Married by mistake to the billionaire
He was the billionaire betrayed on his wedding day.
Two broken vows. One ruthless deal.
When Adrian Voss offers Talia Monroe a six-month marriage contract, it's supposed to fix their reputations not destroy their hearts.
He's cold, calculated, and terrifyingly in control.
She's impulsive, fiery, and impossible to tame.
He says, "You'll marry me. You'll play the role. You'll obey."
She shoots back, "You don't scare me."
He leans closer, eyes like ice. "Good. Fear is useless. But obedience... that might save you."
She signed for revenge.
He planned for convenience.
Neither expected obsession.
In a marriage built on power, the real danger is falling in love.
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Chapter 5
Talia's pov
If hell had chandeliers and champagne, it would look exactly like Adrian Voss's press conference.
Cameras flashed like lightning. Voices overlapped. The air pulsed with the sweet, sharp scent of perfume, power, and too much money.
I stood beside my new husband - fake husband, contract husband, whatever the hell he was - and smiled like my entire life wasn't a walking press release.
Smile, breathe, and don't murder anyone, my inner voice muttered.
Adrian stood to my right - a wall of calm in a suit that probably cost someone's tuition. He didn't fidget or even blink. Every line of him screamed control.
When the reporters surged forward, he didn't move. Just lifted a hand - one quiet, elegant command - and the room obeyed.
The noise cut instantly.
My breath caught. That power wasn't loud. It was terrifyingly quiet.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, voice low, smooth, practiced. "My wife and I appreciate you joining us on short notice."
Wife.
The word slammed against my ribs. I smiled harder, like that could hold me together.
"Given recent events," Adrian continued, "there's been speculation. Allow me to clarify - my marriage to Talia Monroe was neither impulsive nor reactionary. It was a private ceremony planned well in advance."
He didn't look at me, but his hand brushed mine - just once.
Deliberate. Controlled.
The world saw affection.
I felt choreography.
Touch for the cameras. Hold for the lie.
Reporters shouted over one another.
"When did you meet?"
"How long have you been engaged?"
"Was this revenge on Vanessa King?"
That last name hit him like shrapnel. His jaw flexed - the only break in his perfect armor.
"Mr. Voss?" someone pressed. "Wasn't Miss Monroe jilted by another man just hours before your wedding?"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
My stomach dropped. Here we go.
Adrian didn't even glance at me. Instead, he placed a hand on the small of my back - light, firm, lethal.
The warmth of his palm cut straight through my skin, my chest tightening with something sharp and uninvited. His touch wasn't gentle; it was a warning, a claim, a silent message that said breathe, or I'll make you.
Then he spoke.
"Everyone in this room has been misinformed," he said evenly. "My wife was never left by anyone. She was waiting for me."
The room fell completely silent.
The words hit like thunder.
A murmur rippled through the press, but no one dared challenge him again.
I turned slightly, whispering, "What was that?"
"Damage control," he murmured, lips barely moving.
"You just rewrote my entire life."
"You're welcome."
I wanted to elbow him. Hard. Preferably on live television.
When the last reporter finally left, I exhaled. "You can drop the act now."
Adrian handed a folder to his assistant without looking at me. "This is me dropping the act."
"You just lied to the entire press corps!"
"I redirected the narrative."
"You gaslighted London!"
He gave me that cool, surgical stare. "Welcome to corporate communication, Mrs. Voss."
He said my name like a verdict.
I paced, heat crawling up my neck. "You didn't even ask me before you said all that."
"Would it have changed anything?"
"Yes!"
"No."
"You are infuriating!"
"I'm efficient."
I groaned. "Stop saying that word like it's foreplay!"
He turned. Slowly. The kind of slow that made air heavy.
Oh God. Why did I say that out loud?
A silence stretched, sharp enough to bleed on. Then - to my horror - one corner of his mouth twitched. Almost a smile.
"Foreplay, Mrs. Voss?" he said softly. "Is that what this feels like to you?"
My cheeks burned. "You know what I meant!"
"Do I?"
He took a step forward. Just one. Enough to blur the space between us.
I could feel his breath - clean, cold, faintly cedar - brushing my skin.
"I'm beginning to think you enjoy arguing with me," he said.
"I enjoy proving you wrong," I shot back.
