San Lingcai

Danica worked herself to the bone as a junior artist just to afford life-saving specialty injections for her four-year-old daughter. Then her ex-boyfriend, Callum Jimenez, took over as the company's new billionaire CEO. He dug into her HR file and saw she was listed as "Married" with a child born right after their bitter breakup three years ago. Convinced she had betrayed him for another man, Callum made her life a living hell. He cut off her overtime pay, forced her to redraw concepts until midnight, and moved her desk right outside his glass office just to watch her suffer. When he heard office rumors that her "husband" was critically ill, his jealousy turned into ruthless sabotage. He abruptly suspended her multimillion-dollar project, cutting off the performance bonus she desperately needed for her daughter's hospital bills. He didn't know her "marriage" was just a fake arrangement with her sick cousin to secure custody rights. And he certainly didn't know that the little girl fighting for her life in the ICU had his exact same gray-blue eyes. "Want me to restart the project? Sure. Come to my private penthouse tonight at eight." Callum sneered, cornering her in his office with a cold, unhinged stare. Looking at the man determined to ruin her, Danica swallowed her pride. She would endure his humiliation to save their daughter, and then she would disappear from his world forever.

I spent three years working as my fiancé Cam's shadow analyst, writing his reports and securing his corporate bonuses. But at a company banquet, I opened a lounge door and found him pinning my stepsister Kiley against a sofa. "I'll cancel the engagement," Cam murmured against her neck. "She's just a boring machine." Instead of crying, I dug into his accounts and found he had embezzled five million dollars to buy Kiley a luxury penthouse. When I presented the irrefutable photos and bank statements to my adoptive family, my mother slapped me across the face. She accused me of fabricating the evidence out of jealousy, fiercely protecting her biological daughter while throwing me out into the cold. Cam even tracked me down on the street, raising his fist to beat me just for making his mistress cry. Three years of my devotion were treated like absolute garbage, discarded for a fragile hypocrite. They all thought I was an orphaned nobody who would swallow the humiliation and walk away empty-handed. They didn't know that right after catching them, I had crashed into the chest of the most dangerous man in the room. Hayes Cooper, the King of Wall Street, and Cam's ruthless uncle. Sitting in the back of an Uber, I emailed Hayes a hidden file containing all of Cam's federal crimes. I didn't just want the penthouse back. I wanted my ex in prison, and his Director's chair for myself.

I was just a senior in college, struggling with student loans and a part-time job, when a plastic stick with two pink lines shattered my world. I had no memory of the graduation party a month ago, only a terrifying, blacked-out void and the lingering, haunting scent of expensive cedarwood. But before I could even process the pregnancy, I was publicly humiliated by a frat boy's over-the-top proposal, which ended with me vomiting in front of the entire campus. That's when a black Lincoln Navigator pulled up, and I was whisked away to a mansion and forced into a marriage with the most powerful man in the country-Senator Hilbert Wilkinson. His grandmother revealed that the child I was carrying was the Wilkinson heir, and they demanded I sign a prenup to save his presidential campaign from scandal. I was drowning in debt, and they offered to save my parents from ruin, but the cost was becoming a pawn in a loveless, corporate political merger. Why did I have no memory of that night, and how could a man as cold as ice be the father of my child? I signed the papers, but as I walked into his forbidden private quarters and found myself holding his silk underwear just as he stepped out of the shower, I knew this year of "marriage" wouldn't be the quiet arrangement he expected.

My husband, Alpha Damien, believed the Seer’s lie that I was barren and a curse to the Blackwood Pack. He spent his nights with his mistress, Victoria, while I sat alone in the cold study, hiding the swell of my belly and the future Alpha growing inside me. The night the Great Hall exploded, the truth could no longer be hidden. I collapsed on the floor, my water breaking, blood pooling beneath me amidst the choking smoke and debris. Damien saw me. He saw the agony in my eyes and the desperate plea on my lips. But when Victoria let out a theatrical scream from across the room, he made his choice. He turned his back on his pregnant mate and sprinted to save his mistress, leaving me to be consumed by the flames. I didn't die in the fire. I dragged myself out into the freezing blizzard, choosing to risk death in the snow rather than stay in a house that wanted me dead. It wasn't until weeks later that Damien tore apart the Seer’s tower and found the letter proving Victoria had paid for the fake prophecy. Shattered by the realization that he had abandoned his own son for a lie, he crossed the frozen wasteland to my father’s territory, falling to his knees in the mud to beg for my return. But he didn't find the weak, submissive wife he left behind. He found the White Wolf. I looked down at him with cold, dead eyes and whispered, "My child has my blood, and he will never know you."

