Craved By My Husband's Best Friend
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Marissa was the perfect wife. She traded her high powered corporate ladder for home cooked meals and a designer sanctuary, all to support her husband, Ethan.
But when Ethan confesses to a four month affair not out of guilt, but because his mistress is extorting him for $300 million...Marissa's world turns to ash.Ethan's solution is as twisted as his heart.
"Cheat back. Get even. Stay married."Driven by a cocktail of rage and Revenge, Marissa decides to take him up on his offer. She heads into the night looking for a single moment of rebellion to wash away the scent of Ethan's lies.
She finds it in the arms of a cold, devastatingly masked handsome stranger who makes her forget everything.Broken and fueled by the betrayal, Marissa decides to take the ultimate risk. She slips into an exclusive, members only masquerade club...a place where names don't exist and only desires matter.
Behind a lace mask, she meets him....a man who smells of expensive bourbon and cold command.He is the first person in years to see the fire in her, not just the wife she became.They share a night of scorched....earth passion that leaves Marissa breathless and "even." She leaves before the sun rises, intending for the stranger to remain a ghost of her revenge.
But some ghosts have a name.When the masks come off and the corporate world demands her return, Marissa comes face to face with the man from the club. He isn't just anyone. He is Xavier Sterling....the ruthless billionaire CEO she once worked for, and the man Ethan calls his "best friend."Xavier knows her scent. He knows her touch. And most dangerously, he knows exactly what Ethan did to her.
Now, Marissa has to navigate a world where her husband wants her to stay, the mistress wants her dead, and the CEO wants to own the one woman he was never supposed to touch.
Now, Marissa is caught in a lethal triangle. Xavier wants to own her, Ethan wants to keep her to save his reputation, and the $300 million debt is threatening to drown them all. In a world of billionaire power plays, Marissa is about to learn that revenge is a dish best served... in the CEO's bed.
Craved By My Husband's Best Friend Chapter 1
Marissa POV
I stood in the center of our pristine living room, the space I had spent the last two years turning into a sanctuary.
Now, the silence felt like a predator. I was utterly bamboozled no, dumbfounded didn't even touch the edges of it. It felt as if the floor had suddenly liquefied, leaving me suspended in mid air with nowhere to land.
"What did you just say, Ethan?" I asked. My voice came out thin and brittle, like old parchment. My ears were literally reverberating with the echo of his words, a sickening rhythm that made my vision blur.
Ethan wouldn't meet my eyes. He was staring at his reflection in the floor to ceiling windows, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his tailored suit. "I know it's not a proud thing to say, Marissa... but you have to know this. I cheated on you."
"Come again?" I whispered. My heart was hammering against my ribs so hard I thought they might crack. "I need you to say those words again, Ethan. I need to be absolutely sure I'm not having a stroke."
"I cheated, Marissa!" he snapped, his guilt finally curdling into a defensive, ugly rage. "I am sorry. I know I've f*cked up badly this time. I know I did! I don't even know what was wrong with me at the time, okay? It was just... it happened. And I sincerely feel guilty, which is why I am telling you now!"
"You feel guilty now?" I let out a sharp, jagged laugh that sounded like breaking glass. "What, Ethan? I can't believe you actually did this to me! What could that b*tch possibly have that I don't, huh? Tell me! Look at me and tell me!"
I stepped into his personal space, forcing him to look at the wreckage of my face.
"What qualities does she possess that I lack? Is it beauty? Charm? Is she better at pretending to love you?" I slammed my fists into his chest, each blow a release of the three years of devotion I had wasted on him.
"Ethan, I gave you everything! I even quit my job for you! I walked away from my career, my promotions, my entire identity, all just to become a stay-at-home wife because you said you wanted a home to come back to! You beast!"
"I am sorry!" he kept groaning, absorbing the hits without moving. "I am so sorry, Marissa. Please, just listen to me."
