The One Who Got Away

In the modern billionaire romance The One Who Got Away, the protagonist is envied for her engagement to the wealthy and handsome Dominic Cruz. However, the facade of their perfect life crumbles when Dominic vanishes to be with a secret lover on the same day she receives a medical misdiagnosis. Refusing to be the victim, she jilts him and transforms him into a public laughingstock. Now, a broken Dominic scours Marina City, drinking his life away while searching for his missing bride.

Chapters

Chapter 3

Rosa's long hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her smile was the perfect blend of guileless charm and feline cunning.

"I know, I know. But I just love this one," she said to the manager.

She was about to say more when she suddenly spotted Dominic and me standing not far away from her. Her expression shifted to one of surprise before settling into a smile. "Hello, Mr Cruz, Ms. Baird!"

She quickly approached me, reaching out to grab my hand. But then she paused when she noticed the lunchbox I was holding.

"Mr. Cruz, Ms. Baird, today marks the 1,000th day my boyfriend and I have been together. This wedding dress is absolutely gorgeous. It even has 1,000 pearls on it. Ms. Baird, you're not angry, are you? Sorry, I just couldn't resist trying it on."

Rosa flashed an apologetic smile at me.

Three months ago, on the very day I learned I had cancer, I received a WhatsApp message from Rosa for the first time.

It turned out they had already been together for 1,000 days—two years and nine months. And Dominic and I had only been married for three years. So, they’d been together for a long time.

No wonder the first thing Dominic did when he came home from work was shower and change his shirt. All those nights he claimed to be working late were spent in the arms of another.

I finally came to a decision after wavering for a while.

Well, there were only two days left anyway. Since Dominic liked to put on a show, I would just play along.

Dominic suddenly erupted in anger. "Take it off right now! You don't deserve a dress like this!"

The smile on Rosa's face instantly faded into a look of hurt. "Mr. Cruz, Ms. Baird isn't even angry—"

But Dominic only grew angrier. "Don't make me take it off for you!"

"Mr. Cruz, I'm sorry. I'll take it off right away." Her eyes welled up with tears, making her look pitiful indeed.

"That's not necessary. I don't want something that's already been tainted. Ms. Kerr, you can keep the dress if you like."

I randomly pointed to another dress, and the shop manager swiftly retrieved it for me. From start to finish, I didn't spare Rosa a glance. After all, if it weren't for Dominic, she wouldn't have dared to act so cocky in front of me.

"Wait here for me. I'll get your wedding dress off her," Dominic said to me.

With that, he forcefully grabbed Rosa's wrist and dragged her into the fitting room.

Everyone else fell silent and kept their heads down, afraid to get involved.

A long time passed, but he never returned.

My phone screen lit up with a new message.

"Come to the fitting room."

When I reached the fitting room door, I heard Dominic's low growl.

"You're not worthy of wearing the wedding dress I designed for Yvonne! You should know your place!"

"I only did it because I love you so much. My legs are still weak from last night. What should I do? My whole body is covered in your marks. Do you want to see them?" Rosa whimpered coquettishly.

Dominic's hoarse reply came through. "Don't covet what's not yours. My heart belongs only to Yvonne. As for the dress, you'll take it off in front of me. If you've damaged it, I'll make you pay with your body."

Then came the sound of fabric rustling and labored breathing.

"You even wore the bunny tail outside?"

Rosa giggled, her voice dripping with honeyed sweetness. "You don't like it?"

The only response was Dominic's increasingly ragged breathing.

In the end, Dominic returned with the wedding dress, his expression apologetic.

"Yvonne, there's still time. I'll design a new one for you."

"No, it's okay. I'll wear the one I tried on earlier."

The next day, as I followed the staff to the Gemini Towers, Dominic called me.

"Yvonne, I have another surprise for you today," he said mysteriously.

As the canvas in the center of the banquet hall was slowly unveiled, it revealed the last painting my parents had left behind before they passed away.

All the hotel staff around me started whispering amongst themselves.

Continue to next part

After her gown is sabotaged at a high-society gala, the Falcone Principessa faces public humiliation. Instead of defending her, her husband Adrian protects the culprit, Veronica, blaming his wife before abandoning their Central Park West penthouse. The ultimate betrayal is revealed when she discovers Adrian’s wedding tattoo has been altered to feature a "V." Numb with heartbreak, she refuses to be a mere trophy wife and calls her father—the powerful Don of the Falcone family.

Action Billionaire Mafia Modern Romance

9.2

After Her Wild Dawn

9.2

Obsessed with tropes from romance stories, my sister sought a penniless hero to elevate her status. When a man covered in sores appeared, I recognized his illness and stopped her, only for her to kill me in a fit of jealous rage. Now reborn on the day of his arrival, I refuse to intervene. This dark fantasy novel follows my choice to step aside as she claims her 'prize.' In this mystery, I watch her pursue the billionaire dream she desired, knowing the lethal secret she is embracing.

Billionaire Fantasy Horror Mystery Romance

9.5

Happiness Never Knocks

9.5

After five years of marriage and raising a son with Daniel, Kimberly’s world shatters when Siena returns. Despite her devotion, she discovers she was always an outsider in her own home. With Daniel consistently choosing his former love and her son growing increasingly attached to Siena, Kimberly realizes her place has been usurped. Fortunately, their union was merely a contract. In just seven days, she will finally walk away from this cold billionaire life to reclaim her independence.

