Divorced and Betrayed: The Billionaire's Regret
I walked away from a billionaire husband who betrayed me with my best friend-divorced, pregnant with twins, and determined never to look back.
But Ethan Harrington doesn't know how to lose.
Years later, he's sober, broken, and begging for scraps of time with our children. Supervised visits. Two hours a month. Steel boundaries.
I thought revenge would feel sweeter.
Instead, I found Damian Black-dangerous, devoted, scarred by his own shadows-and built a new empire from the ashes of the old one.
Now I'm carrying his child.
Our daughter.
But when Ethan's redemption starts looking too real, and old secrets threaten to unravel everything I've fought for...
Will I finally close the door on my past?
Or will one last betrayal force me to choose between the family I chose and the one that was forced on me?
Betrayal. Divorce. Secret babies. Second chances. Revenge. A kickass heroine rising from ruin.
And a love that refuses to stay buried.
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Chapter 6
Chicago winters don't forgive. They bite. By December, the wind off the lake felt like knives, and I was seven months pregnant, waddling through snowdrifts in boots that no longer zipped all the way. The apartment in Wrigleyville had become my fortress: double-locked doors, blinds always half-drawn, a small space heater humming in the corner like it was trying to apologize for the cold.
Voss Designs was still just me, a laptop, and a stack of freelance contracts that paid enough for rent and prenatal vitamins. I worked from the kitchen table most days, sketches spread out, coffee replaced with herbal tea that tasted like regret. Mornings were the worst-nausea that rolled in like fog, forcing me to the bathroom before the twins even woke up inside me. I'd sit on the tile floor, hand on my belly, whispering, "We're okay. We're going to be okay."
Victor Langston had kept his word. The job offer stood, but I'd turned it down after discovering his company's link to my parents' accident. No bridges burned-just quietly declined. Instead, I took the freelance clients he quietly funneled my way. Small brands at first. Then bigger. A boutique hotel chain needed rebranding. A tech startup wanted an app interface that didn't look like it was designed in 2005. Word spread: Elena Voss delivers. Clean. Sharp. On time. No drama.
The money started coming in steadily. Enough to upgrade from takeout to groceries. Enough to buy two cribs and a changing table from a secondhand shop in Logan Square. Enough to feel like I wasn't drowning anymore.
Ethan kept calling. Blocked numbers. Voicemails I deleted without listening. Flowers arrived once-white roses, card unsigned. I donated them to a nursing home down the block. Serena texted twice: I'm sorry. Can we talk? Both deleted. Both blocked.
But the past doesn't stay blocked forever.
One Tuesday in early January, I got a call from Mark. "Elena. You sitting down?"
I was on the couch, feet up, sketching logos for a new client. "What now?"
"Harrington Enterprises just got hit with a class-action lawsuit. Shareholders claiming fraud. SEC is involved. Stock tanked 40% in after-hours trading yesterday."
I exhaled slowly. "And?"
"And the board forced him out. He's no longer CEO. Resigned 'for personal reasons.'"
Silence stretched. I stared at the sketch on my screen-a sleek V intertwined with a rising phoenix. Fitting.
"He's going to be desperate," I said.
"He already is. Word is he's selling assets. The penthouse is on the market. Serena moved out last week-took half the furniture, left the rest."
I closed my laptop. "Good."
Mark paused. "You sound... calm."
"I am calm. I'm not happy he's suffering. I'm just... done. Done caring. Done waiting for karma to show up. I'm building something now. Something he can't touch."
Mark chuckled. "That's my girl. Listen-your trust fund from your parents cleared probate last month. Lawyers finally untangled the mess Ethan's team created. It's yours. Seven figures. Liquid."
I blinked. "Seven...?"
"Seven-point-two. After taxes and fees. You're not just surviving anymore, Elena. You're set."
The number didn't feel real. It felt like a lifeline I hadn't known I was still holding.
