Catlaina Sloggett
18 Published Stories
Catlaina Sloggett's Books and Stories
The Lethal Heiress: Too Late For Regret
Modern Four years ago, Ashlee Maddox was ripped away from her wealthy Boston family and forged into a lethal black-ops commander.
Now, her estranged parents were suddenly begging their long-lost daughter to come home.
But the heartwarming reunion was a complete lie.
They didn't love her; they just needed her grandfather's massive trust fund to save their failing company.
The moment she arrived, the setup began.
Her parents hired paparazzi to capture her looking unhinged, treating her like a stray dog while treating her adopted sister, Averi, like a princess.
Averi faked injuries, tried to steal Ashlee's car, and threw tantrums to play the victim.
During a family dinner, her father tried to trick her into signing away her entire fortune.
When that failed, Averi planted a diamond necklace in Ashlee's coat, screaming for help to frame her for theft.
They planned to declare her mentally unstable to legally seize control of her assets.
They thought she was just a naive, broken girl they could easily manipulate and destroy.
They had no idea they were trying to gaslight a top-tier military predator who had just blown a ghost operative off a cliff with a heavy sniper rifle.
Ashlee didn't panic or cry.
She calmly shoved the diamond necklace into Averi's mouth and shattered her father's leg with a single vicious kick.
"This is the last time you try to touch my money."
Leaving her family terrified and broken in the hallway, she walked out of the mansion.
The family trash was dealt with; now, it was time to hunt down the real enemy hiding in her city. Waking Up To The Mafia Don's Betrayal
Mafia I woke up from a five-year coma, only to find my death certificate filed away—signed by my own husband.
Dante Vitiello, the Don of New York, looked at me like a miracle, but he was holding the hand of another woman.
Sofia Bianchi was wearing my diamonds, living in my house, and standing beside the man I had built an empire for.
But the true betrayal wasn't the mistress. It was my son.
When I reached out to Leo, my baby, he recoiled in terror and buried his face in Sofia's dress.
"Go away!" he screamed.
"Mama Sofia said you're a monster! You're a ghost!"
Sofia smiled at me, a sharp, victorious blade. She didn't just steal my husband; she rewrote my son's memories to make me the villain.
To protect the family alliance, Dante forced me to stay silent.
When Sofia later rammed my car on the racetrack to finish the job, Dante ran past my bleeding body to comfort her over a broken nail.
When she faked a fatal illness, he dragged me from my recovery bed. He forced me to donate my rare blood to save her.
"Do it for the family, Elena," he said, watching the life drain out of me to fill the veins of the woman who destroyed us.
That night, I didn't just leave. I erased myself.
I left my wedding ring on a cliff's edge and let the world believe Elena Vitiello had finally drowned.
Six months later, Dante sat in the audience of a global tech summit in Zurich, desperate to find his dead wife.
I walked onto the stage in a white suit, looking him dead in the eye.
"My name is Kate Harding," I announced.
And I prepared to burn his world to ash. Hands of Stone, Heart of Vengeance
Short stories My husband told me I was a bad investment, a legacy asset he was forced to liquidate after a car crash stole his memory of our love five years ago. He replaced me with a "Muse," a supermodel whose lies were as polished as the magazine covers she graced.
But when her son—the boy Adrian believed was his heir—suffered a sudden allergic reaction, she tearfully accused me of being a jealous chemist who mixed poison to harm an innocent child.
My husband, the man whose empire was built on the scents I created, didn't hesitate. In a blind rage, he declared that if my hands were used for evil, they shouldn't be used at all. He ordered his security team to bring quick-drying industrial cement.
"Since you can't control these hands, I will seal them forever," he commanded, his voice devoid of mercy.
He then had my hands encased in stone and had me displayed in the window of our flagship store, a public spectacle for the world to condemn.
As I stood there, the heavy weight crushing my fingers and my soul, I finally understood. My blind love and foolish hope had been my downfall. I had loved the wrong man, and he had utterly destroyed me.
But they made one fatal mistake. They didn't know about the hidden camera I’d planted in the nursery. And they had no idea that my family controlled the very flowers that kept his empire alive. My Guardian's Kiss, A Bitter Sweet Goodbye
Modern For ten years, I lived with my guardian, Cole, secretly loving him. He was my late brother's best friend, the man I had worshipped since I was eight.
