Left At The Altar, She Became The Bride Of His Arch-Nemesis
Since returning to her family, Evelyn had never truly been accepted or treated as their own daughter.
On her wedding day, her parents chose her adopted sister over her, and the man she was supposed to marry abandoned her on the highway for his true love without even looking back once.
Heartbroken but resolute, she tore off her veil and stood before his rival. "I dare you to steal the bride."
Shane met her gaze. "Why wouldn't I?"
Their impulsive marriage shocked everyone. Her ex later begged, "Give me another chance."
Shane pulled her close, his voice cold. "Too late. She's my wife now."
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Chapter 4
The noise in the room died at once.
Everyone present understood what that meant. Only a few in Slomery ever set foot on the upper floors of the Gilded Spire, yet Evelyn was being taken there by one of the owner's men.
Attention shifted straight to her. No one knew who she was.
Kendra moved closer and held onto Cole's arm. "Cole, didn't he just call Ms. Fowler 'Mrs. Bennett'? Could he have gotten it wrong?"
That was when it clicked for Cole. Marc must have mistaken Evelyn for his wife, and that was why she was being treated this way.
As Marc started leading Evelyn upstairs, Cole and his friends tried to follow. They didn't get far. Bodyguards blocked them at the bottom of the stairs.
Panic showed on Cole's face. "That's my fiancée who just went up! Your boss must be expecting me as well."
The guards didn't react. "Sorry, but the boss only asked for Mrs. Bennett. You're not allowed upstairs."
Marc continued ahead and brought Evelyn to the third floor. "Sir, Mrs. Bennett is here."
Evelyn looked toward the table and saw two men playing. One of them had a scar across his face, and she guessed he was the owner of the Gilded Spire.
She walked over and stood beside Shane. He tilted his chin.
Standing nearby, Gavin Reed, Shane's assistant, spoke at once. "Mrs. Bennett, we've prepared a change of clothes for you. Please follow me."
"Alright," Evelyn responded, then followed him to the dressing room.
Even with the door shut behind her, their voices still carried inside.
Leland Barnett took out a cigarette and lit it. "Mr. Bennett, I won't make this hard. Beat me in one round here, and we'll talk about working together."
Shane raised his eyes and looked at him. "So you're trying something else since business didn't work for you."
Leland smirked. "What's wrong? Are you avoiding this because you think you'll lose?"
Silence settled outside for a brief moment.
The door opened, and Evelyn stepped out. A red dress rested on her shoulders, fitted at the waist and outlining her figure.
Tension still filled the space as she moved toward Shane.
At that exact moment, Leland placed his cards down and laughed. "6-7-8 straight. Looks like luck's on my side. If you want to win this, you'll need three of a kind."
His gaze shifted as he spoke, landing on Shane's face-down cards. "Something tells me those aren't big enough, am I right?"
Shane didn't respond. His eyes narrowed, and his finger stayed on the cards without turning them over.
Without warning, a hand reached in and pressed against the cards. After a short pause, it flipped them open.
Three Aces lay on the table.
Evelyn lifted her gaze and smiled at Leland. "Seems like luck's with me too."
Surprise showed in Shane's eyes as he looked at her. He knew these cards weren't Aces before.
Across from them, Leland's expression shifted. His attention stayed on Evelyn. "Let's raise the stakes. If you win, I'll sign the contract on the spot."
"Fine." Evelyn took a seat across from him. "What are we playing?"
With a tap on the table, Leland signaled someone over, and two dice cups were placed in front of them. "We'll keep it simple. Roll the dice. Highest number takes it."
"Let's start," Evelyn said.
"Hold on," Leland added. "We've only talked about what happens if you win. What do I get if you lose?"
Evelyn lowered her gaze, thinking. Before she could answer, Shane spoke beside her. "I'll hand over the development rights to the Eastbay District."
Leland brought his hands together with a clap, his mood lifting. "Now that's what I like to see. The bet's set."
Closing the distance, Evelyn leaned toward Shane until only a breath separated them. "You're not worried I might lose?"
His answer came without pause. "I believe in you."
