Trapped By My Ruthless Billionaire Ex
Five years ago, I ruined my own reputation and pretended to sell myself to a wealthy old man, all to protect my boyfriend Declan's future.
Now, he is a ruthless billionaire who controls half of Manhattan, and we unexpectedly reunited at our best friends' wedding rehearsal.
But he didn't know the truth. He looked at my cheap, frayed dress with absolute disgust and allowed the wealthy guests to brutally humiliate me.
"Where is that rich old man you left Declan for? Did he finally kick you to the curb?"
Declan just watched me with dead eyes, watching me squirm while I secretly suffered from severe physical withdrawals. He even cornered me in a freezing alley, kissing me violently before threatening to make me wish I was dead if I didn't get out of his city.
Meanwhile, my real life was a living hell. My father was dying in the ICU, his life support about to be cut off by noon, and a ruthless gang was extorting me for three million dollars over a murder my father was framed for.
I bought Declan his billionaire throne with my blood, my health, and my future. I swallowed dry pills just to survive the day. Why did my ultimate sacrifice only bring me endless torment and his absolute hatred?
Realizing that staying in his orbit would only lead to my death, I borrowed money from a dangerous loan shark to save my father, sent a final email resigning from the bridal party, and completely vanished from Declan's life.
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Chapter 4
Annette screamed.
The sound was instantly cut off as she was violently shoved backward. Her spine slammed against the rough, freezing brick wall of the alley. The jagged bricks scraped painfully against her shoulder blades.
A heavy, suffocating scent of expensive cedarwood cologne mixed with raw tobacco flooded her lungs.
The faint red glow of a distant neon sign flickered, illuminating the face of her attacker.
It was Declan.
His tie was ripped loose. The top three buttons of his crisp white shirt were torn open. He looked like a feral animal that had finally snapped its chain.
Annette panicked. She shoved her hands against his hard chest, trying to push him away.
Declan didn't even flinch. He grabbed both of her wrists with one massive hand and pinned them forcefully above her head against the wet bricks.
He stepped into her space. His tall, broad body completely caged her in. He forced his knee between her thighs, spreading her legs slightly to press his hips flush against hers. He cut off every single avenue of escape.
His chest he heave. His hot, ragged breath washed over the sensitive skin of her neck, sending violent, involuntary shivers down her spine.
Annette's brain short-circuited. Five years ago, on a fire escape just like this, he had kissed her with so much devotion it made her cry.
But there was no devotion in his gray eyes now. There was only a dark, violent need to destroy.
"You don't regret it?" Declan hissed, his voice vibrating against her skin. "Then why can't you even look me in the eye, Annette?"
Annette turned her face away. She clamped her lips shut. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.
Her silence shattered the last thread of his sanity.
Declan released her wrists. His hand shot up and gripped her jaw. His long fingers dug into her cheeks, forcing her face forward.
Before she could gasp, his mouth crashed down onto hers.
It wasn't a kiss. It was an assault. It was a violent collision of teeth and rage.
He bit down on her bottom lip. Hard.
The sharp pain made Annette gasp, and he used the opportunity to force his tongue into her mouth. He devoured her, stealing all the oxygen from her lungs.
The taste of copper exploded in their mouths. He had bitten her lip so hard it was bleeding.
Annette thrashed against him. She shook her head wildly, but his grip on her jaw was like iron. He swallowed her whimpers, kissing her deeper, punishing her for every day of the last five years.
The raw, masculine heat of his body pressed against her freezing, wet clothes. The contrast was agonizing.
A single, hot tear escaped Annette's eye. It rolled down her cheek and dropped onto the back of Declan's hand.
The tear was scalding. Declan's entire body went completely rigid.
For a fraction of a second, his grip loosened.
Annette didn't hesitate. She bit down on his tongue with all the strength she had left.
Declan let out a deep, guttural groan of pain. He tore his mouth away and stumbled half a step back.
Annette slumped against the brick wall. Her chest heaved violently as she gasped for air. She lifted the back of her trembling hand and wiped the smear of blood from her swollen lips.