On my eighteenth birthday, I confessed my love with a painting. He ripped it to shreds, roaring, "I am your guardian, for God's sake!" He called my love a pathetic fantasy.
Two months later, he was engaged. He forgot I had a deadly allergy to the mango dessert his fiancée offered me.
Then, one night, he stumbled home drunk, pinned me to my bed, and kissed me while murmuring his fiancée's name. The next morning, he looked at me with disgust.
"What are you doing in my bed, Cora?"
My world shattered. The man who had spoiled me rotten, who promised to protect me forever, now saw me as disgusting and delusional. My decade of devotion had only burned me.
But his cruelty was the final push I needed. I accepted a full scholarship to Juilliard, a one-way ticket out. On his birthday, I packed my bags, deleted his number, and walked out of his life forever. I would never look back. One Night, His Unseen Legacy
Modern After ninety-nine failed attempts to win the heart of the brilliant but cold Dr. Julian Burke, I drugged him for one night of passion. It didn't make him love me. I fled to London in shame.
Three years later, a photo surfaced. It was Julian, smiling tenderly at a younger woman-a dead ringer for his deceased first love.
I flew back to New York to end our sham engagement, but he destroyed me first.
He publicly accused me of leaking his research, and his testimony sent me to prison. While I was inside, I was brutally attacked and lost a kidney. My father, crushed by the scandal, died of a stroke, and I wasn't there to say goodbye.
I was just collateral damage in his twisted atonement for a ghost, a convenient villain to protect her manipulative sister. He let me rot, believing I was a monster.
But he didn't know the secret I carried from that one night.
After my release, I took our son and vanished. I would build a new life, and he would never know the son he abandoned or the woman he truly broke. His Betrayal, Her Bitter Freedom
Modern To save my dying mother, I had to remarry my cheating ex-husband, Braden. He was the only surgeon in the country who could perform the life-saving surgery she needed, so I swallowed my pride and walked back into our gilded cage.
But on the day of the operation, he abandoned her. He left my mother to die on the table for a "personal emergency"-a flat tire with his mistress, Angelina.
When my grief turned to rage, he didn't just dismiss my pain. He used his power to have me declared mentally unstable, bribing doctors and having me dragged away to a psychiatric hospital to silence me forever.
Trapped in a padded cell, stripped of my dignity and my sanity, I realized he had taken everything. My mother, my freedom, my name. The love I once felt for him had curdled into a cold, sharp resolve.
After I escaped, I didn't run into the night. I walked straight into the national medical awards gala where he was being celebrated, ready to burn his perfect life to the ground on live television. The White Wolf's Secret: Rejected By The Alpha
Werewolf I stood alone at the marble altar, the silence of the temple pressing against my eardrums.
It was my Mating Ceremony, but the groom was missing.
My phone buzzed with a notification: a livestream of my mate, Alpha Cain, skipping our union to welcome my sister, Eris, home.
In the video, he held her like she was fragile glass, captioning it: "True power recognizes true power."
When I returned to the Pack House, humiliated, I wasn't met with an apology.
I was met with a slap from my mother.
Eris, feigning a powerful "Alpha Aura," claimed my mere scent was poisoning her.
To "save" her, my family locked me in my room.
But the true betrayal came when I overheard their hushed whispers through the door.
"Use Vera," my mother said, her voice chillingly practical.
"She recovers fast. We can drain her blood weekly for Eris. She can stay as a servant to raise Cain and Eris's pups."
My blood ran cold.
They didn't just neglect me; they planned to harvest me like livestock.
They thought I was the weak Omega they exiled to the North years ago to peel potatoes.
They had no idea that in the North, I wasn't a servant.
I was Commander V, a warrior forged in ice and blood.
I reached under my bed and pulled out my black tactical duffel.
"Screw the meatloaf," I whispered.
I wasn't just leaving. I was going to war. From Drowning to Darling: A Second Chance
Romance I walked into City Hall, ready to tear up my marriage application. It was over.
Hours earlier, I woke up in a hospital bed, my fiancé Aubrey beside me, his face a mask of annoyance. He told me to apologize to Kennedy, the woman who had just pushed me into an icy lake, nearly drowning me.