The fourth time I lost our baby, my husband threw me out of his Bentley on a deserted road. My crime? The heel of my shoe had scuffed the pristine leather interior. I woke up in a hospital bed, bleeding and alone, only to see him through the glass door, holding his high school sweetheart in his arms. Moments later, his mother posted their picture online with the caption: "Finally back where they belong. A true love story." Their friends commented, calling me a "social-climbing nobody" he was finally getting rid of. They thought they had broken me, that I would come crawling back like I always did. But they forgot about the betrayal clause in our prenup, the one that would give me control of my family's entire fortune. And it expired in one week.

After ten years in the foster system, my family finally found me. I thought it was a dream come true, but I quickly learned my place. I was the workhorse who paid for my perfect twin sister Kristen's life, while she was the golden child they were proud of. The only good thing I had was my boyfriend, Jason. Then, at a party I was catering, I overheard my parents plotting with his. They were arranging for Jason to marry Kristen, saying I had too much baggage and was damaged goods. Minutes later, in front of everyone, Jason got down on one knee and proposed to my sister. As the crowd cheered, my phone buzzed with a text from him: "I'm sorry. It's over." When I confronted them at home, they admitted the truth. Finding me was a mistake. I was just an embarrassment they had to manage, and they had done me a favor by giving Jason to Kristen. To silence me, my sister threw herself down the stairs and screamed that I had pushed her. My father beat me and threw me onto the street like trash. As I lay bruised on the sidewalk, my parents told the arriving police I was a violent attacker. They wanted to erase me, but they were about to find out they had just started a war.

My wife, Sarah, and I defined DINK: Dual Income, No Kids. It was her dream, and I made it mine, even getting a vasectomy to seal our child-free future. Then, ten years into our perfect marriage, I found the birth certificates in her safe: twins, Luke and Ben O'Connell. Ten years old. When confronted, Sarah admitted they were "Liam's boys," her old college friend. She justified it as "filial piety" for Liam's "dying mother," a duty. What about her duty to me? My blood ran cold when her mother called, casually revealing the whole family knew. They expected me to "adjust," to love the boys. Suddenly, I was faced with a choice: "It's me, or it's them. You cut them out of your life, completely, or we are done." She didn't hesitate. "I can't do that to them, Ethan. They're my children." My heart shattered. I took off my wedding ring and laid it on the birth certificates. The marriage was over. I was a fool, a twenty-year joke, the loyal husband sacrificing for a woman building another family behind my back. The clinic visit replayed in my mind: Sarah holding my hand, her "concern" for me, comforting me years later with a fake infertility diagnosis. All lies. I discovered the truth through a monthly payment to a property management company, leading to photos of Sarah, Liam, and the twins living a perfect family life-a life I was unknowingly funding. At her father's 70th birthday party, Sarah introduced me to the boys. "Mommy says you couldn't give her babies, so she had to get them from our daddy," one smirked, loud enough for everyone to hear. Later, she publicly transferred fifty-one percent of my company's shares to Liam, for "the boys." I wasn't just replaced; I was erased. The next day, she brought them to our house, my house. The boy broke his own phone, then shrieked, "He pushed me!" Liam, the picture of feigned sorrow, scolded me. Then, Sarah, with a rage I'd never seen, slapped me hard across the face. "How dare you touch my son?" In that moment, I realized I was just an obstacle. I didn't say a word. I just packed a bag, signed the divorce papers, and left. On my way out, I made sure the hidden security camera had captured everything, the proof I needed to ensure she could never deny what she had done.