Declan stood in the darkness. He wiped his own mouth with his thumb. He looked at the blood on his skin, then looked up at her. His eyes were pitch black.
"Playing the victim again?" Declan sneered, his voice dripping with absolute disgust. "Or did that old man you sold yourself to just not train you right?"
The words were a physical blade. They gutted her. They sliced through her stomach and shredded her dignity into bloody ribbons.
Annette let out a choked cry. She raised her hand and swung at his face with everything she had.
Declan caught her wrist in mid-air. His grip was brutal.
He yanked her forward, leaning down until his mouth was a fraction of an inch from her ear.
"Get out of my city," Declan whispered. The deadly calm in his voice was more terrifying than his yelling. "Get out of my sight. Because if I see you again, I will make you wish you were dead."
He dropped her wrist like it was infected.
He turned around, kicked the heavy fire door open, and walked back into the bright, warm hallway without looking back.
The heavy metal door slammed shut.
Annette was left completely alone in the freezing darkness. Her legs gave out. She slid down the brick wall and collapsed onto the rusted iron grate, curling into a tight, shivering ball.
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7.4
Four years ago, to protect the man I loved from losing his billionaire empire, I drugged his drink, told him I only used him for his money, and vanished.
Now, at a high-society gala, Callum Wyatt is back. He isn't just a CEO anymore; he's a ruthless predator, and the second his eyes lock onto me, I know I am his prey.
When my wealthy half-sister publicly humiliated me, calling me the cheap bastard child of a homewrecker, Callum stepped out of the shadows. He nearly snapped her wrist in half and declared to New York's elite that anyone who touched me would be dismantled.
In the back of his Maybach, he pinned my arms above my head, his eyes burning with psychotic obsession.
"If you run again, Aubrey, I will burn your entire world to the ground just to keep you."
My heart bled. I had spent four grueling years tearing myself apart to keep him out of my messy, blood-soaked revenge against the family that watched my mother die.
But his terrifying protection only made my biological father's family target me harder, using their massive capital to buy out my movie set and crush my acting career.
They thought I would cower.
But as I walked onto the soundstage, facing the heiress trying to steal my role, I took off my sunglasses. I wasn't running anymore; it was time to make them pay.
9.3
My father ordered me to marry into the cursed Vaughn family.
Their heirs were rumored to die young from a mysterious genetic agony. My sister Kayden laughed, saying she wasn't going to waste her youth planning a funeral. So, I became the sacrificial lamb.
When I refused, my father slammed his hand on the table and threatened to throw my dead mother's ashes into the city dump.
"You are a struggling actress with no money and no power. You have no choice," he told me coldly.
To make matters worse, my own agent drugged my drink at a business dinner, trying to sell my body to a sleazy investor just to secure project funding.
I was completely cornered, suffocating under the weight of their cruelty. I couldn't understand how my own flesh and blood could be so vicious, treating me like a worthless pawn to be traded and discarded.
But none of them knew that while escaping the drug-laced dinner, I crashed directly into the terrifying Vaughn heir, Algot.
When his glowing crimson eyes locked onto me during a violent episode of his cursed pain, we discovered an impossible truth: my physical touch was the only cure for his agony.
Looking at the dark bruises he accidentally left on my neck, I chose not to run. Instead, I pulled out the private business card he gave me and dialed his number.
"You need me," I whispered to the dangerous billionaire. "And I am going to use you to destroy them all."
7.4
Clara Davis was trained to seduce, deceive, and destroy.
Her mission is simple: infiltrate billionaire Jeffery Rothwell's life, gain his trust, and help seize his empire in exchange for the freedom she has always craved.
But the deeper she slips into his dangerous world, the more the lines between mission and desire begin to blur. Falling for him was never part of the plan and neither was discovering that the man she was sent to manipulate may not be the real Jeffery at all.