Through the churning water, I had seen Aubrey swim past me, straight to Kennedy, who was faking drowning. He believed her lies, accusing me of attacking her, despite my life-threatening injury.
He dismissed my pain, my sacrifice, and my years of loyalty, all for a woman who had betrayed him in the past. He even used my own values against me, telling me to "put others before yourself."
I was tired. So incredibly tired. The near-drowning had been a baptism. I finally understood: I could not fix this. I could not win his love.
When I returned home, he had already given my precious herbal tea, meant for my chronic pain, to Kennedy. He then demoted me to a guest in my own home, ordering me to cook for her. It was time to burn the last bridge. Betrayed Wife, Unstoppable Rise
Romance My adopted daughter, Lily, was my whole world.
We were playing hide-and-seek in our penthouse when I heard a shriek, cut short, followed by a sickening thud.
I raced to the balcony, only to find my husband' s stepsister, Haylee Walls, standing there, and the railing empty.
On the pavement five floors below, Lily lay still in a pink dress, surrounded by a rapidly spreading pool of red.
My husband, Brighton Castro, rushed out, pulling me into an embrace that felt like a cage. Then, a sharp prick in my neck, and darkness.
When I woke, my eyes were sewn shut.
I was in a cold, damp, derelict building.
Brighton' s mocking chuckle echoed, followed by Haylee' s soft voice. "She can't hurt you anymore," Brighton said. He accused me of insulting Haylee, of throwing her childhood blindness in her face.
"So now," he continued, his voice devoid of warmth, "you can experience it for yourself. Feel what it's like to be blind." His friends laughed as I stumbled, blood trickling from my eyelids.
I didn't understand. My daughter was dead, and my husband, the man who promised to protect us, had done this to me. Why? What kind of monster was he?
But their mockery fueled something else. I stood straight, my hand finding the diamond earring I wore. I pressed it.
"I need a new husband," I said, my voice steady and clear. "Send a helicopter for me in an hour." His Deception, Her True Freedom
Billionaires Five years ago, a car crash shattered my pelvis and my dreams of motherhood. My brilliant tech mogul husband, Ethan, vowed revenge on the driver, Willow Greene, who was obsessed with him. He used his wealth to ensure she rotted in prison, then wrapped me in a cocoon of luxury, convincing me he only needed me.
Then, a miracle happened: two blue lines. I was pregnant, a medical marvel. I wanted to surprise Ethan at his tech conference, to see his joy. But on stage, he introduced the visionary behind his new app: Willow Greene, radiant, confident, and very pregnant.
The world shattered. My life, my perfect marriage, was a meticulously crafted deception. My miracle child was a cruel joke. Every grand gesture, every luxurious gift, had been a distorted echo of his life with her. He was Mr. H, the savior in her viral romance novel, the man who got her out of jail and built her a life.
Back home, Ethan' s loving voice on the phone was a lie. The smart home, a monument to our love, became a shrine to his betrayal. The miracle inside me turned into a curse. This child was not a symbol of love, but the final twist in a five-year prank.
"I need to schedule an appointment," I told my fertility doctor, "for a termination." The silence was deafening. I looked at the priceless paintings, now cheap, fake. I watched him carry Willow, not me, to the hospital, abandoning me to crash on the floor at his family' s party.
Then they forced me to donate my blood to save her, the woman who took everything. Lying on the hospital bed, revived after flatlining, I realized I was free. I called Ethan' s rival, Liam Miller, to sell him twenty percent of Hayes Industries, wiping out Ethan' s stock and reputation. Then, I disappeared. My Wife's Betrayal, My New Beginning
Romance My hands, once surgeons' hands, now trembled balancing champagne glasses at an elite medical summit.
My wife, Sarah, lay in a coma, kept alive by machines.
My daughter, Lily, traumatized, diagnosed with severe autism, was a ghost in our home.
My career, my reputation, my life – all shattered by a malpractice suit that wasn't my fault, and an amusement park incident that left me with broken ribs and my family broken beyond repair.
I poured every last cent, every ounce of my being, into their care, working menial jobs just to survive.
Then, a voice announced a speaker on stage: "Dr. Sarah Miller, presenting 'New Advances in Brainstem Injury Repair'..."