I was Mark Thompson' s secret, his adoptive niece, and his hidden lover for three years. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go, becoming my protector and hero. Then, two pink lines on a pregnancy test changed everything. I went to tell him, hoping this baby would make our relationship real, only to overhear him on the phone, laughing. "A baby? With her? Are you crazy? I can't have some unwanted mutt ruining my life." My blood ran cold as I heard him, the man I loved, dismiss our unborn child as an "unwanted mutt," and me as "just a kid," "a fling." My phone shattered on the floor, mirroring my heart. Later, his ex, Sarah Jenkins-the "white whale" he never got over-buzzed his phone. I heard her laughter in the background as he canceled our dinner for her. The dream turned into a nightmare. Days later, Mark took Sarah' s side after she maliciously posted private photos of me online and then lied, claiming I was crazy. He didn't ask for my side of the story. He just saw her tears and shattered phone and immediately took her side. "You have caused nothing but trouble since she came back," he snarled, and then the man who promised to protect me slapped me. I fell, clutching my stomach, screaming his name as I saw the blood. But a cold, unfeeling Mark just looked at me. "Stop it, Olivia," he said, his voice laced with disgust. "The drama is over. I'm not falling for it." Then, he left me bleeding on the floor, driving off with Sarah as I lost our baby. How could he? How could the man who raised me, the man I loved, turn into a monster who chose his ex-girlfriend's lies over my suffering? How could he dismiss me, hit me, and abandon me when I was losing our child? What kind of love was this? What was wrong with me for believing in him? I would not let him soothe me this time. There would be no more tears, no more begging. I would take my shattered pieces, walk away, and build a life where I was finally free.

One month ago, my life was a fairytale, complete with an engagement ring from Liam Blackwood, the man I adored. Then, Vance Capital collapsed, my father was arrested, and quickly died in prison. My mother, shattered, faded away. I lost everything overnight, and when I ran to Liam, my fiancé, for comfort, he simply stated, "I did it, Ava. Every part of it. I destroyed your father." Shock, grief, and utter confusion warred in me as he revealed a chilling tale of vengeance spanning decades, culminating in my family' s ruin. Now, I stand on an auction block in Liam' s exclusive, underground club, priced and displayed like a possession. My humiliation, he believes, is the final stroke of his revenge. But as he mockingly toasts his victory, a new fire ignites within me. He thinks he' s broken me, but he has only forged a new enemy, and this is just the beginning of his downfall.

From the glittering penthouse suite, the city lights below looked like a sea of diamonds, but for tech prodigy Chloe Davis, her world felt anything but sparkling. Propped against silk pillows, the only sound was the shower running in the master bath, a quiet rhythm against her own anxious heart. She was about to make the call that would sacrifice her future: agreeing to an arranged marriage for her family. But then, a notification flashed on the open laptop beside her: a message from "Liam" implying a secret tryst with Ethan Hayes, the venture capitalist titan she was tangled with. Just as the bathroom door clicked open, Ethan emerged, his voice cold and clipped: "Something came up at the office. I need to leave." A bitter smile curled on her lips. "Is it the office, or your 'first love'?" His sharp gaze momentarily landed on her, then he dismissed her with a curt, "I' m off to work. Don' t cause trouble." She raced across town, and saw him, warm and intimately linked with Liam Miller, a tenderness in Ethan' s face she' d never seen directed at her. The humiliation was a hot, bitter wave, especially when she later discovered candid photos of Ethan and Liam, his "campus sweetheart," in Ethan's private study-a shrine. The pieces clicked: she was just a convenient body, a toy. She' d been used, humiliated, and thrown away. She wouldn't just disappear; she would make sure everyone knew the cost.

My wife, Chloe, once bought me a dream car, declaring it a unique promise, "only for him!" It was our special thing, a testament to our bond, a grand gesture never to be repeated for anyone else. But then, she did it again. For Liam, a mere intern with six months of experience, she bought a luxury sports car, making the same public spectacle. When I tried to articulate the depth of my hurt, her response was a dismissive, "Oh, Ethan, don’t be so sensitive. It’s just a car.” "Just a car" became the mantra of her betrayal. She ignored my feelings, promoted him over seasoned professionals, and showered him with exclusive courtside season tickets, parading him around like a favored pet. He'd smirk, dangling scraps of her generosity my way, while the office buzzed with whispers about their "business retreats" to Napa Valley. The final, disgusting blow was an Instagram photo: her hand, our wedding ring etched with "E+C," resting intimately on his arm – a public declaration of absolute disregard for our marriage and my dignity. The woman who swore an exclusive commitment was now openly flaunting an emotional, possibly physical, affair. How could she so casually shatter sacred promises, our shared history, and my very soul? The public humiliation was suffocating, the injustice burning deep in my chest. A profound brokenness settled within me. She thought she was merely testing me, pushing me to "fight for her." Little did she know, her cruel games only forged a colder, more precise resolve. The quiet husband she dismissed was about to become the architect of her downfall. She made her choices. Now, I would make mine.

