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.
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Chapter 8
Sunlight hit Aria's face. She groaned and rolled over, burying her face in a pillow that smelled like... him.
She sat up. She was in the bed. Harland was gone.
Panic flared for a second, then she saw him. He was in the corner, standing in front of an easel. He was moving a brush across a canvas, but he stopped when he heard her move.
He quickly threw a cloth over the painting.
"Morning," he said.
"Morning," Aria rubbed her eyes. "What were you painting?"
"Abstract," he said quickly. "It's ugly. Don't look."
Aria stretched. The loft looked different in the daylight. The furniture was mismatched, but the armchair in the corner looked like genuine mid-century modern.
"Harland," she said. "How much is the rent here?"
He paused. "Two thousand."
"In Brooklyn? For this space?" Aria frowned. "That's impossible."
"Landlord is a friend," Harland said, wiping his hands on a rag. "I watch the place for him."
"Okay," Aria stood up. "I'm paying half. One thousand. Once I get a job."
"You don't have to-"
"Yes, I do," she said firmly. "We are partners. Roommates. I pull my weight."
Harland looked at her. He seemed amused. "Fine. One thousand."
Aria grabbed her notebook. "I need to budget. Utilities, food... oh! I need to send the marriage certificate to Pippa. She's freaking out."
She took a picture of the document, carefully folding it so Harland's last name-Wheeler-was covered by her thumb. She only showed "Harland" and the date.
She sent it via the burner phone.
It's real. I'm safe.
Pippa replied instantly. OMG. Is he hot?
Aria looked at Harland. He was wearing a tight grey t-shirt that clung to his chest. His arms were defined.
He's okay. For a starving artist.
Harland's phone buzzed. He checked it.
"I have to go," he said. "Delivery job. Moving some... sculptures."
"Good luck!" Aria said. "I'm going to apply for jobs at firms. Even if I have to start as an intern."
Harland grabbed his jacket. "Don't sell yourself short."
He walked out.
Aria sat down at the table. She opened her laptop. She tried to log into her bank account to check her remaining balance.
ACCESS DENIED. CONTACT ISSUER.
She tried her credit card portal.
ACCOUNT SUSPENDED.
Eugenia.
Aria closed her eyes. She had zero dollars. Just the cash in her purse.
"Okay," she whispered. "I have hands. I have a brain."
She opened a job site. Junior Architect. Draftsman. Barista. She applied to them all.
Downstairs, Harland walked three blocks away to a nondescript private garage. He slid into the back seat of a Maybach parked inside. Silas was waiting.
"Sir," Silas handed him a garment bag.
Harland pulled the curtains shut. He stripped off the t-shirt and jeans, changing into a bespoke Brioni suit. He tied the silk tie with practiced ease.
"The board meeting is in twenty minutes," Silas said, watching him in the rearview mirror. "Does your wife know you're the majority shareholder of the company trying to buy her father's debt?"
"No," Harland said, checking his cufflinks. "And Silas, one more thing. Contact our people at the City Clerk's office. Put a temporary encryption lock on our marriage record. Make it inaccessible to public searches for the next six months. She won't know why, but I can't have anyone connecting the name Wheeler to her yet."
"This is dangerous, Harland."
"Drive," Harland said.
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9.8
Ina Holman, heiress to a failing real estate empire, was forced to attend a high-stakes matchmaking meeting to secure a financial lifeline for her family.
But the drink she was handed was secretly spiked. Desperate to avoid a public scandal that would ruin her father, she fled into a VIP elevator, only to fall directly into the arms of Buren Warner—the most ruthless billionaire predator on Wall Street.
After a blurred, chaotic night, the nightmare truly began.
A fabricated scandal of her hotel rendezvous hit the front pages. Her father slapped her across the face, using the disgrace as an excuse to freeze her accounts and kick her out onto the streets, legally severing her from the family trust before declaring bankruptcy.
Even worse, her twin sister was killed in a sudden estate explosion.
And the final, crushing blow? Ina discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Faron, the man supposed to save her family, was secretly gay. He and her best friend had orchestrated the drugging to destroy Ina's reputation, allowing Faron to break their alliance and keep his inheritance without suspicion.
Stripped of her home, her family, and her dignity, Ina screamed in agony on the freezing streets.
Her own father had murdered her sister for a fifty-million-dollar insurance payout and sacrificed Ina to hide his assets. The people she trusted most had conspired to ruin her life just for their own selfish greed.
