The Rejected Burden: Rising From The Shadows
I liquidated every asset I owned for a single gala ticket, convinced that after twenty years, Grafton Blanchard was finally going to ask me to be his partner. My husband, Kingston Riddle, even hinted that the diamond "Eternity Lock" bracelet I’d been eyeing was gone from the vault, and I was sure it was waiting for me.
But when I reached the VIP suite, Grafton didn't look at me with love; he snapped that very bracelet onto the wrist of my rival, Bella Sterling. He stood before the crowd and announced their engagement, laughing as he called me his "little mascot" while I stood there in my best dress, feeling the entire world crumble beneath my feet.
The betrayal went deeper when I overheard him telling his friends I was nothing more than a "burden" and a "puppy" he was too kind to kick to the curb. Desperate to fix his image, he lured me to a "peace offering" dinner where Bella theatrically threw herself down a flight of marble stairs. Within seconds, Grafton was looming over me, his face twisted in fury as he accused me of being a jealous, vicious monster.
"I'm calling the cops. You want to play games? Let's see how you like a holding cell," Grafton roared, snatching my phone so I couldn't record his cruelty. The restaurant manager and the crowd sneered at me, ready to watch me be hauled away in handcuffs for a crime I didn't commit. I was a pariah, discarded by the man I’d spent my entire life protecting.
I stood trembling against the wall, realizing that the man I loved was willing to ruin my life to protect a lie. I felt the weight of twenty years of devotion being thrown into the trash, and for the first time, I stopped wondering why I wasn't enough and started wondering how I could have been so blind.
Just as the security guards moved in, the heavy doors swung open. My husband, Kingston—the man I thought was a cold stranger—stepped into the light and demanded the manager play the security footage on the big screen. As the video of Bella launching herself backward played for the entire restaurant, I didn't look at Grafton's pathetic apologies; I looked at the exit and realized my life was finally beginning.
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Chapter 3
The door to the VIP suite was heavy, soundproofed leather. Isadora had to use both hands to push it open. As soon as the seal broke, the music exploded outward, a wall of bass and synth that rattled her teeth.
The room was bathed in low, purple light. Waitresses in corsets moved through the crowd with sparklers attached to magnum bottles of champagne. The air smelled of smoke and expensive vodka.
Isadora scanned the room, her hand clutching the small gift bag containing the cufflinks. Her knuckles were white.
"There he is," Zoe shouted over the music, pointing toward the center of the room.
Grafton was standing on the main banquette, looking like the king of the world. His shirt was unbuttoned at the top, his hair perfectly messy. He was laughing, holding a glass of champagne high in the air.
Isadora's heart did that treacherous leap again. He looked so happy.
Then she saw who he was talking to.
He wasn't looking at the door. He was looking down at a woman sitting on the couch in front of him. All Isadora could see was a cascade of blonde hair and a backless silver dress that dipped dangerously low.
"Grafton!" one of his friends, a guy named Topher, yelled. "Look who made it! Little Izzy!"
Grafton turned. His face lit up when he saw her. It was the same smile he had given her for twenty years-warm, easy, familiar.
"Izzy!" he shouted, jumping down from the banquette. "You're here!"
He moved toward her, and for a second, Isadora thought he was going to hug her. But he stopped a few feet away. He was holding something in his left hand.
A long, black velvet box.
Aurelia.
Isadora stopped breathing. The world narrowed down to that box. The noise of the club faded into a dull roar. He had it. He had the bracelet. He was holding it right now, walking toward her on the night their lives were supposed to merge.
"I have a surprise," Grafton said, his eyes gleaming. "I've been waiting all night to do this."
Isadora felt tears prick her eyes. She took a step forward. "Grafton, I..."
"Wait," Grafton said, holding up a finger. He turned back to the blonde woman on the couch. "Sweetheart, come here."
The woman stood up and turned around.
It was Bella Sterling.
Isadora felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Bella was everything Isadora wasn't-tall, statuesque, with a face that was beautiful in a sharp, predatory way. She was the daughter of Sterling Capital, their biggest market competitor.
Bella smiled at Isadora. It didn't reach her eyes.
"Come here," Grafton said again, reaching for Bella's hand. He pulled her to his side, his arm going around her waist possessively.
Isadora stood frozen, the gift bag heavy in her hand. Her brain couldn't process the image.
"Everyone!" Grafton shouted, his voice booming over the music. The DJ lowered the volume. The room went semi-quiet.
