Jilted Heiress: Marrying My Mysterious Protector

I brought the original drafts of the Lloyd Center to my stepsister’s high-society pool party, hoping the gift would finally earn my family's respect. I stood on the edge of the limestone patio, clutching the leather portfolio as fifty pairs of judgmental eyes watched my every move. But the moment I handed the sketches to Corina, she retracted her hand, letting the portfolio sink into the chlorine before throwing herself into the pool with a theatrical scream. My fiancé, Julian, didn't hesitate; he shoved me aside with enough force to twist my ankle and dove in to rescue her. He surfaced with Corina in his arms, looking at me with a mask of pure disgust while the crowd whispered that I was an unstable, illegitimate intruder. My stepmother Eugenia didn't even ask for an explanation before she stepped forward and slapped me across the face, ordering me to get out before she called the police. "Sister, if you're still mad about the inheritance, just say it. Why did you push me?" "Enough! God, Aria. Your jealousy is actually sickening." I stood on shaking legs, looking at the man who had promised to know my heart for two years, only to realize he was just another wolf in the pack. The humiliation burned hotter than the sting on my face, and I realized that in their eyes, I would always be the trash they needed to take out. I yanked the diamond ring off my finger, slammed it onto a table, and walked away from my old life forever. To claim my trust fund and survive, I walked into a dive bar and offered a marriage contract to a broke, mysterious artist named Harland. I thought I was just buying a temporary shield, but I didn't realize that my "poor" new husband was actually a billionaire predator who was already planning to burn my family's empire to the ground.

Chapters

Chapter 6

The "loft" in Brooklyn was actually a raw industrial space with exposed brick and drafty windows. Harland unlocked the heavy metal door and kicked it open.

"Home sweet home," he said.

Aria walked in. It was sparse. A mattress on the floor, a few easels covered in canvas, a small kitchenette. It was cold.

"I'm sorry," Aria said, sitting on the edge of the mattress. "I shouldn't have said that. Now they know."

Harland put the groceries on the counter. "So what? It's the truth."

Aria pulled out her phone. Her notifications were a solid block of white text.

Trending: AriaYoungMarried HomelessHusband

She opened Instagram. Her DMs were flooded with hate. You're pathetic. Did you pay him? Corina is so much prettier.

Her hands started to shake. The walls of the room felt like they were closing in.

"Stop," Harland said.

He was standing over her. He reached down and plucked the phone from her hands.

"Hey!"

"Garbage belongs in the trash," he said. He looked at the screen for one second, his eyes darkening, then he tossed the phone onto the mattress. "They want to hurt you. Why are you letting them?"

"Because they're my world!" Aria cried, tears spilling over. "My connections, my reputation... Julian will ruin me."

"Julian is a gnat," Harland said. "And that world? It's toxic. Do you want to be Aria, or do you want to be the Young family punching bag?"

Aria wiped her eyes. She looked at the phone. It buzzed again.

"I don't know how to be anyone else," she whispered.

"Start by deleting it," Harland said. "All of it. Disappear."

Aria stared at him. "Delete... everything?"

"Burn it down," he said. "Start fresh."

Aria picked up the phone. Her thumb hovered over the Delete Account button on Instagram. Her heart pounded. This was her history. Her photos. Her life.

She pressed it.

Are you sure?

Yes.

She went to Facebook. Twitter. She paused when she got to LinkedIn. Her professional life, her portfolio, her connections to the industry... that was different. She couldn't erase that if she ever wanted to work again.

She took a deep breath and changed the privacy settings to their maximum, making her profile visible only to her direct connections. She deactivated the account instead of deleting it, a temporary severing of ties. With every click, the tightness in her chest loosened.

When she was done, she looked at Harland.

"Now the SIM," he said.

Aria popped the tray open. She took out the small chip. She snapped it in half. It made a satisfying crack.

She threw the pieces into the trash can.

"I'm gone," she breathed. "I'm invisible."

Harland reached into his pocket and pulled out a cheap-looking flip phone. "Here. Burner. Pre-paid. Nobody has this number except me."

Aria took it. It felt like a toy. "Thank you."

"Hungry?" Harland asked, turning to the kitchen. "I'll make that curry."

Aria watched him chop onions. His movements were precise, rhythmic.

"Harland?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you helping me? Really?"

He paused, the knife hovering over a carrot. "Because I know what it's like to be surrounded by sharks."

He didn't say anything else.

Back in the Young mansion, Julian threw his iPhone against the wall. It shattered.

"She deleted it," he screamed. "She's gone! I can't track her!"

Eugenia sipped her wine, looking bored. "Relax, darling. I just froze her credit cards. She'll be crawling back when she gets hungry."

In Brooklyn, Aria took a bite of the chicken curry. It was spicy, warm, and the best thing she had ever tasted.

Continue to next part

Desperate for money to save her dying father, Avery makes a risky deal with the cold billionaire Silas Thorne. In exchange for the funds, she agrees to be his for one year, living under his rules. What starts as a cold business arrangement soon blurs as intense desire takes over. As their connection deepens, Avery must navigate the dangers of Silas’s world while struggling to keep her heart safe from the man who now owns her life.

