CEO's Runaway Lover: My Cold Ex Begs For My Love Again
Four years ago, Madelynn accepted money from Caiden's family and vanished. She thought it was for the best-he would remain the untouchable heir while she faced her tough life alone.
When they met again, Caiden humiliated her in public, yet appeared when she was cornered by a difficult client, pulling her back into his life.
He forced her to stay as his lover, using her mother's medical bills as leverage, whispering, "What you owe me... you'll repay the same way."
Madelynn believed he despised her. Only after the accident, when he ran toward her before the explosion, did she understand-he never let go.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 1
"If she stays on this project, I'm out." Louis Barrett placed his glass down with controlled force. It wasn't loud, but the message was clear.
The lively chatter and clinking of glasses in the room came to an abrupt halt.
The Dawson Group's production head stiffened mid-motion, drink still in hand, an uneasy smile frozen on his face.
Madelynn Douglas quietly set her utensils aside and lifted her gaze.
Louis—a popular movie star and Caiden Dawson's longtime friend—lounged back in his chair with careless ease. His sunglasses rested atop his head, his shirt casually unbuttoned at the collar. Despite his relaxed posture, his eyes were gleaming with sharp hostility.
His gaze locked onto Madelynn across the table, open disdain evident in his expression.
Danny Willis, Madelynn's direct superior, dabbed at his forehead nervously, forcing a polite smile. "Mr. Barrett, you're acquainted with Madelynn?"
Madelynn remained silent.
Louis let out a short, mocking laugh. "Acquainted? I know her better than I'd like."
His eyes flicked sideways toward the man in a dark gray suit seated nearby. Throughout the entire exchange, he had remained silent and focused on his phone, seemingly detached from everything happening around him.
The man was Caiden, the heir of the Dawson family and the current CEO of the Dawson Group.
It had been four years since Madelynn had last seen him.
Time hadn't changed him much. He still carried that same distant, unapproachable air, an invisible pressure that unsettled everyone in the room.
Danny's anxiety grew, and he shot Madelynn repeated looks, silently urging her to respond.
Madelynn understood exactly what he meant.
This project was the most important contract Infinity Entertainment had secured all year, so losing it wasn't an option.
Drawing a deep breath, she spoke evenly. "Mr. Barrett, we're here for business. If there are personal matters, perhaps we can address them another time."
"Personal matters?" Louis straightened, his tone sharpening. "So you admit it's personal? Then why don't you explain to everyone what exactly I have against you?"
Madelynn gave no response, and her silence only fueled Louis' anger further. "Fine. If you won't speak, I will—"
"Louis."
Caiden finally spoke, cutting him off.
He placed his phone aside, his tone quiet but authoritative.
Louis fell silent immediately, his earlier aggression restrained.
Without sparing Madelynn a glance, Caiden addressed Danny directly, saying, "If you have another producer available, we can proceed with them instead."
Relief flooded Danny's face. "Yes, of course! Please give me a moment, Mr. Dawson. I'll arrange for Miss Abby Thorpe to take over immediately."
As he hurried to make the call, he discreetly tugged at Madelynn's sleeve and whispered, "You should leave."
Madelynn, however, stayed where she was.
Her eyes remained fixed on Caiden, searching for any hint that he might reconsider or explain things to her.
But there was none.
Four years ago, he had ended things with the same indifference—so calm that it made her wonder if what they had shared had ever meant anything.
And now, just one sentence from him was enough to make her lose the project she had been working on for a year.
Madelynn rose to her feet and left.
She didn't say goodbye to anyone, didn't reach for her belongings, and never once looked back.
The corridor stretched ahead, the carpet softening the sound of her steps.
She quickened her pace, but behind her, the room had already returned to its earlier liveliness, laughter and conversation resuming as if nothing had happened.
That only made something inside her sink even deeper.
***
The moment Madelynn stepped out of the restaurant, a late-spring chill swept over her. The night air was sharper than expected, making her instinctively pull her coat closer around herself.
She lingered by the entrance, exhaling softly as she waited for a ride to be accepted on her phone. The screen flickered on and off in her hand—time passing, request after request ignored. Nearly twenty minutes went by. Even after raising the fare, no driver took the job.
The location was too remote. Hardly anyone was willing to come this far out.
She was just about to give up and walk toward the main road, two kilometers away, when a cab finally approached, slowing as it neared her.
The driver rolled down the car window and looked her over before naming his price.
"One hundred dollars."