"I want to make an announcement," Grafton said, looking down at Bella with a look of adoration Isadora had never seen directed at herself. "Our families have finally merged. Everyone, meet my fiancée, Bella."
A cheer went up from the room. Confetti cannons popped from the ceiling. Strips of gold paper rained down, landing in Isadora's hair, sticking to her eyelashes.
Grafton opened the black velvet box.
Inside sat the Eternity Lock bracelet. The diamonds caught the strobe lights, flashing violently.
Isadora watched, paralyzed, as Grafton took Bella's wrist. He wrapped the bracelet around it.
Click.
The sound was tiny, but to Isadora, it sounded like a gunshot. The lock snapped shut.
"It fits perfectly," Bella cooed, holding her wrist up to the light. She looked at Isadora, her eyes glittering with malice. "Oh, hi Isadora. Grafton talks about you all the time. His little mascot."
"Mascot?" Isadora whispered. The word tasted like bile.
Grafton laughed, oblivious. He grabbed a bottle of champagne and poured it into a tower of glasses. He grabbed one and shoved it into Isadora's hand.
"Drink up, Izzy!" Grafton said, clinking his glass against hers so hard champagne sloshed over her fingers. "It's a double celebration. My girl and my best friend. Congratulations to us all!"
He didn't even wait for her to answer. He turned back to Bella, kissing her on the temple.
Zoe stepped forward, her face twisted in rage. "Grafton, are you serious right now?"
Isadora grabbed Zoe's wrist. Her grip was iron-hard. "Don't," she hissed.
"But Isadora-"
"Don't." Isadora's voice was devoid of emotion. She couldn't let them see. She couldn't let Bella see her bleed.
She stood there, the champagne sticky on her hand, the confetti tangled in her hair. She looked at the bracelet on Bella's wrist. It was a shackle. It was a promise. And it wasn't hers.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Bella asked, thrusting her wrist toward Isadora's face. "The salesman said it means 'locked together forever.' Isn't that sweet?"
"Yeah," Isadora said. Her throat felt like it was full of glass shards. "It's... lovely."
Grafton wrapped both arms around Bella from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. He looked at Isadora with that same, stupid, happy grin.
"I knew you'd be happy for me, Izzy," he said. "You're the best."
Isadora gripped the stem of the champagne glass so hard she thought it might snap. She forced the corners of her mouth up. It wasn't a smile. It was a grimace of pure agony.
"The best," she echoed.
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7.5
The Duke was standing in the middle of the room, his hands in his pockets, his head tilted to one side. It was a relaxed, casual pose, and yet the way he looked at her was anything but casual. The deep midnight of his eyes burned and he radiated a subtle, sensual energy that made the air around him crackle.
He looked like a man who'd never heard the word 'no' in all his life. Unluckily for him, 'no' was the only word she had.
"There's no reason why I should stay," Anna clasped her shaking hands together in an effort to still them. "I'm not marrying you."
His gaze flickered, his mouth curving slightly, and she had the disturbing thought that far from putting him off, her insistence was only inciting him further.
"But you haven't heard my proposal yet," he said mildly. "Isn't that why you're here?"
"I don't need to hear it. I already know that my answer will be no."
"Of course. But you can hardly tell your father that you heard me out when you haven't, in fact, heard me out.... Anna."
8.9
Adela stood outside the private room, holding the obsidian necklace she had spent three months hand-crafting for her boyfriend.
But through the cracked door, she heard Juston laughing with his friends, calling her a stupid, obedient pawn and her art "garbage."
After she shattered the necklace and walked out into the freezing rain, Juston texted her a far more horrifying truth.
Her own family didn't just hate her-they had actively tried to kill her.
Two years ago, her brother Kayden intentionally slipped deadly shellfish into her food at a gala, sending her into anaphylactic shock.
Worse, her parents had covered up the attempted murder as a simple kitchen mistake, all to protect the family name and elevate her adopted sister, Kara.
Adela collapsed on the wet pavement, suffocating under the weight of the ultimate betrayal.
She had spent her entire life begging for their love, secretly working as the anonymous designer keeping their failing company afloat, only to realize she was nothing but a disposable tool.
She had absolutely no one, and nowhere to go.
Just as the storm threatened to swallow her whole, a sleek black Maybach pulled up to the curb.
Harmon Holland, the ruthless Wall Street billionaire she was originally arranged to marry, stepped out into the rain.
He didn't offer her pity. Instead, he handed her a legal document.
