Once Her Betrothed, Now Her Judge

After five years of abandonment at the border, General Gideon is confronted by Princess Winona, who arrives with wedding gifts and a bold demand. Having fathered a child with a musician named Shane, she expects Gideon to accept an equal consort position. Winona mistakes his long silence for devotion, unaware that the man she left behind is now a hardened military leader. Insulted by the comparison to a musician, Gideon orders her seizure, proving his blade is far more than a mere decoration.

Chapters

Chapter 2

[Gideon's POV]

I narrowed my eyes slightly. Of course I'd kept the paperweight—it was a constant reminder that Winona still owed me a blood debt.

If the empress weren't coming to inspect the city tomorrow and had banned all blades in advance, my first instinct would've been to cut Winona down the moment I saw her.

At my silence, Winona assumed she'd hit the mark. She smiled to herself, looking smug and satisfied. "You're only being so harsh because you're mad I haven't visited you in five years, but I know you still think about me and love me. I bet you can't wait to crawl into my bed tonight.

"I'm beautiful enough to bring kingdoms to their knees and practically a goddess in the flesh, yet I still ended up in your hands. You really are blessed, Gideon."

"Get out!" I snapped, my voice cracking like a whip. I shoved her straight out of my tent.

"That armor looks surprisingly good on you," she said. Her smile turned playful, almost teasing. "If you really miss me that badly, I can give you the chance to share my bed tonight."

My gaze turned cold as I watched her saunter off with her guards, completely unbothered. I turned to Tom and said, "If she dares to come here again, deal with her under military law. It doesn't matter if she lives or dies."

…

That night, I sent my most trusted officers out to keep a close watch on the movements of the Horindean forces. I had to make sure nothing would go wrong during the empress' city inspection.

Only a few newly reassigned sentries were left standing guard outside my tent.

When Winona arrived with Shane in tow, I was in the middle of reviewing the border defense map. She let out a smug little laugh, wearing a look that practically said, "I knew it."

"Gideon, you left your lamp burning late to lure me here in the middle of the night. Is it because you're trying to cozy up to me?" She sighed in mock helplessness. "You really don't have to scheme this hard. Since I've already agreed to marry you, I won't go back on my word."

I ignored her. That probably made her feel embarrassed, because her tone turned sharp and impatient. "Gideon! Enough with this act. You were so cold to me in the day, yet here you are, leaving a light on late into the night to draw me in.

"It's all because you want my body, right? You think that once you've had me and the deed is done, you can use that to lock down my heart."

My stomach lurched, and I nearly gagged from disgust. I was just about to call for someone to drag her out when I remembered I'd already sent all my confidants out.

"You're the princess of a county, yet your brain is filled with nothing but filth. You must be sick in the head," I said, sneering. Then, in an ice-cold voice, I snapped, "Get out!"

"How dare you!" Winona's face flushed red, and her chest heaved with rage. "I was kind enough to bring Shane to meet you, yet you don't appreciate it at all. You two will be the people I rely on most in the future. Aren't you going to give your brother-in-arms a proper greeting?"

She wanted me, a border general, to give a musician from an enemy nation a proper greeting?

How absurd!

When I didn't move, Shane Lodge strolled forward, bringing a five-year-old boy with him. He drawled, "So you're Gideon? You really do have a fine face."

His gaze, carrying a faint, vicious edge, swept over me. "No wonder Her Highness loses sleep over you."

As he spoke, he stepped closer, reaching out to clap a hand on my shoulder.

I caught a glimpse of a blade hidden up his sleeve. On instinct, I pulled back. Before I could do anything else, Shane dropped to the ground ahead of me with a thud.

He cried out in pain and looked up at me. "Gideon, if you don't like me, I can just leave Her Highness. But why draw a knife on me and cut my hand?"

Winona's face turned pale. She hurried to cradle his injured hand, then lifted his head to glare at me, her eyes blazing with rage. "How dare you, Gideon! I'll have your head if Shane's hand is ruined!"

I let out a cold laugh and didn't bother answering.

The young boy suddenly burst into loud sobs and rushed over, pummeling my leg with his fists. "You nasty man! You stole my mother and hurt my father! I'll beat you to death! Just die already!"

"Enough of this!" I flung him aside.

Continue to next part

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Action Adventure Modern Mystery Romance

9.0

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

9.0

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

Action Modern Romance

8.4

My Enemy Came Back for Me

8.4

Three years post-graduation, Chase Levine is working as a humble waiter when he encounters his former classmates. Led by his rival Elliot and his cruel ex-girlfriend, the group subjects Chase to brutal humiliation, forcing him to his knees for petty cash. However, the atmosphere shifts instantly when the restaurant manager recognizes Chase as someone of immense status. With blood on his face and his cover blown, Chase declares that no one will be allowed to leave the room.