He caught her scent, and something in his expression shifted. "Even if it happens, it's just one project. I can take that loss."
While they spoke, a mechanical sound rose around them as the glass panels on the third floor began to lower.
Below, the main hall broke into disorder.
The instant Leland confirmed the wager, a voice rang out across the space.
"The Sovereign Game has begun. Once the bet is placed, withdrawal means all winnings go to the other side."
Shock spread through the crowd.
Cole lifted his head, caught off guard. "The Sovereign Game hasn't been used in ten years. Why now?"
Kendra tightened her hold on his arm, confusion clear. "Cole, what is that?"
One of Cole's friends answered, "Every round involves stakes worth billions. Beat Mr. Barnett, and he'll agree to anything. But no one clears it. Over the past decade, only one person tried, and that ended in failure. Whoever started it now must be asking for trouble."
People stretched to see what was happening upstairs.
Moments later, the voice sounded again.
"Verification complete. The opposing stake is the Eastbay District development rights."
Cole stopped where he stood, and his face changed at once.
One of his friends glanced at him and spoke without thinking. "Eastbay District... isn't that tied to your father's illegitimate son?"
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7.2
When I discovered my husband's safe combination was my stepsister's birthday, my world tilted. Inside, I found the blueprint for how he planned to erase me. He would claim my unborn child for his true love.
The postnup was cold and calculated: billions in assets, all designated for Kaleigh. Not a penny for me, his wife of ten years.
He tore up the divorce papers I offered, threatening to use his power to take my baby. Kaleigh showed up at my door, taunting me, calling me a "convenient placeholder."
She wanted to raise my child as her own.
I realized I wasn't just a wife. I was a surrogate. A fertile womb he married because his true love was barren. Our entire marriage was a grotesque lie designed to produce an heir for them.
Then, an anonymous email landed in my inbox. It contained a recording of my husband calling me his "incubator."
That's when I knew I couldn't just leave. I had to die.
9.5
Gina was locked in Blackwood Asylum for five years, framed as a violent lunatic by her own wealthy family.
Her brother suddenly dragged her out, but not to save her. He forced her into an arranged marriage with Kerr Brooks, the billionaire emperor of New York, just to save the Rollins family's failing company.
Back at the estate, her parents treated her like a biohazard. They showered her adopted sister, Hailie, with love and luxury, while forcing Gina into a freezing servant's room. They threw a brutal prenuptial agreement at her face and threatened to leak a deepfake scandal video to the press if she didn't play the perfect bride. To ensure Gina's absolute ruin, Hailie even ordered a maid to spike her dinner with a massive dose of LSD. They were ruthlessly sacrificing her to a man who was secretly in a deep, unresponsive coma.
"She is just a tool, Hailie. Do not waste your pity on a broken thing."
Her mother's cold words echoed in the foyer. They looked at Gina's faded jumpsuit and vacant eyes, fully believing she was a heavily sedated pawn they could easily manipulate and discard.
But they didn't know Gina was a master hacker, a lethal underground surgeon, and the secret owner of the world's top luxury brand. She neutralized the poison in seconds and slipped into her comatose fiancé's heavily guarded ICU. Disabling the secret neuro-suppressants keeping him asleep, Gina smiled in the dark. If they wanted her to marry a corpse, she would use his empire to bury them all alive.
8.3
⚠️ Warning: This book contains explicit scenes, strong language, mature content, sexual kinks and dark themes that may not be suitable for some readers. Read at your own risk.
Trevor Matai had already made himself an enemy of half the school just by being the smartest person in the class. So when he won the student body presidency, they just found newer and louder reasons to come for him.
What he was not prepared for was jerking awake from a nightmare in the middle of class, calling out Sean Pierre's name in front of everyone, and having a very visible and undeniable 'boner' to go along with it. Does that mean he got 'bricked up' for Sean.
That was quite unbelievable because Sean Pierre, who is a star quarterback and the school's golden boy, happens to be the most aggressively straight guy Trevor had ever been forced to share oxygen with. So, Sean was the absolute last person his subconscious should have chosen.
