The Unwanted Wife's Spectacular Billionaire Comeback
To the world, I was the perfect, placid wife of Giovanni Baldwin, the King of Wall Street.
But at the pinnacle of New York's social calendar, he deliberately flicked his wrist, splashing his red wine all over my white silk gown to publicly humiliate me.
When we got back to the penthouse, he shoved me to the cold marble floor in front of a life-sized portrait of his dead lover. His fingers wrapped around my throat as he ordered me to clean up the stain like a servant. To break me entirely, he froze my accounts, aggressively targeted my secret fashion company, and heavily sedated my disabled brother to maintain legal control over him.
When his dead lover's sister committed massive corporate fraud, Giovanni ruthlessly framed me for the crime, forcing me to stand before flashing cameras and take the fall just to keep her out of prison.
Looking at his triumphant smile backstage, the last ember of the girl I used to be turned to ash. I finally understood that our marriage was nothing but a hostile contract, and I was just a disposable scapegoat for his endless grief.
"This is no longer about escaping. This is about justice."
I took off my wedding ring, liquidated every cent of my hidden personal assets, and ordered my team to launch a ruthless hostile takeover of his entire empire.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 6
The café was a private gallery on the Lower East Side, far from the glittering towers of Midtown. It smelled of oil paint and old money. It was the kind of place where no one asked questions, and more importantly, where Giovanni Baldwin's spies would never think to look.
Edith sat in a secluded alcove, her hands wrapped around a delicate porcelain cup. She hadn't touched the tea.
The discreet side door opened. Anya walked in, looking impeccable in a tailored suit, a stark contrast to Edith's own disheveled state.
She slid into the seat across from her, avoiding her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Edith," she said immediately, her voice thick with concern. "I should never have let you go back there."
Edith looked at her, her gaze steady. "I don't need your apology, Anya. I need to know why."
She leaned forward, dropping her voice. "Why would Giovanni do this to me? What is the real story behind the Woods-Baldwin merger, and what does it have to do with Dakota Ayala?"
Anya rubbed a hand over her face, the internal struggle visible in every line of her body. Giovanni was a dangerous enemy. The Baldwins were a dynasty. But the woman sitting across from her had been destroyed by his own hand.
"He didn't know," Anya blurted out, the words tumbling out of her. "About your father's deal with Harold. He thinks the merger was your family's idea, a hostile move after the Ayala partnership fell apart. He blames your father for Dakota's... accident."
Edith frowned, her stomach twisting. "What deal? What are you talking about?"
Anya took a deep breath, looking around the empty gallery before leaning in close. "Dakota Ayala's family company was Baldwin's key to the European market. But they were unstable. When Dakota died in that car crash, the partnership died with her. The Baldwins were hemorrhaging money. Your father, seeing an opportunity, approached Harold. He offered a merger—Woods International would stabilize their Asian markets in exchange for a controlling stake. But he had one condition."
The words hung in the air between them. Edith felt a coldness seep into her bones, a coldness that had nothing to do with the drafty gallery.
"The marriage," she whispered, the pieces clicking into place. "He demanded I marry Giovanni."
Anya nodded miserably. "Your father believed it was the only way to secure the deal and protect your future. A union of the two families. But Giovanni... he saw it as a betrayal. An insult to Dakota's memory. He thinks your family capitalized on his tragedy. He wanted to punish you. He wanted to make sure you could never give the family what they wanted. He didn't realize he was cutting his own throat until it was too late."
Edith sat back, the reality of it crashing over her. She wasn't a wife. She had never been a wife. She was a bargaining chip. A walking contract clause for the Baldwin legacy. And Giovanni, in his blind hatred, had smashed the very thing he was supposed to cultivate.
The cruelty wasn't just personal. It was systemic. She was a commodity, and she had been damaged goods the moment the deal was signed.
A harsh, broken laugh escaped her lips. It was a sound of pure despair. "So, his sudden concern, his offers of money and a united front... that's not regret. That's panic. He needs his merger back on track."
Anya looked down at the table, unable to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry, Edith. I am so sorry."
Edith stood up. She didn't feel angry anymore. The anger had burned away, leaving only a cold, hard diamond of resolve in her chest.
"Thank you, Anya," she said, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "For telling me."
She walked out of the gallery into the brisk afternoon air. The city noise washed over her, but she felt detached from it all. She was living in a different world now. A world where the truth was a weapon, and she was the only one who knew it.
She took a cab back to the penthouse. The apartment was empty. Giovanni was still out, probably tearing the city apart looking for a way to salvage his deals.
Edith walked into the bedroom. Her small portfolio was still sitting on the bed. She hadn't unpacked it.
She zipped it closed. She pulled the engagement ring off her finger and placed it on the nightstand. It felt like removing a shackle.
She walked to the front door. Martha Kowalski was in the foyer, dusting a table that didn't need dusting. The housekeeper looked up, her eyes filled with a sadness that said she knew.
"Godspeed, Mrs. Baldwin," Martha whispered.
Edith paused at the door. She turned back, looking the older woman in the eye.
"It's Woods," Edith said firmly. "My name is Edith Woods."
She walked out of the penthouse, the heavy door closing behind her with a soft, final click. She walked past the doorman, out into the sunlight. The sun was warm on her face, but she felt nothing.
She was free. But she was also alone, broke, and broken. And she had a company to save.
