The Mute Wife's Revenge: Silent No More

I spent three years as the silent architect of the Maynard family’s fortune, bound by an iron-clad NDA that turned me into a ghost. As Calhoun’s wife, I was the "silent asset," the one who saved their empire from the shadows while they took the bows and the credit. The betrayal started in a boardroom when my life's work was publicly handed to my incompetent brother-in-law, Conrad. But the real knife came later that night at the victory gala. I caught Calhoun in a VIP lounge, whispering promises to his sister-in-law, Bianca, as they plotted to strip me of my voting shares. When I tried to walk away, the Maynards struck. Bianca faked a pregnancy and threw herself in front of a car, framing me for attempted murder. My father-in-law gave me a brutal choice: rot in prison for fifteen years or sign an annulment forfeiting my inheritance, my identity, and my mother’s last sapphire necklace. They threw me out into a midnight storm with nothing but a trash bag of old rags. I knelt in the mud, watching the gates of the estate slam shut, realizing my entire marriage had been a transaction and I was finally out of stock. How could they steal my work, my name, and the only memory of my mother I had left? As I collapsed on the side of a dark road, a black Rolls Royce cut through the rain. Julian Montgomery, the Maynards’ most ruthless rival, stepped out and draped his cashmere coat over my shivering shoulders. He looked at me not with pity, but with predatory interest. I looked back and whispered the only thing that mattered. "Leverage."

Chapters

Chapter 5

Theodore grabbed Elayne's upper arm. His grip was bruising, his fingers digging into her bicep through the fabric of her dress.

"What do you think you're doing?" he hissed, leaning close so the passersby wouldn't hear. "I saw you come out of there. Are you trying to ruin this family's reputation?"

"He's sleeping with your daughter!" Elayne cried out in her mind, trying to wrench her arm free. "In there! With Bianca!"

"Lower your voice," Theodore snapped, though she hadn't made a sound. He didn't look surprised. He didn't look angry at Calhoun. He looked annoyed at Elayne. "Fix your hair. You look like a maniac."

He dragged her toward the main ballroom. "You are going to go out there, you are going to stand by your husband's side, and you are going to show everyone that the Maynard family is united. Do you understand? The stock price cannot handle a scandal tonight."

"I want to go home," she pleaded with her eyes.

"You'll go home when I say you can."

He shoved her onto the edge of the dance floor. The orchestra struck up a fast-paced waltz. Before Elayne could run, her brother-in-law Conrad appeared. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the crowd.

"Smile, Elayne," Conrad whispered, his breath smelling of scotch. "Father's watching."

He spun her around. His grip was rough, punitive.

"I heard you barged in on the lovebirds," Conrad laughed in her ear. "Desperate look for you. Really."

"Let me go, Conrad," she conveyed, trying to pull her hand away.

"No can do." He spun her again, faster this time.

Elayne felt dizzy. The room was a blur of lights and faces. She tried to plant her feet to stop the spin, putting her weight on her right heel.

SNAP.

A sickening, metallic crunch echoed from her shoe.

The heel of her right stiletto didn't just break; it sheared off completely.

Elayne lost her balance. Her ankle twisted violently. She pitched forward. Conrad didn't catch her. In fact, he released his hand at the exact moment she fell, letting gravity take her.

She hit the polished parquet floor hard. Her knees slammed into the wood. A sharp pain shot up her leg. Her dress tore at the hem with a loud rip.

The music faltered and stopped. A collective gasp sucked the air out of the room.

Elayne lay on the floor, dazed. She looked up. Hundreds of eyes were staring down at her. Some were covering their mouths. Others were smirking.

High above, on the mezzanine balcony, Bianca stood looking down, a glass of red wine in her hand. She was smiling.

Elayne tried to push herself up. Her ankle throbbed. She reached for her broken shoe.

She looked at the heel. It hadn't just snapped from wear. Inside the break, glinting under the chandelier light, was the flat head of a heavy-duty industrial tack. It had been driven into the structure of the heel, weakening it so it would fail under pressure.

