Chasing His Divorced Wife
Elara spent three years invisible in her marriage to billionaire Damien Cross. When he hands her divorce papers, she disappears without a fight.
Six months later, an accident steals Damien's memory of the past five years. He doesn't remember his ex-wife, but he can't stop searching for the woman with sad eyes who haunts his dreams.
When he finds Elara thriving in Seattle, she refuses to let him back in. But this Damien is nothing like the cold husband she remembers, and as he uncovers their past, devastating secrets emerge.
Can you forgive someone who doesn't remember breaking you?
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Chapter 5
"You're distracted again."
I looked up from the inventory list I'd been staring at without actually reading. Marcus stood in the doorway of my office, holding two cups of coffee, his expression concerned.
"Sorry. I'm fine."
"You've said you're fine seventeen times in the past two weeks. At this point, it's lost all meaning." He set a cup on my desk and sat down across from me. "Talk to me."
Marcus Chen had been my saving grace when I'd arrived in Seattle broken and lost. He'd given me a job at his gallery, then helped me open my own when I was ready. He was kind, patient, and one of the few people who knew the whole truth about my marriage.
"Damien came here two weeks ago."
Marcus's cup stopped halfway to his mouth. "Your ex-husband? The one who-"
"Yes." I wrapped my hands around the warm coffee cup. "He had a car accident. He has amnesia. He doesn't remember the last five years."
"Jesus. Is he okay?"
"Physically? I think so. Mentally? I don't know." I stared into my coffee. "He doesn't remember me, Marcus. He doesn't remember our marriage or the divorce or anything."
"What did he want?"
"To understand what happened. To know why we got divorced." I laughed without humor. "I told him everything. Every painful detail. And now I can't stop thinking about it."
Marcus set down his cup. "Do you still love him?"
"I don't know. How can I love someone who hurt me that badly? But how can I stop loving someone just because they can't remember?" I felt tears burning behind my eyes. "He sent me a text saying he found a letter he wrote two years into our marriage. He said he loved me but didn't know how to show it."
"And you believe him?"
"I don't know what to believe. The Damien who came here in the rain seemed different. Lost. Genuinely sorry. But I've been fooled before."
Marcus was quiet for a moment. "Can I give you some advice?"
"Please."
"Three years ago, you came to Seattle barely functional. You couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, could barely string sentences together. You were a ghost." His voice was gentle but firm. "It took you two years to rebuild yourself. To remember who you were before him. You're finally happy again. Don't throw that away for someone who might hurt you all over again."
"I know you're right."
"But?"
"But what if he's telling the truth? What if he really did love me and just didn't know how to show it? What if the amnesia gave him a second chance to be different?"
"Then he can prove it from a distance. You don't owe him anything, Elara. Not access to your life, not your time, not another chance to break your heart."
My phone buzzed. Another text from the unknown number I knew was Damien.
" I've been learning about who I was. I'm horrified. I understand if you never want to see me again, but I need you to know something. I'm going to therapy. I'm trying to understand why I pushed you away. I'm trying to become someone worthy of the love you gave me."
I showed Marcus the text. He frowned.
"He's trying to manipulate you."
"Is he? Or is he genuinely trying to change?"
"Does it matter? Elara, even if he changes, even if he becomes the best version of himself, that doesn't mean you have to take him back. You're allowed to protect yourself."
He was right. I knew he was right. So why did my chest ache?
"Come on," Marcus stood up. "Let's get lunch. You need to eat and stop obsessing."
We went to the small café down the street. Marcus ordered for both of us and tried to distract me with gallery business, upcoming exhibitions, anything but Damien. It almost worked.
Then my phone rang. James Hartley. Damien's CFO and best friend. I'd met him a handful of times during my marriage.
"I should take this."
Marcus nodded, concern written across his face.
I stepped outside. "Hello?"
"Elara, it's James. I'm sorry to call, but I need to talk to you about Damien."
My heart started racing. "Is he okay? Did something happen?"
"He's fine. Physically. But Elara, he's destroying himself trying to understand those five years. He's obsessed. He watches security footage from your marriage, reads old emails, he's not sleeping or eating properly. His doctors are worried."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I think you're the only person who can make him stop." James sighed. "Look, I know you have no reason to care about him after what he did. But the man I'm seeing now isn't the man who hurt you. He's terrified of who he became."
"That's not my problem to fix."
"I know. You're right. But I'm asking anyway because I'm worried about my friend." He paused. "There's something else. He hired a private investigator. He knows about Marcus."
My blood ran cold. "What about Marcus?"
"He thinks you're dating. The investigator sent photos of you two together. Damien's convinced you've moved on."