He leaned close enough for his words to slide straight into my pulse. "Careful. You might start enjoying me instead."
My breath hitched. The world tilted.
Abort mission. Don't blush. Don't react. Don't feel.
I stepped back, crossing my arms tight. "You're unbelievable."
"I know."
"Arrogant."
"Accurate."
"You think you can control everyone, don't you?"
He picked up his phone, thumbs gliding, utterly calm. "No. Just you."
The words hit harder than they should have.
On the ride back, city lights blurred against the tinted glass. I sat rigid beside him, trying to ignore how close his shoulder was... or how my pulse still hadn't recovered.
I expected silence, but after a while he said, "You handled yourself well today."
I blinked. "Was that... a compliment?"
"An observation," he said without looking up from his phone.
"Well, I'm honored to be observed."
He didn't smile, but his gaze flicked sideways. "You're not as fragile as people think."
"Gee, thanks. You almost sound impressed."
"I don't get impressed."
"Of course not," I muttered. "That would be inefficient."
He exhaled - quietly, but it was there. Almost like a laugh.
Did Adrian Voss just laugh? Someone alert NASA.
The car turned toward the penthouse. I caught our reflection in the window - me in white silk, him in black suit. Two strangers playing at forever.
It was all performance. But somewhere between the flashes and his hand on my back, something real had started humming underneath.
Something that scared me more than the cameras ever could.
When we got home, he opened my door - not like a gentleman, but like a man who wanted control over when I stepped out. Everything he did was a statement.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Voss," he said.
"Goodnight, Mr. Efficiency."
He paused, that almost-smile threatening his composure. "You're impossible."
"Thank you," I said sweetly. "I try."
He turned to leave, then stopped. "Stay out of trouble."
"Define trouble."
His eyes met mine - calm, cold, unblinking. "You'll know when I find you in it."
He walked away, and I stood there in the echo of his footsteps, my pulse still misbehaving.
I should've been furious. I should've hated every inch of him.
Instead, my mind kept wandering back to that photo on his desk. The boy with the too-bright smile.
The girl beside him - the one who looked familiar in a way I couldn't explain.
Who was she?
And why did I get the feeling that knowing her name would change everything?
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8.8
Serena, heir to Britain's top jewelry company LUXE, suffers sudden amnesia at the peak of her life and is saved from drowning by Ryan.
She falls for him instantly, but even after three years of marriage, she cannot replace the place in his heart held by his forever love, Sophie.
After a near-fatal kidnapping and Ryan attending a charity gala with Sophie's sister Ivy, Serena hits rock bottom and tells Ryan.
"Let's get a divorce."
He replies, "You won't survive without me."
Breaking free from heartbreak, Serena's career soars as she becomes an internationally renowned designer.
Regaining her memories, she returns to LUXE and gives birth to twins. Surrounded by eager admirers, Ryan panics and pleads, "Serena, I was wrong-let me see our children."
But can Ryan truly win back Serena's heart? Or has too much been lost? The answers unfold in this gripping tale.
9.4
As a "wolfless" Omega at the absolute bottom of the pack hierarchy, my only goal was to build a safe, normal life with my fiancé, Dan.
That illusion shattered the day I came home early from work. I found Dan completely naked, tangled in my bedsheets with my cousin, Laura.
The suffocating stench of their betrayal polluted my home. Dan frantically tried to blame Laura, while she shrieked that they had been sleeping together for months. My sanctuary was destroyed. With no family to turn to, I fled into the night. Heartbroken and desperate for oblivion, I ended up in the office of my terrifying boss, Alpha Kane Cain. Fueled by whiskey and grief, I recklessly surrendered to him, signing a note consenting to whatever he wanted just to make the pain stop.
But the next morning, the blinding pleasure was replaced by pure terror. Kane hadn't pulled out. In our brutal world, an unmarked, wolfless Omega carrying an Alpha's child would be cast out and hunted. I panicked, begging him to let me leave, convinced I was just another disposable mistake.
Instead of letting me go, the ruthless Alpha's eyes darkened with a terrifying, primal possessiveness. He pulled out the note I had signed in my drunken haze.
"You gave me this power, little wolf," he growled, ordering his men to move my belongings to his estate. "Don't pretend you can take it back now."
