Betrayed Wife: Claimed By The Ruthless CEO
Isolde Mitchell knew her wealthy husband was cheating on her, but the true nightmare began when her mother-in-law summoned her.
The older woman coldly announced that the mistress was pregnant with a boy and would be moving into their estate.
Because Isolde's family had gone bankrupt and she had only given birth to a frail daughter, she was deemed completely worthless.
When Isolde packed her bags and demanded a divorce, her husband Clark just laughed.
He threatened to use their ironclad prenup to leave her penniless and take full custody of her daughter just to torture her.
To make matters worse, he forced Isolde to secure a failing business deal with the ruthless billionaire Jacques Valdez, essentially ordering her to sell her body to get the signature.
"If you fail, you will never see Bria again."
He even sent his goons to snatch the little girl from her preschool to prove his point.
Isolde was completely cornered, trembling with a mix of rage and absolute despair.
How could the man she married be such a monster? She would rather die than let them destroy her daughter, but how could a bankrupt mother fight a powerful dynasty with absolutely nothing?
Out of options, she looked at the private business card the terrifying billionaire Jacques had unexpectedly given her daughter.
Swallowing her pride, she decided to make a deal with the devil himself, ready to use his power to tear her husband's family apart.
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Chapter 2
Isolde burst into her bedroom, her chest heaving. She ran to the closet and hauled her largest suitcase from the back, throwing it onto the bed. Her hands shook as she unzipped it, but her mind was crystal clear.
She moved to the connecting door and pushed it open. The nightlight cast a soft glow over Bria's sleeping form. Her daughter was curled up, clutching a stuffed rabbit, her breathing soft and even.
"I promise you," Isolde whispered, her throat tight. "I won't let them ruin you. I won't let you become one of them."
She went back to her room and started grabbing clothes from the hangers, not caring if they matched. She shoved them into the suitcase.
A soft knock at the bedroom door made her freeze. She grabbed the heavy brass lamp from the nightstand, her knuckles white around the base.
"Mrs. Ruiz?" Linda's muffled voice came through the wood. "It's me."
Isolde let out a breath and set the lamp down. She opened the door. Linda stood there, holding a mug of steaming milk. Her eyes were red-rimmed.
"I heard the argument," Linda said, stepping inside and closing the door. She set the milk down and began folding the clothes Isolde had crumpled. "Mr. Clark isn't coming home tonight. He's at the apartment in the city. This is your best chance."
Isolde stared at her. "Linda, I can't ask you to-"
"You're not asking." Linda reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a thick wad of bills. She pressed them into Isolde's hand. "It's my savings. Take it. You need cash right now."
Isolde's eyes burned. She squeezed the older woman's hand. "Thank you."
She went back into Bria's room and gently shook her daughter awake. "Hey, sweetie. We're going on an adventure."
Bria rubbed her eyes, her voice sleepy. "An adventure?"
"A big one. We have to be very quiet, okay? Like little mice."
Bria nodded, too tired to argue. Isolde scooped her up, grabbing the stuffed rabbit. They crept down the back stairs, avoiding the main hall. Linda walked ahead, peering around corners. When they reached the side door, Linda created a distraction, dropping a tray of glasses in the kitchen. The guard posted in the hall went to investigate.
Isolde slipped out into the night. She strapped Bria into her car seat, her fingers fumbling with the buckles. She jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine. The tires crunched over the gravel, but she didn't slow down. She hit the gas, and the car shot forward, through the gates, and away from the Ruiz estate.
She didn't breathe easy until the Manhattan skyline appeared in her rearview mirror. She pulled up outside a brick apartment building in the West Village. Vivian Fletcher was already standing by the entrance, her dark hair pulled back, her face tight with worry.
The moment Isolde stepped out, Vivian was there, pulling her and Bria into a fierce hug. "I got your text. Come inside."
Once Bria was tucked away on the spare bed, Isolde collapsed onto Vivian's sofa. The adrenaline faded, leaving her hollowed out. She told Vivian everything. The club. The man with the cedar scent. Agnes's ultimatum. Kelsey's pregnancy.
Vivian's face was a mask of fury. "You need to divorce him, Isolde. Today. Take him for everything he's worth."
Isolde shook her head, her eyes fixed on the floor. "I can't. The prenup... if I file, I walk away with nothing. And Clark will fight me for Bria. He'll use his lawyers, his money. He'll take her just to punish me."
"There has to be a way," Vivian insisted.
The next morning, Isolde dropped Bria off at her elite pre-K program on the Upper East Side. She had just walked back to her car when her phone rang. The screen displayed Clark's name.
She answered, bracing herself. "What do you want, Clark?"
"My office. Now." His voice was devoid of emotion. Cold. Calculating.