"Marcus is my friend. That's all."
"I know that. But Damien doesn't. And it's eating him alive."
"Good. Let him suffer like I suffered."
"Is that really what you want?" James's voice was quiet. "Because the Elara I remember wasn't cruel."
The words hit harder than they should have. "What do you want from me, James?"
"Just consider talking to him. One conversation. Let him explain. Then if you still want him gone, I'll make sure he never contacts you again."
"Why do you care so much?"
"Because I watched him become a monster over the years. I watched him push away everyone who cared about him. And now I'm watching him try to be better. Maybe he doesn't deserve a second chance, but I think he deserves the opportunity to try."
I closed my eyes. "I'll think about it."
"That's all I ask. Thank you, Elara."
He hung up. I stood there on the sidewalk, phone in hand, feeling like I was standing at a crossroads.
Marcus came outside. "Everything okay?"
"Damien thinks we're dating. He hired a private investigator."
Marcus's eyes widened. "That's insane. That's stalker behavior."
"Or desperate behavior from someone who's lost and trying to understand his life."
"You're defending him."
"I'm not. I'm just-" I didn't know what I was doing. "His friend called. He wants me to talk to Damien. One conversation."
"And you're considering it."
"Maybe."
"Elara, listen to yourself. This man put you through hell. Now he's having you followed and you're thinking about giving him another chance?" Marcus grabbed my shoulders gently. "I care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt again."
"I know."
"Then promise me you'll really think about this before you do anything."
I nodded, but we both knew I'd already made up my mind.
My phone buzzed again. Another text from Damien.
" I saw the photos. I'm happy you found someone who treats you better than I did. You deserve that. I'll stop contacting you now. I'm sorry for everything."
I stared at the message, something twisting in my chest.
Marcus read over my shoulder. "Good. He's backing off. That's what you wanted, right?"
"Right," I said. But my fingers were already typing a response before I could stop myself.
" Marcus is my friend. Nothing more. And you don't get to decide you're done. Not yet. Meet me at Pike Place Market tomorrow. 2 PM. You want to understand what happened? I'll tell you everything you don't see in those videos and emails."
I hit send before I could change my mind.
Marcus stared at me. "Elara, what are you doing?"
"Something incredibly stupid," I said. "But I need to do it anyway."
My phone buzzed almost immediately.
" I'll be there. Thank you for giving me this chance."
"This is a mistake," Marcus said.
"Probably. But it's mine to make."
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7.1
I woke up gasping for air, expecting the cold concrete of a prison cell, but my fingers sank into the plush leather of a luxury Lincoln. I was twenty-four again, wearing the silver silk dress from the night my life was systematically destroyed.
Beside me sat my cousin Catrina, the woman whose carefully crafted lies had orchestrated my ruin and sent me to a penitentiary for five years.
In my first life, this was the night the dominoes fell. Catrina stole my jewelry to paint me as mentally unstable, and by morning, I was stripped of my medical license and labeled a criminal. My mother’s family, the Montgomerys, stood by and watched as my father’s company was devoured by wolves, treating my existence like a "liability" that needed to be managed. I still felt the phantom tremors in my hands from prison fights and the stinging betrayal of being discarded by the people I called family.
I had lived through five years of absolute hell, a former surgeon rotting in a cell while the people who framed me toasted to their success at galas I was no longer invited to.
"Don't be selfish, Dawn," Catrina whispered, reaching for the necklace that would later be used as evidence against me. "Let the jewelry shine on someone who actually matters."
She thought I was still the fragile victim she could manipulate, but she didn't realize I had returned from the grave with the cold, clinical calculation of a fixer.
Instead of walking into her trap at the gala, I forced the car onto a dark service road and dragged a dying billionaire, Jennings Stafford, from the wreckage of a burning SUV.
He was the only man powerful enough to destroy my enemies, and as I stitched his wounds with stolen supplies, I didn't ask for a thank you.
I looked him dead in the eye and proposed a contract that would set the world on fire.
"I want a strategic marriage. You get a harmless wife with a legacy name to calm your board, and I get immunity from everyone who ever touched me."
The bill for my five years in prison had finally come due, and I was here to collect.
8.2
Blurb:
Richard Tucker lost everything long before he died. Orphaned young, forced to work two jobs through college, and later dragged into a scandal with the daughter of a wealthy family, he became the unwanted son-in-law of the powerful Warrens. His mother-in-law despised him, every employer rejected him, and his life fell apart piece by piece.
Then one night, Richard was hunted down, beaten, and left to die in a cold alley.
But death wasn't the end.
