Married To The Riveted Duke
"...If she gets close to me by chance, I'll be force to separate you from her." He threatened his wife.
"If we aren't welcome, we may as well leave your house and go back to where we came from." She replied boldly.
"And you think I'll allow you to go that easily?...You're my wife and whatever I say stands. Don't think you can get away from me easily."
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Rebecca's only desire is to be with the one she thinks loves her. But her heart gets broken when he leaves her and ends the relationship. She conceals her pregnancy and deals with her burden alone. Duke Williams seeks her hand in marriage and marries her, well aware that she is pregnant with another's child.
As she lives with her husband, she realizes the true reasons why he had married her. Duke Williams has been her secret admirer, obsessed with her beauty and only wants her for himself.
Rebecca's love life gets threatened when her child's father returns and an unexpected ex moves into her husband's house. Will she be able to save everything she loves or let her home fall apart?
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Chapter 1
"Congratulations, Becky! You're officially a duchess."
"Formality!" The Duke reminded sternly, without making eye contact with his wife.
"Oh, sorry! I almost forgot, Duchess Rebecca!" Crystal, her best friend, said cheerily and curtsied.
Rebecca smiled faintly and looked at her husband. She saw that his facial expression wasn't welcoming-cold and nonchalant-and heaved sadly. She had her eyes on her parents, whom seemed pleased with the marriage.
When the Duke had sought for her hand in marriage, she simply obliged without hesitation. She had already got pregnant out of wedlock and couldn't bear to bring more shame to her family's reputation. Her belly was big as she was in the first month in her third trimester.
"Your grace!" His horseman said with a bow,
"We have to return home before night falls. It would be unsafe for the Duchess to travel at night especially in the condition she is in."
"Mm!" The Duke hummed and flashed a glance at Rebecca. His eyes were fixed on her belly, irritated at the sight. He knew perfectly well she was pregnant before he proposed to her.
Rebecca felt nervous by the cold stare he gave her and wished she could disappear but sighed when she knew her nightmares had just begun. Her mother walked towards her with teary eyes and hugged her.
"I'm going to miss you, my dear." Hilda said ruefully.
"I will too." Rebecca said wryly, holding onto her tight. She knew it would take a long time before she would feel such embrace again.
"Come on, Hilda! You're delaying the couple. They have to leave. You're well aware that the Duke comes from a far place." Edward said calmly, gently breaking the hug.
Hilda sniffed and replied in a nod. She had her arm round his side. Rebecca looked at Crystal, who did her best not to break down in front of her best friend. She smiled and waved goodbye at her friend. Crystal reciprocated.
The Duke led the way to the carriage and held it open for his wife. Rebecca stood at the door and stalled for a minute. She turned her head round and looked at her family. She faked her happiness in front of them. She turned to her husband, who didn't look pleased with his decision.
Rebecca entered the carriage and sat down. The duke came in minutes later and the horseman closed the door. She peeked through the window and had her eyes on the sun, which was slowly at the horizon. The horses neighed and the carriage began to move. The Duke sat opposite her.
Rebecca's eyes met his and he looked away. She couldn't help but wonder what he thought about her.
"Why does he keep staring? Does he despise me that much?" She thought and bit her lips nervously.
Rebecca fidgeted her fingers and didn't bother to talk to him. The Duke lived in the next village, which was miles away from Rebecca's hometown-Strathpeffer. The carriage pulled over in front of a house. One of the Duke's stewards, who had stood outside the house, opened the door. He helped Rebecca to get out and held it open for his master.
"Your grace!" The steward acknowledged him with a bow.
The Duke ignored him and walked to the house. Rebecca looked at the building and was astonished. The house was built in a classic architecture-Victorian house. The roofs were hipped; it had turrets windows; the porches had woodwork on them; the asymmetrical shapes made the house exquisite both in its exterior and interior and had bay windows.
Rebecca remembered where she was and entered the house. As she entered the living room, she saw the maids standing in a queue and all curtsied as she got closer. She was stunned by the respect, hence, she wasn't used to the formal greetings.
"Your grace!" A man beside the mantle said and bowed at her.
"Thomas!" A steel voice called him from the end of the room.
All eyes-Rebecca and Thomas'-were on him.
"Duke Williams," Thomas said plainly,
"It's good to see you. For a moment there, I thought you wouldn't arrive before the crickets began to chirp."