The name, the topic, the face I saw under the spotlight, hit me like a physical blow.
It was Sarah. My Sarah. Confident, brilliant, and clearly not comatose.
The champagne tray slipped. Crash.
Security grabbed me, but I didn't care. "She's my wife! Sarah! She should be in the ICU right now! She's in a coma!"
Her eyes, for a split second, flickered with panic before settling into cold composure.
The man next to her, Andrew Sterling, CEO of Sterling Medical Group, stepped forward, handing me a business card, his face full of contempt.
Whispers of their shared past, of her being his company's chief expert, swirled around me, twisting the knife.
Was our entire nine-year marriage a lie?
The applause for the brilliant Dr. Miller mocked my agony, making me wonder if I had been the biggest fool of all. Shattered Trust, Silent Scars
Billionaires My marriage to Sylvia Lind, a strategic alliance between my new money and her old-money family, appeared perfect for five years.
But at a Sotheby's auction, Sylvia suddenly outbid me on a vintage Patek Philippe watch I wanted, only to gift it to her new young intern, Caleb, whose resemblance to my younger self unnerved me.
Later, she not only defended his audacious presence in my private Mercedes-Maybach but also prioritized his emotional distress over my blatant disrespect, hanging up on me to go "help" him.
The trust I thought we' d built evaporated, leaving me cold and contemplating a betrayal I couldn't ignore, yet I couldn't fully grasp why she'd risked everything for this kid.
With a profound sense of finality, I picked up my phone and told my lawyer, "Draft the divorce papers." The Divorce Decree: A New Beginning
Romance The world came down in dust and fire, and I was trapped, pinned under a heavy beam.
Next to me, a colleague, Jessica, was also caught. Through the rubble, I saw first responders, a glimmer of hope. Hope that shattered when I heard my husband, Mark, over the radio.
"My wife is a strong woman; she' d want others saved first. Jessica is a key aide to the Senator-get her out now!" His calm voice cut deeper than any debris. He chose another woman, again. Just like in our first life, a life where he resented me for twenty years for saving me instead of his political connection. He was correcting his "mistake."
I watched him, my seemingly devoted husband, pull a barely scratched Jessica from the ruins, holding her like she was glass, completely ignoring me, bleeding and pregnant just feet away.
He left me for dead at the scene, and later, for an unpaid hospital bill. He even moved Jessica into the apartment next door, buying her designer clothes while I healed. Then, he tried to sabotage my future, voiding my bar exam registration and giving my spot to her.
Why would he do this? Why, after being reborn, would he repeat such a cruel betrayal, even worse this time? Did he truly hate me that much?
But he failed to break me.
Fueled by a rage hotter than any fire, and by the tiny life growing inside me, I knew this wasn't an ending. This was a war, and I was ready to fight. The Unwanted Dog, The Unseen Plot
Modern My Golden Retriever, Max, was the heart of my dog daycare, Pawsitive Vibes. My boyfriend, Mark, usually walked him in the mornings-a picture of our perfect life.
But one morning, Mark came back alone, leash dangling. "Sarah," he flatly stated, "Max ran off. He nipped me." Max? Aggressive? My gentle dog who wouldn't hurt a fly?
Before I could question him, my phone blazed: "The Feed." "Max didn't run. He's with her. Elm Street & 7th. Red light. Big rig. NOW." Panic clawed at me. Mark dismissed my terror: "He's gone. We' ll look later." His indifference infuriated me. I sped to the intersection, just as I saw her-Clara-pulling Max into a speeding semi' s path. Risking everything, I saved him. As he trembled against me, "The Feed" delivered a crushing blow: "He gave Max to her." Mark had given my dog away.
"Gave him to her?" I choked, rage boiling. "The Feed" then showed Mark's manipulative plotting with Clara, discarding Max and me. He tried to gaslight me, calling me "emotional." The betrayal was immense.
The old Sarah would have crumpled. But a cold fury solidified. Armed with truth, I faced him. "We're done, Mark. Get out." When he threatened, I showed him a photo from "The Feed": him kissing Clara in a hospital-a damning breach. His face went ashen. Trust shattered. This was war now, and I was ready. Her Vengeance, Their Ruin
Billionaires My marriage to Ethan Hamilton wasn't about love or money; it was a meticulously executed strategy, years in the making, to find answers about my mother, Sarah Thorne, who vanished mysteriously.