"It was sabotaged," Elayne gasped silently. She held up the shoe. "Look!"

Theodore marched into the center of the circle. His face was purple with rage.

Elayne reached a hand out to him. "Dad, look at the shoe. Someone put a tack in it," her desperate eyes begged.

Theodore looked at her hand, then at her face. He didn't help her up.

SLAP.

The sound was louder than the music had been. Theodore's hand connected with Elayne's cheek, snapping her head to the side.

The room went deathly silent.

"Have you lost your mind?" Theodore shouted, his voice shaking. "You're drunk! You come here, jealous of your family, and throw yourself on the floor for attention?"

Elayne held her stinging cheek. Tears welled in her eyes-not from pain, but from the sheer injustice of it. "No... Dad, look at the tack..." her mind screamed.

"Stop lying!" Conrad yelled, stepping in. "She's been drinking all night. She's hysterical."

"Get her out of here," Theodore barked at the security team. "Get her out of my sight before she embarrasses us further."

Two burly guards hoisted Elayne up by her arms. Her feet dragged on the floor. She clutched the broken shoe to her chest like a weapon.

"It's not true!" she screamed silently as they dragged her backward. "They did this! They planned this!"

The guests parted like the Red Sea, watching the crazy Maynard wife being removed from the premises.

They threw her out the back door. She landed on the concrete loading dock, the cool night air biting her exposed skin. The door slammed shut and locked.

Elayne sat there in the dirt, clutching the broken shoe, the industrial tack gleaming in the moonlight like a tiny, metal eye.

Continue to next part

Trigger Warning: This book contains dark themes including captivity, violence, abuse, and explicit scenes. Please read responsibly. Sold like a commodity. Claimed like property. Desired like an obsession. Tobias Shane thought he had lost everything when his uncle betrayed him-until he was stripped, chained, and auctioned to the highest bidder. Benjamin Shaai, New York's most feared mafia boss, didn't come for a pet. But when he sees the quiet fire in Tobias' eyes, he wants him. Buys him. Owns him. What begins as a cruel arrangement of pain and pleasure turns into something neither of them expected. But Tobias carries a secret-one that could collapse empires. As enemies circle and betrayal festers from within, the devil finds something he never wanted... a heart. But loving Tobias might be the one war Benjamin can't win.

Action LGBT+Mafia Modern

9.3

Dangerous Temptation: No Escape From My Brother-In-Law's Obsession

9.3

Born into privilege, Eleanor never imagined her life could shatter in a single night. Then her father disappeared with his mistress, her mother fell from a building and slipped into a coma, and everything she once owned turned to dust. Determined not to ruin Jonathan's future with her family's disgrace, she ended their relationship and became the bride of a man trapped in a vegetative state. She believed that was the last time their paths would cross. But two years later, Jonathan pinned her in the dark and whispered, "Long time no see, my sister-in-law."

Action Adventure Modern

8.3

Death Of A Marriage, Birth Of Revenge

8.3

My husband watched as my skin melted, scalded by boiling soup, yet his hands were busy comforting my attacker. Five years of marriage, built on a foundation of my family's power, crumbled with a single, brutal act of betrayal. He bought me off with a penthouse and a trust fund, but I tore out my IV and threw his charity back in his face. It was our fifth anniversary, but my husband, Ethan, remained distant, avoiding any talk of Chicago or the mafia protection my family once offered him. He then pushed a black velvet box across the table. Inside was a Separation and Property Division Agreement, not a diamond. He told me to sign for Ilene's security, offering millions. When I refused, Ilene hurled boiling soup. Ethan shielded her, not me, as the scalding liquid melted my dress. With second-degree burns, he blamed me, ordering me from our home for Ilene’s comfort. My family saved him, yet he sacrificed my body and marriage for another woman. The love I felt turned to ash. What kind of debt demanded my flesh and marriage? I ripped the IV from my arm, hurling his "charity" keys back. My diamond ring placed on the agreement, I walked away. From today on, Ethan, you and I are dead to each other.