You may also like
9.0
Adaline Poole thought she had escaped her family's toxic corporate grip by moving to London and adopting a stray cat named Monty.
But when she returns to her empty apartment, her father delivers a chilling ultimatum: he has kidnapped the cat and will euthanize it by morning unless she accepts an arranged marriage with Barron Cooke, a notoriously elusive billionaire.
Her entire family becomes complicit in her sale. Her mother demands she secure their elite status, and her brother secretly spies on her social media to feed Barron her every move. Horrified to discover Barron is a thirty-three-year-old "fossil" twelve years her senior, Adaline resorts to sabotage. She goes to a Soho club, takes a scandalous photo with a frat boy, and sends it to the old billionaire to disgust him into canceling their upcoming dinner.
But her rebellion backfires horribly when the frat boy spikes her drink with a powerful narcotic. As her body burns with a terrifying, feverish heat, she collapses in a dark corridor. Stripped of her phone and betrayed by her bloodline, she is left utterly defenseless as a predator approaches to drag her away.
Suddenly, the heavy fire door is kicked open by a towering, terrifyingly handsome stranger who effortlessly neutralizes her attacker.
"Please... help me," Adaline begs, deliriously throwing her burning body into his arms.
She has absolutely no idea that the handsome savior she is clinging to is Barron Cooke himself.
9.5
My husband, Colton, the Wall Street mogul, slid annulment papers across the table, coldly discarding me and our unborn child. He thought he was getting rid of a useless wife, but he was actually throwing away the secret architect of his entire empire. Now, I'm ready to make him pay for every insult, every lie, and every single secret I've kept.
For three years, eight months pregnant, I secretly saved Colton's ten-billion-dollar company from collapse, enduring a cold, transactional marriage.
One night, he shattered that illusion, serving annulment papers and callously discarding me and our unborn child.
I signed, leaving luxury behind. Exposing his butler's fraud, I escaped. Colton later found his wedding ring gone and, on his desk, my SEC compliance fixes—proof I was his hidden genius.
Blindsided, he realized he’d destroyed his own empire. His mother then called, gloating. The injustice ignited a fierce resolve within me.
The next morning, I launched Kidd Legal Consulting. I'd use forty-seven folders of Farmer Capital's un-patched loopholes to force a fair settlement, securing my daughter's future.
8.6
As the eldest daughter of the Sharp family, I was treated worse than a stray dog, while my younger sister Seraphina was their precious princess.
When the family needed someone to marry a dying billionaire heir, they naturally chose me to take her place.
To force my consent, my brothers held a peanut butter sandwich to my face—knowing it was a lethal allergy—while dangling my EpiPen just out of reach.
On speakerphone, my own mother sighed in annoyance.
"Let her die. It might be for the best."
I choked out an agreement just as my throat closed up. But the forced engagement broke my sacred mystical vow, causing me to violently cough up my own lifeblood.
Seeing the blood, Seraphina dramatically fainted. My brothers instantly carried her to the hospital, stepping over my dying body and leaving me to bleed out on the cold marble floor.
I had to use a forbidden blood rune, draining my last ounce of strength, just to survive the night.
Even the mystical Order I served offered no comfort, calling only to demand I secure ten billion dollars for them or forfeit my soul for eternity.
Abandoned by my blood family and my spiritual master, I was completely alone, left with nothing but a broken body and a ticking clock.
But they made one fatal mistake: they let me live.
I turned to the dying heir they forced me to marry, a man plagued by a dark curse only I could cure.
"I will be your wife, and I will save your life," I told him.
In exchange, I would use his unimaginable wealth and power to make everyone who threw me away pay the ultimate price.
7.8
On the day she married, Alina unknowingly took the place of the Hayes family's daughter and became Kellan's wife, the richest man in town who was rumored to be disfigured.
Everyone mocked their doomed marriage, expecting misery and disgrace.
Instead, Alina revealed brilliance no one expected-a renowned jewelry master, financial genius, and medical prodigy.
The woman the Hayes family ignored was actually the heiress they should have treasured.
As regret consumed them and her ex begged for another chance, Kellan stood beside her, now devastatingly handsome.
"Alina and I are perfect together. Stay away from my 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."
7.7
Dasia's twin brother, Gerald, was an e-sports prodigy, the rising star of the Glory team.
But during a crucial moment, he was framed by his own teammates. They orchestrated a trap that completely destroyed his reputation and left his right hand brutally crushed.
Instead of getting him medical help, the club threw him out into the freezing rain, bleeding and disgraced. The manager labeled him useless trash and slapped him with a five-million-dollar termination fee to bleed him dry. Stripped of his pro status, the wealthy bullies at his prep school relentlessly targeted him, mocking his crippled hand and beating him down.
Dasia watched her twin brother cry in his room, his life and dreams shattered by the people he trusted. A violent, suffocating rage boiled in her chest. How could they smile while crushing his hand? Why should the victim be treated like a rotting piece of garbage while the perpetrators get rich and celebrated?
She didn't shed a single tear. She stood in front of the mirror, took a pair of scissors, and ruthlessly hacked off her waist-length hair. She wrapped her chest in coarse medical bandages until her ribs screamed, and pulled on his oversized black hoodie.
"Everything you took from him, I am going to take back with interest."
The girl in the mirror was gone. She was Gerald now. She secretly passed the brutal online tryouts for Glory's biggest rival, the elite Blackflame team, and signed their official contract. The revenge had officially begun.