Bound By The Billionaire's Cruel Contract
Clarissa rushed into a crowded nightclub for one simple reason: to save her wildly drunk best friend.
But her ruthless billionaire husband, Giovanny, was watching from the VIP room. After effortlessly ruining a man just for grabbing her wrist, Giovanny punished Clarissa for breaching their public image contract with an impossible curfew.
When she inevitably arrived back at his penthouse late, he didn't just yell. He forced her to her knees by his bathtub to wash his back, making her watch an explicit, humiliating video as punishment.
A sudden family medical emergency dragged them to his parents' estate. Still in her soaked, transparent dress and his misbuttoned shirt, Giovanny's mother caught them. She joyfully assumed they had been passionately intimate.
Instead of clearing her name, Giovanny pulled Clarissa close and lied to his mother's face.
"We are working very hard on the family's future, Mother."
He locked her in the guest suite, tossed a sheer silk nightgown on the bed, and literally shattered the tablet holding their "no-contact" prenuptial agreement. He then slapped a file against the window—he had secretly bought all her father's toxic debt.
Clarissa was terrified. They were supposed to be business allies bound by a strict contract. Why was he suddenly acting like a predator determined to own her body and soul?
"Give me an heir, or your father goes to federal prison," he whispered.
Stripped of all choices, Clarissa picked up the white silk. She would surrender tonight to save her family, but as his shadow swallowed her, she made a silent vow to survive this monster, and one day, tear his empire to the ground.
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Chapter 4
Clarissa stood frozen in the foyer. Her hands gripped the leather strap of her purse so tightly her fingers cramped.
She forced herself to take a breath. The air in the penthouse felt too thin.
"The traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge was completely stopped," she said. Her voice cracked, echoing weakly in the massive, empty living room.
Giovanny continued to swirl his drink. He didn't even blink.
"Do you think my time is cheap, Clarissa?" he asked softly.
"You gave me fifteen minutes!" she snapped, her fear briefly turning into defensive anger. "Your curfew was impossible, and you know it."
Giovanny's eyes darkened. The temperature in the room plummeted.
He slammed the crystal glass down on the side table. The loud crack made Clarissa jump.
He stood up. His massive frame seemed to suck all the oxygen out of the room. He walked toward her, his steps slow and heavy.
Clarissa instinctively took a step back. Her bare heel hit the metal track of the elevator doors. She was trapped.
Giovanny stopped right in front of her. He was so close she could feel the heat radiating off his chest. The sharp scent of cedar and bourbon invaded her lungs.
He reached out. His long, strong fingers clamped around her chin.
He tilted her head up, forcing her to look directly into his eyes.
Her vision focused. Being this close, she noticed something she hadn't seen in the dark club.
Right below Giovanny's right eye, there was a tiny, thin red scratch.
It was a fresh cut. A piece of flying glass from Dwayne's shattered lowball glass must have grazed him downstairs during the violent scuffle.
Clarissa's breath hitched. Without thinking, she raised her hand. Her fingers reached up to touch the mark on his skin.
Before she could make contact, Giovanny's hand shot out. He grabbed her wrist mid-air.
His grip was like a steel vise. Clarissa let out a sharp gasp of pain.
A dangerous light flickered in his eyes.
"This," Giovanny whispered, his voice dripping with malice as he referenced the scratch, "is the direct cost of your stupidity tonight."
Clarissa's stomach twisted. The anger drained out of her, replaced instantly by a heavy, suffocating wave of guilt. She had caused this.
Giovanny released her chin. He looked down at her, his expression turning into a mask of pure authority.
"Since you caused this injury, you will take responsibility for my care tonight," he stated.
Clarissa's eyes widened. She pressed her back harder against the elevator doors. "That is sick!" she snapped, her voice shaking with humiliation and disbelief. "You cannot ask me to do that! I am your wife, not your servant!"
Giovanny leaned in. His lips brushed against the shell of her ear.
"Go to the master bathroom and run the water," he commanded, his voice a dark, husky rumble. "As punishment for being late, and for this scratch, you are going to wash my back tonight."
Clarissa's face burned. The blood rushed to her cheeks.
