Sophia felt her world crumbling in front of her. No... she couldn’t accept defeat this easily.

Holding back her emotions, she quickly moved forward, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Gracie!" she cried out loud, pouncing into Gracia’s arms.

"I am so glad to see you alive. We... We all were so devastated and lost without you," Sophia murmured between her cries, pulling out her kind facade.

Elias scoffed out loud, shaking his head, while Evelyn simply stared at the scene, having expected it already. She looked at her mother, wondering what she might do next. Even everyone else held their breaths, seeing the two wives hugging each other.

Instead of rude behavior, as Sophia had expected, something that might move William’s heart toward her, she felt Gracia hugging her back. No, she needed to slap her! She needed to push her away so people could sympathize with her.

"I missed you too, Sophie. Every day in that asylum, all I dreamt of was how you would be handling my family." Gracia spoke, her words loud and clear. Many exchanged glances, surprised by her reaction.

Pulling back, Gracia wiped away her tears and patted Sophia’s cheek. "I am so glad you took care of them in my absence. Especially my dear bunny." She added, glancing over at Evelyn.

"I heard you were even ready to marry her off to a man twice her age. How kind of you..." Gracia mocked, her words earning snickers around. Yes, Sophia did try that trick, and it was backfiring on her.

"It was my decision, Gracie! Sophia had nothing to do with it!" William quickly came forward, not wanting misunderstandings to arise between the two best friends.

Gracia’s smile vanished at his voice. The fact that he was still taking this homewrecker’s side was beyond frustrating!

"Really?" Gracia turned to him. Raising her hand, she slapped him again, this time on the other cheek, and everyone’s jaws dropped to the ground.

"Ah, even touching you is disgusting," Gracia grumbled, wiping her hands.

William held his cheek and looked at his wife, his beloved, in shock. What had gotten into her? Why was she acting like this toward him? When she started walking away, he turned around and desperately held her hand.

"Wh-where are you going?" he asked, making Sophia grit her teeth. For god’s sake, he should at least hold onto a grain of his self-respect!

When Gracia swatted his hand away again, William clutched both of her hands tightly. With a gulp, he desperately pleaded, "Tell me why you are angry, Gracie? Tell me what I need to do! Please..."

"You will do anything?" Gracia asked, raising her eyebrow. When William nodded like a puppy, she glanced at Sophia. With a smirk, she declared, "Then divorce her."

"Fine. I will do it immediately!" William replied without even a hint of hesitation.

Sophia’s facade faded away, her eyes glaring at William’s back. How could he just throw her away? On the day everything would have been finally hers? No, this must all be a dream! A nightmare and she just needs to wake up, right?