The Unwanted Wife Demands A Divorce
I married the ruthless billionaire Dorman Cannon to save my family's business. For two years, I played the perfect, invisible wife in a cold, loveless marriage.
But the day my sister Cierra—his ex-fiancée—returned from Europe, the illusion shattered. A private investigator sent me a photo: Dorman walking into her hotel room at the exact time he claimed to be in a board meeting.
I packed my bags and demanded a divorce. Instead of apologizing, Dorman pinned me against the bedroom wall. Right in front of me, he made a single phone call to freeze my father's credit line, instantly triggering a liquidity crisis that would bankrupt my family.
"You are my wife. You are not going anywhere."
He then tossed a record-breaking Cartier diamond necklace at my feet, like a pacifier for a misbehaving child.
I smashed the multimillion-dollar piece to the marble floor, screaming that I wasn't just an asset on his balance sheet. But he only stared at the scattered diamonds with terrifying indifference, completely unfazed by my despair.
I didn't understand. If he wanted Cierra so badly, why was he holding my family hostage just to keep me trapped in this gilded cage?
Sitting on the cold floor surrounded by broken diamonds, my tears finally stopped. Since he refused to let me leave quietly, I would just have to tear his perfect empire down from the inside.
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Chapter 2
The Rolls-Royce turned onto the private drive lined with ancient oak trees. The Ayers estate emerged from the twilight, a sprawling Georgian revival mansion that looked more like a museum than a home. It loomed against the darkening sky, its windows glowing with a cold, unwelcoming light.
Thomas opened the door, and the damp, salty air of the Hamptons hit Adina immediately. She stepped out, her heels sinking slightly into the gravel.
"Welcome home, Mrs. Cannon," the butler said, appearing at the massive front door. His gaze flicked past her shoulder, scanning the empty driveway behind her. "Will Mr. Cannon be joining you later?"
"No, James," Adina said, keeping her voice steady. "He's detained in the city."
James's expression remained politely blank, but Adina saw the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. The staff always noticed. They always gossiped.
She walked into the grand foyer, the click of her heels echoing off the marble floor. The house smelled like it always did-fresh flowers, polished wood, and quiet desperation.
"In the drawing room, Miss Adina," James said.
She walked down the long hallway and paused at the archway. Her parents, Clyde and Eleonora, were standing by the fireplace. Clyde held a crystal tumbler of scotch; Eleonora held her posture like a weapon. They turned as one when they heard her footsteps.
Eleonora's eyes immediately went past Adina, searching the empty hall. "Where is Dorman?"
Adina walked further into the room, her hands clasped in front of her to hide their trembling. "He has a board meeting. He couldn't get away."
"Couldn't get away?" Eleonora repeated, her lips thinning. "His sister-in-law returns after two years abroad, and he can't be bothered to leave the office? This is exactly the kind of slight that fuels gossip, Adina. You need to manage him better."
"Manage him?" Adina let out a short, humorless laugh. "Mother, I can't even get him to eat breakfast with me."
"Perhaps he just didn't want to see me."
The voice came from the staircase. Adina's head snapped up.
Cierra Ayers stood on the landing, one hand resting lightly on the banister. She wore a red silk dress that clung to every curve, her dark hair swept up in an elegant twist. She looked older, sharper. The two years in Europe had polished her already striking features into something lethal.
She descended the stairs slowly, her eyes locked on Adina. The air in the room seemed to thin out, the tension crackling like static electricity before a storm.
Cierra stopped a few feet away, her red lips curving into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She opened her arms and stepped forward, pulling Adina into a stiff embrace.
"Long time no see, little sister," Cierra murmured against her ear, her voice like velvet wrapped around barbed wire. "Or should I say... Mrs. Cannon?"
Adina's spine went rigid. She forced herself to step back, keeping her face a mask of polite indifference. "Welcome home, Cierra."
Dinner was a suffocating affair. They sat around the long mahogany table in the formal dining room, the crystal chandelier casting prismatic light over the untouched food on their plates. Clyde and Eleonora hung on Cierra's every word, asking about her flat in Paris, her trips to Amalfi, her plans for the future.