I clutched a vintage watch, my perfect anniversary gift, driving towards the hotel. Three years—three secret years with Ethan, my boyfriend, the man I believed saved my life. Tonight was meant to be the perfect surprise, a celebration of our love, our future. Then I saw him. Not alone, but cradling his disheveled ex, Sophia, dismissing my brother’s frantic warnings. My world shattered as Ethan’s cold words echoed: "Olivia? She was just a stand-in. Convenient." The earth tilted when Noah, my brother, burst out the truth: "That wasn’t even you, Ethan! Liam Peterson saved her!" The man I’d adored was a fraud. My three years, our "love" – a cruel charade built on a lie he'd actively perpetuated. He then let his toxic ex publicly humiliate me, accuse me, and even physically attack me, leaving me broken. All while he shielded her. How could I have been so blind? This wasn't just heartbreak; it was the obliteration of my entire reality. The hero I cherished, a coward. The love I believed in, a calculated lie. Why? What monstrous game were they playing? From the ashes of betrayal, a new fire ignited. Ethan Vance thought he’d broken me, but he’d only unleashed a Hayes. I moved to London, not just escaping, but prepared to reclaim my truth and forge a life that would burn brighter than any star.

After a wild, drunken night, Joey ended up marrying Lois instead of the woman he truly loved. Because of this, he lost her forever. Lois, on the other hand, had dreamed about having Joey all to herself ever since she first laid eyes on him. For five years, Lois tried her best to make Joey love her back but she soon became tired of his indifference and lack of love towards her. She filed for divorce, giving up the hope that someday, Joey would treat her right. However, it was at that moment that Joey realized his life would be meaningless without her.

To help her husband build his business empire, Veyra worked two jobs, skipped meals, and sacrificed everything she had. When her mother desperately needed life-saving treatment, she couldn't even scrape together the money. Then, on a New Year's Eve flight, fate seated her beside her husband's mistress. That's when she discovered the cruel truth. Her husband had secretly amassed millions long ago. The wedding ring that belonged to Veyra now glittered on another woman's finger. The $500,000 that could have saved her mother's life had been spent instead on luxury gifts and pocket money for his lover. She lost her baby. She lost her mother. And finally, she lost every illusion about the man she'd loved for years. After leaving the airport, Veyra walked into a bar, kissed the most dangerous-looking stranger she could find, and spent one reckless night in his arms. By sunrise, she disappeared without leaving so much as her name. She thought it was nothing more than a farewell to her broken past. She was wrong. The stranger was Dorian-the most powerful, mysterious billionaire in the business world. Meanwhile, her cheating husband finally realized what he had thrown away. He begged on his knees, signed a postnuptial agreement worth billions, and swore he would give up everything if she would come back. But just as Veyra began plotting to reclaim everything that had been stolen from her, a mysterious car accident brought Dorian back into her life. Only then did she learn the truth. He wasn't a stranger at all. He was her ex-husband's older stepbrother. Now two powerful men are fighting for the same woman-one consumed by regret, the other determined to make her his. Sorry, cheating ex... I choose your brother.

One lab error. Two betrayals. And a billionaire who doesn't believe in accidents. Emily Vance thought she was carrying a miracle. After her fiancé, Julian, ended up in a coma following a horrific car crash, she underwent IVF to keep his legacy alive. It was supposed to be her anchor. Instead, a clinical mix-up reveals that the child in her womb isn't Julian's at all. It belongs to Alistair Wolfe, a man whose name is synonymous with ruthless power and a heart made of ice. The nightmare doesn't stop at the doctor's office. When Julian finally wakes up, he doesn't call for Emily. He calls for her stepsister, Chloe, revealing a secret affair that turns Emily's years of loyalty into a joke. Backed into a corner by a family ready to sell her to a predatory debt collector to save their failing business, Emily is left with a devastating choice. Her doctors warn her that this is her last chance at motherhood. To keep her baby and escape her family's reach, she has to make a deal with the wolf at the door. Alistair Wolfe wants his heir. Emily wants protection. No love. No strings. Just a temporary union until the child is born. But as Emily moves into Alistair's world, she quickly learns that playing the wife of a man like Alistair is a high-stakes game where the heart is the first thing you lose.