"Marry me, Adela. For one year."
She took the pen. This time, she wouldn't be an obedient pawn; she would be their executioner.
7.2
My family went bankrupt overnight, leaving me to face a mountain of predatory debt.
Instead of standing by my side, my billionaire fiancé's mother threw a five-million-dollar check on the marble table, demanding I take the money and disappear from her son's life forever.
Meanwhile, my former social circle mocked my downfall. They secretly took photos of me meeting with ruthless loan sharks, waiting for me to come crawling back to beg for charity.
I didn't give them the satisfaction. I legally took on my father's massive debt, threw the check back, and ruthlessly dumped my fiancé.
To stop my heartbroken mother from worrying, I lied and told her I had already found a new, reliable boyfriend.
But the lie was a ticking time bomb. My malicious rival even forced her way into my cramped apartment, demanding to meet this mysterious man, laughing that he must live in a dumpster.
I was suffocating under the pressure. I had nothing, and I had no idea how I was supposed to magically produce a husband to get these toxic people off my back.
Until a dying stranger I helped in the park made a final wish.
His grandson—my cold, aloof high school upperclassman, Caleb Barnes—handed me a watertight prenuptial agreement at the hospital.
"Marry me," Caleb said flatly. "I get to give my grandfather peace. You get a shield against your family."
I picked up the pen and signed my name.
8.5
Billionaire oil mogul Iyke Obiora is a man who has everything-money, influence, and a marriage admired by society. But beneath the polished surface, his empire is cracking. His wife has grown distant, his rivals are closing in, and his secret underground deals could cost him everything.
Then he meets Amara Okoye, a stunning and ambitious school secretary whose quiet charm awakens a hunger he thought long dead. What begins as an innocent encounter soon becomes an all-consuming affair-one that threatens to shatter their lives.
Caught between fiery passion and deadly consequences, Iyke and Amara must face the truth: their love burns too brightly to remain hidden, but stepping into the light may destroy them both.
A tale of power, forbidden desire, and dangerous secrets-Crude Desires will leave you breathless.
8.7
My new boss is gorgeous, arrogant, and filthy rich.
The only problem?
He doesn't know he's also the father of my baby.
Six years ago, I was supposed to get married.
But the night before the wedding, my groom-to-be showed me sides of himself I'd never seen before.
I might've died in that hotel room...
If Mikhail Novikov hadn't burst in to save me.
Handsome, strong, capable knight in shining armor-sign me up, right?
WRONG.
Because Mikhail wasn't just the hero I never knew I needed...
He was also way more dangerous than I ever could've known.
But for one night, I let myself do something I never should've done.
It was worth it-several times over, if you catch my drift.
In the morning, though, I did the reasonable
I RAN.
For six years, I keep running.
Until I walk into work one day, and find my new boss waiting in my office.
Guess who?
And guess what he does when finds out about our baby?
8.3
My five-year-old daughter was turning blue in my arms, her body rigid with a 104-degree fever. I called my billionaire husband, Clifton, dozens of times as I rushed to the hospital, but he declined every single call.
While I was screaming at doctors and fighting to save our child’s life, a news alert flashed on my phone. Clifton was at the Met Gala, looking devastatingly handsome as he intimately draped his tuxedo jacket over the shoulders of his mistress, Eleanora.
The nightmare didn't end at the hospital. Clifton used a secret clause in our prenup to snatch Lily from her bed and move her to a private facility without my consent. When I finally found her, my own daughter shrank away from me in terror. "Go away, bad Mommy!" she sobbed, while the mistress fed her oatmeal and whispered that I was the one who made the doctors hurt her.
Clifton stood by and watched, telling me I was too "hysterical" to be a mother. But then I discovered the real reason they were hiding her. My husband was illegally using my late mother’s rare bone marrow samples to treat Eleanora’s secret blood disorder. Now that those samples are failing, he is taking Lily to a secluded castle in Germany to harvest our daughter’s marrow for his mistress.
I sat in the dark, watching them play happy family with the child they plan to sacrifice. I realized then that my marriage wasn't just a lie—it was a biological harvest. They think I’m just a broken trophy wife who doesn't understand the science they are using to destroy me.
They have no idea that I am "Ghost," the anonymous medical genius behind the very research they are trying to steal. As we board the private jet to Germany, I’ve stopped crying and started calculating. If they want to play with life and death, I’ll show them exactly what happens when a mother stops being a victim and starts being a predator.