"Forgive? Did you just dare mention the word forgive?" I backed away, my chest heaving as I gasped for air. "Look at yourself. Are you even worthy of being in the same room as me right now? You're a stranger to me."
"I am sorry, Marissa. Just please, don't leave me, okay? I promise I will never do it again," he wailed, his voice cracking as he moved to engulf me in his arms. He tried to pull me into the warmth of a hug that I now found utterly repulsive.
I shoved him back with every ounce of strength I had left. "Of course you wouldn't do it again, Ethan! You know why? Because I am filing for a divorce! I want the papers on your desk by Monday morning."
The color drained from his face, leaving him looking sickly and grey. "No, Marissa, you can't do this to me! I am not going to agree to that! You know what? If it makes you feel better, go cheat on me back! Go find some guy tonight, sleep with him, get it out of your system, and then we can call it even and continue this relationship, okay? I am truly sorry and I regret it!"
I stared at him, my stomach turning with pure disgust. My hand flew out before I could even process the thought, slapping him right across the face. The crack echoed through the empty house like a gunshot.
"You bastard! Is that what you think of me? You think my dignity is a currency you can trade? You think a revenge fling solves the fact that you burned our vows to the ground?"
"Fine," I hissed, my voice trembling with a terrifying blend of rage and sorrow. "Since you want to be cheated on so badly, maybe I will do just that. But it won't be to save us."
I grabbed my phone, my fingers shaking so violently I almost dropped it, and began to dial Hailey's number.
"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice trembling with visible terror.
"I am calling Hailey. I need to get out of this house. I need to be alone to clear my head before I do something we both regret! I want you out of my sight, Ethan! Get out! I want you out of my sight for good!"
"You don't need to go, Marissa," he said quickly, backing toward the hallway. "I will go. I will stay at a hotel. I'll give you all the time you need to think. Just... please don't do anything rash."
He was halfway out the door when a cold, hard thought struck me. "Ethan!" I called out.
He stopped, a pathetic spark of hope flickering in his eyes. "Yeah?"
"Tell me honestly," I said, my voice eerily calm now. "Why did you tell me now? And how many months have you been cheating with your little whore?"
He flinched as if I'd slapped him again. "Are you sure you want to hear that? It literally does us no good."
"What if I tell you that your answer decides whether I even consider not taking you for every penny you're worth in court?"
He took a deep breath, looking smaller than I'd ever seen him. "Four months. It's been four months."
The number felt like a physical weight on my chest. Four months of "late meetings." Four months of "working weekends."
"I told you because..." he hesitated, "because she's threatening to sue me for $300 million if I don't tell you myself. She wants to ruin the company, Marissa. She says she'll go to the press. That huge sum of money is enough to drown the firm in debt. I wanted to tell you myself before it hit the news."
The truth felt like a final, cold blade to the heart. He wasn't confessing because he loved me. He was confessing because he was being extorted. He was protecting his bank account, not our marriage.
"Is that all? Now get out!" I yelled, the sound tearing from my throat. "GET OUT!"
The moment the door clicked shut and I heard his car pull out of the driveway, the adrenaline vanished. I collapsed against the door, sliding down until I was a ball on the floor. I cried hot, thick tears that slammed down my cheeks, soaking into my silk blouse.
I reached for my phone, scrolling until I found my "Lana Del Rey" playlist. As the dark, cinematic symphony of Born to Die began to fill the room, I let the music drown out the sound of my own heart breaking.
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Craved By My Husband's Best Friend of Contents
Chapter 1 Ch. 1Chapter 2 Ch. 2Chapter 3 Ch. 3Chapter 4 Ch. 4Chapter 5 Ch. 5Chapter 6 Ch. 6
Chapter 7 Ch. 7
Chapter 8 Ch. 8
Chapter 9 Ch. 9
Chapter 10 Ch. 10
Chapter 11 Ch. 11
All Chapters all
New Release Novels
8.1
Elinor's frail daughter, Cece, died in a sterile hospital room while waiting for her father to take her to Disney World.
