A Scandal With Mr. Nightwood
When Kristine Iglesias discovers about her boyfriend's cheating, she chooses the ultimate weapon for her revenge: A one night stand with his enemy.
The irresistible, dominating, heartless billionaire, Zayne Nightwood.
One night all it took to change the flow of her life. An irresistible desire sparked between them. Both of them began to crave each other badly.
One night. One opportunity.
The news of their one night stand and her pregnancy spread like fire caught on silk. A scandal was created, risking both hers and his image,
But there was a catch. Everyone thought Zayne got her pregnant but the child was not Zayne's but Edric's.
In her one drunken mistake, she saw an opportunity, a dark path to annihilate all the obstacles, to make all her enemies pay.
Subsequently, Kristine and Zayne decide to marry, to fool the public and avoid allegations.
All on the demand that she will be all Zayne's. From her soul to every inch of her pretty skin. From her life to that unborn child's life– all shall belong to him.
Because according to him, she was his leash, his tamer, she 'should' be his.
When both of them had secretive motives behind this marriage, trusting each other or falling in love was going to be hard.
But how can they resist each other when both of them got addicted to each other?
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Chapter 3
Sunlight penetrated through the window, cascading over my face, dragging me back to my senses as I woke up to a room that didn't belong to me.
My head throbbed, a reminder of too much tequila and a heartbreak that hadn't quite died.
I reached out, expecting to feel Zayne’s warm skin, but the sheets beside me were cold. Empty.
“Huh..? Zayne?”
A note sat on the nightstand next to a tray of gourmet breakfast. ‘Had to leave. Sorry.’
Professional. Cold. Just like the man himself.
I laughed bitterly, the sound echoing in the massive suite.
What did I expect? A confession of love? It was a one-night stand, a strategic move in his war against Edric.
He must have done this to claim his enemy’s woman and I, out of heartache.
Smiling to myself feebly, I pushed my wet hair behind and since I was starving, I ate everything, grabbed my things, called a cab and left his place.
Rose and I were sharing an apartment after disowning my family — yes, I disowned them.
I went home, Rose was absent. Must be enjoying her night too.
Smirking coldly, I decided to rest for the time being before the top-class gathering where I had to solidify my steps.
By 8:00 PM, I was standing in front of the mirror, Rose watching me with a mix of awe and concern.
"You look like you are going to a funeral, Kristine," She smirked, wearing her shoes.
"I am," I smirked back, applying a coat of blood-red lipstick. "Edric’s."
Feeling bold tonight, I had chosen a dress that was practically a weapon, floor-length black lace, backless, with a slit that climbed dangerously high.
All eyes must be latched on me. I was the CEO of Scents’n’Secrets, topnotch fragrances after all.
I was a woman of perfume and power. I wouldn't let them see me bleed.
Tonight, people would consider my attention a privilege.
“My, my, aren’t you becoming bolder?” Rose teased, scanning me from top to bottom.
“One should be when they have to stand alone,” I replied derisively, picking my purse, holding my head high and leaving for the party.
The second I entered, I could feel the eyes following me, studying me thoroughly, but I had decided to make it MY year.
I won’t lose to them.
But, then, I felt it.
Him.
The air behind me shifted, growing heavy, powerful.
A hand, large and familiar, grazed at my back, tracing a line on my spine. The heat of it burned through my lace dress, sending a traitorous shiver straight to my core.
"Avoiding me already, Sweetheart?" Zayne’s low, tempting tone reached my ears.
"I am not avoiding you, Mr. Nightwood,” I didn't turn around. I couldn't, “I am just... sober now."
"Sober is boring," he murmured, his hand tightening slightly on my waist, pulling me back until my heels were locked between his.
"And you weren't boring last night. You were a masterpiece of screams."
I could feel myself getting excited by the thought of him pinning my hands, of making me scream his name, of turning me into a senseless mess—
What the fuck am I thinking!?
"Stop," Hoping to impede the attraction, I shifted to face him with my steps retreating, "It was one night. You left a note, remember?"
"I left breakfast too," he corrected, closing our distance with his gaze darkening, "And a warning, remember?"
“By the way, what a masterpiece you have created,” He commented, pointing at Edric’s bandaged head.
I rolled my eyes, folding my arms at my chest, indulging in the sight where he was making up excuses to hide his deed.
“I think I should go now,”
Before I could snap back, the sound of a fork hitting a crystal glass rang out. The room went silent.