"You want a divorce? Fine. Complete an IVF cycle, give me an heir to unlock my trust fund, and I'll sign the papers." In the dim underground garage, my cheating husband gripped my wrist tightly, his face twisted in a mocking sneer. "Stop dreaming, Ellie. Your family is bankrupt! You think if you leave me, some Wall Street billionaire is going to be blind enough to be your knight in shining armor?" Looking at his arrogant face, I felt nothing but pure disgust. For three years of a dead marriage, he paraded his mistress into our marital bed, letting her wear my clothes and carry my bags. When I demanded a divorce, my own vain mother tried to force me back to be his incubator, all for a seven-million-dollar bribe. "I'd rather die than have your child." I looked at him coldly and slammed the "PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE" right into his face. Infuriated, he tightened his grip on my arm, ready to explode. Just then, blinding LED headlights tore through the darkness of the garage. A custom black Bentley Mulsanne glided silently out of the shadows, stopping inches behind us. The tinted window rolled down, revealing a sharp, lethally handsome face. The most ruthless, untouchable billionaire on Wall Street-Cosmo James. He also happened to be my husband's former best friend. Cosmo's ice-blue eyes locked onto the hand gripping my arm. His deep voice cut through the freezing air like a blade: "Take your hands off her." Cosmo leaned slightly forward, radiating sheer, predatory authority. A cold, ruthless smirk touched his lips. "You asked which Wall Street billionaire is going to be her knight in shining armor." "It's me."

SEVEN DAYS BEFORE MY WEDDING, I walked into our bedroom and found my neurosurgeon fiancé plowing my cousin on our bed. Six months later, Oliver and Vanessa are married, my humiliation is office coffee-break gossip, and I've done everything possible to disappear off the face of the earth. Then I find out my grandmother is dying. This birthday might be her last, and I refuse to let my ex take that from me too. Problem is, going means facing my own personal nightmare head-on: Oliver and Vanessa, happy and married, right in front of me, while the rest of my family looks at me like I'm a walking tragedy. That's when Simon Hart-my billionaire boss, arrogant as hell, and the only man who can irritate me, make me laugh, and dismantle every single one of my defenses in the same conversation-makes me an absolutely ridiculous proposal. "Just think about it." He spreads his hands. " You're tired of everyone pitying you. I'm rich as fuck, handsome as hell, and charming as fuck. Who's going to feel sorry for you when you show up with Simon Hart on your arm?" The problem is, he's right. I need a boyfriend to survive my grandmother's birthday weekend without turning back into the official family disaster. And Simon needs a serious girlfriend to prove to all of New York that the city's most eligible bachelor has finally settled down. It was supposed to be simple. Fake dating. Two events. Some convincing touching. Absolutely zero feelings. Until we added new terms to the agreement. No-strings sex. No jealousy. No expectations. Just sex. And it worked perfectly. Right up until everything went completely off the rails.

To revenge herself on her unfaithful fiancé Kevin, Isidora hides her striking beauty behind a plain disguise, and targets his uncle - the most formidable man Kevin fears. After one reckless night, Isidora leaves cash as payment and says lightly, "You were good last night." She tries to leave quietly, but is pulled into his arms. "You think you can walk away after this?" he says, his tone low and possessive. Cedrick is a feared, untouchable titan on Wall Street - elegant, aloof, and completely uninterested in women. Not even the most beautiful socialites in the city can catch his eye. When gossip spreads that he was seen pressing a woman against a wall and kissing her fiercely, no one believes it. When the rumors name Isidora, the crowd scoffs. He rejects even the most beautiful women, so why would he notice a plain girl like her? All doubt disappears when they see the dignified Cedrick drop to one knee to help Isidora with her shoe, pleading softly for just one kiss. When Kevin finally sees Isidora's true beauty and begs for forgiveness. But Cedrick kicks him out at once, slams a marriage certificate on the table, and says sharply. "Call her Aunt."