But her billionaire husband, Derick, never showed up. At the exact moment Cece's heart monitor flatlined, the hospital TV broadcasted Derick affectionately holding the hand of his mistress and he has booked a clearance of the entire Disneyland to celebrate mistress's daughter's birthday!.
When Elinor confronted Derick with their daughter's ashes, he sneered and accused her of hiding the child just to get his attention. Elinor's heart was torn to shreds. How could a father be so blind and ruthless? Did Kamryn use his power to steal the very kidney that belonged to Cece? Why did her innocent baby have to die for their sick affair?
The suffocating grief inside Elinor finally crystallized into a sharp blade. She wiped the blood from her lips, canceled the simple divorce, and began her ruthless revenge.
8.3
I was the long-lost Donovan heiress, finally brought home after a childhood in foster care. My parents adored me, my husband cherished me, and the woman who tried to ruin my life, Kiera Reese, was locked away in a mental facility. I was safe. I was loved.
On my birthday, I decided to surprise my husband, Ivan, at his office. But he wasn't there.
I found him at a private art gallery across town. He was with Kiera.
She wasn't in a facility. She was radiant, laughing as she stood beside my husband and their five-year-old son. I watched through the glass as Ivan kissed her, a familiar, loving gesture he’d used with me just that morning.
I crept closer and overheard them. My birthday wish to go to the amusement park had been denied because he’d already promised the entire park to their son—whose birthday was the same day as mine.
"She’s so grateful to have a family, she’d believe anything we tell her," Ivan said, his voice laced with a cruelty that stole my breath. "It's almost sad."
My entire reality—my loving parents who funded this secret life, my devoted husband—was a five-year lie. I was just the fool they kept on stage.
My phone buzzed. It was a text from Ivan, sent while he stood with his real family.
"Just got out of the meeting. So exhausting. I miss you."
The casual lie was the final blow. They thought I was a pathetic, grateful orphan they could control.
They were about to find out just how wrong they were.
7.6
When the Pollard family kicked Alyssa out into the freezing rain, Walter threw a ten-thousand-dollar check into a dirty puddle.
"Take it and get out. Don't ever come back," he sneered.
Her adoptive mother and stepsister stood on the mansion's porch, mocking her as a worthless country girl who tarnished their wealthy name. They laughed, claiming she wouldn't even be able to afford community college and would be begging on the streets in a week.
They looked at her cheap clothes and worn backpack with absolute disgust.
They were completely unaware that for the past five years, Alyssa was the secret mastermind who had built their failing gallery into a multi-million-dollar investment empire.
Every key investment, every fortune they made, came from the anonymous notes she had slipped into their unread books. They genuinely believed they were business geniuses, while treating the true architect of their wealth like a stray dog.
Looking at their smug, arrogant faces, Alyssa didn't feel a shred of sadness, only a cold, sharp irony.
They actually believed they had raised her.
She stepped close, whispered the master code to Walter's most secret offshore account, and watched the blood completely drain from his face.
"I raised you," she said, turning her back on the mansion without hesitation.
Walking into the storm, she pulled out a heavily encrypted phone and gave a single, cold order.
"Initiate a full hostile takeover of the Pollard Group."
It was time to end this little game and step into her true life—as the world's most elusive medical genius, and the long-lost billionaire heiress of the Summers dynasty.
8.0
Finley's stepfather gave her a sickening ultimatum: marry her predatory stepbrother Shane tonight, or he would throw her fragile mother out on the street.
To escape this hell, she used a matchmaking agency and hastily married a complete stranger. Garrison Strickland claimed to be an ordinary data analyst making $95,000 a year, driving a beat-up Honda Civic, and needing a wife in name only. They got their marriage license at City Hall that very afternoon.
