The CEO Drove His Mute Wife Away, Now He Regrets
For three years, Adrian's heart belonged to another, and his wife Jessica-mute and unloved-endured his coldness.
Realizing she deserved better, she quietly left him, divorce papers on the table.
Adrian tore them up, accusing her of childish games, but Jessica had no interest in wasting more of her life.
After their split, her voice returned and she was suddenly surrounded by admirers.
Adrian, blinded by jealousy, begged her to come back.
Jessica only laughed, repeating his own words, saying, "Didn't you say love is the most worthless thing in the world?"
Now, she'd never look back.
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Chapter 2
Meanwhile, after Eleanor stepped out of the hotel room, she waited for a long time, yet Adrian never came looking for her.
The realization struck her then that she had gotten out of line, prompting her to hurry back toward the room.
What she did not expect was that the moment she reached the door, unmistakable sounds of intimacy drifted from inside the room.
Fury flared instantly in Eleanor's eyes.
Adrian had always indulged her without restraint, yet he had never once slept with her.
It had not been for her lack of effort; she had gone out of her way to seduce him, only to be met with his cold indifference.
She had assumed that maybe his desires for intimacy were simply lukewarm, only to find him passionately having sex with Jessica now.
A sense of crisis she had never known before surged violently through Eleanor's chest.
Her fingers curled into a tight fist as a malicious idea appeared in her mind.
***
Jessica had no memory of when she had lost consciousness, but when awareness returned, she found herself already inside the Iris Mansion.
She lay alone on the bedroom bed; from the bathroom came the steady sound of running water, and she could see the faint outline of a figure inside.
Gathering her exhausted body, Jessica made her way downstairs, where breakfast had already been laid out by the servants.
She motioned the servants away, then poured coffee, juice, and milk, carefully setting the glasses at Adrian's usual spot.
Not long after, Adrian finished washing up and came downstairs, taking his seat at the dining table.
He reached for the coffee, and that single choice told Jessica he intended to head out once breakfast was over.
They ate without exchanging a word, and when they finished, Jessica went to get a fresh suit, preparing to assist him in changing.
Before she could move closer, Adrian turned his gaze on her and spoke in a low voice. "I'm going to the Buckley Estate today. You will accompany me."
Jessica froze for a brief moment, then gave a silent nod.
She then signed, "Should I wear something suitable for the occasion?"
Adrian caught the gesture, and as he studied her compliant expression, an irritation he could not explain stirred inside him.
Was that truly the only look she could offer him?
Had he married a wife, or some emotionless machine incapable of feeling?
This was utterly boring!
Jessica noticed his features harden at once and assumed she must have said something wrong. Panic flickered through her as she hastily began signing something, her movements growing more frantic by the second.
The flurry of complicated gestures only deepened Adrian's frustration since he could not make sense of them at all.
His gaze shifted away from her hands, his voice turning glacial as he said, "Wear whatever you want."
With that, he snatched the suit jacket from her hand and stormed out the door.
Not daring to let him wait for her for too long, Jessica rushed upstairs, slipped into a plain outfit without bothering with makeup, then hurried out after him.
By then, Adrian was already seated inside his black Rolls-Royce.
The rear door remained ajar, an unmistakable sign that it had been left open for Jessica.
Reclining against the seat, Adrian was resting, his eyes closed, his sharp profile softened by an uncharacteristic air of languid ease.
Steadying her breathing, Jessica climbed into the car without hesitation.
The vehicle glided smoothly toward the Buckley Estate, yet Jessica's mind wandered as she looked at the passing scenery outside the window.
Truth be told, she held little weight as Adrian's wife in the eyes of others.
That was because her marriage to Adrian had always been out of obligation rather than love.
Years ago, the Buckley Group had been framed and collapsed almost overnight.
On his deathbed, Keith Buckley had sent his eldest grandson, Adrian, to seek shelter with the Howard family, pledging that should the Buckley family ever rise again, a member of the Howards would become the wife of Adrian, heir to the Buckley family.
At the time, the Buckleys had set their sights on Eleanor, who was closer to Adrian.
The two appeared perfectly suited for each other.
And Adrian was genuinely fond of Eleanor, treating her with rare indulgence despite his normally reserved nature.
With Eleanor's agreement secured, the Howard family accepted the arrangement, planning to let Eleanor marry Adrian.
Yet the Buckley family failed to reclaim their former power for many years, and during that long period of time, Eleanor had a change of heart.
To her, a successor of a powerful family held far greater appeal than a man weighed down by a fallen lineage.
So, as soon as she graduated from university, she wasted no time getting together with a rich heir and marrying him.
Most people assumed the old arrangement would just be canceled like that, believing the Howard family had wronged Adrian.
Yet, contrary to every expectation, Adrian later single-handedly restored the Buckley family to its former glory and honored Keith's final wish by marrying a different daughter of the Howard couple.