Adina pushed a piece of asparagus around her plate. She felt like a ghost at her own table, invisible and insubstantial.
"So, Adina," Cierra said, breaking a lull in the conversation. She swirled the wine in her glass, her gaze fixed on Adina. "How is Dorman? Cannon Industries stock has been performing exceptionally well this quarter. He must be incredibly busy."
Adina's stomach twisted. The question was innocent enough, but the glint in Cierra's eye told a different story. It was a probe, a test.
"He's fine," Adina said, her voice flat. "Business is good."
Cierra tilted her head, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Good. We wouldn't want him overworking himself. We used to be so good at helping each other... unwind."
The words hung in the air, sharp and deliberate. Clyde cleared his throat loudly, suddenly fascinated by his scotch. Eleonora reached over and placed a portion of lamb on Cierra's plate, completely ignoring Adina.
"You look thin, Cierra," Eleonora said. "You need to eat more."
Adina felt the sting of the dismissal. It was always like this. Cierra was the sun, and Adina was just a planet orbiting in her shadow, desperate for scraps of warmth.
The moment the plates were cleared, Adina stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I have a long drive back to the city."
"Running away already?" Cierra asked, leaning back in her chair.
"I have things to do," Adina said through gritted teeth.
She grabbed her coat from the butler and walked toward the front door. The night air was freezing, but she welcomed the bite of it.
"Adina, wait."
She stopped, her hand on the car door handle. Cierra walked out of the house, wrapping a cashmere shawl around her shoulders. She leaned against the stone pillar, looking effortlessly beautiful in the moonlight.
"Don't take what I said in there to heart," Cierra said, her tone light, almost conversational. "I was just curious if Dorman still hates these boring family dinners as much as he used to."
Adina turned, her eyes narrowing. "I think you know his preferences better than anyone."
Cierra's smile widened, a flash of white teeth in the dark. "True. Some things never change."
The double meaning slammed into Adina's chest. She stared at her sister, the woman who had held Dorman's heart before Adina had been forced into his arms. The woman who, apparently, still held a piece of it.
Adina didn't say another word. She yanked open the car door and threw herself inside. "Drive, Thomas. Now."
As the car sped down the long driveway, Adina pressed her back against the leather seat, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. Cierra's words echoed in her head, mixing with Dorman's cold rejection on the phone.
Some things never change.
A terrible, creeping suspicion began to crawl up Adina's spine. Had they been in contact this whole time? Was Dorman's absence tonight really about a board meeting, or was it about the woman who had just returned to claim what was hers?
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8.7
For three years, Blair Guzman poured her resources into turning a broke waiter into an Oscar-winning actor, letting the world believe they were a couple just to keep him under her control.
But the night he won his Oscar, he publicly betrayed her by kissing Kiana—Blair’s estranged, rival sister.
Kiana and her mother brought the scandal right to the Glover family dinner table, trying to humiliate Blair.
"You're just mad because he dumped you for me," Kiana sneered in front of the entire family.
Instead of crying, Blair ruthlessly dismantled them, exposing how their cheap tabloid stunt tanked the family's corporate value.
Impressed by her cold logic, the family matriarch handed Blair the ultimate voting power, but it was a trap.
The matriarch immediately used Blair's elevated status to force her into an arranged marriage with a notorious, debt-ridden playboy just to secure a European shipping lane.
To her family, she was never a daughter—she was just a premium asset to be traded to the highest bidder.
What her greedy family didn't know was that Blair had already made a terrifying deal.
She was secretly married to the ruthless billionaire Butler McIntyre—a man who demanded absolute possession of her body and soul.
Now, her family's arranged parasite and her secret devil of a husband were on a collision course, and the wreckage was going to be spectacular.
8.1
Terminally ill.
Betrayed by her husband.
Abandoned by the only family she had.
Ariel died with nothing... and no one.
But fate gives her a second chance.
Reborn three years before her death, she walks away from the man who ruined her life-and takes back everything they stole.
Her love.
Her identity.
Her power.
Now, the cold billionaire who once ignored her can't take his eyes off her.