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Then listen." The line went quiet for a moment. "I know where you spent the night, Isolde. Vivian Fletcher's apartment on West Village. Second floor, facing the street. Want me to send someone over to say hello?"
A chill ran down her spine. He was watching her. He had been watching the whole time.
"I'll be there," she said, her voice hard.
The drive to Ruiz Architecture was a blur. Isolde parked in the garage and took the elevator to the top floor. She walked into Clark's corner office, the floor-to-ceiling windows offering a sweeping view of the city he thought he owned.
Clark was practicing his golf swing, a putter in his hand. He didn't look up.
"I want a divorce," Isolde said, her voice echoing in the large room.
Clark laughed, a short, ugly sound. He set the putter down and walked toward her. He reached out and grabbed her chin, his fingers digging into her skin. "You ran away like a scared little rabbit last night. How did it feel? Did you think you were actually escaping?"
"I'm not playing games, Clark. I'm leaving."
He dropped his hand, his smile fading. "You're not going anywhere. You're going to do exactly what I tell you." He walked over to his desk and picked up a thick folder. "The Valdez deal is falling apart. You're going to fix it."
Isolde stared at him in disbelief. "You want me to fix your business deal? I'm not your secretary."
"No, you're my wife. And tonight, you're going to attend a dinner at The Cortland Hotel. Jacques Valdez will be there. You're going to go in there, smile, pour his drinks, and do whatever it takes to make him sign that contract."
"I'm not whoring for you," Isolde spat, turning to leave.
"Are you sure about that?" Clark's voice stopped her cold. "Are you sure Bria is safe at that little school of hers?"
Isolde froze. She turned slowly, her blood turning to ice. "What did you do?"
"Nothing yet." Clark leaned against his desk, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "But it's a big city. Accidents happen. Little girls wander off. It would be a shame if something happened to that little bastard of yours."
"You're a monster," Isolde whispered, her hands curling into fists.
"I'm a businessman. And right now, my business needs Valdez's signature. So you will go to that dinner, and you will make him happy. Or you will never see Bria again." He pulled a black credit card from his wallet and tossed it onto the desk. "Buy something appropriate. Don't embarrass me."
Isolde stared at the card, then at Clark. She wanted to scream. She wanted to claw his eyes out. But all she could see was Bria's face. She snatched the card off the desk and walked out, the door slamming shut behind her.
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7.9
One night of deception.
A lifetime of consequences.
A bond that cannot be broken.
Nadia Williams is an Omega living in the shadows of the pack she once called home.
Since her father's death, she and her mother, Estelle, have been treated as outcasts by her ruthless uncle, Alpha Edwards. When her mother is framed for theft, Nadia is forced into a deal with the devil.
To save her mother's life, she must become a virgin substitute for her cousin, Danielle.
Her aunt, Katerina, offers a devil's bargain to set her mother free: Nadia must spend one night in the bed of the most powerful man in the country, the billionaire; Alpha Conrad Bradley.
The catch?
She must swap places with her spiteful cousin.
Conrad demands a virgin bride to secure his royal bloodline, and Danielle, Nadia's cruel cousin, has already forfeited her purity.
What begins as a desperate night of passion in the dark spirals into a web of hidden identities and betrayal.
Nadia survives the night and disappears, hoping to bury the shame of the encounter forever.
But fate has a different plan.
Desperate for a fresh start away from her uncle's shadow, Nadia secures a high-level position at Bradley Group of Industries.
As Alpha Conrad unknowingly hires Nadia at his company, an undeniable connection sparks between them.
Conrad is haunted by the scent of the woman from that night-a scent that doesn't match his fiancée, Danielle, but seems to cling to his new, brilliant employee.
As they work side-by-side, Nadia finds an unexpected and beautiful second chance at a life she thought was lost.
Yet, buried secrets threaten to destroy everything.
When the Alpha discovers the woman he truly bonded with, the fallout will be legendary.
9.7
For three years, I endured being treated like a walking ATM and a maid by my husband's family, biting my tongue to keep the peace.
Then, my husband's buddy suddenly dropped off a nine-year-old boy at my front door.
The crumpled note from my husband casually explained it was his illegitimate son, blaming me for being barren and demanding I raise the kid as our own.
My mother-in-law was absolutely thrilled, parading the boy around as the true heir at the dinner table.
"Some trees just don't bear fruit, no matter how much water you give them," she sneered.
My brother-in-law cheered, and my drunk father-in-law demanded I cook a feast to celebrate.
They actually expected me to continue paying the mortgage, buying the groceries, and cleaning up their endless messes, all while raising the living proof of my husband's betrayal.
I looked at the parasites who had drained me dry for years, acting like they were doing me a favor by letting me stay in a house that my money paid for.
I didn't scream, and I didn't cry.