That afternoon, I opened a business account. Transferred half to Voss Designs. The rest went into savings, a college fund for the twins, and a small emergency cushion. No splurges. No revenge purchases. Just fuel for the fire I was building.
By spring, Voss Designs had its first office-a tiny studio in River North. Exposed brick, big windows, second-hand furniture I painted myself. I hired my first employee: a junior designer named Priya, fresh out of SAIC, hungry and talented. We landed a contract with a national coffee chain for seasonal branding. Then a luxury skincare line. Then a hotel group.
The twins were born in May. Ava first-loud, furious, perfect. Noah second-quiet, thoughtful, perfect. Holding them in the hospital bed, alone except for Mia on FaceTime crying her eyes out, I felt something shift. Not just motherhood. Power. The kind that comes from knowing you survived the worst and came out stronger.
I named the business properly that week: Voss Designs LLC. Filed the papers. Opened a business credit card. Started dreaming bigger.
Ethan tried one last time. A letter arrived at the old address-forwarded by the building manager. Handwritten. Shaky.
Elena
I'm sorry. For everything. I lost the company. Lost the house. Lost you. I don't expect forgiveness. I just want you to know I'm getting help. Therapy. AA. I want to be better. For them. If you ever let me see them... even once... I'll wait.
Ethan
I read it twice. Then I folded it, tucked it in a drawer, and never looked at it again.
The drawer stayed closed.
But the empire? That kept growing.
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7.0
On her wedding night, Liora Vale expected passion from her wealthy husband. Instead, she got rejection and humiliation.
When his dangerously seductive best friend, Kael Draven, corners her on the balcony and claims her virgin body with raw, unprotected fury, Liora discovers a pleasure she never knew existed.
Now addicted to Kael's brutal touch and filthy promises, the once-innocent bride becomes his secret slut, sneaking creampies in limos, riding him at galas, and begging to be bred while her husband sleeps nearby.
Kael won't stop until he destroys Silas and fills Liora's womb with his child.
She was supposed to be the perfect wife... now she's the shameless breeding whore who belongs only to him.
8.4
Evelyn Rowe never thought she could survive Victor Blackthorn nor his fists, especially since her unborn baby didn't.
But what she didn't expect was to be saved by Dominic Russo, after being publicly blamed for her miscarriage and humiliated in front of the world.
Finally finding the strength to divorce Victor, and the path to become the independent woman she always wanted to be, Evelyn becomes unstoppable.
What no one expects is for three dangerous men to claim her: the heir apparent to the British throne, the billionaire who rules the corporate world, and a mafia lord who bows to no one.
They were enemies at first, but for her, they became lovers.
And when her ex-husband finally realizes what he destroyed, she already belongs to kings who would do everything in their power to keep her.
8.9
Ellie Carter was already losing everything.
Seven days from eviction. No money. No safety net. Life had been unraveling for so long that survival alone felt like the only plan she had. Until she collided with Todd Blackwood-a billionaire CEO who doesn't rescue anyone. He owns outcomes, not hearts. And yet, when fate threw her into his orbit, Ellie realized she had entered a battlefield where every choice mattered-and every misstep could cost far more than she ever imagined.
What started as a contract became a war. Todd's dangerous ex-fiancée returned, armed with secrets designed to destroy them both, and the rules that were meant to protect Ellie turned into weapons against her. Survival alone was no longer enough. Ellie had to navigate power without losing herself, desire without surrendering, and trust without being destroyed.
Todd had built an empire on precision and control, but Ellie challenged him in ways that were infuriating and exhilarating. She could not be manipulated, and he could not dictate the outcome. Their connection became a dangerous dance where love and strategy collided-and where falling for each other could be the deadliest move of all.
As betrayal and temptation tested them, Ellie discovered that victory came not from submission, but from mastery. Every choice shifted alliances, every secret had consequences, and every move demanded courage. Todd was constant in ways few could be, and Ellie learned that strength could be shared without surrendering.