Action Modern Romance

7.6

HIS FORBIDDEN LUNA

7.6

Kane Rivers has always lived a life of caution. Orphaned at a young age and raised in the quiet town of Silverwood, she believes she understands the world: people betray, pain follows, and love is a dangerous game. But everything changes the night she encounters a wolf unlike any she has ever seen. Adrian Wolfe is the Alpha of the Silverwood pack, feared by enemies and respected by his own. Dark, commanding, and impossible to resist, he has a secret: Kane is not just any human. She is the Luna his pack has been waiting for, the mate bound to him by fate, and the key to a prophecy that could save, or destroy, their world. Their connection ignites in tension and fire, a dangerous pull neither can resist. But enemies lurk in the shadows, a rogue pack thirsts for revenge, and secrets buried in Kane's past threaten to shatter the fragile bond between them. To survive, Kane must embrace the power within her, trust the Alpha she fears, and face the darkness that is coming for them both. In a world where the line between love and possession is razor thin, Kane will discover that some bonds are inevitable, some hearts are unyielding, and some wolves are forbidden.

Action Romance Werewolf

7.1

Hot For My New Stepbrother

7.1

I never should have let my mother hold my future hostage. She paid my tuition with his father's money. Locked my birth certificate, my transcripts, every scrap of paper I need to survive in a safe I'll never open. And the one thing I had left of my dad, his old watch, she dangled like a noose. Run, and I lose my education. Fight, and I lose the last piece of the man who actually loved me. So I moved into the Hunters' mansion. Into the lair of the boy who spent years making my life hell. Chase Hunter. Six-foot-five of pure venom wrapped in muscle and money. The senior who cornered me in empty hallways, who whispered filth in my ear just to watch me flinch, who smiled that sharp, cruel smile every time I broke a little more. I thought graduation meant freedom from him. I was wrong. Now he's my stepbrother. He hates that I'm here. Hates my mother for sinking her claws into his father. Hates me most of all, for breathing his air, for walking his halls, for daring to exist where he can reach me. But hate isn't clean anymore. It's tangled up in heat. In the way his grey eyes strip me bare every time they land on me. In the way his hand closes around my throat, not to hurt, but to own. In the way he punishes me over his lap, in his car, against walls, until I'm shaking and soaked and furious at myself for wanting more. He calls me Little Lamb like it's poison on his tongue. I call him every name I can think of under my breath. How long until we stop fighting the deadly inferno raging between us and finally let it consume us both?

Action Adventure Modern

7.8

Mated to The Enemy, Revenge For My Brother

7.8

Rosalind Rivers has only ever wanted one thing - revenge. The Lycan Prince, Aklan Draven, murdered her brother in cold blood. Or so she's believed her whole life. Now, forced to serve under him at the Lycan Academy, she has no choice but to obey the man she swore to hate. But hating him becomes harder with every clash, every stolen glance, every heartbeat that refuses to stay loyal to her rage. Because fate has a cruel sense of humor. He's her fated mate. Aklan doesn't understand why this stubborn, sharp-tongued wolf gets under his skin or why her scent feels like home. He only knows she's trouble. The kind that tests his control, drags buried memories to the surface, and makes him question everything he thought he knew about loyalty and guilt. But when a hidden truth comes to light - that Rosalind's brother didn't die by Aklan's hand but by choice, their world begins to unravel. Old wounds reopen. Ancient forces stir. And Rosalind learns she is no ordinary wolf, but something far rarer, something worth killing for. Between vengeance and love, duty and destiny, one wrong move could ignite a war between realms. And the cruelest part? She might just lose her heart to the man she was born to destroy.

Action Mystery Werewolf

The Mute Wife's Revenge: Silent No More

Chapter 5

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