His Ninety-Nine Betrayals, My Freedom

His Ninety-Nine Betrayals, My Freedom

Clara Winter

5.0
Comment(s)
5.5K
View
11
Chapters

My fiancé, a Navy SEAL Commander, postponed our wedding 99 times for my manipulative sister. For our 100th attempt, I put my foot down. This date, or no date. He called two weeks before the wedding to cancel again. But this time, he threatened my career to force my compliance. Then I overheard the truth. He was planning to marry my sister-a "temporary" arrangement to get her into an exclusive therapy program. After he divorced her, he'd come back to me. I was his "certainty." His backup plan. My own mother supported it, slapping me when I refused to play along. "You will be a proper wife," she hissed. I had spent five years as a placeholder, my life put on hold for their drama. I was done waiting. I hung up the phone, canceled the wedding permanently, and volunteered for a three-year, off-the-grid assignment. But first, I took my wedding dress and a pair of scissors.

His Ninety-Nine Betrayals, My Freedom Chapter 1

My fiancé, a Navy SEAL Commander, postponed our wedding 99 times for my manipulative sister. For our 100th attempt, I put my foot down. This date, or no date.

He called two weeks before the wedding to cancel again. But this time, he threatened my career to force my compliance.

Then I overheard the truth. He was planning to marry my sister-a "temporary" arrangement to get her into an exclusive therapy program.

After he divorced her, he'd come back to me. I was his "certainty." His backup plan.

My own mother supported it, slapping me when I refused to play along.

"You will be a proper wife," she hissed.

I had spent five years as a placeholder, my life put on hold for their drama. I was done waiting.

I hung up the phone, canceled the wedding permanently, and volunteered for a three-year, off-the-grid assignment. But first, I took my wedding dress and a pair of scissors.

Chapter 1

The email flashed on my screen, its subject line a stark, brutal echo of ninety-nine others: "Wedding Postponement - Urgent." My gaze flickered to the date-our wedding day, now just two weeks away. It wasn't just a delay; it was the final, crushing blow to a life I'd built on borrowed time and someone else's whims.

I squeezed my eyes shut. This wasn't how aerospace engineers planned for launch. There were no redundancies, no backup systems for dreams. There was just a tradition, a "tight-knit unit" rule that had become a chokehold: Bryce's entire Navy SEAL team had to be at every team member's wedding.

It was a point of pride for them, a testament to their brotherhood. For me, it had become a recurring nightmare.

"Amelie? Are you okay?" My colleague, Dr. Aris Thorne, leaned over my cubicle wall, his brow furrowed with concern. He knew the drill. Everyone at the facility knew the drill. My endless, perpetually delayed wedding had become a running joke, a whispered cautionary tale.

I forced a smile that felt like shattered glass in my mouth. "Just another glitch in the system, Aris. Nothing a little re-calibration can't fix."

He didn't look convinced. "Seriously, Riggs. This is... a lot."

It was a lot. It had always been a lot. Ninety-nine times, the wedding had been postponed. Ninety-nine times, the reason had been Kendall. My older sister, Kendall, a master manipulator who wielded her diagnosed anxiety and depression like a weapon, always found a way to hijack my spotlight.

Every time Bryce and I set a new date, every time my heart dared to hope, Kendall would conjure a crisis. A panic attack that required her to be hospitalized just days before the ceremony. A sudden, debilitating bout of depression that made her "unable to cope" with my happiness. A dramatic breakup that sent her spiraling, demanding all our attention.

And Bryce, my fiancé, the charismatic Navy SEAL Commander I was supposed to marry, always fell for it. Every single time. He saw himself as her savior, her protector, a noble knight caught between his duty to his future sister-in-law and his love for me. Or so he claimed.

This last time, I had tried to put my foot down. "Bryce," I'd said, my voice shaking with a resolve I hadn't known I possessed. "We are getting married on the first of next month. No matter what. This is the hundredth date. I can't keep doing this."

He had looked at me, his handsome face etched with that familiar, weary concern that always signaled trouble. "Amelie, you know how Kendall gets. She's fragile."

Fragile. The word was a brand, searing itself into my skin. For years, I had downplayed my own needs, my own hopes, to appease Kendall, to appease my parents, to appease Bryce. I knew this was my breaking point.

"Our relationship, our marriage, cannot be held hostage by Kendall's 'fragility' any longer," I' d stated, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "This is it. This date, or no date."

He had simply scoffed, a soft, dismissive sound that sliced through my resolve. "Don't be dramatic, Ames. Of course, we're getting married. You're just... stressed."

Stressed. He called nearly a hundred postponements "stressed." I wanted to scream. I wanted to shake him until he understood the years I' d wasted, the dreams deferred, all because he prioritized Kendall' s manufactured crises over my actual life. But I didn't. I just stood there, letting his patronizing tone wash over me, feeling my spirit slowly drain away.

The first date had been set five years ago, a hopeful summer wedding. Then Kendall had a "nervous breakdown" after a bad breakup. Postponed. The next spring, she developed a sudden, severe allergy to the venue's flowers. Postponed. The following fall, her new boyfriend, an aspiring musician, unexpectedly moved to Nashville, sending Kendall into a dark depression. Postponed again. And again. And again. Each time, Bryce was by her side, a picture of chivalry, while I stood by, seething in silence.