Now trapped in a deadly web of obsession, power, and hidden identities. Clara is caught between the organization that owns her, the monster who remade her, and a love that has turned into vengeance. Clara must survive a man who sees everything, controls everything, and may be far more dangerous than the organization that created her.
Because in this game of seduction and revenge, love might be the deadliest trap of all.
8.3
Half a month into our cold war, I, Claire Parker, found an abortion procedure slip tucked inside Daniel Carter's suit pocket.
The patient's name belonged to the fragile little childhood sweetheart he had always protected so fiercely-Sophie Bennett.
I folded the paper calmly and slipped it back where I had found it.
Daniel noticed the movement immediately. His eyes flicked toward me through the rearview mirror, resignation coloring his voice.
"What are you overthinking now? Sophie was just keeping a friend company at the hospital. She accidentally left it there."
I turned toward the window and said nothing.
This was Sophie declaring war on me, yet the man who could crush competitors without mercy in the business world believed her completely.
The silence inside the car grew suffocating until Daniel finally stopped outside an upscale jewelry boutique.
He reached over and ruffled my hair with easy familiarity, his tone indulgent and affectionate.
"Come on. Pick out a ring. Your birthday's next month anyway, so we might as well register our marriage too."
I bit down hard on my lip as tears fell soundlessly onto the back of my hand.
What he still didn't know was that I wouldn't live long enough to see next month.
8.2
For three years, I scrubbed tables as a "wolfless runt," hiding my identity as the Lycan King's daughter.
It was a test for my fiancé, Alpha Connor. I wanted to see if he loved the girl, or just the crown.
He failed spectacularly tonight.
His mistress, Jaden, deliberately knocked a tray of drinks onto me during the dinner rush.
The liquid wasn't alcohol. It was concentrated silver.
My flesh hissed and bubbled as the poison ate through my skin, blocking any ability to heal.
I fell to the floor, clutching my melting hand, while Jaden faked tears and claimed I attacked her.
When Connor finally answered the video call, he saw my mangled hand. He smelled the burning flesh. He knew it was silver.
But he didn't help me.
He looked at his watch, annoyed that I was interrupting his business meeting with investors.
"Apologize to Jaden," he ordered, using his Alpha Command to crush me into submission.
"On your knees. Now."
The pain was blinding, but the betrayal cut deeper. He was forcing his Fated Mate to bow to the woman who tried to maim her.
My knees bent under the pressure, but my Royal blood refused to break.
I looked straight into the camera lens.
"No," I whispered.
I reached into my apron, bypassing the notepad, and pulled out a black satellite phone I hadn't touched in years.
"Code Black," I said to the King on the other end. "Send the Guard."
Connor thought he was disciplining a waitress.
He didn't know he just declared war on the Royal Family.
9.8
Three women, three brothers, a single, crumpled dollar bill.
Alina's world shatters the moment she's auctioned off-and claimed by the powerful Hawthorne brothers.
Thrown into Adrian Hawthorne's cold, dangerous world, she becomes his to control... his to protect... and, terrifyingly, his to desire. He's ruthless, possessive, and hiding secrets that could destroy them both. But the deeper she falls into his world, the harder it becomes to tell if she's his prisoner-or something far more dangerous.
Because the Hawthorne brothers don't just take.
They keep.
Viviane has spent her life surviving, so when Julian Hawthorne "buys" her freedom, she knows better than to trust it. Men like him don't save people-they collect them. But Julian isn't as simple as he pretends to be, and the deeper she's pulled into his world, the more dangerous it becomes to walk away.
Especially when she realizes she might be the only thing he's ever been willing to fight for.
Lena doesn't belong to anyone-and she intends to keep it that way. Brilliant, guarded, and hiding more than anyone suspects, she enters Lucien Hawthorne's world on her own terms. But Lucien doesn't play fair, and he doesn't let go.
When her past comes crashing back, Lena is forced to face the one thing she's been running from: trusting someone who could destroy her... or save her.
Three women. Three choices.Stay. Fight.
Or burn it all down.
Because being sold was only the beginning.