Madelynn glanced at the meter out of habit. The base fare read fourteen. "It's only about ten kilometers to the hospital in the city," she said calmly.
The driver scoffed, cigarette hanging loosely from his lips, "Doesn't matter. I had to come all the way out here on my own. You think that's free? A hundred. Take it or leave it."
Madelynn slipped her phone back into her pocket.
That amount could cover two days of her mother's care.
Without another word, she turned and walked away.
"Hey! Miss!" the driver called after her.
She ignored him, her heels striking the pavement in crisp, echoing clicks.
After a short distance, discomfort began to set in at the back of her feet. The shoes, bought for last year's company gala after weeks of hesitation, had barely been worn. They weren't really comfortable.
She should have chosen something practical.
The thought had just crossed her mind when a pair of bright headlights stretched her shadow across the road from behind.
A sleek black Rolls-Royce Phantom soon came to a smooth stop beside her.
The window slid down, revealing Louis leaning out, wearing a smirk. "What a coincidence. Stuck without a ride?"
Madelynn didn't even spare him a glance and kept walking forward.
The car crept alongside her.
"You sure you don't want a lift? Plenty of room up front," Louis continued casually.
Madelynn stopped.
Front seat. That meant Caiden.
Still facing forward, she answered flatly, "I'll pass. I prefer walking."
"In those heels? And for ten kilometers?" Louis raised an eyebrow.
"I don't mind."
Louis looked like he was about to keep pushing when a quiet voice came from inside the car.
"Let's leave." Caiden's tone was calm, carrying no trace of emotion.
Louis shrugged, leaning back into his seat.
Moments later, the car rolled forward, passing Madelynn and disappearing down the road at an unhurried pace.
Madelynn stood still for a moment, watching the red taillights fade into the distance.
Then, she turned around. Retracing her steps, she returned to the waiting cab and pulled the door open.
"A hundred dollars, right?" she said. "Let's go."
The driver blinked, clearly caught off guard, before hurriedly putting out his cigarette and starting the engine.
After a while, he glanced at her through the rearview mirror, curiosity getting the better of him. "Those guys from earlier... you know them?" he asked.
That kind of car wasn't something one could see every day; only the wealthy rode in those.
Madelynn leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
"No," she replied, her voice distant.
You may also like
9.3
On her wedding night at The Plaza Hotel, Clara went looking for her husband.
Instead, she found him in the dimly lit parking garage, passionately pinning down her bridesmaid.
She couldn't even scream or expose them. Just hours before the ceremony, Julian had tricked her into signing away her twenty percent shares of their co-founded company, leaving her completely penniless and unable to pay her grandmother's life-saving medical bills.
Fleeing in absolute despair, a sudden hotel blackout plunged her into a second nightmare. She was dragged into a pitch-black room and brutally violated by a heavily drugged stranger.
When a shattered Clara returned to the office to audit the books and reclaim her power, Julian demoted her to a dusty desk by the trash cans.
He flaunted his mistress in the executive suite and deliberately sent Clara into a horrifying trap. He arranged for vicious clients to drug and assault her, demanding high-definition blackmail photos so he could divorce her with absolutely nothing.
"Since you want to play rough, you can service Mr. Petrocelli tonight," the thug sneered, locking the VIP room door.
Clara was pushed to the brink of hell. Why was the man she devoted three years of her life to trying to destroy her so completely? And why did the freezing cedarwood scent of the stranger who ruined her in the dark perfectly match Conrad Vance, the ruthless CEO and Julian's untouchable uncle?
Rather than let Julian win, Clara smashed a glass bottle, held the jagged edge to her own throat to force the men back, and threw herself off the second-floor balcony into the freezing night.
But the bone-crushing impact never came. A massive figure shot out from the shadows and caught her, and her brutal counterattack finally began.
7.6
Johana walked half a mile through a brutal blizzard just to secure a tutoring job with the elite Black family.
But the very night she was hired, she received a terrifying call from the ER—her quiet roommate, Hazelle, had been drugged and severely traumatized at a Hamptons party.
When Johana rushed to the hospital, she didn't find the police. Instead, she found a team of ruthless billionaires erasing the crime.
Leading them was Dalton Black, the cold, arrogant older brother of her new student.
Within minutes, Dalton's fixers wiped the hospital's security footage, deleted all digital evidence, and forcefully transferred Hazelle to a locked private psychiatric facility.
"We are ensuring her privacy."
Dalton's voice was devoid of emotion, treating the horrific assault like a minor PR glitch.