"Well, you guessed wrong. I see you're already acquainted with the duchess." Williams said sternly, keeping a straight face.
"I haven't done much for an introduction." Thomas said frankly.
Williams looked at his wife plainly and let out a sigh.
"Her name is Rebecca; as you already know, she is the Duchess. So do your best not to annoy her like you do often to me." Williams instructed firmly.
"I will my best not to, Your grace." Thomas answered submissively.
"Hm!" Williams hummed,
"Have the midwife attend to her."
"There is certainly no need for a midwife. I'm-." Rebecca said cowardly.
"You're not allowed to speak unless you're asked to do so." Williams cut her off, in a firm voice.
Rebecca hung her head, embarrassed by her action.
"I'm sorry, Your grace." She apologized.
"Thomas?"
"I will go and call the midwife." Thomas said and quickly left them.
Williams watched him as he left. He looked at the maids. Neither of them dared to look up; all had their gaze on the floor.
"You!" He called one of them sternly.
The maid by the right, cowardly raised her head and quickly avoided his fiery eyes.
"Show the Duchess to her room." He ordered.
The maid replied in a nod, still didn't make eye contact with Williams. Williams glanced at everyone in the room, except his wife and left the room.
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7.8
Helen was finally brought back to the luxurious Gallagher estate as their long-lost blood relative.
But her new family didn't welcome her; they looked at her with undisguised disgust.
The matriarch mocked her stench of poverty, while her step-sister Candice treated her like a feral animal. The patriarch, Fredy—who had built his empire by betraying Helen's mother—tried to break her spirit. He blackmailed Helen into attending a high-society gala by threatening to cut off her grandmother's medical funds.
At the gala, Candice squeezed into a diamond-encrusted gown, desperate to seduce the guest of honor, Damian Montgomery. Damian was the most powerful man in New York, and he was currently tearing the city apart looking for a mysterious woman named Jane.
Overhearing this, a sick, greedy smile spread across Candice's face. She planned to impersonate Jane to claim Damian's wealth and completely crush Helen under her heel.
"Hide in the corner tonight. Don't you dare try to speak to anyone important!"
They all thought Helen was just a helpless, uncultured country girl they could easily manipulate and step on to secure their stolen legacy.
What they didn't know was that Helen was the real Jane. She was the lethal shadow who had saved Damian in the woods, shattered his grip, and robbed his highly guarded vault just the night before.
Helen calmly adjusted her simple black dress and stepped into the ballroom, ready to tear their stolen world apart.
8.1
I died once. Betrayed, broken, and discarded by the most powerful man in New York.
Now, I'm back. Reborn on the very day my husband, Dante Moretti, handed me an expulsion agreement. But this time, I know his secret. The coldness in his eyes isn't cruelty; it's a slow-acting poison, a betrayal creeping through his veins, fed to him by those closest to him.
This time, I don't cower. I meet his icy command with a slap and an ultimatum: I carry his heir. To cast me out is to sentence his own bloodline to death.
He is the untouchable Don, a king on a poisoned throne, fighting a war within his own mind. I am the ghost of the queen he tried to break, armed with the memories of our enemies' every move.
I won't be a pawn in their game again. I will dismantle them all, from my treacherous sister to the viper he calls a mother. I will be the queen he needs, even if he fights me every step of the way.
It's a vendetta.
9.1
I stood at the altar in a fifty-thousand-dollar custom lace gown, waiting to marry the boy I had loved since I was five.
But Silas didn't say "I do."
He answered a phone call, turned pale, and bolted toward the exit as if the gates of hell had opened, leaving me to face five hundred of New York's most dangerous criminals alone.
He left me for a waitress named Lola.
The humiliation was suffocating. The elite of the Five Families looked at me with pity, a Genovese princess rejected for trash.
When Silas finally returned, he didn't apologize.
He showed up with hickeys on his neck, clinging to Lola, and had the audacity to suggest I become his mistress.
He even demanded I hand over my dowry—millions in weapons and cash—so he could fund their lifestyle and "redecorate" with her.
He thought I was still the innocent girl who would beg for his scraps.
He didn't realize that in the moment he ran, a shadow had stepped forward to fill the void.
Dante Moretti. The Don. Silas's uncle.
