Married To My Ex's Ruthless Uncle

My father was dying in the ICU, and our family company, the Martin Group, was on the verge of total collapse. While I was desperately trying to sign the consent form for his life-saving surgery, my fiancé, Eston, sent me a text. "I told you not to be stubborn. The company is mine by Friday. Beg me, and I might pay for the funeral." He had been secretly looting my family's assets from the inside, waiting for me to break so he could steal everything. He thought I would crawl back to him in absolute despair, surrendering my father's legacy just to survive. The sheer weight of my helplessness crushed my chest as the heart monitor next to my father's bed let out a frantic, high-pitched scream. The betrayal tore through me, but the despair quickly hardened into a cold, sharp stone. Why should I let the man who ruined me dance on my family's grave? Why should I let him walk away with everything while I lost the only family I had left? I wiped away my tears and blocked his number permanently. Then, I stepped out into the freezing Manhattan rain and went straight to the top floor of the Maxwell building. I threw my remaining shares onto the desk of Ellwood Maxwell—the apex predator of Wall Street, and Eston's untouchable, ruthless uncle. "I want you to marry me," Ellwood said, pushing a marriage contract toward me. "That is the only way your company survives." I picked up the pen. If Eston wanted to destroy my life, I would become his aunt and make him bow.

Chapters

Chapter 5

Audriana backed up until her bare heels hit the cold, wet stone of the fountain. There was nowhere left to go.

"Get away from me, Eston," she ordered, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to keep it steady.

Eston laughed. It was an ugly, wet sound. He swung one crutch out and hooked the rubber-padded curve of it around her waist, yanking her off balance. As she stumbled toward him, his free hand shot out and grabbed her bare shoulder, his fingers digging painfully into her skin. "You think you're so smart, playing hard to get? You just wanted his money!"

Bile rose in Audriana's throat. She twisted her body violently, bringing her right hand up and smashing the heel of her shoe directly into Eston's chest.

Eston grunted in pain, but the alcohol numbed him. He ripped the shoe from her hand and flung it sideways. The heel skipped across the stone and plopped into the fountain water. He grabbed both of her wrists, pinning them against her sides.

He leaned down, trying to force his mouth onto hers. Audriana snapped her head to the side. His wet lips dragged across her cheek, leaving a trail of disgusting saliva.

Audriana brought her knee up, driving it hard into his stomach.

Eston's crutches clattered to the ground. His hands let go of her wrists. He collapsed forward, his palms barely catching the edge of the fountain to keep his face from smashing into the stone. He gasped for air, but one hand still clawed up, seizing her wrist again.

Audriana opened her mouth to scream.

Before a sound could escape her lips, a massive hand shot out from the darkness. Long, thick fingers wrapped around the back of Eston's collar.

With a terrifying surge of brute strength, the hand yanked Eston backward. He was ripped off his feet. His braced leg twisted at an unnatural angle and his crutches spun away as he crashed heavily onto the manicured grass.

Ellwood stepped into the moonlight. His face was a mask of pure, murderous fury. The air around him felt thick enough to choke on.

Audriana's legs gave out. She slid down the side of the fountain, her breathing erratic.

Ellwood closed the distance in two strides. He dropped to his knees and pulled her tightly against his chest. The familiar, clean scent of cedarwood hit her senses. The tension in her body snapped. Hot tears flooded her eyes, spilling down her cheeks.

Ellwood felt her shaking. The muscles in his arms bunched. He stripped off his suit jacket and wrapped it tightly around her bare shoulders.

Eston groaned, rolling onto his side. He looked up, squinting through the pain. "Uncle… she seduced me…"

Ellwood let go of Audriana. He stood up slowly. The sound of his leather shoes crushing the grass was the only noise in the garden.

He didn't say a word. He walked over to Eston, pulled his foot back, and kicked him squarely in the face.

The sickening crunch of bone breaking echoed loudly. Eston screamed, clutching his shattered nose as blood poured through his fingers.

Ellwood lifted his foot and pressed the sole of his shoe down hard on Eston's chest, pinning him to the dirt.

He leaned down. His voice was a demonic whisper. "You touch what is mine, and you die."