Amelia sat alone at the City Marriage Bureau, watching the clock tick down to closing time. Fifteen minutes before the doors shut, a phone call shattered her last flicker of hope. Her fiancé, Kayson, wasn't coming. He had abandoned their wedding registration because Kamila-her stepsister-had twisted her ankle. It was his ninth broken promise. When Amelia returned home, there was no comfort. Her biological mother sneered at her humiliation, shielding the stepsister while ordering Amelia to apologize to Kayson. "Who would she marry without Kayson?" her mother mocked. "Let's see how long she survives out there without his money." Meanwhile, Kayson arrogantly dismissed her absence. Finding out she had vanished, he just laughed it off with his assistant. "It's just a tantrum to force my hand," Kayson smirked. "She still can't live without me." After nine years of absolute devotion, she was nothing but a convenient placeholder to the man she loved, and a worthless joke to her own family. The suffocating weight of their betrayal finally snapped something inside her. She packed a single suitcase, threw away nine years of anniversary gifts, and permanently blocked Kayson's number. Standing in the freezing wind, she pulled out her phone and dialed the private number of Kayson's biggest, most ruthless rival. "Mr. Thornton, what you said seven months ago... does the offer to marry me still stand?" Ten minutes later, a sleek black Maybach pulled up to the curb.

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, mine didn't. I came back with a marriage certificate bearing a stranger's name, a ring worth more than my parents' love ever was, and a son whose father I've never seen, never known, never remembered. I went to Vegas for a racing competition. I won. I celebrated. And somewhere between the victory and the sunrise, my life changed forever. For six years, I've lived with the consequences of one reckless night. I built an empire. I raised my son. And I searched for the man who changed my life without even knowing it. Then fate laughed in my face. My sister married my ex-fiancé-the man I was promised to since childhood. The man I was supposed to become Mrs. Windsor for. The man who now wears my family name... and looks far too much like my child. Every time I'm near him, the past presses closer. Every glance feels like a question I'm terrified to ask. I shouldn't notice him. I shouldn't feel anything. He is my sister's husband. But some secrets refuse to stay buried. Because the truth about Vegas isn't just in the ring on my finger or the child in my arms. It's standing right in front of me. And when it finally comes out, it won't just destroy a marriage, it will burn an empire to the ground.

I carried a thermos of homemade chicken soup to the VIP lounge to surprise my husband after his ice time. But through the unlatched door, I caught him tangled naked on the sofa with Kyleigh—the "grieving sister" of a fallen teammate he claimed desperately needed our family's charity. I froze in the hallway, pressing my back against the cold concrete, only to hear something even more chilling. "What if she finds out the Nevada marriage certificate you gave her is completely fake?" Kyleigh purred. My husband scoffed, calling me a cold, arrogant idiot. He bragged that once he finished draining my family's century-old hockey trust funds into his agency's account, he would discard me. Even worse, I realized the four-year-old orphan he had begged me to sponsor was actually their biological child. Three years of my complete devotion and financial support, all built on a forged piece of paper and a calculated lie. He really thought I was just a sheltered heiress he could bleed dry and toss aside. I didn't kick the door open, and I didn't scream. Instead, I pulled out my phone, calmly recorded their naked betrayal, and dumped the three-hour soup into the trash bin. Since I was legally a single woman, I immediately called my Wall Street counsel to freeze all my offshore assets. He thought he was a mastermind, but he had no idea who he had just provoked.

Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé. Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now-billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn't mind. I'd crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one? Wrong. One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That's when it hit me-he didn't love me. He didn't even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn't even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup. So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster-my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise. Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol. Enter him. Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I'd met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes. It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised. But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life. And, as it turned out, the best decision I'd ever made. Because my one-night stand isn't just some random guy. He's richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with. And now, he's not letting me go.

"You came and ruined everything. Shouldn't you be planning to excuse yourself from this family? Undo whatever spell you did on Arthur and get lost." I grit my teeth as the test paper crumpled further in my fist. Hurtful as those words were, they had some truth to them. I had to ask myself the right questions. Give the right answers too. I was a fool. Four years ago, I traded my freedom for a dying man's approval and became a wife in name only. Mrs. Vandermere. My husband never wanted this marriage. I never wanted his indifference. And somewhere between duty and heartbreak, I built a life he doesn't know exists. Now I want out. He isn't going to make it that easy.