Jilted Bride: Now Call Me Auntie, Darling
8.8 / 10.0
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On the eve of my glamorous Waldorf Astoria wedding, I went to the penthouse to surprise my fiancé, Hugh, wearing my late mother's heirloom pearls.
Instead, I heard my stepsister's familiar laugh and caught them tangled together on the sofa.
Through the cracked door, I heard Hugh slur that he was only marrying me for my family's financial backing.
"As soon as I secure my inheritance, she's the first thing I'm getting rid of," he promised her.
Floy giggled and asked for my mother's pearl necklace, my only legacy. Hugh agreed without hesitation, mocking my dead mother's naivety and my desperate dreams of building a family.
Every sweet word he had ever said was a lie, a knife he had been patiently sliding between my ribs for years. They planned to strip me of everything the moment I signed the prenup.
I didn't cry or scream. The crushing weight of their betrayal hollowed me out, leaving behind a terrifying, absolute calm.
Why should I be the one to lose everything while they stole my future and insulted my mother's memory?
I calmly walked down the hall, set the prenuptial agreement on fire, and vanished into the rainy night.
If Hugh wanted to play dirty for the Maxwell empire, I would play for keeps.
Using a forgotten, century-old family covenant, I was going to marry Hugh's uncle-the comatose, paralyzed war hero, Fleet Maxwell.
I would return not as a naive bride, but as their worst nightmare: his aunt, and the new lady of the house.
Jilted Bride: Now Call Me Auntie, Darling Chapter 1
Darcie Mayo POV:
My fingertips traced the delicate lace of my wedding gown. It hung before me like a promise, the silk and pearls glowing in the soft light of the Waldorf Astoria’s bridal suite. Just looking at it made my heart beat faster, a warm flush crept up my cheeks.
I moved to the velvet box on the dresser. Inside, nestled on a bed of satin, was a single strand of pearls. My mother's necklace. Her only legacy.
The pearls were warm, not with heat, but with a life of their own, like they held the memory of her skin. I remembered her telling me, her voice a soft whisper in a fading memory, that they were her grandmother’s before her. A symbol of purity, a blessing passed down through the women of our family. This necklace was the anchor to a past I barely knew, a physical manifestation of the home and heritage I craved so desperately.
I fastened the clasp at the back of my neck. The cool touch of the pearls against my skin sent a shiver through me, a flicker of unease so faint I almost missed it. I dismissed it, surrendering to the joy that flooded through me.
From the floor-to-ceiling window, Manhattan glittered below, a galaxy of lights laid out just for me. I felt like I was on top of the world, the luckiest woman alive.
My phone lit up on the nightstand. A message from Hugh.
Sleep well, my bride. Can't wait to see you in that dress.
A sweet, involuntary smile curved my lips. You too, my groom, I typed back.
I thought of him on one knee in Central Park, the autumn leaves a kaleidoscope of red and gold around us. His eyes had been so sincere, his voice thick with emotion as he promised to make me the happiest woman in the world, to build a family so strong it would erase the shadows of my childhood. He knew how much I ached for that, for the love I’d lost when my mother died. His promise was the key that had unlocked the most guarded parts of my heart.
I poured myself a glass of the champagne the hotel had sent up, the bubbles fizzing excitedly. Lifting the flute towards the window, I whispered to the city, to the stars, to her. "Mom, I found him. I found my happiness."
The alcohol warmed me, making my cheeks flush and my thoughts bold.
What was Hugh doing right now? Was he in his suite, too excited to sleep, surrounded by his groomsmen?
An impulse, sharp and thrilling, shot through me. I wanted to see him. I wanted to share this perfect, overflowing moment of happiness with him, right now.
He was in the presidential suite on the top floor. Tradition said the bride and groom shouldn't see each other before the wedding, but breaking the rules felt impossibly romantic. A secret, just for us.
I’d give him a surprise. Just like this, in my silk robe, with my mother’s pearls around my neck.
I checked my reflection, fluffing my hair with my fingers. A nervous, excited energy hummed beneath my skin. Grabbing my room key, I slipped a cashmere coat over my robe, leaving it unbuttoned.
The hallway was silent, the plush carpet swallowing the sound of my footsteps.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I pressed the button for the penthouse floor.
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Jilted Bride: Now Call Me Auntie, Darling of Contents
Chapter 1 Ch. 1Chapter 2 Ch. 2Chapter 3 Ch. 3Chapter 4 Ch. 4Chapter 5 Ch. 5Chapter 6 Ch. 6Chapter 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
8.3
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.
8.5
Five years ago, Nina Hale lost everything... her family, her reputation, and the man she once loved. Betrayed by her own sister and abandoned by those she trusted most, she disappeared without a trace.
Now she's back.
With a new identity and a burning determination, Nina is ready to reclaim her life and chase the dream she once gave up: becoming a star actress. But her return awakens old enemies, and her scheming sister Lydia is determined to ruin her again.
Just when Nina thinks things can't get worse, she's caught in another trap... and unexpectedly crosses paths with a quiet, lonely little boy.
Ethan Grant hasn't spoken in years.
Feeling responsible for him, Nina agrees to stay and help the child come out of his shell. But she didn't expect Ethan's dangerously charming father, Lucas Grant, to enter the picture.
Cold, powerful, and impossible to read, Lucas slowly finds himself drawn to the woman who brightens his son's world.
What begins as a simple act of kindness soon turns into something far more complicated, because Nina came back for revenge.
She never planned to fall in love.