I suspected the powerful Hamiltons were deeply involved.
Then, the call came: Ethan was dead, his yacht capsized, "lost to the sea"-a convenient end that accelerated my hidden agenda.
His mistress, Chloe, quickly appeared with a small boy, claiming the child was Ethan's heir and demanding her share of the vast Hamilton fortune.
Ethanâs mother, Eleanor, and father, Richard, publicly embraced Chloe, endorsing her claims over mine, forcing me to play the 'grieving widow' while meticulously dismantling their narrative.
I exposed Ethanâs infertility and Richardâs scandalous secret son, shattering their constructed lies, but the true horror arrived when Richard, utterly ruthless, pressured Chloe to force her son to donate a kidney to his other 'true heir.'
Cornered and terrified, Chloe finally confessed the unspeakable truth about Ethan: a horrific hit-and-run years ago that Richard had completely covered up.
My blood ran cold: the victim, left to die on a winding mountain road, then meticulously removed from existence, was my mother.
The mask of the grieving widow shattered, replaced by a burning, decade-old fury.
Every calculated risk, every year of quiet infiltration, culminated in that moment.
The Hamiltons had no idea the architect of their downfall was already inside.
Justice for Sarah Thorne was finally within reach, and I would make them pay. My Rival, My Redemption
Romance I'm Ethan Vanderbilt, a Kingsbridge legacy, currently facing the annual Legacy Pairing Program. For years, one nightmare haunted me: I chose Clara Hayes, she tragically died protecting me, whispering "Don't choose me... next time." Today is that next time.
Defying fate, my powerful father, and tradition, I shocked everyone by choosing Scarlett Jones, my sharp-witted rival.
But the dream's shadow deepened. Clara, obsessed with Julian Vance-a supposed guitar virtuoso-begged me to release her. Julian, a master manipulator, systematically built a web of lies around her, framing me as the villain.
Clara, utterly blinded by Julian, publicly humiliated me, accused me of poisoning, and even physically assaulted me. Every attempt to reveal his deceit only cemented her belief in his false heroism and my assumed malice.
I was condemned, trapped as the antagonist in a story I never wrote. How could she refuse to see the obvious truth?
At Julian' s grand engagement ball, I finally exposed his deceptions with an undeniable truth, shattering Clara's world. Her desperate pleas for forgiveness? I coldly rejected them.
But Julian, enraged, hired an assassin. In a final, desperate act, Clara threw herself in front of me, dying to save the man she finally knew she truly loved. Her sacrifice broke the cycle, freeing me.
Now, with Scarlett, my fierce partner, can I truly forge a love that conquers fate? The Ex-Wife's Fatal Betrayal
Modern My son Leo, a brilliant young scientist, had just been accepted into the prestigious National Youth Innovators' Summit, a spot I'd worked hard to secure for him.
He was over the moon, his eyes alight with the promise of his future.
But a single day later, that joy was brutally snatched away: Leo’s coveted spot was inexplicably given to another, whose father, Marcus—my ex-wife Isabella's lover—had paid a $50,000 "donation" using a credit card I instantly recognized as Isabella’s supplementary, funded by *my* very own money.
I stormed into that university department, ready to call out the brazen betrayal.
There was Marcus, smirking, flashing the tainted card, only to have it repeatedly declined after one call I made to the bank froze every dime.
Yet, Isabella, ever the schemer, swooped in, making a direct transfer to secure the spot, then chillingly disowned our son, publicly labeling him an "embarrassment."
She then pointedly had her lover accuse Leo of vandalism, fabricating a scene to have us removed by university security.
The woman I married, the mother of my child, standing there, betraying Leo and me so brazenly, was a gut punch beyond measure.
How could she orchestrate such a cruel, calculated public humiliation for her own family, all for petty status and a cheating lover?
But just as the guards closed in, the game changed: my family’s head of security arrived, and a deeper, darker truth about Isabella's true nature was finally unveiled, exposing how she had cunningly manipulated my grandmother's health to marry into our wealth.
This wasn't just about a summit spot anymore; it was about an entire life built on deceit, and it was about to come crashing down. The Day I Died, She Finally Knew My Truth
Romance I walked out of Chino State Prison, a free man, but my body carried a death sentence.