Eston sobbed, his body convulsing in terror. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Flashlight beams cut through the darkness. Three estate security guards ran over, freezing in horror when they saw the scene.

Ellwood slowly turned his head to look at them. "Drag this garbage to Frances's room. Tell her to leash her dog."

The guards nodded frantically, grabbing Eston by the arms and dragging him away into the shadows. One of them scooped up the abandoned crutches and hurried after the others.

The garden fell silent again.

Ellwood walked back to Audriana. He crouched down. He pulled a clean white handkerchief from his pocket. With rough but controlled movements, he wiped the side of her face where Eston had touched her. He rubbed the skin until it turned pink, erasing every trace of the other man.

He stopped, his dark eyes locking onto her red, tear-filled ones.

Audriana thought he was going to yell at her for causing a scene. Instead, he slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. He lifted her effortlessly into his arms.

She gasped, her hands instinctively grabbing his broad shoulders.

"We are going home," he muttered against her hair.

He carried her through a side gate, avoiding the main ballroom, and walked straight to a waiting black Lincoln parked in the rear driveway.

The driver opened the door. Ellwood placed her gently on the leather seat and climbed in beside her. The privacy partition immediately rolled up, sealing them in a quiet, dark box.

Audriana pulled his jacket tighter around herself. She looked at his sharp profile in the dim light. "Thank you," she whispered.

Ellwood didn't look at her. He picked up a bottle of water, opened it, and handed it to her. "You are my wife. Protecting you is my obligation."

Continue to next part

Betrayed by her fiancé for a notorious villainess, Elara is cast aside as their world spirals into chaos. Determined to uncover the truth behind his sudden change of heart, she unearths a web of lethal secrets and political schemes. As she navigates a landscape of danger and deception, Elara must master her hidden strengths to survive. In a race against time, she seeks justice while facing the dark forces that threaten to consume her entire future.

Action Mystery Romance

9.1

Beyond The Empty Altar, My Reign

9.1

I stood alone at the marble altar, the silence of the temple pressing against my eardrums. It was my Mating Ceremony, but the groom was missing. My phone buzzed with a notification: a livestream of my mate, Alpha Cain, skipping our union to welcome my sister, Eris, home. In the video, he held her like she was fragile glass, captioning it: "True power recognizes true power." When I returned to the Pack House, humiliated, I wasn't met with an apology. I was met with a slap from my mother. Eris, feigning a powerful "Alpha Aura," claimed my mere scent was poisoning her. To "save" her, my family locked me in my room. But the true betrayal came when I overheard their hushed whispers through the door. "Use Vera," my mother said, her voice chillingly practical. "She recovers fast. We can drain her blood weekly for Eris. She can stay as a servant to raise Cain and Eris's pups." My blood ran cold. They didn't just neglect me; they planned to harvest me like livestock. They thought I was the weak Omega they exiled to the North years ago to peel potatoes. They had no idea that in the North, I wasn't a servant. I was Commander V, a warrior forged in ice and blood. I reached under my bed and pulled out my black tactical duffel. "Screw the meatloaf," I whispered. I wasn't just leaving. I was going to war.

Action Romance Werewolf

7.3

He Chose The Nanny, I Chose Revenge

7.3

Clara came home from a fourteen-hour board meeting to the sound of a piercing scream in the playroom. When she rushed in, she found her husband, Chadwick, kneeling on the floor in a panic. But he wasn't looking at their five-year-old son, Leo, who had a massive bleeding welt on his forehead. Instead, Chadwick was trembling as he held the nanny's daughter, Autumn, who barely had a microscopic scratch. "She needs ice. And antibacterial ointment," Chadwick snapped, carrying the nanny's daughter away and leaving his bleeding son behind. From that moment, the nightmare only escalated. Chadwick ordered Clara to cook a three-hour meal for the nanny's kid, threw away Leo's favorite toys because Autumn sneezed, and even secretly took the nanny and her daughter on Leo's promised Disney trip. The final humiliation came at the Met Gala. Right before their sponsor speech, Chadwick received a frantic call from the nanny claiming Autumn was having a panic attack. He abandoned Clara in front of hundreds of flashing cameras, sprinting out of the ballroom. Clara stood completely alone, the humiliation eating through her veins like acid. She couldn't understand how a father could call the nanny's kid his "little princess" while watching his own son cry. Why was he treating his own flesh and blood like garbage just to play savior to another woman's child? Suddenly, the blinding camera flashes were blocked by a massive shadow. Erasmo Chase, the heir to New York's largest financial dynasty, stepped out of the darkness and shielded her. "A man like that is unworthy of your grief, Ms. Best," he whispered, pressing a silk handkerchief into her trembling hand. Looking at the sharp profile of the powerful man beside her, Clara's shock hardened into a lethal, cold fury. She was going to dump her family's shares, crash the board, and make Chadwick lose absolutely everything.