Even so, Adrian likely harbored bitterness over Eleanor's betrayal which resulted in his marriage to a woman who could not speak, and that was why the union came without flowers, without rings, and without a ceremony; the Buckley family also never made any public acknowledgment of it.
In fact, many people were completely unaware that Adrian was married.
Jessica, though bearing the title of Adrian's wife, was nothing more than collateral damage in the tangled affairs between Adrian and Eleanor.
By the time the car pulled into the Buckley Estate, the clock had already edged past eleven in the morning.
It was nearly lunchtime, and the Buckley family had gathered in the dining room, voices overlapping with laughter and conversation.
Adrian guided Jessica inside and called out casually, "Mom."
Cheryl Buckley, Adrian's mother, had been mid-conversation with a relative. Hearing her son's voice, she turned with a smile and began, "Adrian, you're back—"
The smile faltered the instant her eyes landed on Jessica standing behind Adrian, her tone cooling as she said, "It's good that you've returned, but why bring a burden like her here?"
At Cheryl's sharp comment, the lively atmosphere in the room vanished, laughter dying as silence spread across the dining room.
Members of the Buckley family glanced between Cheryl and Jessica, their expressions shifting as they silently observed the unfolding scene.
Jessica was well aware that Cheryl harbored no fondness for her.
Even so, with so many eyes on her, an unavoidable wave of awkwardness and humiliation crept in.
Her complexion pale, she stepped forward, offering greetings to each family member in turn.
Cheryl let out a scoff and said, "Sit down. Don't act like I'm mistreating you."
The Buckley family noticed the tension in the air and quickly attempted to smooth things over, forcing cheer into their voices.
"Adrian, Jessica, you're finally back. It has been so long!"
"That's right. They've been married for three years already, haven't they? How come they still haven't had a child?"
"Adrian, when are you planning to have children? It would make your mother very happy if you did."
Before Adrian could answer, Cheryl set her coffee cup down on the table with a loud thud, her expression icy as she spoke. "Children? He already married a mute woman. Does he need to give me a mute grandchild as well? I would be utterly humiliated if that happened!"
At those words, Adrian turned his head to look at Jessica.
She stood beside him with her head lowered, loose strands of hair slipping down to hide her eyes, leaving only her pale chin visible as she appeared almost pitiful.
A sudden tightness filled Adrian's chest, and he loosened the tie at his collar.
One relative, emboldened by her closeness to Cheryl, said, "Cheryl, you're worrying too much. Adrian's wife was not born mute, so even if she had a child, the child wouldn't inherit that trait."
Cheryl showed no intention of backing down, her expression sharpening further as she replied, "Who knows what kind of genes run in the Howard family? Eleanor behaves without restraint; Jessica cannot even speak. I find them so irritating!"
She then turned her gaze toward Adrian and added pointedly, "Besides, Adrian has no interest in having children; isn't that right, Adrian?"
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8.6
It was my birthday, but instead of celebrating, I was bleeding on the floor of my own bedroom. My sister Serena had just smashed a champagne bottle over my legs, her eyes filled with a dark madness because our father allowed me to wear the family diamonds.
To escape her, I bolted into a pitch-black guest suite, only to be grabbed by a man who felt like a wall of solid muscle. He was drugged, unstable, and pinned me against the wall, his teeth sinking into my neck in a primal claim that left a permanent mark.
I managed to flee, but the nightmare was just beginning. My father didn't care about my injuries; he only cared that I had "insulted" the man in that room—Delos French, the most powerful CEO in New York. He threatened to stop paying for my mother’s critical care facility unless I went to Delos and begged for his forgiveness.
My brother Julian was even worse, intentionally pouring scalding coffee over my bandaged wounds just to see me flinch. They forced me into a revealing gold dress, treating me like a high-priced commodity to be sold to the highest bidder to save their failing company.
I didn't understand how the people who were supposed to love me could be more predatory than the monster in the dark. I had spent my life fixing their scandals, yet they were ready to throw me to the wolves the moment I became useful as a pawn.
But when I stood before Delos French at his gala, he didn't see a trophy. He recognized my scent, my touch, and the fire in my eyes. He trapped me in his private lounge, kneeling to clean the blood from my injured feet.
"Marry me," he whispered, his voice a low, terrifying growl. "And I will give you the power to burn your family to the ground."
I looked into the eyes of the man who had hunted me and realized he was the only one offering me a weapon to destroy the people who had broken me.
"Okay," I whispered.
7.4
For six years, I worked myself to the bone to support my "struggling artist" boyfriend, Kasen. I paid the rent on our leaky Brooklyn apartment and believed in his dream, thinking our love was real.
That all ended one rainy night when I delivered documents to an exclusive club and overheard him with his wealthy friends. Our life, he said, was just a "sociological experiment."
He wasn't poor at all. He was a trust fund heir with a fiancée in the Hamptons, waiting to close a corporate merger.
"Kaia is just a naive pet who voluntarily pays my rent," he laughed over a three-thousand-dollar glass of scotch.