The clanging gates closed behind me, a period at the end of five lost years.
The California sun felt too bright on my face, and my lungs burned with the fatal lung cancer I’d contracted inside.
I had one final wish: to have my ashes scattered at Point Sublime, a remote, sacred spot in the Grand Canyon I’d promised to share with Olivia, years ago, our forever place.
But then Olivia Hayes, my past love, now engaged to my former best friend and tormentor, Marcus Thorne, appeared.
Her eyes, once full of youthful adoration, now seethed with pure, unadulterated hatred.
She offered me a job: her personal driver, not out of kindness, but out of a cold desire for me to witness everything I had supposedly ruined.
I took the job, enduring her glacial contempt and Marcus's sadistic pleasure day after agonizing day, as my failing health rapidly withered beneath my uniform.
I coughed up blood in secret, retrieved her family heirloom ring from an icy pool at Marcus’s cruel behest, and pulled her from a burning guesthouse, letting Marcus claim the credit for my heroism.
Every interaction was a fresh twist of the knife, a public humiliation for a crime I didn’t commit, but chose to embrace.
They called me a murderer, a reckless monster, a lifelong convict, always oblivious to the truth: I had taken the fall for her mother’s suicide, sacrificing my freedom and reputation, to protect Olivia and her family’s stained name from further ruin.
I had lost everything for her, only to become the very person she now despised, fueling her relentless cruelty.
Then Marcus’s reckless accident left him bleeding out, urgently needing my rare blood type.
Olivia, desperate to save the man who reveled in my suffering, came to me.
She didn’t ask; she demanded my life.
And with my last breath, still loving her unconditionally, I gave it. You might like
Abandoned Ex-Wife: Now Untouchable
Tao Yaoyao My five-year-old daughter was dying in the ICU, her heartbeat replaced by the continuous, electronic scream of a flatline. I gripped her cold hand, my throat sealed shut by a terror so absolute I couldn't even cry out.
I dialed my husband Grayson's private number, the one reserved only for me and his assistants. He declined the call instantly. A second later, a text buzzed against my palm:
"In a meeting. Do not disturb. Stop calling."
Five miles away, Grayson was at a luxury gala, adjusting his silk tie and laughing with Belle Escobar. He told her I was just being "dramatic" and using our daughter's "fever" as an excuse to avoid the event. He had no idea Effie's heart had already stopped.
When I finally reached our penthouse, soaked from the rain and carrying Effie's small socks in a plastic bag, Grayson didn't even look at me. He snapped at me for ruining the hardwood floors and asked if I'd left Effie with the nanny just to "feel sorry for myself."
Three days later, while I buried our daughter in a small, lonely ceremony, Grayson was at the Hamptons. Belle posted a photo of him golfing with the caption: "A mental health day with the boys." He didn't even attend the funeral, but he returned home demanding I clear out Effie's room to make a study for Belle's son.
The injustice burned through me until there was nothing left. I swallowed a handful of sleeping pills, desperate to join my daughter. But instead of the darkness, I woke up to blinding lights and the scent of Grayson's expensive cologne.
I was standing in a ballroom, wearing a blue silk dress I had already burned. Above me, a banner read: "Happy 5th Birthday Kaiden & Effie."
I was back, exactly one year before the tragedy. This time, I wasn't going to be the grieving wife. I was going to be their worst nightmare. No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return
Xiao Xiaosu I went to the City Clerk’s office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk’s pitying look told me my entire life was a lie.
"The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single."
The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate.
Gray’s text to her was the final blow:
"Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we’re done with the charade."
I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray’s life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance.
How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury.
I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street."
"I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray."
If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world. The Placeholder Bride's Secret Billionaire Revenge
Luo Ye For two years, I was the invisible force behind tech billionaire Kieran Douglas, convinced that our "private" romance was his way of protecting us from the tabloid spotlight. I managed his mergers, warmed his bed, and waited for a future that didn't exist.
The illusion shattered at 6:00 AM when a Page Six alert debuted Kieran's "real" romance with socialite Aspen Schneider. Before I could even process the betrayal, Kieran sent me a cold, professional text: "Order flowers for Aspen. Pink peonies. Her favorite."