Billionaire Modern Romance

7.4

Flash Marriage To The Coldhearted Billionaire Uncle

7.4

My mother was dying and desperately needed a half-million-dollar deposit for an experimental heart surgery by tomorrow. I swallowed my pride and begged my wealthy husband, Garrick, to save her life. Instead of helping, he laughed coldly and threw a thick stack of divorce papers right in my face. "A hen that can't lay eggs gets slaughtered," he sneered, ruthlessly poking my flat stomach. He revealed that his secretary, my supposed friend Lacey, was already pregnant with his heir. To him, our three years of marriage was just a business transaction, and now that my family was bankrupt, I was nothing but damaged goods. He flicked a humiliating five-thousand-dollar check at me as his final act of charity, then locked me out of our townhouse into the freezing, pouring rain. I had spent years enduring agonizing hormone treatments for a fertility issue that wasn't even my fault, only to be discarded like trash when I needed him the most. Was my dignity, my absolute devotion, and my mother's life really worth nothing to him? Driven by pure, reckless desperation, I threw myself directly into the path of a moving Rolls-Royce Phantom on Fifth Avenue. It belonged to Holden Tillman, the ruthless patriarch of the Tillman empire—and the uncle Garrick lived in absolute terror of. I thought I was walking into my death, but instead, I became his fiancée, ready to make Garrick and Lacey pay for every tear I shed.

Billionaire Modern Romance

8.4

Gilded Cage: The CEO's Unwilling Bride

8.4

I was the "diamond" of the Sargent Foundation, a perfect orphan polished for the cameras and high-society galas. But beneath the glittering chandeliers, I was suffocating. When the pressure finally broke me and I tried to flee the Sargent Gala, I wasn't met with comfort. I was hunted down by security and dragged into a sterile, white-hot spotlight in a room I was never allowed to enter. Adrien Sargent, the cold-blooded CEO who controlled my every move, didn't want to help me. He wanted to devour me. He presented a legal cage: sign over my voting shares for his unethical hostile takeover, or he would have my only friend—the elderly butler who raised me—killed in his nursing home bed. I became a prisoner in the East Wing, stripped of my phone and watched by hidden cameras. During a midnight storm, I tried to steal a security card to escape, but Adrien caught me in his study. Reeking of whiskey and corporate rage, he didn't just stop me. He pinned me to his desk and branded my neck with a bite so deep it bruised, treating me like a thief who deserved to be claimed. The next morning, the house turned into a battlefield of lies. His PR consultant tried to claim she was the one in his bed, but Adrien found a pearl button from my pajamas under his desk. He didn't feel guilt; he felt violated. He accused me of orchestrating the entire encounter to blackmail him, his eyes filled with a terrifying, possessive fury. When his grandmother caught us, she didn't see a victim; she saw a liability. To save the family stock price, she gave us an ultimatum: marriage. "I’ll do it," I said, looking at the massive diamond ring that felt more like a shackle. Adrien thought he had finally broken me, but he didn't know about the encrypted file I just received. The corporate crisis he’s fighting was an inside job, and the trail leads straight to his own front door. I looked at my new husband on our wedding night and let my silk dress hit the floor. He thinks he’s trapped a rabbit, but I’ve just gained total access to his world. I will sleep with the enemy, learn every dark secret he’s hiding, and then I am going to burn his empire to the ground.

Billionaire Modern Romance

7.3

Married To The Thorn In My Flesh

7.3

Alexander Thorne is vice-danger wrapped in billions, immorality, and a smile that feels like sin. And unfortunately for Sophia Rose, he's the man she's been arranged to marry. Sophia may be young, spoiled, and rich, but she's done having her life dictated for her. With her father's crumbling empire and society waiting to feast on their downfall, she has only one escape left: RUN. But no one warned her that Alexander would become her weakness. She shouldn't want a man like him. She definitely shouldn't marry him. However, Alexander is so deliciously irresistible. He makes it his mission to claw his way into her heart, her thoughts, her fears. Every private moment with him leaves her breathless, wanting more, and tangled deeper in his hands. By the time Sophia realizes that he's the thorn that will ruin her life, she's far too trapped to run. ~ Content Warning: This book contains mature and sensitive themes, including sexual sins, exploitation, and manipulation, addiction, trauma, violence, and emotional struggles. These topics are portrayed with honesty and care. Characters wrestle with serious issues on their journey to healing and light. Intimate scenes are sensual but not explicit. Please, read with discernment.

Adventure Billionaire Romance

9.6

My CEO Husband Gave My Honeymoon Ticket to His Assistant

9.6

On her wedding night, a woman is devastated when her billionaire husband hands their honeymoon tickets to his female assistant instead. This blatant disregard for their marriage marks the start of a cold, neglected life. Trapped in a union defined by indifference and professional boundaries, she must navigate the pain of being second place to his career and staff. It is a story of heartbreak and the struggle for dignity in a loveless high-society marriage.

Billionaire Modern Romance

7.9

The Barren Luna's Secret: Pregnant with the Alpha's Heir

7.9

My husband, Alpha Damien, believed the Seer’s lie that I was barren and a curse to the Blackwood Pack. He spent his nights with his mistress, Victoria, while I sat alone in the cold study, hiding the swell of my belly and the future Alpha growing inside me. The night the Great Hall exploded, the truth could no longer be hidden. I collapsed on the floor, my water breaking, blood pooling beneath me amidst the choking smoke and debris. Damien saw me. He saw the agony in my eyes and the desperate plea on my lips. But when Victoria let out a theatrical scream from across the room, he made his choice. He turned his back on his pregnant mate and sprinted to save his mistress, leaving me to be consumed by the flames. I didn't die in the fire. I dragged myself out into the freezing blizzard, choosing to risk death in the snow rather than stay in a house that wanted me dead. It wasn't until weeks later that Damien tore apart the Seer’s tower and found the letter proving Victoria had paid for the fake prophecy. Shattered by the realization that he had abandoned his own son for a lie, he crossed the frozen wasteland to my father’s territory, falling to his knees in the mud to beg for my return. But he didn't find the weak, submissive wife he left behind. He found the White Wolf. I looked down at him with cold, dead eyes and whispered, "My child has my blood, and he will never know you."

Billionaire Romance Werewolf

Jilted Heiress: Marrying My Mysterious Protector

Chapter 6

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