Action Modern Mystery

8.6

MY ASSASSIN IS MY MATE

8.6

Alpha Kael is a powerful leader who rules his pack with an iron fist. His world is turned upside down when an elite assassin is sent to take his life. During their violent encounter, Kael discovers a shocking truth: the cold-blooded killer is actually his fated mate. Caught between his duty to the pack and an undeniable soul bond, Kael must navigate a dangerous game of betrayal and desire while his lethal partner struggles with her mission.

Action Romance Werewolf

7.9

Reborn Heiress: The Revenge She Deserves

7.9

The rain was a solid sheet of gray as the black SUV rammed into my car, sending me spiraling over the guardrail. As the glass shattered and the world turned upside down, a searing pain ripped through my chest before everything went cold and dark. I didn’t stay in the darkness. My spirit hovered ten feet in the air, watching the steam hiss from my mangled sedan. I followed the magnetic pull of my soul back to my family estate, expecting to find them devastated. Instead, I found my stepmother, Florene, and my sister, Kassidy, pouring vintage champagne and laughing in the drawing room. "To the end of the nuisance," Florene said, her eyes gleaming with greed. "The trust fund unlocks at midnight. We're finally rich." The betrayal cut deeper than the metal that killed me, but the real shock came at my funeral. Hiram Tyson—the cold, masked husband I’d spent three years fearing—collapsed over my closed casket. He unbuckled his silver mask, revealing a face ruined by scars, and sobbed a name I hadn't heard since childhood. "I'm sorry, Angel. I thought keeping you at arm's length would keep the darkness away." He wasn't the monster I thought he was. He was the boy I had saved at the orphanage years ago, and he had been protecting me in silence while my own family plotted my murder. I reached out to touch him, but the world exploded into a blinding white light. When I opened my eyes, I wasn't in a casket. I was back in our bedroom, feeling the heavy weight of Hiram’s arm across my waist. The calendar on the nightstand read September 14, 2023—exactly one year before the crash. I looked at the silver mask resting on the table and felt a cold, hard determination settle in my chest. This time, I wasn't going to be the victim. I was going to be the villain in their story and burn their world to the ground.

Action Billionaire Mystery

7.0

Revenge Of The Forsaken Pregnant Wife

7.0

My marriage ended at a charity gala I organized. One moment, I was the pregnant, happy wife of tech mogul Gabe Sullivan; the next, a reporter' s phone screen announced to the world that he and his childhood sweetheart, Harper, were expecting a child. Across the room, I saw them together, his hand resting on her stomach. This wasn't just an affair; it was a public declaration that erased me and our unborn baby. To protect his company's billion-dollar IPO, Gabe, his mother, and even my own adoptive parents conspired against me. They moved Harper into our home, into my bed, treating her like royalty while I became a prisoner. They painted me as unstable, a threat to the family's image. They accused me of cheating and claimed my child wasn't his. The final command was unthinkable: terminate my pregnancy. They locked me in a room and scheduled the procedure, promising to drag me there if I refused. But they made a mistake. They gave me back my phone to keep me quiet. Feigning surrender, I made one last, desperate call to a number I had kept hidden for years-a number belonging to my biological father, Antony Dean, the head of a family so powerful, they could make my husband's world burn.

Action Modern Romance

Married To My Ex's Ruthless Uncle

Chapter 5

You may also like