When I tried to walk away, my own mother called me a disgrace and threatened to lock my inheritance forever unless I married a sixty-year-old businessman to save her failing estate. At a high-society gala that same night, Aspen intentionally crushed my burned hand in front of the cameras, while Kieran stood by and dismissed me as a "mediocre assistant" who had overstayed her welcome.
I stood in the cold New York rain, drenched in champagne and humiliation, realizing that every sacrifice I made for Kieran was a joke. I was a ghost in a penthouse that was never mine, discarded the moment his "soulmate" returned. To the world, I was just a placeholder whose time had run out.
But Kieran forgot one thing: my father's multi-million dollar trust fund unlocks the moment I legally marry. I didn't need love; I needed a signature and a shield. I walked into a discreet law firm and signed a marriage contract with a man I believed was the city's most notorious, scandal-ridden playboy.
I thought I was marrying a degenerate "beard" to buy my freedom and secure my revenge. I didn't realize the man who signed that paper wasn't a playboy at all, but Gaston Collins-the most powerful and dangerous man on Wall Street-and he had no intention of letting our fake marriage stay fake. Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance
Roderic Penn I stood at my mother's open grave in the freezing rain, my heels sinking into the mud. The space beside me was empty. My husband, Hilliard Holloway, had promised to cherish me in bad times, but apparently, burying my mother didn't fit into his busy schedule.
While the priest's voice droned on, a news alert lit up my phone. It was a livestream of the Metropolitan Charity Gala. There was Hilliard, looking impeccable in a custom tuxedo, with his ex-girlfriend Charla English draped over his arm. The headline read: "Holloway & English: A Power Couple Reunited?"
When he finally returned to our penthouse at 2 AM, he didn't come alone-he brought Charla with him. He claimed she'd had a "medical emergency" at the gala and couldn't be left alone. I found a Tiffany diamond necklace on our coffee table meant for her birthday, and a smudge of her signature red lipstick on his collar. When I confronted him, he simply told me to stop being "hysterical" and "acting like a child."
He had no idea I was seven months pregnant with his child. He thought so little of my grief that he didn't even bother to craft a convincing lie, laughing with his mistress in our home while I sat in the dark with a shattered heart and a secret life growing inside me.
"He doesn't deserve us," I whispered to the darkness. I didn't scream or beg. I simply left a folder on his desk containing signed divorce papers and a forged medical report for a terminated pregnancy. I disappeared into the night, letting him believe he had successfully killed his own legacy through his neglect.
Five years later, Hilliard walked into "The Vault," the city's most exclusive underground auction, looking for a broker to manage his estate. He didn't recognize me behind my Venetian mask, but he couldn't ignore the neon pink graffiti on his armored Maybach that read "DEADBEAT." He had no clue that the three brilliant triplets currently hacking his security system were the very children he thought had been erased years ago. This time, I wasn't just a wife in the way; I was the one holding all the cards. His Trophy Wife, The Apex Predator
Eydie Pfefferle My husband of three years, Arthur Vanderbilt, came home smelling of his mistress's perfume and threw divorce papers on our marble kitchen island.
He demanded I sign away all rights to our assets for a five-million-dollar "severance," calling me a leech his family picked up from the suburbs to solve a temporary PR crisis.
When I refused and demanded my four percent equity in the Vanderbilt Group, he and his mistress, Serena, launched a vicious smear campaign. They planted false stories on Wall Street forums, accusing me of laundering money for an Eastern European crime syndicate.
They tried to force my hand with a check for five hundred million, which I tore up and threw in his face. To them, I was just a trophy wife they could easily discard.
They had no idea that the "leech" they so despised was the anonymous investor who had secretly bailed out their entire company three years ago, saving them from bankruptcy.
Their final move was to hire an actress to publicly accuse me of fraud in the lobby of the most powerful law firm in Manhattan. They didn't realize I was there to retain the firm's most ruthless lawyer. After security threw them out, I looked my replacement in the eye and made her a promise.
"Prepare for an FBI probe into perjury and corporate defamation." Cheated On Me? I Married a Tycoon
Rum Runner I spent three years building my husband, Axel Farrell, into Silicon Valley's ultimate "family man." As his lead PR strategist, I carefully managed his public image, making sure the world saw him as a perfect, devoted husband while I worked in the shadows of our estate.