The most feared man in the city looked at me with dark, predatory eyes and offered me a choice: be a victim, or be a Queen.
"Since you are to marry a Moretti," Dante said, extending his scarred hand, "why not marry the head of the table?"
I looked at the door where Silas had disappeared, then at the Reaper standing before me.
"I do," I whispered.
Silas thought he had ruined my life, but he only cleared the way for me to marry the monster who would burn the world down for me.
7.6
Top DEA agent Kaitlynn Bruce woke up to a heavy, chemical lethargy, only to realize she was trapped in the body of a weak, abused war widow.
Before she could even process her new reality, she heard her sister-in-law counting cash, selling her unconscious body to a local thug for a measly two hundred dollars.
The thug dragged her new seven-year-old son, Cason, into the bedroom.
"Mommy!"
When the boy reached out, the man brutally kicked his small body into a wooden doorframe, leaving him gasping and bleeding on the floor.
Memories flooded Kaitlynn's mind. Her predecessor was a pathetic doormat whose husband's military pension had been bled dry by these greedy in-laws, leaving her children to starve and suffer endless abuse.
But as Kaitlynn looked at the bleeding boy's dark, unnervingly alert eyes, a chilling piece of DEA intelligence clicked in her mind.
Cason Richmond.
The name, the town, the abusive aunt—it all matched the classified files of the "Director of the Hive," the most ruthless and feared cartel puppet master in the criminal underworld.
How could this battered, starving child be destined to become the ultimate monster she used to hunt?
The original widow's tragic death was supposed to be the catalyst that pushed this boy into total darkness.
But Kaitlynn Bruce was not a victim.
Adrenaline burning through the drugs, she cracked the thug's neck with a brass lamp and choked the sister-in-law against the wall.
Looking down at the boy who was supposed to become a global nightmare, she made a vow. She was going to rewrite his script, even if she had to burn the whole world down to do it.
7.8
Growing up as the maid's daughter in the glittering, suffocating Collins mansion, Nora Macie has perfected the art of being invisible. Enter Asher Collins. Rich, ruthless, and infuriatingly untouchable, unfortunately for Nora, her stepbrother has always had the power to ruin her with a single word.
The moment a private video she never intended anyone to see is accidentally sent straight to Asher Collins. Except Asher doesn't expose her. He becomes curious... and dangerously invested.
He will remake her. Not just into someone noticed, but into someone unforgettable, someone who commands attention the moment she walks into a room.
Suddenly, the boys who never knew her name are watching her. Through it all, Asher remains in control... or at least he should be.
Because the closer Nora gets to becoming everything he designed, the harder it becomes for him to remember that she was never meant to be his.
*
His fingers lifted, brushing lightly along the side of her throat. "I think you've been lying to yourself," he said. "Because your body already knows what it wants."
Her breath faltered. "I swear, I'll kill you if you don't back the hell up."
And then, without giving her the chance to retreat, he closed the final inch between them. "I would much rather you kiss me."
7.3
My wife, Elena, walked into the Grand Boardroom and placed a possessive hand on her lover's chest.
Julian, a low-level associate I’d only hired as a favor to her, sat in my chair with his muddy boots on the polished mahogany table.
He blew smoke in my face and laughed.
"You're just a figurehead now, Dante. The Syndicate belongs to Elena. And since I'm the one keeping her happy at night, it belongs to me too."
Elena looked at me with cold eyes, delivering the ultimate betrayal without a shred of remorse.
"I'm pregnant, Dante. It's Julian's. We need the Moretti name for the baby, so sign the transfer papers and leave."
She believed the power of attorney documents I signed while delirious with fever had given her my empire.
She thought the mercenaries standing behind her were loyal to her checkbook.
She truly believed she could fire a Don like a mid-level manager caught stealing office supplies.
But she didn't know that in our world, loyalty isn't bought with stolen money.
And she certainly didn't know what was actually in the leather folder she was holding.
I looked at the traitor and the rat, feeling a strange, lethal sense of calm.
"You want to talk about papers?"
I tossed the real file onto the table, watching their smiles falter.
"You didn't sign a transfer of power, Elena. You signed a Renunciation of Protection."
I signaled my Enforcers, and the room exploded into motion.
"Now," I said, staring at Julian's terrified face. "Let's see how much the streets respect you without my name."