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 4
Outside the car, Eleanor fell into step beside Adrian as they entered the company building together.
Her gaze flicked to his unreadable profile, and she carefully steered the conversation back to what had happened the day before. "Yesterday was on me. I acted without thinking and pushed you about the divorce. I already said sorry, so please stop being upset with me."
She had acted on impulse yesterday, insisting he end his marriage to her mute sister as if his indulgence toward her had no limits.
Adrian could give her almost anything. But the word divorce drew a hard line he refused to cross.
He had always insisted that nothing romantic existed between him and Jessica, claiming his marriage was nothing more than a duty carried out to fulfill his grandfather's final wish.
But Keith had been gone for years now. Eleanor believed that surely the old man could be at peace by this point.
Besides, she was also a member of the Howard family. Why was it unacceptable for her to stand in Jessica's place as Adrian's wife?
The answer was simple. Adrian just didn't want that.
People around them all said Adrian loved her deeply. Even after she became a widow with a child, he welcomed her back without hesitation and treated her with care reserved only for her.
Still, Eleanor could never fully feel his affection toward her. It felt veiled, blurred behind something she could not name, and the uncertainty left her uneasy, no matter how often she tried to ignore it.
When they reached the elevator, Adrian came to a halt.
He loosened her grip from his arm, fingers gentle but decisive, and met her eyes. "Eleanor, what I promised you will never change. I do not care how many marriages you have had or how many children you are raising; I will take care of you for the rest of your life."
Warmth began to rise in Eleanor's chest, and she was ready to lean into the moment when the temperature in Adrian's voice suddenly dropped as he continued, "In the same way, what I promised Jessica also stands. If she is willing, she will remain my wife for life."
Jessica had been the granddaughter-in-law Keith had personally chosen back then.
But the debt he owed Eleanor from his younger years had rendered Adrian unable to make a decision about whom to marry.
Luckily, three years ago, everything finally settled into its proper place, and Jessica became his wife.
At the same time, he intended to keep the promise he had made in his youth and look after Eleanor for as long as he lived.
The moment his words sank in, anger rushed through Eleanor's chest.
If the title of wife belonged to Jessica, then what role was left for her in his life?
Was she meant to have no status, forever a mistress to him?
Eleanor's hands curled into tight fists as she forced tears into her eyes. With a wounded tone, she said, "Adrian, I understand how trapped you are. But we were the ones who loved each other back then. If my parents had not been so greedy as to marry me off to another guy, none of this would have happened—"
Unwilling to let her continue, Adrian interjected softly, "The past does not need to be revisited. From now on, I will make sure to treat you well. Is there something you want these days?"
Catching the trace of irritation hidden beneath his composed expression, Eleanor immediately adjusted her strategy. "There was a necklace at the last auction that caught my eye."
Adrian curved his lips slightly, his expression calm. "I will get it for you."
Content with the answer, Eleanor trailed after Adrian as they entered the elevator together.
Meanwhile, Jessica did not return home.
She instructed the driver to stop at a quiet street corner, then stepped out of the car.
Walking a short distance by herself, she entered a small pet shop tucked along the road.
This place employed her as an animal communicator.
No one knew about her job here, not even Adrian.
Once inside, she greeted her coworkers before heading to the changing room to slip into her uniform and fasten her mask in place.
Just then, a slim figure appeared at the doorway, letting out a playful whistle in her direction. "Jessica, you are here!"
Jessica turned and recognized Lexi Hewitt at once.
Lexi was the owner of the pet store.
She was striking, her hair always pulled into a high ponytail, large hoop earrings framing her face and drawing attention to her sharp, delicate features in a way that felt bold.
At first, Lexi had not known any sign language at all, but she learned it within three months so she could communicate with Jessica.
Jessica felt genuine gratitude toward her and had long since come to see her as a close friend.
She smiled and signed, "Good afternoon, Lexi."
Holding a paper bag, Lexi walked over and slipped an arm around Jessica's shoulders in an easy, familiar way. "You still haven't eaten anything, right?" She lifted the bag slightly. "Look what I brought for you. Croissants and..."
She stopped talking when her eyes caught the marks along Jessica's neck and collarbone.
Marks like that, lingering on such sensitive skin, made the situation obvious without needing further explanation.
Lexi's face darkened, anger flashing through her eyes as she snapped, "Did that jerk do this to you?"
Jessica paused for a moment, fingertips brushing her own neck before she signed, "It is nothing. They will be gone in a few days."
Concern tugged at Lexi's chest as she pulled Jessica into an embrace and asked softly, "Does it hurt?"
Jessica shook her head, her hands moving with practiced calm. "I am already used to the pain."
Lexi blinked. How much pain and suffering must Jessica have endured to reach the point where she was used to all this?
The ache in Lexi's chest deepened. She guided Jessica to a chair and carefully helped her remove her mask. "Let's not talk about that. We should go have lunch now."
Evening settled in, and six o'clock marked the end of the workday.
Just then, Lexi suddenly received an urgent call.
She swept her gaze across the shop. Most of the staff had already left, leaving only Jessica behind.
She tipped her chin toward Jessica, who was just about to change her clothes. "No need to change. I need you to accompany me for a task."
Confusion flickered across Jessica's face as she signed, "Where are we going?"
Digging through her bag for the car keys, Lexi answered, "A sheepdog swallowed something it shouldn't have. The owner wants us to bring it in for an emergency stomach pump."
The moment she heard that, Jessica moved quickly, helping Lexi secure a large cage in the back of her car.
Lexi might have a sharp mouth, but animals had always been her weakness. Since she had heard the sheepdog was in trouble, her foot pressed hard on the accelerator. She was clearly worried about it.
The car pulled over briefly at a fast-food place. Lexi grabbed burgers for both of them and counted it as dinner.
By the time Jessica finished eating, the car was already slowing to a stop at their destination.
The place before them was a high-end club called "Glamour," set in the heart of the city, its sprawling grounds and opulence impossible to miss.
Jessica lifted her head, and her expression shifted at once.
This place belonged to Adrian.
Lexi parked the car, hauled the cage from it, and started toward the entrance with Jessica beside her.
Just before they could go in, Jessica halted and signed, "Lexi, I will wait outside for you."
At this hour, Adrian could very well be inside.
Jessica wanted to stay outside, unwilling to risk crossing paths with him.
Lexi assumed Jessica simply disliked the club's vibe and did not press the matter. "Do not wander off. Stay right here and wait for me."
Jessica gave a small nod, her eyes following Lexi until she vanished through the entrance.
Unlike most clubs, Glamour lacked flashing signs or glaring neon lights.
Its exterior stood shrouded in darkness, resembling an old fortress or a beast crouched in silence, waiting to pounce on its prey.
The sight stirred an immediate association in Jessica's mind. The place reminded her too much of Adrian.
She had been here once before, walking a few steps behind Adrian and Eleanor, her presence barely acknowledged.
Back then, the club had not yet fallen under Adrian's control.
It belonged to his rival, and Adrian had come with his men to reclaim property that used to belong to the Buckley family.
The confrontation escalated quickly, tension stretched tight as both sides raised their weapons without hesitation.
Terrified, Eleanor hid behind Adrian.
Adrian's rival cast a sharp, threatening glance over, the scar slicing through his eyebrow making his sneer all the more vicious as he said, "So this is the woman your grandfather chose for you? She is pretty. Hand her over and let me have fun with her for a few days, and I might think about giving this place back to you."
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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.