“Everyone, on this auspicious day, I have an important announcement to make,”
Oh? The bastard even had to say something?
On the raised platform, Edric stood. He looked pathetic with the bandage wrapped around his head, but he was smiling.
He looked at the crowd, his eyes landed on me, distressing me. For a second, he faltered. Then, his gaze shifted to the woman beside him.
Amie.
He shifted to one knee, dropping my impishness.
“Amie, you are everything I could possibly desire, my love, my happiness, and will you do me the honor of showing you how much I love you for the rest of our lives?”
My chest constricted badly, the future we were supposed to create was purloined from me, brimming tears in my eyes.
The pain I was trying to hide through makeup, through lust, through any possible means burst when he offered Amie a ring.
“Will you marry me?”
“Oh my God, Edric! Yes! Yes!”
I stood miserably. Lips quivering, soul being torn apart, strength draining.
For how long was he taking advantage of me? For how long was this going on behind my back?
How could he do this to me?
My steps stumbled, colliding with Zayne's who was behind me all this time, observing my agonizing reaction with amusement.
He didn't offer a shoulder to cry on.
Instead, he gripped my shoulders firmly, forcing me to stand straight. He leaned down, his eyes boring into mine, cold and calculating.
"Don't you dare cry," he hissed, "Look at them. They think they won. Are you going to let them keep thinking that?"
"He's marrying her, Mr. Nightwood," My broken tone came, "He is giving her the life he promised me."
"Then take it back, Kristine" Zayne said, a wicked smirk playing on his lips, pressing it against my ear.
"Or better yet, take everything he owns. Including his dignity."
I looked at Edric, who was now kissing Amie, back to the heartless businessman, Zayne Nightwood — the man who hated Edric more than anyone.
Growling, I hit his chest, making him chuckle.
Indulging in my utter defeat, it infuriated me as I walked away with tears glistening in my eyes, cursing both of them.
I was back at the apartment, the black dress shredded on the floor. I wasn't crying anymore. I was pacing, my eyes wild.
"Kristine, stop," Rose pleaded, trying to grab my hands, “We can just leave. Move away. Start over."
"No," I snapped, “I won’t run away. Not this time,”
“I wish they die, I wish the worst would happen to them. I wish they never live happily after what they did to me.” I growled, throwing the nearby vase in the air, losing my composure and strength before falling on the ground.
“Hold yourself, Kristine. You can’t lose. You have a child to think about,”
“They…”
Sniffling, I pulled away a little, wiping my teary eyes roughly, smearing the immaculate eye look, curling my hands in a fist.
“They will pay, Rose. Like hell they will get their happy ending after destroying mine.”
Holding my hands to help me calm down, she asked softly, “But, what are you going to do?”
Shifting back, resting my back against the couch, I hugged my knees close to my chest as a fierce fire of revenge bloomed in my empty chest.
This won’t end easily, I won’t let it and for that, I would stoop to any level.
Placing my hand over my stomach, no longer in my right state of mind, breaking the boundaries of ethics, I enunciated darkly.
“I think I know exactly what to do, Rose. Edric will pay hell for betraying me.”
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7.2
In the roaring flames of the abandoned warehouse, my skin blistered and peeled.
Through the crackling fire, my sister Elara's malicious voice echoed. She told me my husband, Damien, was dead, and it was all my fault.
For years, I had treated Damien like a monster. I fought him, threw tantrums, and desperately tried to escape our marriage, all because I blindly followed Elara's advice.
"Remember, the harder you fight, the more disgusted he'll get."
She texted me things like that, telling me to smash vases over his head and run away, claiming she was protecting me.
In reality, she was poisoning my mind, stealing my valedictorian spot at university, and plotting to crawl into my billionaire husband's bed.
My foolish rebellion cost me everything, ultimately leading to Damien's tragic death and my own fiery end.
As the massive explosion tore my consciousness to shreds, I finally understood who truly loved me and who the real monster was.
I died suffocating on my own agonizing regret, wishing I could tear Elara apart.
Then, a rush of freezing air punched into my lungs.
I opened my eyes to the crisp scent of cedar and mint. I was back seven years ago, on the very night our marriage was supposed to go to hell.
This time, looking at Damien's flawless, unscarred face, I didn't push him away.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and made a silent vow: I would make every single person who ever hurt him bleed.
8.3
Betrayed at the altar. Replaced by her own sister.
On what should have been the happiest day of her life, Amara loses everything-her fiancé, her dignity, and her future.