The illusion shattered when he came home one night smelling of sandalwood and roses, with three deep fingernail scratches carved into his back. When I tried to check his phone, the passcode we had used for years-our wedding anniversary-had been changed.
The betrayal got worse the next morning when his mother called me a "defective product" and tried to force me into a fertility clinic. Axel didn't defend me; instead, he shoved me against a marble bar at a public gala to protect his mistress in front of the world's elite. By the time I tried to leave, Axel had frozen my bank accounts and filed a forged legal petition to have me declared mentally incompetent.
He planned to have me legally kidnapped and locked in a private psychiatric ward just to stop me from filing for divorce. He even blocked every major law firm in the city from taking my case, leaving me with no money, no identity, and no one to turn to.
I couldn't understand how the man who "saved" me from the mud years ago could be the same monster now trying to legally erase my existence. Was our entire marriage just a grooming process to exploit my genius for his billion-dollar empire?
As the deadline for my forced commitment approached, I stopped crying and opened my laptop. I leaked the video of his affair to every tech journalist in the country, watching his stock price crash in real-time.
"Axel thinks starving me out will make me crawl back to him," I whispered as I walked into the headquarters of his biggest rival.
"But he forgot that the most valuable part of his company is in my head."
I was no longer the abandoned wife; I was the one who was going to take his throne and burn it to the ground. Seven Years A Fool, One Day A Queen
Stella Montgomery Everyone knew Kristine loved Colton. Still, his heart clung to a woman overseas-someone he spent most days with, now pregnant with his baby-and Kristine still asked him to marry her.
On their registration day, however, he never came; his "true love" had flown back.
Seven years of loyalty later, Kristine walked away, blocked him, and left his city.
Colton didn't blink-until he saw her at the courthouse, arm-in-arm with another man, and the proud CEO went pale. He went after her, desperation overtaking him.
"I'm sorry. Please give me another chance."
She snapped, "Could you stop? I'm already married." Untouchable After Goodbye: She Had A Secret Empire
Mira Westfield "Let's get a divorce. She's pregnant and deserves a place in my life."
He once promised to protect Claire forever, yet when his first love returned, he cast her aside. For three years, Claire dimmed her brilliance, living quietly as the obedient wife behind him.
When he handed her divorce papers to give his pregnant mistress a place, Claire no longer hid her talents.
The woman he had overlooked was a legendary healer, racing prodigy, and a genius designer. After the divorce, she reclaimed her glory.
When he pleaded, "Honey, let's remarry," another man pulled her close. "She's my wife now. As for you... Someone, take him out and give him what he deserves!" Marrying Her Was Easy, Losing Her Was Hell
Michael Tretter "Stella once savored Marc's devotion, yet his covert cruelty cut deep. She torched their wedding portrait at his feet while he sent flirty messages to his mistress.
With her chest tight and eyes blazing, Stella delivered a sharp slap.
Then she deleted her identity, signed onto a classified research mission, vanished without a trace, and left him a hidden bombshell.
On launch day she vanished; that same dawn Marc's empire crumbled. All he unearthed was her death certificate, and he shattered.
When they met again, a gala spotlighted Stella beside a tycoon. Marc begged. With a smirk, she said, ""Out of your league, darling." First Lady Out, Your Majesty In
Asher Wolfe For three years, Allison played the perfect First Lady in a marriage that never gave her love back.
Nolan handed her divorce papers, sneering at her background while his mother mocked her as barren and his pregnant mistress claimed her place. So Allison walked away.
On the very day she left him, the royal family reclaimed her as their lost princess.
Crown, fortune, power, three terrifying brothers, and a handpicked royal consort now stood at her side.
Her eldest brother-the world's most feared arms dealer-pushed a black card across the table. "Go on. Spend whatever you like."
Her second brother-the genius doctor-twirled a scalpel between his fingers. "Tell me, sis. How many cuts do the ones who hurt you deserve?"
Her third brother-a global martial arts superstar-stormed into her ex-husband's lair. "Who made my sister cry? Time to face the music."
When her regretful ex begged for another chance, Allison only smiled.
It was too late. She was no longer his wife. She was his worst mistake. 
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