I simply called my lawyer to file for an immediate divorce, froze every single bank account and credit card they relied on, and drove off to my grandmother's secluded cabin in the woods.
Let them see how long they survive without my money.
8.4
Kathern was forced out of her sister's home by her abusive brother-in-law, who violently demanded she pay half the rent or get out.
To protect her sister from his rage, Kathern agreed to a six-month paper marriage with a stranger—an old woman's grandson, Bronson—in exchange for a simple apartment.
But her new husband treated her like a scheming gold digger from the very first second.
He showed up to City Hall in a cheap suit, shoved a brutal prenup in her face, and dumped her in a completely empty, dust-filled apartment.
"Just don't cause any trouble," he warned coldly, before leaving her alone.
When Kathern politely texted him to ask if he was coming home for dinner, he immediately blocked her number.
Kathern was furious and baffled. She didn't want a dime of his money, nor did she care about his boring middle-management job.
She had only agreed to this marriage for a place to sleep, yet this arrogant man treated her like absolute garbage.
Refusing to swallow the insult, Kathern immediately dialed his grandmother to expose his behavior.
She was going to build her own independent life, completely unaware that her "cheap corporate loser" of a husband was actually the ruthless billionaire CEO of the Vaughan empire.
8.9
Debora went to prison to protect the man she loved, only to end up a paroled convict living under the roof of her abusive foster parents.
When they found her positive pregnancy test from a one-night stand, they threatened to kick her out and send her straight back to a cell.
Just as they were about to report her, the stranger from that dark hotel room suddenly appeared.
He paid her foster parents one million dollars to marry her and take her away.
Debora thought she was finally safe.
But the moment they were alone, he looked at her with pure, venomous hatred.
He didn't want a wife; he wanted a prisoner.
He believed Debora was the ruthless murderer who had destroyed his life in a car crash, and he planned to make her suffocate in her own despair.
He didn't know she was just a scapegoat.
To survive and protect her baby, Debora found a job at a bridal shop, only to run into the real culprit—the man who actually drove the car and framed her.
He was now happily engaged to a wealthy heiress.
They deliberately ruined a priceless wedding gown and blamed it on her.
"Kneel on this floor and apologize, or I'm calling the police to revoke your parole!"
Why did she have to rot in hell for his sins, while the man she married wanted to destroy her?
Just as her trembling knees were about to touch the cold marble floor, the heavy glass doors were violently shoved open.
Her billionaire husband strode in like a force of nature, his eyes locked onto the wealthy couple with a terrifying, destructive rage.
7.6
My father raised seven brilliant orphans to be my potential husbands. For years, I only had eyes for one of them, the cold and distant Damien Paul, believing his distance was a wall I just had to break through.
That belief shattered last night when I found him in the garden, kissing his foster sister, Eve—the fragile girl my family took in at his request, the one I had treated like my own sister.
But the true horror came when I overheard the other six Fellows talking in the library.
They weren't competing for me. They were working together, orchestrating "accidents" and mocking my "stupid, blind" devotion to keep me away from Damien.
Their loyalty wasn't to me, the heiress who held their futures in her hands. It was to Eve.
I wasn't a woman to be won. I was a foolish burden to be managed. The seven men I grew up with, the men who owed my family everything, were a cult, and she was their queen.
This morning, I walked into my father's study to make a decision that would burn their world to the ground. He smiled, asking if I'd finally won Damien over.
"No, Dad," I said, my voice firm. "I'm marrying Hunter Beach."
9.4
Dorene survived a terrifying night with a bleeding, dangerous intruder in her hotel penthouse, only to receive a far more devastating blow the next morning.
A black and gold envelope arrived. It was an engagement invitation. Her boyfriend of seven years, Kadyn, was marrying her sweet, innocent best friend, Dolly.
Refusing to hide, Dorene crashed the gala in a blood-red gown. But Dolly was ready. Grabbing Dorene's wrists, Dolly purposely threw herself backward into a tower of champagne glasses, shrieking about her stomach and her unborn baby.
"If anything happens to Dolly or my child, I swear to God, I will destroy you!"
Kadyn roared, holding the weeping Dolly in the broken glass. He didn't ask a single question. He branded Dorene a jealous monster. To completely break her dignity, he publicly handed her over to the city's most notorious, sleazy playboy just to appease Dolly's fake tears.
"Give him a shot," Kadyn told her coldly.
Seven years of love were ground into the marble floor. She was framed, publicly humiliated, and discarded like trash by the two people she trusted most.
Dorene didn't shed a single tear. She gave them a smile of pure, freezing mockery and walked out of the gilded cage into the freezing Manhattan night. She didn't know that as she left, the lethal, blood-stained man from her penthouse was watching from the shadows, ready to help her burn their world to the ground.