Driven into a corner with absolutely nothing left to lose, Ina stared at the cold, calculating billionaire who had tracked her down to an abandoned cliffside estate.
"Marry me, and I will give you the power to destroy them all."
To avenge her sister and crush the people who betrayed her, Ina signed her soul to the devil.
9.2
Averie spent hours preparing a perfect third-anniversary dinner for her billionaire husband, Jarett Sharp.
Instead of celebrating, she received an anonymous photo of him intimately holding another woman.
When Jarett finally arrived, he didn't even look guilty.
"Candida. It's okay. Don't be scared. I'm on my way."
He simply took a call from his mistress, shoved Averie aside, and walked right back out the door.
That same night, Averie's father suffered a massive heart attack.
The hospital demanded a half-million-dollar deposit before they would operate.
But when Averie frantically tried to use the emergency medical trust card Jarett had given her, it was declined.
Jarett had deliberately frozen her access to the funds just hours earlier.
While she begged his assistant on the phone, Jarett refused to be disturbed, busy wrapping his expensive coat around his mistress in the hospital garden.
Averie collapsed in the hallway, realizing the man she loved was deliberately letting her father die.
In the end, a childhood friend stepped in to pay the bill and save her father's life, while her billionaire husband later pinned her to their bed, throwing a check at her and reminding her he had bought her for three million dollars.
Averie didn't shed a single tear.
She slowly ripped his check into pieces, left her massive diamond ring on the dresser, and walked out into the cold New York night with nothing but her old suitcase.
She pulled out her phone and dialed her old ballet professor.
She wasn't just going to leave Jarett Sharp. She was going to destroy him.
8.4
Cast out by an "elite" family and mocked by high society, Elena shocked everyone by marrying the most powerful man in town.
They assumed it was a temporary arrangement-after all, he had said, "The agreement is for two years. After that, we're done."
Yet after the wedding, he refused to let her go. "Elena, you can't leave me."
As he doted on her, rumors shattered one by one. A renowned painter, top hacker, and tech mastermind-her true identities stunned the world.
When a luxury empire announced their lost heiress, all eyes turned to her. "Why did she look exactly like Elena?"
7.8
The freezing rain lashed against my face as I clung to the iron gates of the Hendrix estate, begging for a chance to prove I didn't kill my best friend.
I had come here for mercy, but the man I had secretly loved for years had a different plan. He didn't want to hear my truth; he wanted to see me broken.
As the sun rose, the estate manager delivered the final blow. He shoved Emery’s phone into my face, showing a forged text message that framed me for her death, then turned his back as the gates slammed shut.
My own family didn't offer a lifeline, either. When the police came for me, my parents didn't fight for my innocence; they chose to disown me to save their bank accounts from Alfredo’s wrath.
I was thrown into Rikers Island, stripped of my dignity, and subjected to years of calculated, brutal torture paid for by the man who once held my heart.
How could the person I loved turn my life into a private slaughterhouse based on a lie?
After three years of hell, I walked out of those prison gates with nothing but a scarred body and a hollow soul. The woman who loved Alfredo Hendrix died in that cell. Now, I’m back in the city where it all began, and I’m done hiding.
8.8
After years trapped under the cruelty of her stepfather's control, Isabella knew the rules of surviving in a world ruled by men like Marco Deluca - never be noticed, never be wanted. But when she becomes a witness to something she was never meant to see, Vincenzo spares her life for reasons he doesn't understand.
Drawn to her quiet strength and fearless gaze, he finds himself willing to burn his empire to keep her safe. But loving him means stepping into a world that destroys everything it touches... and she might be the only thing he can't afford to lose.
9.7
Twenty three years Lisa, has it all brains, beauty and a thriving career as an interior designer.
What she doesn't have is any interest in marriage, especially not to Thomas Nicklson, Her family's arrogant business partner's son. She would rather stay single forever than be shackled to him.
To escape the unwanted marriage, Lisa
takes her best friend's advice and hires James, a charming stranger she meets in a gay bar, to pose as her fiancé. The deal is simple: pretend to be in love for a year, keep her parents at pay, and then walk away. Easy
Until the line between real and fake begins to blur.
What Lisa doesn't know is that James is hiding a secret big enough to change everything, and falling for her fake fiancé might be the riskiest move of all.