But that same night, a dangerous man steps out of the shadows with an offer she can't refuse.
Marriage. Power. Revenge.
Now bound to a ruthless CEO, Amara is ready to destroy everyone who betrayed her.
There's just one problem...
Her new husband knows more about her past than he should.
And the closer she gets to revenge-
the more she realizes she may have married the man who ruined her in the first place.
9.8
I married an S-class Alpha to save my family's bankrupt company.
But my husband, Braydon, treated me worse than a stray dog.
When my heat cycle triggered early, the fever was agonizing. I crawled to our master bedroom, crying and begging him for just one temporary bite to save my life.
Instead, he locked the door from the inside.
"Go back to your room. I told you I didn't want to deal with you this weekend."
Through the crack under the door, I smelled the cheap perfume of his mistress. While I was dying in the hallway, forced to inject a toxic black-market suppressant that made me vomit blood, he was sleeping with her in our bed.
Days later, a drunk Braydon pinned me to the floor, trying to violently force a permanent mark on my neck just to assert his dominance.
When I fought him off, he blamed me for provoking him and casually tossed a credit card at me to buy my silence.
"Go buy whatever you want. Just tell the clinic you slipped in the shower."
Staring at the man who was supposed to protect me, my heart went completely cold. Why did I ever think this monster would change? This wasn't a marriage anymore; it was a cage, and the animal inside it was trying to kill me.
I quietly pressed the record button on my phone, capturing every single word of his twisted bribe.
Then, I pulled out a matte black business card and called the terrifying Enigma CEO who had been waiting for me in the shadows.
9.2
After his father passes away, Darnell becomes the new heir to King Hotels. But his grandfather-who owns shares of the hotels-wants Darnell to marry to earn his (Grandfather's) shares before his death.
After her father's death, Sasha and her family are left to deal with the burden he leaves behind-a huge debt owed to loan sharks.
Darnell approaches Sasha with a two-month marriage contract for five million dollars-enough to pay off her father's debt and be free from her traditional mother. She accepts.
Things are complicated when grandfather doesn't die after two months, and Sasha is being extorted by loan sharks. She and Darnell must stay married for their benefit, despite their lack of affection for each other. Eventually, they fall in love.
But drama unfolds when family secrets are exposed, old lovers resurface, and unknown families appear. Darnell and Sasha must decide if their love is worth it all.
9.3
To escape my abusive adoptive mother selling me to a loan shark for $50,000, I rushed to City Hall to marry a blind date.
In a blind panic, I grabbed the wrong man.
He was Julian Cardenas IV, a billionaire CEO who desperately needed a fake wife to dodge a corporate arranged marriage. We signed the papers on the spot.
He became my legal shield. He moved me into his pristine penthouse and secretly protected me from my family's violent threats. When I broke down crying in the freezing cold, he quietly left me hot cocoa. For the first time in my life, I felt safe.
But then, Julian overheard me complaining to my sister about my constantly breaking-down car, groaning that I had to "get rid of this baby four times."
He thought I meant abortions.
The man who was slowly melting my frozen heart instantly turned to ice. He threw away the dinner he had specially bought for me, his eyes filled with absolute disgust and blinding rage.
I was left entirely confused and terrified. Why did my savior suddenly look at me like I was the most repulsive thing in the world? What had I done to deserve this sudden cruelty?
I thought this fake marriage was my ticket out of hell. I didn't realize I had just locked myself in a cage with a furious, ruthless CEO who now wanted to destroy me.
7.1
"You're mine now, Brittany." He whispered in my ears. I froze. I don't remember telling him my name.
Zayne...Zayne...oh God. Now, I remember why his name sounded so familiar...but it was too late, I thought as I lost consciousness.
__
Brittany's life has been full of heartbreaks and pain, from her father's death to her mother's manipulation and abuse, while using religion as a weapon.
She grews up with fear, guarding her virginity like a cloak because of her mother's constant words in her ears.
Until she meets Zayne, known throughout New York as the CEO for his ruthlessness, he turns out to be Mafia too.
Zayne claims her as his refusing to let her go. Will Brittany grow to love him and give him a chance after what he did to her?
What happens when she's the only one who can save him from enemies flocking around him?
__
"I'm letting you go, doll." He mumbled as he held on to me, his eyes growing weak.
My heart twisted in my chest as tears fell down my cheeks.
No... "I don't regret a thing. You taking me was the best thing that ever happened to me."