7.8
For five years, I was the secret weapon behind A-list actor Johan Lee. As his top agent and devoted girlfriend, I cleaned up his scandals, secured his contracts, and deliberately dressed down so I would never outshine him. Tonight was his birthday, and I was waiting in his penthouse in black lace, ready to surprise him.
The only surprise was the one I got when he walked in with a 22-year-old actress. From inside his walk-in closet, my romantic evening turned into a nightmare as I listened to them fall into his bed.
But the cheating wasn't the worst part. It was hearing his cruel, dismissive laugh as he explained why he kept me around.
"She's safe," he told the other woman. "She dresses like a depressed librarian. I don't need a queen trying to steal my spotlight. I need an assistant."
An assistant. Five years of my life, my love, and my career-building genius, all reduced to a convenience. The grief in my chest instantly hardened into ice. The mousy girlfriend he took for granted was gone forever.
I walked out of that closet, ended his career with a single video, and thought I was finally free. But then my aunt called, screaming. My family's company was mysteriously facing bankruptcy, and their only way out was to enforce an old family contract. I was to be sold in marriage to the ruthless billionaire who engineered their downfall: the infamous Colvin Sykes.
8.8
Elena's life has never been easy. She's 23, broke, and working long hours at a small café just to keep a roof over her head. Her best friend, Elizabeth, worries she'll work herself to death, so one night she drags Elena to a house party.
Elena doesn't like parties, but she goes anyway. That night changes everything.
Looking for the bathroom, she opens the wrong door and finds herself in the same room as a man-tall, handsome, and mysterious. They don't exchange names. They don't plan it. One thing leads to another, and they spend the night together.
By morning, he's gone. No note. No name. Just gone.
Elena tries to forget about it until weeks later, when she realizes she's pregnant. Panic hits her hard. She doesn't know the man's name. She doesn't have his number. She's broke and alone, but she decides to keep the baby and work harder.
Around this time, Elliott, Elena's boss, starts visiting the café often. He's friendly, supportive, and becomes her closest friend. She has no idea Elliott is connected to her mystery man.
When the café job can't cover her bills anymore, Elliott helps her find a better job as a secretary in a big company. She's relieved-until her first day on the job, when she sees him. Jaxon Thorn. The father of her baby.
Jaxon is shocked too. He feels betrayed that she didn't tell him sooner. She feels hurt that he left without a word. Things get even worse when Khloe-the woman desperate to marry Jaxon-steps in to destroy Elena.
One night turned their worlds upside down. Now, they have to face the truth: Can love really come from one mistake?
7.9
Meet Maya Brooks, a 22 year old who dropped out of school after her father was murdered and her family lost everything.
Determined to uncover the truth behind his death, she takes a job as a personal maid to Ryan Greenville a 25 year old, irresistible CEO known for using and dumping women.
Cold, powerful, and emotionally guarded, Ryan never planned to fall for anyone again until Maya entered his life.
As their worlds collide, dark secrets begin to surface.
Get ready for a thrilling journey of love, revenge, and hidden truths.
7.6
I am the illegitimate, mute daughter of the wealthy Owen family, kept hidden in the attic like a shameful secret.
To save his failing company, my father decided to sell me off to a repulsive, predatory investor named Grossman.
At the family dinner, Grossman's sweaty hands roamed my bare legs while my half-sister Kaleigh intentionally spilled red wine on my dress, laughing as she watched me suffer.
When I grabbed a steak knife to defend myself, my father slammed his fist on the table.
"Sit down, or I will cut off the maintenance payments for your mother's grave."
My stepmother and sister sneered, treating me like a piece of meat meant to be sacrificed for their luxury. I was starved, locked away, and treated worse than a stray dog, all while my family paraded their high-society status to the world.
I couldn't understand why they hated me so deeply, or who really ordered the hit that killed my mother twenty years ago. The police reports were buried, and I was entirely powerless, trapped in a house of monsters.
But they didn't know that the night before, I had accidentally stumbled into the secret life of Burleigh Livingston—the ruthless, supposedly paralyzed billionaire who was faking his madness.
When Burleigh suddenly crashed our family dinner and threw a limitless Black Card on the table to outbid Grossman and buy me for the night, I didn't hesitate.
I grabbed the handles of his wheelchair, accepted his twisted deal, and prepared to use the devil himself to tear my family apart.