Trapped in a Marriage of Revenge
Aria Cole lost everything the day her father was arrested.
To save her family, she accepts a deal she never imagined-marriage to Julian Blackwood, the billionaire who destroyed her life.
Cold, cruel, and driven by revenge, Julian believes Aria's family is responsible for his mother's death.
Their marriage is a contract built on hatred, silence, and punishment.
But as secrets unravel and emotions refuse to stay buried, Aria must decide-
will she survive loving the man who ruined her...
or will he destroy her completely?
Chapters
Share
Chapter 1
The knock on the door came at exactly 6:42 a.m.
Not a polite knock.
Not the kind neighbors made.
It was sharp. Final. The kind that didn't ask permission.
Aria Cole froze at the top of the stairs, her fingers tightening around the banister. For a split second, she considered pretending she hadn't heard it. That if she stayed perfectly still, the sound and whatever came with it-would disappear.
The knock came again.
Her mother's voice floated from the kitchen, tired and confused.
"Aria? Are you expecting someone this early?"
"No," Aria said, already moving. Her heart had begun to beat too fast, too hard, like it knew something her mind was still refusing to accept.
She opened the door.
Two men stood outside. Dark suits. Expressionless faces. One of them held a badge. The other held a folder thick enough to crush hope.
"Miss Cole?" the taller one asked.
"Yes."
"We're here for your father."
The world tilted.
"What?" Aria laughed softly, the sound wrong in her own ears. "There must be a mistake. My father's already at work."
The man didn't smile.
"Step aside, please."
They walked in without waiting for permission.
Her mother appeared behind her, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "What's going on?" she asked, her voice unsteady.
The second man finally spoke. "Mr. Thomas Cole is under arrest for financial fraud, embezzlement, and falsifying corporate records."
Aria turned sharply. "That's impossible."
Behind them, heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Her father appeared, adjusting his cufflinks, confusion creasing his brow. "What is this?"
The badge flashed again. Metal glinted.
"Thomas Cole," the man said, "you're under arrest."
"No" Aria stepped forward instinctively, placing herself between her father and the officers. "You can't just come in here and say things like that. My father is an honest man."
Her father's hand came down gently on her shoulder.
"Aria," he said quietly.
She looked up at him. Really looked. His face had gone pale. His jaw was tight. And in his eyes-eyes that had always been steady, reassuring-there was something she had never seen before.
Fear.
"Dad?" she whispered.
He shook his head slightly. Not now.
The officers moved fast after that. Cold hands. Cold words. Cold metal cuffs clicking around her father's wrists.
Her mother let out a small, broken sound and collapsed into a chair.
"Please," Aria said, her voice shaking now. "Please, there's been a misunderstanding. We can call a lawyer. We can-"
"You'll have the chance," the officer said flatly. "Ma'am, step back."
They led her father toward the door.
"Aria," he said, turning once more. "Take care of your mother."
Her chest burned. "Dad, I'll fix this," she promised desperately. "I'll fix everything."
He smiled at her then. A small, sad smile.
"I know you will."
And then he was gone.
By noon, the news had spread.
By evening, their accounts were frozen.
By nightfall, their family name meant nothing but scandal.
Aria sat alone in her bedroom, her phone buzzing nonstop on the bed beside her. Messages she didn't open. Calls she didn't answer.
She didn't need to read them to know.
Did you know?
Is it true?
I'm sorry, but it's better if we don't associate right now.
She turned the phone face down.
Downstairs, her mother hadn't stopped crying.
Aria stared at the wall, her mind racing through memories-her father teaching her how to ride a bike, how to balance a checkbook, how to stand straight and speak with dignity.
A criminal?
No. Never.
A sharp knock echoed through the house again.
Her heart clenched. For one wild moment, she thought maybe it was her father. That this had all been a terrible mistake.
But when she reached the living room, the man standing there didn't belong to hope.
He was tall. Impossibly so. Dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit that looked like it had never known warmth. His presence filled the room, heavy and controlled.
His eyes-dark, cold, unreadable-settled on her face.
"Aria Cole," he said.
Not a question.
"Yes," she replied cautiously. "Who are you?"
"My name is Julian Blackwood."
The name hit her like a slap.
Everyone knew that name.
Billionaire. CEO. A man who crushed companies without blinking. A man whose influence stretched far beyond business.
"What do you want?" she asked.
His gaze flicked briefly toward the stairs, where her mother's sobs echoed faintly. Then back to Aria.
"I'm here to talk about your father."
Her spine stiffened. "You have nothing to do with this."
Julian stepped closer. One step. Controlled. Intentional.
"Oh," he said quietly, "I have everything to do with it."
Her breath caught.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a thin folder, placing it on the table between them.
Inside were documents. Charges. Numbers. Proof she didn't understand-but the weight of them pressed down on her chest all the same.
"You have a choice," Julian continued calmly.
She looked up at him, anger and fear colliding in her chest. "What choice?"
He met her gaze without flinching.
"Marry me," he said.
The word echoed in her head.
"...What?"
"Marry me," he repeated, his voice flat, merciless. "And your father's situation will improve."
Her hands trembled. "You're insane."
Julian leaned down slightly, his voice dropping.
"No," he said. "I'm offering mercy."
Her heart pounded. "And if I refuse?"
His eyes darkened.
"Then your father stays exactly where he is."
Silence swallowed the room.
Aria felt the ground disappear beneath her feet.
This wasn't a proposal.
It was a threat.
And standing in front of her was the man who held her father's fate in his hands.
You may also like
9.0
The biopsy report slid across the cold metal desk, stamped with a brutal death sentence: advanced gastric cancer. Aretha had exactly ninety days left to live.