Richard woke up with the Trillionaire System, a mysterious power that deposits $500 into his account every hour and rewards him with skills, strength, and unlimited financial advantages. With $360k a month at Level 1, Richard discovers a future he never imagined, one where he can rebuild himself, protect his wife, and rise far beyond everyone who mocked him.
Yet power comes with enemies.
A vengeful ex-suitor, a ruthless rival family, and a powerful heiress who wants Richard for herself move against him. Old threats return, new alliances crumble, and the truth about the scandal that ruined his life resurfaces with deadly consequences.
But as Richard climbs, a new identity emerges in the shadows:
Mr. Tusks, the mysterious billionaire quietly becoming the largest shareholder in multiple corporations and preparing to launch the most anticipated company in the nation, RT Enterprise.
When the world gathers for the grand unveiling, Richard plans to reveal who he truly is...
And when he does, every enemy who called him worthless will finally understand the man they tried to destroy.
9.2
She's stubborn, young, and craving love.
He's rich, famous, and impossible to read.
When 19 year old Liana Harper is suddenly arranged to marry Ethan Blackwell, the continent's most popular pop idol and heir to a vast empire, their worlds collide in a storm of arrogance, cold stares, and fiery clashes.
Thrown together by family pressure, mismatched personalities, and high expectations, Liana and Ethan must navigate a life neither of them chose filled with secrets, jealousy, and unexpected emotions.
Can a stubborn girl and a grumpy superstar survive a forced marriage? Or will their differences tear them apart before love even has a chance?
Enemies forced into marriage sparks everywhere.
8.6
I thought I was living the dream as the wife of a billionaire, until my husband came home at 2 A.M. reeking of expensive Scotch and "Midnight Rose"—the signature perfume of his ex-lover, Lucinda. While I spent my nights alone in the nursery with our sick twins, William was out in the city, making it clear to everyone that our marriage was nothing more than a cold, calculated business merger.
When I finally confronted him with the evidence of his infidelity, he didn’t offer an apology. He simply looked at me with disgust and told me I was a "liability" who should stay home and play the part of the perfect mother while he lived his real life with someone else.
The humiliation reached its peak at the hospital when his grandfather suffered a massive heart attack. William showed up with Lucinda on his arm, comforting her in front of the entire Sterling clan while his mother publicly mocked me for being a useless gold-digger. Even after William tried to force himself on me in a drunken rage the night before, he had the audacity to treat his mistress like the grieving wife while I was pushed into the shadows.
I felt something inside me finally snap. The man I loved had turned into a monster who saw me as an acquisition rather than a human being. I was ready to sign the divorce papers and disappear with nothing but my pride, just to escape the suffocating weight of his indifference.
But then, the dying patriarch called me to his bedside and handed me a sword: five percent of the company’s voting shares and a three-month ultimatum. I’m not running away anymore. I’ve decided to stay for ninety days, but not to save a dead marriage. I’m staying to become the one thing William Sterling never saw coming—his most dangerous nightmare.
9.2
Lainey spent her last life destroying herself for Larry, only to become the woman he discarded most cruelly. He never loved her, never wanted her, and made no secret that his first love still owned his heart.
On their wedding day, he abandoned Lainey at the altar for that woman, then later used Lainey as nothing more than a stepping stone for his company's rise. In the end, he even had her kidney ripped from her.
Reborn at the very moment everything began, Lainey called off the wedding without hesitation. But after losing her, Larry begged desperately.
Lainey shot him a cold look, then turned and walked straight into the arms of a powerful, aloof man, who stared down at Larry with pure contempt. "She's my wife now."
7.2
Still nursing the wounds of a devastating breakup, Olivia turns to online dating When she agrees to meet a charming stranger, she braces herself for awkward small talk and forced smiles. What she doesn't expect is to walk into the wrong date.
Embarrassed. Olivia is ready to walk away. But then a perfect stranger Mr. Damian Carrington decided to make it worthwhile. Handsome, confident, and dangerously persuasive, he offers to salvage her ruined evening. One drink turns into two. One laugh turns into a kiss. And one reckless, drunken night leads to a one-night stand she swears she'll forget.
Until she walks into work the next morning... and finds out her new boss is none other than Damian Carrington.
He remembers everything.
And he's not letting her go.
Damian is powerful, relentless, and hooked on making Olivia his no matter how many walls she builds or how many times she says no. But Olivia knows the risks. She's already been burned by love, and getting involved with her boss could destroy everything she's worked for.
As fate pulls them together and buried secrets begin to surface betrayals, heartbreaks, and truths neither of them are ready to face Olivia must decide: will she protect her heart, or risk it all for a man who could ruin her... or love her beyond reason?
When love is born from a lie, can it survive the truth?