Action Modern Mystery

7.3

OWNED BY THE RUTHLESS MAFIA

7.3

I was never supposed to step into his world. I was just a daughter trying to survive the wreckage of a father's mistakes. A quiet girl living a small, careful life-until one night shattered everything I thought I knew about fear, power, and possession. They say the mafia doesn't forgive. They say debts are paid in blood. They never warned me that sometimes, the price is a woman. Luciano De Luca. The name alone makes men lower their voices and avert their eyes. A king without a crown. A devil in a tailored suit. He rules the underworld with calculated brutality, commanding loyalty through fear and obedience through bloodshed. To him, mercy is a weakness-and love is a lie told by foolish men before they die. Luciano is not a man you reason with. He is power, violence, and control wrapped in a deadly calm. A mafia king who destroys without mercy and takes without permission. When my father fails to pay his debt, Luciano takes me instead. I become his collateral. His punishment. His possession. Trapped in his world of blood and secrets, I am nothing more than a reminder of betrayal-kept under his watch, bound by his rules, and stripped of every illusion of freedom. Luciano made it clear from the start: I am not his guest. I am not his lover. I am not free. I am his possession. He watches me like a predator studying prey-cold, assessing, waiting for me to break. He expects fear to reduce me to nothing. He expects me to beg. To submit. But I don't. And that defiance ignites something far more dangerous than hatred in him. But somewhere between the locked doors and the whispered threats, I realize something dangerous: the man who owns me is far more broken than he wants the world to know. Luciano De Luca is ruthless-but he is not heartless. He is controlling-but barely. And every time I challenge him, every time I look him in the eyes without flinching, something dark and volatile stirs beneath his calm exterior. Luciano doesn't love. He claims. He controls. He owns. Yet the more he tries to crush my spirit, the more obsessed he becomes. His protection turns violent. His control turns suffocating. His eyes follow me like a promise and a threat all at once. He says I am his weakness. His mistake. His curse. Yet when enemies circle too close, it is Luciano who shields me with his body. When danger threatens, it is his voice that growls warnings, his hands that tighten possessively, his presence that promises violence to anyone who dares touch what is his. Because once a mafia king decides you belong to him... escape is no longer an option. I am trapped in a golden cage built from power, luxury, and danger-but the greatest threat isn't the guns, the blood, or the men who would kill for him. It's the way Luciano looks at me when he thinks I'm not watching. The way his control fractures when I'm hurt. The way his name feels dangerous on my lips. Because loving a mafia king is not a fairy tale. It's a war. A war between survival and desire. Between freedom and obsession. Between the girl I used to be and the woman his darkness is shaping me into. The deeper I fall into his world, the more I uncover secrets buried beneath his cruelty-betrayals that made him this way, scars that never healed, enemies that would destroy us both if given the chance. And as the line between captor and protector blurs, I'm forced to face a devastating truth: The man who owns my body may soon own my heart. But loving Luciano De Luca comes at a cost. Because in his world, love is a liability. And the moment he chooses me... is the moment he paints a target on my back. Will I escape the man who claims to own me? Or will I surrender to the darkness that refuses to let me go? In a world ruled by blood, power, and betrayal, one innocent woman will discover that the most dangerous thing of all... is being loved by a ruthless mafia king.

Action Horror Mafia

9.6

Shredding Riches, Sparking Madness

9.6

Betrayed by her husband and framed for plagiarism by his childhood sweetheart, a brilliant researcher died in disgrace. Now reborn on the very day her reputation was destroyed, she chooses a radical path of defiance. Instead of handing over her million-dollar production patent to a corrupt government and a lying spouse, she feeds the manuscript to pigs. This time, she will not be a victim of their greed or their lethal accusations. She is ready to reclaim her life and spark madness.

Action Modern Mystery

9.0

The Disabled CEO's Swapped Bride

9.0

After being swapped at birth, a young woman is reclaimed by her wealthy parents only to be forced into a substitute marriage. Though branded as the "evil sister," she is secretly a brilliant designer and street racer. Her new husband, a billionaire heir in a wheelchair, views her as a pawn until she reveals she knows he can walk. In this romance novel, their forced union transforms into a deep connection as her hidden talents and sharp wit captivate the man who thought he could control her.

Action Billionaire Modern Romance Young Adult

Once Her Betrothed, Now Her Judge

Chapter 2

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