"No," she said, her voice shaking with humiliation. "I won't do that."
Giovanny straightened up. The dark amusement vanished from his face, leaving behind a terrifying emptiness.
"Santos Enterprises needs my signature tomorrow morning to extend their bank loans," he said smoothly.
Clarissa's heart stopped. Her father's company.
Her knees suddenly felt weak. Her body gave a violent tremble. He knew exactly where to strike.
She glared up at him. Tears of pure, hot fury welled in her eyes, but she clamped her jaw shut. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat.
Giovanny didn't care about her anger. He turned around and started walking down the long hallway toward the master bedroom.
He stopped at the end of the hall. He turned his head slightly.
"Move," he ordered. "My patience is gone."
Clarissa closed her eyes. She took a ragged breath, forcing the tears back down.
She dropped her purse on the floor. She peeled off her coat and tossed it onto the sofa.
Her bare feet felt like lead as she forced herself to walk down the hallway, following him into the lion's den.
She pushed open the heavy double doors of the master bedroom. The scent of his cologne was overpowering here.
She walked past the massive king-sized bed and headed straight for the frosted glass doors of the master bathroom.
She pushed the door open. The bright, sterile lights of the bathroom hit her eyes, blinding her for a second.
She stepped inside, her stomach churning with dread.
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9.7
Luna Elena Frost was never chosen, only assigned.
Bound to Alpha Alaric Ashbourne through a cold contractual marriage, she endures three years as a Luna in name only. He never comes home, never defends her, and never looks at her, while his heart belongs to another woman.
At his grandmother's funeral, Alaric publicly dissolves their marriage, humiliating Elena before the entire pack. In that moment, she finally understands the truth. She was never wanted.
But the Moon has not abandoned her.
A forgotten night resurfaces. Her long-silent wolf begins to awaken. And secrets buried within her bloodline start to surface, drawing danger from every direction.
Cast out by the pack that once used her, Elena must flee, survive, and uncover her true power.
Only then does the Alpha realize his mistake.
By the time he turns back in regret, the Luna he rejected may already be gone forever.
9.7
I ran through the freezing rain, desperate to escape the Pennington estate. My adoptive family had raised me for one purpose: to be sold off as a bargaining chip in a wealthy arranged marriage.
But before I could reach the highway, I was cornered. Not just by my family's cruel guards, but by Hollis Wall—a terrifying, ruthless billionaire who snapped my tormentor's wrist and dragged me into his car. He didn't want a ransom. He threw a prenuptial agreement in my lap.
I thought he was insane until he took a scalpel to his own arm, and a burning agony ripped across my flawless skin. Because of a near-drowning accident three years ago, our nervous systems were linked. Every time I bled, he felt the agony. He locked me in his fortress to keep me safe, but when I finally escaped back to my adoptive parents, they didn't protect me. Instead, my adoptive father smiled and showed me a live video of my biological father on life support, a guard's hand hovering over the plug.
"You will marry Douglas Cherry tomorrow, or your father dies," he sneered.
My own family was willing to murder my only real flesh and blood just to secure their wealth. I collapsed onto the cold marble floor, my heart crushed in a vice of absolute, suffocating despair.
"I'll marry him," I sobbed, surrendering to the darkness.
But miles away, in his dark study, the ruthless Hollis Wall violently collapsed to the floor, gasping for air as my severe panic attack bled directly into his chest. Our twisted bond was killing him, and I knew he would tear the city apart to find me.
8.0
Abigayle was the proud heir to the Pena Group, living a perfect life and engaged to Jeffery Sullivan.
But the morning after a charity gala, she woke up drugged in a hotel room, blinded by paparazzi cameras. Her fiancé and her best friend stood at the foot of the bed, throwing a forged pregnancy report at her face to publicly frame her for cheating.
The betrayal was only the beginning of the slaughter. Before she could even clear her name, the Sullivan family ruthlessly bankrupted her family's company overnight. Her father was rushed to the ICU with a heart attack, her brother was run off the road into a coma, and violent repo men raided her penthouse. Just as she was thrown out into the freezing rain, Jeffery's terrifying uncle, Donovan Sullivan—the very mastermind who engineered her family's ruin—stepped in. He offered to cover the life-saving medical bills, but only if she agreed to become his personal plaything.