It was her twenty-sixth birthday, but her phone only rang with a furious call from her husband, Anders.
"Do you have any idea how much of a joke you made this family look like today? Post a public apology to Kelli right now."
He had completely forgotten her birthday, only caring that she skipped her adopted sister's yacht party.
When Aretha dragged her failing body back to the family estate, her biological mother slapped her across the face just for looking pale and embarrassing them in front of guests.
Seeing Aretha wasn't submitting to the usual abuse, Kelli deliberately threw herself down the stairs, playing the innocent, depressed victim.
Anders rushed in and shoved Aretha brutally against the wall to protect Kelli, while her biological father delivered his ultimate threat.
"I am freezing your trust fund. Get on your knees and apologize to Kelli right now, or you won't see another dime."
A massive, suffocating sense of absurdity washed over Aretha. She had spent six years lowering her head and begging for their approval, only to be treated like a disposable placeholder. Why should she spend her final days enduring this agonizing torture for people who didn't even care if she breathed?
Aretha wiped the blood from her chin and laughed. She publicly severed all ties with her family, whipped the signed divorce papers directly at Anders's face, and walked out into the freezing storm—ready to fight for her own life.
7.1
They ruined her face. Stole her child. Now she's back-and nothing will stop her.
Five years ago, Raina Carrington lost everything: her beauty, her family, and her newborn baby.
Now she's returned-unrecognizable, unbreakable, and with one goal in mind: to find her son and make them pay. But revenge is never simple, especially when it draws the attention of Leif Vexley-the most powerful and dangerous man in the city-who just might hold the key to her child's past.
Yet she's not the victim anymore.
She's the storm-and she's ready to strike.
7.8
Rosalind Rivers has only ever wanted one thing - revenge.
The Lycan Prince, Aklan Draven, murdered her brother in cold blood. Or so she's believed her whole life. Now, forced to serve under him at the Lycan Academy, she has no choice but to obey the man she swore to hate. But hating him becomes harder with every clash, every stolen glance, every heartbeat that refuses to stay loyal to her rage.
Because fate has a cruel sense of humor.
He's her fated mate.
Aklan doesn't understand why this stubborn, sharp-tongued wolf gets under his skin or why her scent feels like home. He only knows she's trouble. The kind that tests his control, drags buried memories to the surface, and makes him question everything he thought he knew about loyalty and guilt.
But when a hidden truth comes to light - that Rosalind's brother didn't die by Aklan's hand but by choice, their world begins to unravel. Old wounds reopen. Ancient forces stir. And Rosalind learns she is no ordinary wolf, but something far rarer, something worth killing for.
Between vengeance and love, duty and destiny, one wrong move could ignite a war between realms.
And the cruelest part?
She might just lose her heart to the man she was born to destroy.
9.5
One night, I was a girl seeking vengeance in a velvet mask. He was the stranger who took me against a cold stone wall, his touch a silent, lethal promise.
Now, he is Caspian Blackwood-the most feared architecture professor at Aethelgard. When my "perfect" boyfriend, Dominic Calloway, cheats on me and sabotages my degree, Caspian offers a lifeline with a razor-thin edge: Be his silent, nude model for thirty days.
The rules are absolute. I must wear a silk mask and a weighted collar. I must never speak. I must hold the poses he demands until my muscles scream for mercy. In the lecture hall, he ignores me with arctic indifference. In the studio, his gaze is a physical weight, stripping me faster than his hands ever could. But as the charcoal scratches against the paper, I realize the "deal" isn't just for art. It's for the soul I accidentally gave him in the dark. Will the deal destroy his career, or consume me first?
8.7
Isabelle couldn't stop drinking as the music pounded through the club. She was trying to drown out the image of her best friend, Aurora, who was pregnant with her fiancé's child, on what should have been Isabelle's engagement night.
But fate had other plans. When an employee calls in sick, Isabelle volunteers to fill in, unaware she is about to walk straight into the arms of Don Miller-the club's most powerful and dangerous client. He was ruthless, commanding, and known for treating women as playthings. Don doesn't believe in love... until Isabelle.
One glance, one reckless touch, and something shifts. She stirs a hunger in him he thought he'd buried forever. And when he learns what broke her, Don makes Isabelle an indecent offer:
He promises to mend her shattered heart and destroy everyone who betrayed her-if she surrenders to him completely.
Two broken souls. One dark deal.
Isabelle is about to learn that submission might just be the sweetest form of revenge. What begins as a dangerous bargain soon spirals into something deeper, darker, and far more intoxicating than either expected.
Maybe love isn't always gentle. Sometimes it's an obsession. Sometimes it's surrender. And sometimes... it's the most exquisite kind of ruin.
7.5
I didn't fall for him.
I crashed.
Liam Cage wasn't supposed to matter. He was just the arrogant stranger with a dangerous smile and eyes that undressed me in a single glance. Just a man passing through my life.
Until our parents got married.
Now he's everywhere, in the kitchen at midnight, leaning against doorframes like he owns the air I breathe. In the hallway, too close. Always too close. Every look between us feels like a secret. Every argument feels like foreplay. Every silence feels loaded.
We don't talk about it.
We don't have to.
Because the truth is there in the way my pulse stutters when he says my name. In the way he watches me like he's trying to decide whether to ruin me - or save me.
He's wrong.
For me.
For my family.
For my sanity.
But when he touches me, the world narrows down to skin and heat and the terrifying realization that some mistakes don't feel like mistakes at all.
They feel inevitable.
This story is about craving what you shouldn't, crossing lines you swore you wouldn't, and discovering that sometimes the most dangerous love is the one that feels the most real.