His friends mocked Johana's powerlessness, while Dalton authorized a blank check to pay for the private ward, effectively burying the scandal and buying their silence.
Johana stood in the sterile hallway, trembling with a mix of despair and absolute rage.
How could they destroy an innocent girl's life and simply pay to make it disappear? Why was the truth so easily erased by money?
She had no wealth, no connections, and no proof, but she refused to be a victim of their cover-up.
Staring directly into Dalton's intimidating, icy blue eyes, Johana made a vow.
"I don't want your money. I will find out what you monsters did to her."
She thought the billionaire heir would crush her on the spot, but instead, he watched her walk away and quietly ordered his assistant: "Find out everything about Johana Neal."
8.2
I went to a private clinic for a routine physical, only to find out I was pregnant.
It was impossible. I took my birth control every single day. But when the doctor tested my pills, they turned out to be high-purity vitamin placebos. My billionaire husband, Denton, had been systematically replacing my medication.
Yet, on our anniversary, he brought my sister Beverly home, demanding a divorce so he could marry her. When I refused to sign a settlement that left me with nothing, he froze my accounts and blacklisted me across New York.
My own father disowned me. When an old friend offered me a job just so I could afford prenatal care, Denton launched a ruthless financial attack to bankrupt his firm.
Then, Beverly got into a car crash. Denton's bodyguards dragged me off the street and forced me into a hospital trauma room. Beverly was hemorrhaging, and I was the only blood match.
I cried and begged Denton to stop, desperately trying to protect my fragile pregnancy without exposing my baby to the monster who controlled my life.
"Please, my body can't handle this. Don't do this to me!"
But he just looked at me with pure disgust and ordered his men to strap me to the chair, forcing the needle into my vein while threatening to kill me if his mistress died.
As I dragged my bleeding, cramping body out of the hospital into the freezing snow, my last shred of hope died.
I touched my stomach and made a vow: I would disappear, and I would make them all pay.
7.4
Avery thought she'd found her happily ever after with Ethan, the charming billionaire who swept her off her feet in Willow Creek. But after one night of passion, he vanished, leaving her heartbroken and alone. She returned home to find her grandmother, her only family, had passed away.
Devastated, Avery discovered a shocking truth: she was the daughter of a millionaire who'd left her a vast fortune. Relocated to New York, she met Ethan again, but this time, he was determined to win her back. Unbeknownst to him, Avery had been hiding a life-changing secret: she's the mother of his twin babies.
As Avery navigates her complicated past and the wicked family members who despise her, Ethan's pursuit becomes relentless. He'll stop at nothing to reclaim the love they shared, but Avery's secrets threaten to tear them apart. Can she trust him with her heart and the truth about their children, or will it drive them further apart?
Ethan's words echoed in her mind: "I've been searching for you for six years, Avery. I won't let you go again." But Avery's secrets were only the beginning. Little did Ethan know, their love story was only just beginning...
9.0
Once a pampered princess, Alaina now clutched a deactivated American Express card, staring out at Central Park. Her family’s fortune was gone, her life, over.
Her family's Hamptons estate, a four-generation legacy, was seized by Dyer Capital. The name hit her: Hardin Dyer, the poor boy she’d once scorned, had returned.
Hardin marched in, serving a divorce agreement. He'd orchestrated her family's downfall for revenge, giving her 24 hours to vacate his property. Penniless, her father faced prison, needing $50 million. Her mother forced her to beg Hardin, who sneered, offering the money for her body. Alaina ripped up the contract.
Hours later, her father had a heart attack. Desperate, she became "Lexi," a club girl enduring humiliation. In the Viper Room, Hardin's lackeys demanded she lick whiskey off his shoe for $10,000. Hardin watched. Outside, her brother Ashton's hand was threatened for a $3 million debt. Spirit shattered, Alaina returned, knelt on broken glass, offering to sign. But Hardin declared her family "dead," offering $10 million for her body, commanding her to use her mouth.
In a furious act of defiance, Alaina threw whiskey in his face, snatched the check, and fled. Yet, when he finally took her, a searing, foreign pain and blood on the sheets revealed a shocking truth: he had never touched her three years ago. Why had he let her believe such a monstrous lie?
9.2
Nica caught her boyfriend, Chris, and her best friend, Ella, in a shocking betrayal. Chris was kissing Ella while caressing her close, and Ella only smirked at Nica as if she had won. Nica got pissed off and swore she would not let their betrayal go unpunished. What happens next? Read the story and find out for yourself.