**********
"I saw you with him," Lucas said quietly, but the tension in his jaw gave him away.
Nina exhaled, crossing her arms. "You don't get to care."
"Don't I?" He stepped in, close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.
"This is just a contract."
"Then why does it bother me?" His hand hovered near her waist, not touching-yet.
"It shouldn't." Her breath faltered.
His gaze darkened, "And yet it does."
8.2
When our family empire crumbled, my sister and I were sold off as collateral to the Chicago Outfit.
My fierce sister Frankie was forced to marry Damien Moretti, the terrifying Don. I was shackled to his brother Leo, a notorious, degenerate playboy.
I thought my life was over, but the real nightmare began on our wedding night. A terrified maid handed me the wrong room key. Exhausted and numb, I crawled into a dark honeymoon suite, praying my new husband would be too drunk to find me.
Instead, the heavy door opened, and a man fueled by a drug-laced drink stepped in. He was ruthless, punishing, and entirely stripped away my dignity in the pitch black.
When the morning light finally broke, I turned my head, expecting to see Leo's boyish face. Instead, I saw a profile carved from ice.
Damien Moretti. The Don. My sister's husband.
The very man who had previously called me a "liability" and ruined my life. When he realized who I was, his eyes filled with absolute, chilling disgust. He dragged me out of the ruined sheets, threw me onto the floor of a freezing shower, and demanded to know why I had sneaked into his suite.
"You ruined me. How am I supposed to look at Frankie? You should have just killed me. Kill me now, Damien. It would be a mercy compared to this."
I sobbed, the freezing water mingling with my tears. He just stared down at me with cold, unreadable intent. I was now trapped in a house of monsters, carrying the Don's darkest secret, and I had to figure out how to survive without destroying my sister.
9.7
I am the Luna of the Blackwood Pack, but my Alpha mate, Ryker, has spent the last six years treating me like a placeholder while publicly pining for his ex, Faye.
When Faye's friends cornered my wolfless daughter and called her a defective embarrassment, I finally used my Luna authority to kick them out.
But instead of defending our child, Ryker stormed in and used his Alpha Command on me.
He forced me to my knees with his raw power, ordering me to apologize to the bullies who had just humiliated our daughter.
When I fought his crushing command and refused, his retaliation was swift and brutal.
He and his mother stripped me of my family's sacred heritage, the Moonpetal Grove, and gifted it to Faye as a reward.
They even tried to force a quack doctor on my daughter, telling me to just accept that she was broken.
The entire pack watched me lose everything, mocking me as the useless, rejected mate.
I had endured his coldness for years, but watching him sacrifice our daughter's safety and my family's legacy for his mistress was the final straw.
How could the Moon Goddess tie me to a man who would so easily destroy his own flesh and blood?
Instead of crying, I pulled out my mother's ancient grimoire and drafted a formal rejection of our mate bond.
And when a terrifyingly powerful, cloaked stranger suddenly appeared to save my daughter's life, carrying a familiar scent of ancient power, I knew my fate was changing.
This time, I wouldn't just walk away. I was going to burn their world to the ground.
7.9
Cora Foster was a brilliant archaeologist, but a jagged burn scar across her face made the world treat her like a contagious monster.
During an elite excavation of a Gilded Age crypt, touching an ancient artifact triggered a terrifying memory. She remembered being Seraphina Beaumont, a socialite brutally buried alive by her vain, cruel sister, Isolde.
When the team pried open the crypt's pristine mahogany casket, they cheered, believing the mummified corpse inside was Seraphina. But Cora recognized the onyx hairpin and the angular jawline. It was Isolde. The sister who had stolen her life, mocked her agony, and left her to suffocate in the dark. Her colleagues scoffed at her forensic proof, dismissing her as a scarred, delusional liability.
Worse, the ruthless billionaire funding the expedition, Julian Montgomery, was the spitting image of Alistair—the man Seraphina had deeply loved. Why was Julian staring at her ruined face with such intense, inexplicable recognition? And why did Isolde take Seraphina's most precious silver ring to the grave?
Driven by a century of agonizing grief, Cora secretly pried the tarnished ring from the mummy's stiff, dead fingers and dropped it into her pocket.
"What are you looking at, Foster?"
Julian's deep voice vibrated inches from her ear, his cold, predatory eyes locked directly onto her half-open pocket.
8.8
On the anniversary of my mother's death, my father, the Alpha, threw a lavish wedding to marry a woman only four years older than me.
My new stepmother publicly humiliated me, stomped on my hand, and shattered the only necklace my mother left me.
When I confronted her, my father slapped me across the face and ordered me to respect my new Luna.
Heartbroken and furious, I publicly disowned them all.
In retaliation, my father sentenced me to death the very next morning.
He offered me as a tribute to the cursed Lycan King—a monster whose beast savagely tore apart every she-wolf sent to his bed.
My family watched with smug satisfaction as I was locked in an iron cage and dragged away, discarded like defective trash simply because I was born wolfless.
I was supposed to be ripped to shreds on my first night in the pitch-black castle.
But as I stood in the King's dark chamber, bracing for the bloody end, nothing happened.
The terrifying beast just sat in the shadows, staring at me in absolute confusion.
That was when the horrifying truth of his curse clicked in my mind.
His madness was triggered by the spiritual scent of an inner wolf. And I was completely wolfless.
The very defect that made my family throw me away was my ultimate, impenetrable shield.
I wasn't going to die here.
I was going to survive, use this terrifying King, and make my family regret the day they ever cast me out.