In a world where power and love are weapons, Ellie must decide how far she will go to protect herself, her family, and the life she has fought to reclaim. When the dust settles, only one truth remains: nothing worth having is ever given-it must be earned, defended, and chosen.
9.0
I spent five years acting as the perfect, invisible caretaker for my wealthy family, meticulously managing their health and social standing while they treated me like a ghost.
Then, my nightmare became reality when my brother Alon shoved me out of bed, forcing me to apologize to our adopted sister, Fallon, for a jealousy I never felt.
My parents and brother stood over me, their eyes filled with unfiltered disgust, demanding I play the servant to a girl who was actively plotting my social destruction.
They froze my accounts, stripped me of my dignity, and mocked my existence, fully expecting me to crawl back to them in tears like I did in my other, broken life.
I stared at their entitled faces, feeling a cold, sharp clarity wash over me; they were so obsessed with status that they didn't realize they had just handed the keys to their own ruin to a complete amateur.
Why was I still playing the martyr for people who would watch me burn without blinking?
I stood up, walked away from their chaos, and cut the final tie, leaving them to face the ruthless social elite with a liability they couldn't control.
9.6
I was the "little bird" of the Carlson empire, living a comfortable but caged life under the thumb of my guardian, Francis. To the world, Christ Carlson was the cold, untouchable machine who ran the family business, a man I called "Uncle" but who treated me like a ghost in the hallway.
One drunken night in Las Vegas, desperate to finally "poke the bear" and feel alive, I leaned into his shadows and whispered a dare that would ruin me. I asked the most terrifying man I knew if he dared to marry me right then and there.
He didn't laugh. He stood up, dragged me to a tacky chapel, and forced a massive diamond onto my finger with a grip like iron. The "asexual" machine everyone feared turned into a predator the moment we reached his penthouse, claiming me with a bruising intensity that left me breathless and broken.
By morning, I was trapped in a living nightmare. Christ forced me to hide the marriage, demanding I play the part of the dutiful niece while he owned me in the shadows. He replaced my ripped clothes with thousands of dollars in designer silk, essentially buying my silence and my body in one cold transaction.
Now, I’m back at the family estate, hiding a five-carat ring on a chain under my shirt and praying Francis doesn't see the marks on my neck. I thought I was being rebellious, but I didn't realize Christ Carlson had been waiting for me to walk into his trap for years.
I am legally his, physically his, and he has no intention of ever letting me go. Every time he looks at me, I feel the cage door slamming shut, realizing I’ve traded a guardian who ignores me for a husband who wants to dismantle me piece by piece.
At breakfast, Christ pressed his shoe firmly against my inner thigh under the table, his gaze locked on mine while he discussed my future with Francis.
"I think it's time we found her a match," Christ said, his voice a lethal, calm purr.
"I was thinking of keeping her in the family."
8.3
I woke up in a freezing alley, my lungs burning and my body shattered. I wasn't just a dying Appalachian girl; I was an ancient soul trapped in a broken human shell, starving for life force.
A bulletproof Maybach idled nearby, and the man inside, Cristofer Barrett, radiated an intoxicating wave of dark energy. Driven by primal survival, I lunged at him and forced a kiss, stealing his cursed power to knit my bones back together.
But my nightmare was far from over. I was dragged into the Montoya estate, a den of vipers where my "family" viewed me as a disposable tool for a corporate merger. My sister, Jordin, orchestrated a vicious campaign to humiliate me, even sabotaging my dress to ensure my ruin at the upcoming Hubbard gala.
I was treated like a stray dog, beaten, and mocked by those who claimed my blood. They didn't realize that the girl they were torturing had already seen through their lies, their secret assassinations, and their pathetic greed.
They thought I was a fragile victim, but they had no idea who they were dealing with. I had the power of a legend, a mind for high-stakes manipulation, and an old score to settle. Tonight, at the gala, I wouldn't just show up—I would tear their perfect world apart.