The Heir's Reckoning: The Heir and the Heart Series Book 01 (The Heir & the Heart 1)

Mina will never bow. Alex will make her pay.Mina: A scholarship student at the elite Crestwood University, Mina is a quiet outsider navigating a world of silk and inherited power. Her priority is her degree, not the spoiled trust fund brats who run the campus—especially not the one with the cruel, dark eyes.Alex: The ruthless heir to a billion-dollar legacy, Alex is used to obedience. His world is perfect until a defiant waitress—Mina—dares to call him out in front of his friends. Intrigued by her fire, Alex decides to teach her a lesson in privilege. The lesson quickly spirals into a campaign of humiliation, culminating in a devastating public scandal.Mina refuses to break. She stands up to Alex, earning his grudging respect... and something far more dangerous: his obsession.But their reluctant connection is ripped apart when tragedy strikes. With her parents gone, Mina is suddenly burdened with caring for her younger sisters, forcing her to abandon her dreams and take on multiple crushing jobs. Alex offers his help—a lifeline wrapped in a billion-dollar bow—but Mina is too proud to accept his charity, even as her family sinks deeper into desperation.Now, their paths are tangled by proximity, pride, and an undeniable heat they can no longer fight. But Alex is keeping a dangerous secret about the scandal that first brought them together. A secret that threatens to destroy Mina's fragile life and prove that his family’s wealth isn’t the only thing that separates them.When the past demands a price, will Mina find her freedom, or will Alex's final reckoning claim her heart forever?