But when Finley returned home to pack her bags and threw the certificate on the table, her family just laughed. Dozier ordered Shane to drag her into the bedroom to "teach her a lesson" and trap her forever.
"Come on, little sister," Shane crooned, lunging at her. "Don't fight it."
Finley's own mother just stared at the floor, blaming Finley for ruining the family, watching blindly as Shane cornered her.
Terrified and desperate, Finley smashed an ashtray over Shane's head and frantically dialed her new husband's number. Shane snatched the phone, mocking the "imaginary husband" before the line went dead. Finley felt a bottomless despair. Garrison was just a normal guy; he would never risk his life against her violent family. She was completely on her own, waiting for the end.
Suddenly, deafening bangs echoed through the house, and Garrison stepped into the living room radiating a cold, terrifying fury. This supposedly "frugal data analyst" effortlessly snapped Shane's wrist, leveled a ruthless death threat that made Dozier tremble, and whisked Finley away in a waiting Bentley. Looking at the powerful man beside her, Finley's heart raced: just who exactly had she married today?
7.6
To pay for her father's life support, Haleigh sold herself into a marriage with Fabian Blackburn, a ruthless billionaire in a deep coma.
But on her wedding day, she caught her boyfriend cheating with her stepsister, laughing about how they would steal the inheritance the second Fabian stopped breathing. Cornered and desperate, Haleigh secretly underwent IVF using her comatose husband's frozen sperm to secure the family trust.
Weeks later, a miracle happened. Fabian woke up.
But instead of gratitude, he treated her like trash. He threw annulment papers at her face, completely disgusted by the arranged marriage.
"If you try any dirty tricks to get pregnant, I will personally drag you to a clinic and have that bastard scraped out of you."
Terrified, Haleigh hid her positive pregnancy test and desperately tried to hack her way to enough cash to escape. But while using his computer, she accidentally opened a highly classified folder.
Inside was a medical file and a photo of a severely disabled girl who looked exactly like Fabian.
Before she could process it, Fabian walked in. Seeing the screen, his cold mask shattered into pure, unhinged madness. He lunged across the room, lifting her off the floor by her throat, completely ignoring her desperate gasps for air.
"Lock her in the basement," he roared to his guards. "No food. No water."
Curled on the freezing concrete, clutching her newly pregnant belly, Haleigh didn't understand what she had just seen that turned him into a murderous monster.
But she knew one thing: if she didn't escape this terrifying estate, both she and his unborn heir would die in the dark.
9.2
I woke up suffocating in the dark, only to find my mind trapped inside a tiny, plump, and entirely uncoordinated body.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in my brain, announcing that I was dead in my original world and had transmigrated into a corporate revenge novel as the six-month-old illegitimate daughter of Edward McClure, the story's ruthless villain.
The system mercilessly outlined my doomed fate. Tonight, my cold-blooded father would abandon me to a state orphanage. By age two, he would officially sign my rights away, leaving me to die miserably at the hands of human traffickers. Outside my nursery, I could hear his terrifying footsteps approaching, his voice devoid of any human warmth as he debated throwing me out like garbage. I was completely helpless, trapped in a baby's body, staring up at a man who looked at me with pure, visceral disgust.
Why did I have to be reborn as the tragic cannon fodder of a tyrant destined to put a bullet in his own head? How was I supposed to win over a severe germaphobe when my unequipped infant reflexes made me literally pee and vomit all over his pristine Tom Ford suits?
"Your ultimate mission is to prevent Edward McClure's self-destruction. Step one: Survive tonight's abandonment crisis."
Hearing the system's terrifying ultimatum, I swallowed my adult panic, forced a pool of pitiful tears into my large eyes, and reached my chubby little hands toward the monster.
![[Dubbed Version] Love Behind the Mask](https://v.melolo.com/b1265344voduse1318177724/49e5207a5145403705177617402/bqD7ARk6UmkA.webp!15491.webp!15491.webp)