The brother who abandoned her starts to regret.
Too late.
Because this time, Ariel isn't the woman who begs.
She's the one who makes them kneel.
7.1
For seven years, I hid my identity as a wealthy heiress to be with my boyfriend, Ewing. I followed him across the country and made myself small so he could feel big.
On Thanksgiving, he ditched our celebration for his first love, Bree, who supposedly had a "burst pipe."
Later, she posted an intimate selfie with him, calling him her "hero."
Then she sent me a video of him at a bar, laughing with his friends.
"She's just being dramatic," he slurred, smirking at the camera. "A new necklace and she'll forget all about it. She's easy."
Easy. Seven years of my life, my love, my sacrifice-all reduced to that one word. I realized I was never his partner. I was just a placeholder.
I didn't cry. I packed my bags, booked a one-way flight to New York, and sent him one final text before blocking his number.
"Don't bother coming home. I'm getting married."
7.0
Eleanore thought her fiancé, Johan, was her only salvation after her family went bankrupt.
But at a high-society gala, he handed her a drugged glass of water. As the unnatural heat burned through her veins, the horrific truth hit her. Johan had isolated her and controlled her finances, all while secretly getting engaged to a wealthy heiress. He drugged Eleanore to ruin her completely, planning to lock her away as his helpless, secret mistress.
Desperate and losing her mind to the drug, Eleanore fled down the hallway. With Johan and his bodyguards hunting her, she stumbled into the dark presidential suite.
But she wasn't alone. Sitting on the leather sofa was Alexander Briggs—the most feared corporate raider on Wall Street, and Johan's exiled brother.
Outside the door, Johan was screaming, ready to drag her back to hell.
"I can be your antidote. But it's going to cost you."
The ruthless billionaire looked at her trembling body with cold calculation. He offered her a staggering deal: a three-month fake marriage to destroy Johan's empire, and in return, absolute protection and her father's massive debts paid in full.
She couldn't understand why the most powerful predator in New York would use a ruined girl as his weapon, but she knew she would rather die than let Johan touch her again.
When Johan finally broke down the door to claim his prey, Alexander calmly pulled Eleanore into his arms.
"Watch your mouth. You are speaking to my future wife."
9.2
Lainey spent her last life destroying herself for Larry, only to become the woman he discarded most cruelly. He never loved her, never wanted her, and made no secret that his first love still owned his heart.
On their wedding day, he abandoned Lainey at the altar for that woman, then later used Lainey as nothing more than a stepping stone for his company's rise. In the end, he even had her kidney ripped from her.
Reborn at the very moment everything began, Lainey called off the wedding without hesitation. But after losing her, Larry begged desperately.
Lainey shot him a cold look, then turned and walked straight into the arms of a powerful, aloof man, who stared down at Larry with pure contempt. "She's my wife now."
7.4
Alaya woke up in the sterile hospital room to a devastating reality: her six-month-old baby was gone, lost in a horrific car crash.
But as the memories crashed into her, she realized she had been reborn. She was back three years before her ultimate death, back to the moment she remembered lying bleeding on the asphalt while her husband, Hardy, shielded his mistress from the freezing rain.
When Hardy finally showed up at the ward, he coldly dismissed the crash as a mere accident and immediately left to comfort his young lover. To make matters worse, Alaya secretly checked her medical files and found a terrifying detail: someone had intentionally slipped beta-blockers into her system, a lethal drug for her transplanted heart. And Hardy didn't care about her dead baby or her irreversible infertility. He only coldly confirmed with the doctor that her heart was still viable.
A horrifying suspicion made Alaya's blood run cold. Why was her husband so obsessed with protecting her transplanted heart while treating her like garbage? And why was his perfectly healthy mistress secretly racking up massive bills at an advanced cardiac hospital?
Realizing she was nothing but a vessel in a twisted, deadly game, Alaya didn't shed another tear.
She packed her belongings, left her flawless diamond wedding ring on the cold marble table, and vanished from their penthouse.
When Hardy finally tracked her down, she threw a thick stack of documents onto the table.
"Sign the divorce papers," she said, her eyes completely dead.