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 7
Giovanny pulled Clarissa into the grand foyer of the estate. The rubber soles of his shoes squeaked sharply against the polished marble floor.
Arthur stepped forward, his hands trembling. "Sir. Master Theodore has just been stabilized."
Giovanny stopped dead. His shoulders dropped three inches. He let out a harsh, ragged exhale. The crushing grip on Clarissa's hand loosened just a fraction.
"Take me to him," Giovanny rasped.
Arthur nodded quickly and led them down a long corridor lined with oil paintings of Bartlett ancestors. They headed straight for the east wing, which had been converted into a state-of-the-art private medical facility.
The heavy double doors of the medical wing were closed.
Dr. Alistair Frye, the family's concierge physician, stood outside in the hallway, scrolling through a tablet.
Giovanny marched up to him. "Report."
"Acute myocardial ischemia, Giovanny," Dr. Frye said quietly. "It was severe. But thanks to the equipment here, we caught it in time. He is out of the woods for now."
Clarissa let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her knees suddenly felt weak. She swayed slightly, leaning her weight against the wall.
Just then, the side door of the medical wing clicked open.
Genevieve Bartlett walked out.
The matriarch of New York high society always looked flawless. But tonight, her blonde hair was messy. Her mascara was smudged under her eyes.
She saw Giovanny and let out a broken sob. She threw her arms around her son's neck, burying her face in his chest.
"Oh, Giovanny, I was so terrified," she cried.
Giovanny wrapped his arms around her, patting her back gently. "It's over, Mother. He's safe."
After a minute, Genevieve pulled back. She wiped her eyes with a tissue.
She turned her head and finally noticed Clarissa standing against the wall.
Genevieve's eyes swept over them. She blinked. Then, she looked closer.
She looked at her son. Giovanny's hair was still damp. His shirt was completely unbuttoned at the collar, and the middle buttons were mismatched, exposing his chest.
Then, Genevieve looked at Clarissa.
Clarissa was wearing Giovanny's massive black trench coat. The coat was open. Underneath, her silk dress was completely soaked, clinging to every curve of her body like a second skin.
Genevieve's eyes moved up to Clarissa's face. Clarissa's cheeks were flushed a deep, bright red from the humiliation in the bathroom. Her eyes were slightly swollen from crying.
Genevieve's brain connected the dots.
The fear in the older woman's eyes vanished. It was instantly replaced by a look of absolute shock, followed by a massive, undeniable spark of joy.
Genevieve gasped loudly. She covered her mouth with her hands.
She leaned forward, dropping her voice into a loud, conspiratorial whisper.
"Oh, dear God," Genevieve said, her eyes darting between their messy clothes. "Did I... did I interrupt you two in the middle of something very important?"
Clarissa froze. Her brain short-circuited.
She looked down at herself. The wet dress. The flushed skin. Giovanny's misbuttoned shirt.
The realization hit her like a freight train.
Her face burned hotter than fire. The blood rushed to her ears.
"No!" Clarissa stammered, waving her hands frantically. "No, Genevieve, it's not-it was an accident in the bathroom, we were just-"
Genevieve smiled. It was a knowing, thrilled smile. She stepped forward and grabbed Clarissa's cold hands.
"Oh, sweetheart, you don't have to explain," Genevieve cooed. "You young people are so passionate. You didn't even have time to dry your hair before rushing here!"
Two maids and Dr. Frye immediately looked down at the floor, trying to hide their awkward smiles.
Clarissa wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. She looked at Giovanny, her eyes wide with panic. She silently begged him to fix this. To tell the truth.
Giovanny stood perfectly still.
He looked at his mother's overjoyed face. Then he looked at Clarissa's terrified, flushed expression.
A dark, calculating shadow fell over Giovanny's eyes. A new, terrifying plan formed in his mind.
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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.