No Divorce, Only Widowhood: His Possession

I went to The Ivy to return a box of scripts and hoodies, hoping to finally bury my past with movie star Harrison Knox. I just wanted to be a good wife to Julian Sterling and keep my family’s business merger intact. But Harrison had other plans. He staged a paparazzi ambush, pulling me into a fake embrace just as the cameras flashed. By the time I got home to our Bel Air estate, the headline "Harrison Knox Heartbroken? Tearful Reunion with Serena Vance" was already trending worldwide. The fallout was brutal. My father called, roaring that the stock was in freefall and threatening to stop my mother’s medical payments if I didn't keep Julian happy. My movie funding was pulled, leaving me to pawn my Birkin bags just to pay my staff. Even worse, Julian’s cold indifference turned into a sharp, quiet rage. He heard me tell a friend that our marriage felt like a transaction, and his response was to toss a black Centurion card at my feet like I was something he’d bought at an auction. I was trapped between a narcissist who wanted to use my trauma for his next script and a father who saw me as nothing but a bargaining chip. Even Julian, the man who secretly bought my movie rights through a shell company to protect me, believed I was still screaming my ex's name in my sleep. When my family finally demanded I lie and accuse Julian of domestic abuse to secure a settlement, I realized I had nothing left to lose. I walked away from the Vance name, deleted every memory of Harrison, and stood at the edge of the Pacific Ocean ready to let the tide take me. But Julian didn't come for a divorce. He found me in the dark, his coat heavy on my shoulders and his eyes burning with a possessive fire. "There is no divorce in the Sterling family," he whispered against my ear. "There is only widowhood. You are mine, Serena, until one of us is in the ground."

Chapters

Chapter 5

The lobby of Aurora Pictures was a cathedral of glass and steel, designed to make visitors feel insignificant. Serena walked to the reception desk, her heels clicking with a confidence she didn't feel.

"I have an appointment with Charles Chen," she told the receptionist.

The young woman behind the desk looked up. Her eyes widened slightly-recognition. Then pity.

"Mr. Chen is in a meeting," she said.

"I'll wait," Serena said.

She sat on a leather sofa in the waiting area. She waited for an hour. Then two. People bustled past-producers shouting into phones, actors clutching headshots. No one looked at her. She felt invisible.

Finally, an assistant scurried out. She didn't invite Serena back. She handed her a manila envelope.

"Mr. Chen asked me to give you this," the assistant said, avoiding eye contact. "The funding for Loving You has been placed on indefinite hold."

Serena stood up, the envelope crinkling in her grip. "What? We have a contract."

"Strategic realignment," the assistant recited. "Corporate policy."

"Is this because of the photos?" Serena demanded. "Because of the rumors?"

The assistant shrugged helplessly. "I just work here, Mrs. Sterling."

Serena stormed out of the building. The sun was high and brutal. She felt exposed. Without the Sterling seal of approval, she was toxic.

She drove to Soho House in West Hollywood. She needed a drink, or at least a friend.

Harper was waiting on the terrace, nursing a kale smoothie.

"They pulled the plug," Serena said, collapsing into the chair opposite her.

"I told you," Harper said, shaking her head. "This town has no loyalty. They smell blood in the water. Or in your case, divorce papers."

"We're not getting divorced," Serena said automatically.

"Does Julian know that?" Harper raised an eyebrow. "Look, Ren. Why are you doing this the hard way? You're married to a billionaire. Just ask him for the money. He spends more on car insurance than your budget requires."

"No," Serena said firmly. "I want this to be mine. If I take his money, it's just another thing I owe him. It's just another way I'm... kept."

...

Thirty feet away, behind a dense partition of climbing ivy, Julian Sterling stood perfectly still.

He was walking with two executives from Warner Bros, heading to his private table. As he passed the divide, the familiar cadence of her voice had stopped him cold. He had signaled the executives to continue without him and stepped closer to the greenery, hidden from view.

He listened.

"I don't want his money," Serena's voice drifted through the leaves, low and strained. "It makes me feel like a prostitute. Like I'm selling myself for lifestyle maintenance."

Julian's face went rigid. The temperature around him seemed to drop ten degrees.

He felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest. A prostitute. That was how she saw their marriage? That was how she saw his support?

He turned on his heel.

He didn't confront her. He didn't make a scene. He simply walked away, his stride long and furious, the words echoing in his mind like a curse.

...

"Oh my god," Harper whispered, looking over Serena's shoulder. "Ren. Don't look now."

"What?" Serena turned.

She caught a glimpse of a grey suit jacket disappearing around the corner of the building.

"Was that...?"

"That was Julian," Harper said, her eyes wide. "He looked pissed."

Serena's heart sank. She pulled out her phone and texted him.

Serena: Were you at Soho House?

No reply.

She waited five minutes. Ten.

Nothing.

She put her phone down. She felt sick. He had heard. He had heard her complaining about him, rejecting him.

"I have to fix this," she murmured. But how? She couldn't ask him for money now. It would prove his point-that she was just a gold digger.

She needed cash. Fast. Independent cash.

She looked at her purse. It was a Birkin, a gift from her father for her 21st birthday.

"Harper," Serena said slowly. "Do you still have the number for that consignment shop on Melrose?"

Harper stared at her. "You're going to sell your bags?"

"I'm going to fund my own movie," Serena said. "Whatever it takes."

Continue to next part

Trust shatters when a deep betrayal by a close companion plunges a group into a modern-day nightmare. In this chilling mystery, the line between ally and enemy blurs as horrific secrets emerge from the shadows. As the psychological tension peaks, the protagonists must navigate a web of deception to survive the night. Every choice leads to darker revelations, proving that the people we trust most are often the ones hiding the deadliest intent.