He told them girls like me were so desperate we'd come crawling back for a scrap of affection. My entire world shattered.
I packed my bags and walked out that night with eighty-four dollars to my name, ready to start over. But escaping one monster only threw me to another. The next day, a predatory client tried to drug me during a business meeting.
My boss, the terrifyingly powerful CEO Camden William, intervened. But after a night of drug-induced chaos, I woke up in his bed.
He didn't offer an apology. He offered a contract. "Marry me for three years," he commanded, "and I'll give you five million dollars and make sure Kasen can never touch you again."
9.8
I sat in the VIP waiting room of the fertility clinic, clutching the report that confirmed my implantation was a success. After years of struggling, I finally had a reason to make my marriage with Garnett work.
But when I went to find him in the lounge, I heard a woman’s laughter coming from behind the door. It was his mistress, Alison. I froze as I heard Garnett’s cold, dismissive voice.
"She’s just an incubator."
"Once the heir is born, we kick her out. The trust fund only requires a legitimate heir born to my wife. It doesn't require the wife to stick around afterwards."
The betrayal went deeper than I could have imagined. I soon discovered the clinic had botched the procedure—the baby I was carrying wasn't even Garnett’s. It was donor sperm from Sterling Sharp, the most powerful tech mogul in the world.
When my in-laws forced me to move into their estate for "monitoring," I realized I was entering a cage. Garnett and his mistress were paying the family doctor to inject me with hallucinogens to mimic a mental breakdown. They planned to declare me legally incompetent and commit me to an asylum the second I gave birth.
I stood in the shadows of the East Wing, realizing my husband wasn't just stealing my child—he was trying to delete my mind. The people I called family were poisoning me daily, waiting for me to break so they could claim a legacy that wasn't even theirs.
They wanted a madwoman, so I decided to give them one. I turned the doctor into my double agent, faked every symptom of a breakdown, and began building a secret empire from the shadows. Garnett thinks he’s trapped an incubator, but he’s actually locked himself in with a nuclear weapon.
8.5
Hadley married into the Jacobson family, a ruthless Wall Street empire. Her prenuptial agreement was absolute: she wouldn't touch a penny of the family wealth until she produced an heir.
But one rainy night, she used a copied keycard to enter a secret Tribeca penthouse, only to find her husband tangled in bed with a famous actress.
When she slapped the divorce papers in front of him, Cleveland didn't apologize.
"The party who files walks away with nothing. You will die in this position."
He tore the documents to pieces. To protect his flawless public image, he forced Hadley to attend family galas, smirking coldly while his grandfather publicly humiliated her for her "barren" stomach. When Hadley finally fought back and confronted his mistress, Cleveland snapped. With a single phone call, he froze her bank accounts, revoked her access to their home, and left her stranded in a cold parking garage.
She had given up her independence for a man who treated her like a useless breeding machine. He thought he could erase three years of her life in an instant, confident that his money made him invincible.
But Cleveland didn't know she was holding the ultimate weapon to destroy his precious legacy. As he received a frantic call about his mistress and rushed to his SUV, Hadley finally screamed the agonizing secret she had hidden for years.
"I can't give you an heir! It's over!"
Watching his taillights disappear into the dark, Hadley prepared to burn his empire to the ground.
8.0
She's working tirelessly to support her family, unaware that the man she's serving as an assistant is the CEO she once saved from a minor accident. Professional boundaries blur, tension ignites, and forbidden attraction threatens everything. Can love survive when secrets are revealed, or will ambition and pride destroy them both?
8.0
I spent six years as a "shadow asset" for the Holmes family, a brilliant scholar living in a cramped Queens apartment on a secret scholarship. I was their silent investment, a ghost in their machine, until the day a fluorescent orange eviction notice appeared on my door.
The legal documents from Holmes Holdings were brutal. They were terminating my sponsorship and demanding immediate repayment of every cent of my tuition. The reason was buried in the fine print: a moral turpitude clause. I was pregnant with a Holmes heir, and in their world, that made me a liability that needed to be erased.
Ingram Holmes, the family’s cold-blooded CEO, didn't see a woman; he saw a line item on a balance sheet. He offered me a million dollars to disappear, abort the child, and sign away my existence. He had me escorted to a private clinic like a criminal, ready to finalize my erasure. But the plan shattered when his grandmother, the matriarch of the family, collapsed in a sudden cardiac arrest.
As the doctors failed, I stepped out of the shadows. I diagnosed the toxicity they couldn't see and brought her back from the brink of death. I wasn't the helpless charity case they expected. I was a genius who knew their medical secrets better than their own surgeons.
"Who are you?" Ingram growled, pinning me against a desk in his frozen office.
I didn't blink. I had just secured the family's ancient signet ring and a seat at their table. Now, I’m living in his manor, sharing his bed, and holding the keys to the vault that contains their darkest sins.
"I'm the problem you can't afford to solve," I whispered.
The game has changed. I’m no longer the asset—I’m the hunter.