Billionaire Modern Romance

7.8

Love At First Taste: Her Stepfather's Pet

7.8

Amelia has spent years suppressing an illicit desire for Linc Tanner, her billionaire stepfather. Since her mother’s death, the magnetic pull toward him has only intensified, leaving her torn between morality and her darkest fantasies. When she accepts a summer internship at his NYC firm, she is forced to reside in his mansion. Though this young adult protagonist vows to maintain her professional distance, Linc’s predatory gaze and refusal to stay away blur the lines of their taboo relationship.

Billionaire Modern Romance Young Adult

8.4

Marrying My Ex's Ruthless Uncle

8.4

I'm Kailee Lynn. On the night of my engagement party, my fiancé Julian left me standing alone in front of every wealthy guest in the city, humiliating me without a single shred of mercy. I became the biggest laughingstock of high society overnight, written off as a nobody from a small town with no status, no backing, and no right to stand among them. Everyone looked down on me, convinced I was weak and easy to push around. But I've never been one to swallow insults or accept defeat. Instead of fleeing in shame, I turned and walked straight toward the darkest, most intimidating figure in the entire banquet hall-Ervin Hendricks, the reclusive and ruthless fifth heir of the powerful Hendricks family. Rumors followed him everywhere: they said he was confined to a wheelchair, cold-blooded, dangerously unhinged, and cruel enough to ruin anyone who crossed him. The entire room held its breath, certain I was walking straight to my doom. I lifted my chin, met his sharp gaze steadily, and spoke in a calm, unshakable tone: "Ervin Hendricks. Marry me. I'll clear every obstacle in your path and help you seize everything that belongs to you. In return, you'll stand by my side and shield me from this world's cruelty." In the blink of an eye, I went from Julian's discarded fiancée to his aunt by marriage, the official Mrs. Hendricks. The whole town waited eagerly to watch me break down, to see me suffer at Ervin's hands and beg for mercy. They had no clue I was hiding far more than they could ever imagine. I'm the elite medical genius that top hospitals beg to consult, the unbeatable hacker who can crack any system in minutes, the hidden tycoon pulling strings behind global empires, and the secret powerhouse even the most elite families dare not cross. One by one, my true identities were unveiled, and every person who once mocked me fell silent, bowing to my power. As for Julian? He watched me rise from a social outcast to the most feared and respected woman in the city, standing proudly beside the all-powerful Ervin Hendricks. Meanwhile, his own fortune crumbled, his reputation was in tatters, and the life he'd chased after leaving me turned into a complete disaster. He was consumed by regret, so desperate he lost his mind. He chased me down at every high-society event, his eyes red with guilt and desperation, pleading for forgiveness, groveling to take back every cruel word, begging me to give him a second chance. He whined about how he'd made the worst mistake of his life, how he'd thrown away the only person who could have made him truly successful. I felt nothing but cold contempt for him. You cast me aside like worthless trash when you thought I had nothing to offer. You chose arrogance and greed over loyalty, and now you think a few empty apologies can erase that? I didn't even spare him a glance, simply linking my arm through Ervin's and stepping past him without a second thought. And then, the man everyone believed would never walk again suddenly rose from his wheelchair, pulled me tight against his chest, and whispered in a deep, soft, and utterly possessive voice that only I could hear: "Kailee. You're my little treasure, my only obsession, and the only person I'll ever love and protect with everything I have." This life, I'm taking down every enemy that wronged me, dominating every circle I step into, and making the most powerful man in the city wrap himself entirely around my finger.

Billionaire Modern Romance

7.8

Misdiagnosis in andrology, My Billionaire Husband

7.8

I was forty-eight hours into my shift, smelling of stale sweat and clutching a red-stamped bill for my mother's life support. As a scholarship intern, I was a ghost in the hospital, working myself to the bone just to keep her ventilator humming. Then Dr. Thorne shoved a metal clipboard into my chest and ordered me to perform a surgical prep on a VIP patient for a circumcision. But the moment the cold betadine touched the man's skin, he lunged at me like a predator, his hand crushing my wrist until the bone nearly snapped. "I'm here for a kidney stone. What kind of incompetent butcher shop is this?" He wasn't a patient; he was Conrad Marks, a lethal billionaire, and Thorne had intentionally set me up to assault him. Within minutes, a five-million-dollar lawsuit was filed, and the Dean ordered security to shred my license and throw me out of the building. My phone buzzed with a final notice: the facility was stopping my mother's meds at midnight because my payment had failed. I was a doctor who had just been framed and a daughter about to watch her mother die. I didn't understand why Thorne would ruin me so casually, but with my mother's life on the line, I had nothing left to lose. I slipped past the guards and back into the billionaire's suite with a set of silver needles and a desperate bargain. I stopped his agony in seconds, and when he looked at me with those cold, lethal eyes, I offered a trade: I would be the fake girlfriend his family demanded if he would save my mother and bury the lawsuit. "Deal," he said, his grip on my waist tightening with dark possession. I signed the contract, realizing I hadn't just saved my career-I had sold my soul to the most dangerous man in New York.

Billionaire Modern Romance

The One Who Got Away

Chapter 3

You may also like