And now the whole school knew.
What followed was supposed to be punishment as a result of the two clashing over school activity funds. Instead, something neither of them planned for started building because the closer Sean kept him, the harder it became to pretend that none of it meant anything.
But Sean was the star quarterback and there were rules that came with that title. And wanting Trevor wasn't something the world around them was going to quietly allow.
Two boys with two different dreams that couldn't both survive this situation, which seemed like a rivalry that had already drawn blood and a romantic feeling between them that refused to take note of that.
Society had already written the rules, but they were about to break those rules and rewrite them.
Because when someone is willing to burn everything down for you... the only question left is whether you are brave enough to let them and decide what you are willing to risk for love.
7.1
After the one-night stand with a man who refused to tell her his name, Charlotte would figure out on TV that the man she had s*x with the previous night was the heir to a billionaire empire.
At the same time, Jace Norman-the infamous playboy heir-faces a public scandal that threatens his inheritance. To protect the family empire, his ruthless father forces him into an immediate contract marriage.
And just like that Charlotte would get married to the spoiled, reckless son of the most powerful billionaire in the city.
That One night, Room 55 and Five thousand dollars she desperately needed would change her life forever.
Weeks later, Charlotte discovers she's pregnant.
But before she can process the truth, her manipulative boyfriend claims the child is his and begins blackmailing her.
As their fake marriage becomes dangerously possessive, secrets begin to spiral. An ex-boyfriend demanding money. Jace's jealous college lover is determined to destroy Charlotte. Charlotte's sister is hiding betrayal behind sweet smiles. And a billionaire father who will eliminate anyone to protect the Norman name.
When a forged DNA test claims the baby isn't Jace's, the empire turns on Charlotte.
But the truth is far darker than any of them realize.
Because someone has been orchestrating every lie from the beginning.
And when Jace finally discovers the baby is his...
He will have to choose between his father's empire-
Or the woman carrying his heir.
8.0
Eloise Ferguson was the legitimate daughter of a powerful Senator, yet she was treated like a hysterical burden by her own family.
In her past life, her parents forced her to marry a sadistic billionaire for political funding.
When she resisted, they locked her in a psychiatric facility, drugged her, and left her to die in restraints while her "fragile" cousin Jaylene stole her life.
She never understood why her mother hated her so fiercely.
Why did her mother treat her brother Cortez and her cousin Jaylene like absolute royalty, while throwing her own flesh and blood to the wolves?
Opening her eyes again, Eloise found herself back at age twenty-two, trapped in a restroom at a charity gala.
Escaping her abuser, she used her awakened mystic abilities to look at her family's life forces.
What she saw made her blood run cold.
Thick, red biological cords connected her mother directly to both Cortez and Jaylene, intertwining in a perfect symbiotic bond.
They weren't cousins. They were illegitimate twins born from her mother's secret affair.
Eloise was the only true outsider in her own home.
The realization hit her like a physical blow. Her entire life of abuse was just a cover-up for a nest of parasites stealing her father's name and her inheritance.
But this time, she refused to be their victim.
Armed with an unchallengeable executive order she blackmailed out of the United States President, Eloise crushed the hidden microphone in her bedroom.
"Game on, Mother."
9.0
Ellen had spent ten years cleaning her husband's home, a quiet devotion to the man who demanded her constant labor. But while vacuuming under their bed, her world shattered with a single, horrifying discovery. Hidden away was a secret phone, revealing a life her husband had built with another woman and child for the past eight years.
A decade of devoted homemaking for Adrian in their Los Angeles home was Ellen’s life. While cleaning, she found a hidden compartment and a new iPhone, which she shockingly unlocked. The wallpaper revealed Adrian with a secret family in Austin—a double life since her own pregnancy. Texts detailed a $1.2 million house and lavish expenses for “Angel.” Adrian stirred, forcing Ellen to hide the device. Her son was denied a $200 class, while her $50,000 inheritance funded Adrian’s secret family. Rage replaced her tears. Ellen photographed all incriminating details, hid the phone, and forced a submissive smile. Her quiet devotion was over; her war had just begun.