Abigayle's blood turned to ice. She couldn't understand how the people she trusted most could plot such a vicious, coordinated destruction just to break an engagement. How dared the man who destroyed her entire family stand there playing the savior, trying to buy her body with her own stolen wealth?
Facing a $100,000 hospital deadline and abandoned by everyone she knew, she didn't shed another tear.
"I will never beg him."
Clutching her last diamond bracelet, she hailed a cab straight to the biggest pawnshop in the Diamond District. The Sullivans thought they had buried her, but her counterattack was just beginning.
8.8
I was the despised adopted daughter of the Sanders family, hiding behind heavy gothic makeup and enduring their daily disgust.
The day my adoptive father died in a severe car crash, my adoptive mother and stepsister didn't even bother to call me.
Instead, while his body was still warm, my mother filed a multi-million dollar life insurance claim.
"I am not feeding a useless freak for another day. Pack your trash and get out."
She kicked me out into the freezing rain, but that wasn't the worst of it.
My stepsister Cornelia stole my greatest secret. Five years ago, I saved the life of Fidel Vaughan, a ruthless billionaire heir, from a burning estate.
Cornelia claimed my identity, accepted a million-dollar reward, and secured a marriage proposal from him, burning my only proof to ashes.
They thought I was just a helpless, pathetic high schooler they could discard and replace.
But when I hacked the police files, I discovered my father's crash wasn't an accident. It was a targeted hit, and the Vaughan Group had hijacked the traffic cameras to cover it up.
I washed off the ugly black makeup, shedding the disguise of a pathetic outcast.
I am Spectre, the world's most elusive hacker and underground doctor.
I intercepted the billionaire heir's heavily armed convoy in the dead of night. They thought they could steal my life and murder my father, but now, I hold the needle that controls Fidel Vaughan's sanity, and I will make them all pay.
7.5
Elena Vale's life is carefully controlled, molded by strict family expectations and an arranged marriage she never wanted. But the night before her wedding, a shocking betrayal turns her world upside down. One scandalous mistake leaves her publicly humiliated, her engagement broken, and her future uncertain.
Just when all hope seems lost, Adrian Blackwood, a powerful and enigmatic billionaire, offers her a lifeline: a contract marriage. Thrust into a world of wealth, power, and danger, Elena must navigate his dominance, protect her independence, and confront those who seek to destroy her.
As tension and attraction build between them, Elena discovers her own strength and resilience, while Adrian reveals sides of himself he has long kept hidden. Together, they face betrayal, ambition, and jealousy, learning that love can emerge from the most unexpected circumstances.
In the end, Elena claims her dignity, her future, and a love forged on her own terms.
9.7
Alya Harrell was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy Long Island family, treated worse than a stray dog in her own home. Tonight, her family finally found a use for her.
Her stepmother and half-sister, Chloe, forced her into a scandalous, plunging red dress. They were offering her as a bargaining chip to Warren Thorne, a ruthless, sleazy hedge fund manager known for collecting and discarding young girls.
Just to ensure her absolute humiliation, Chloe intentionally "tripped" and spilled a glass of red wine all over the silk dress.
"Now you'll have to wear that hideous little black thing you own," Chloe sneered, leaving Alya to face the high-society dinner looking like a beggar.
When Alya tried to escape Thorne's groping hands, her own father hunted her down. He grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back, and raised his hand to strike her for embarrassing the family.
She was nothing but a pawn to them, a cheap product to be sold and abused for their financial gain. Alya's heart turned cold as she realized her blood relatives would gladly destroy her just to secure a lucrative business deal.
But when she was sent to the cellar to fetch a $50,000 vintage wine for their billionaire VIP guest, Alya caught her perfect sister hooking up with a personal trainer next to the priceless bottle.
Quietly stealing the vintage wine and burying it in the garden dirt, Alya returned to the ballroom with a dangerous smile.
"I think I saw Chloe carrying a bottle down to the cellar," she told her furious father and the VIP, leading them straight toward the trap that would completely ruin her sister's perfect life.