Horror Modern Mystery

8.3

Blood on the Snow, A Lost Life

8.3

On our sixth anniversary, I found my fiancé Carter had given my grandmother's heirloom locket to his "fragile" colleague, Carmen. When I confronted him, he slapped me across the face. He then dragged me out into the snow, forcing me to my knees to apologize to Carmen for upsetting her. The stress and his violence triggered a miscarriage. I was losing our baby right there at his feet. He never even noticed the blood staining the snow. He was too busy comforting the woman he chose over me and our child. I left that night and never looked back. Three years later, after building a new life and a successful bakery, he showed up on my doorstep, a ghost of a man, dying of cancer. He collapsed, coughing up blood at my feet, begging for a forgiveness I no longer had to give.

Horror Romance

9.1

His Orchestrated Love, My Shattered Life

9.1

After a brutal assault cost me my fiancé, my childhood friend swooped in to save me. He married me, cherished me, and I fell in love with the perfect life he built. I thought I had finally found my happy ending. Then, pregnant with our child, I overheard him confessing to my half-sister. He had orchestrated the entire assault. He married me just to stay close to her. In the hospital, she staged an attack, claiming I tried to kill her and her unborn baby. My husband shoved me against the wall, roaring at me as he rushed to her side. "I'll kill you for this!" As I lay bleeding on the cold floor, losing my own child, not a single person looked back. I was just a necessary casualty in his game. But I had recorded her gloating confession. I faked my death and fled to my billionaire mother. He would find out the truth, and I would be the ghost that haunted him to his grave.

Horror Modern Romance

8.9

Shattered Symphony: The Genius Lady Shines Again

8.9

Jacob's voice was terrifyingly calm at the scene of the crash. He wasn't looking at me. He was looking at the gurney being rushed past us. He was holding her hand. Not mine. My right hand was a mangled, swelling mess of flesh, throbbing with blinding agony. Blood soaked my white blouse, turning it a heavy crimson. I tried to show him, whispering that I thought my bones were crushed. He didn't even blink. He just kept pace with the doctors swarming around Cassandra. "She has a head injury, Alexia," he said, his voice tight with a panic he never felt for me. "We have to prioritize. You know how fragile she is. We need you to be strong right now." Because of his "priority," I missed the critical window for surgery. My fingers, once capable of spanning octaves and dancing through concertos, healed into stiff, alien claws. The grand piano in our living room became a coffin for my dreams. For three months, I lived as a ghost in my own home. I watched Jacob comfort Cassandra through her minor headaches while ignoring my ruined nerves. I watched him let her take credit for my music, steal my son's affection, and finally, crush my late mother's locket under her heel with a smile. When I confronted him, he only checked to see if she had twisted her ankle. That was the moment the silence broke. I realized I wasn't his partner; I was just collateral damage. So, when the Vienna Conservatory called offering a position, I didn't ask for his permission. On the night of their engagement party, while fireworks exploded for them outside, I packed a single suitcase. I left the signed divorce papers next to his medical negligence report on the counter, unlocked the door, and walked into the night. I was done waiting for him to choose me.

Horror Romance Sci-Fi

8.1

The Captain's Runaway Genius In Disguise

8.1

I was just a cleaner making fifteen dollars an hour, scrubbing floors to hide from a past that haunted me. But when I walked into a billionaire's pristine penthouse, the suffocating visions hit me again. I saw a woman brutally murdered in a room that had been bleached spotless. I called 911, and that brought the one man I had spent three years running from right to my door: NYPD Captain Kelvin O'Brien. The patrol cops wanted to lock me up because I found the hidden blood too fast. To avoid a psych ward, I had to pretend my horrific supernatural visions were just brilliant deductive logic. I had to physically endure the phantom sensation of the victim's throat being crushed and poison burning her stomach. All while Kelvin cornered me, demanding to know why I abandoned him and my title as the department's greatest asset, "The Oracle." I didn't want to look at dead bodies anymore. I didn't want to feel their agonizing deaths. Why couldn't they just let me disappear? But when the victim's wealthy husband walked into the precinct with a smug smile, ready to get away with murder, I couldn't stand it. I forced myself to relive the victim's dying moments, guiding Kelvin to cut open her decomposed stomach to find the diamond ring she had swallowed. "We have your blood inside her stomach." His perfect alibi was shattered. But when we found an underground syndicate token hidden in his wallet, I knew my quiet life was over.

Billionaire Horror Modern Mystery

7.8

The Cursed Alpha's Luna: Sold to the beast

7.8

"Fuck", I gasped when Kaelen suddenly tore me away from his skin, panting heavily. My fingers shivered. My mind refused to let go of the taste of his lips. I... I just... kissed the beast. What the fuck just happened? ***** Sold to a cursed beast by her wicked father and stepmother as a sacrifice, Mirella concludes that it is the end to her miserable life. However, the unexpected happens - instead of being killed she's marked and claimed by the beast Kaelen! Now she is seen as the only hope for the Alpha's cure, and she's suddenly made the Luna of the pack and his wife. Determined to break the curse and free him so he can let her go, Mirella risks everything. Along the line, things get blurry, and feelings begin to grow for this strange beast... But their happiness comes at a price, a price that Mirella isn't sure she is willing to pay. With the clock ticking down to a dangerous final choice, Mirella must decide whether to save the Alpha or not. Will Mirella abandon the wolf her heart yearns for, or will she risk her life to save his?

Fantasy Horror Werewolf

No Divorce, Only Widowhood: His Possession

Chapter 5

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