Now, the hundredth date loomed, two weeks away. The invitations had long been sent, the caterers confirmed, my dress hanging in the closet, a white shroud of broken promises. I had dared to hope this time. Really hope. Foolish, I knew. But hope, like a stubborn weed, found a way to sprout in the most barren places.

Then came the email.

The reason for this-the hundredth-postponement? Kendall was hospitalized. Not for a physical ailment, not for an accident, but for "emotional distress." Her latest boyfriend, a particularly charming but commitment-phobic lawyer, had dumped her. Again.

My phone buzzed. It was Bryce. I knew what was coming.

"Amelie," his voice was tight, laced with a familiar urgency that always preceded bad news for me, good news for Kendall. "Kendall's in the ER again. She's inconsolable. We can't possibly go through with the wedding right now. It wouldn't be fair to her."

My breath hitched. "Fair to her?" I repeated, the words barely a whisper. "What about fair to me, Bryce? What about all the promises you made? All the times you told me this was different?"

He sighed, a sound heavy with manufactured martyrdom. "Amelie, you know I love you. But Kendall needs me. She's threatening to... to do something drastic if I' m not there."

"And if you're not here for our wedding, what then, Bryce?" The question hung in the air, thick with unspoken accusations.

His voice hardened, a dangerous edge I hadn't heard before. "Amelie, be reasonable. I'm a Commander. My unit expects me to uphold certain values. If you're going to make this difficult, if you're going to put your personal desires above family responsibility, I'm afraid I'll have to consider having your security clearance reviewed. You know how important that is for your work at Project Chimera."

My blood ran cold. My career. My life's work. He was threatening my career to force another delay, to cater to Kendall's latest performance. The air left my lungs in a painful rush. This wasn't just another postponement. This was a direct assault on my identity.

The truth hit me then, a sickening punch to the gut. It wasn't about Kendall's fragility. It wasn't about his duty. It was about control. His control over me. He believed I would always be his safety net, his patient, understanding fiancée waiting in the wings.

But then, a cold, hard ember of a rumor, something I'd dismissed as malicious gossip, began to glow fiercely in my mind. A hushed conversation I'd overheard weeks ago between Bryce and his mother. They were talking about Kendall, and an exclusive psychiatrist-a family friend of the Hunters-who only took on patients who were married to someone within their trusted circle. And then, Bryce's clipped, confident voice: "We'll get her the help she needs. A temporary marriage. Then, when she's stable, we'll divorce quietly. Amelie will understand. She always does. She's a certainty."

A temporary marriage. For Kendall. To gain access to a therapist. And then he would divorce her and come back to me, his "certainty."

The realization was a physical blow. He wasn't just manipulative. He was calculating. He wasn't just delaying our wedding; he was planning to marry my sister to solve her problems, with the full intention of returning to me afterward. I wasn't his fiancée; I was his backup plan, his convenient, ever-present option.

"Amelie?" Bryce's voice cut through my shock, laced with impatience. "Are you still there? What's your decision?"

My decision. The word tasted like freedom, bitter and exhilarating.

"My decision is this, Bryce," I said, my voice calm, steady, devoid of the tremor I expected. "The engagement is off. Permanently. The wedding is canceled."

There was a stunned silence on the other end, followed by a sputtering protest. "Amelie, you can't be serious! This is just a misunderstanding. We can fix this!"

"No, Bryce," I interrupted, my voice unwavering. "There's nothing to fix. We're done."

I hung up, the click of the phone final, definitive. The wedding was canceled. Not postponed. Canceled.

Within the hour, I called my contact at Project Chimera. "I'm volunteering for the three-year assignment," I stated, my voice echoing with an unfamiliar strength. "Effective immediately. When can I leave?"

The next day, as the wedding invitations were being recalled, and the caterers informed, Bryce called again. His voice was frantic, desperate. "Amelie, please. Don't do this. My unit, they're already talking. This looks terrible for me. People will think... people will think you're unstable."

"Let them think what they want, Bryce," I said, my voice flat. My heart felt hollowed out, but strangely light. "What you or your unit thinks no longer concerns me."

"But what about your career, Ames? What about your security clearance? You know I could still-"

"You already tried to use that, Bryce," I cut him off, my voice chillingly calm. "And it didn't work. I'm going. The project is already approved."

He paused, then his tone shifted, becoming softer, more persuasive. "Amelie, darling, listen. I know this is hard for you. But... Kendall really needs me. She's been asking for you too. Says she feels abandoned. You know she looks up to you, Ames. What kind of sister would you be to just abandon her now?"

My stomach twisted. He was using Kendall's supposed needs again, trying to guilt-trip me, to paint me as the villain. My own sister's distress, a carefully orchestrated performance, was still his primary concern. The thought was a familiar ache, but now, it felt distant, numbed by the sheer audacity of his manipulation.

"And what about my name, Bryce?" I asked, my voice dangerously low. "When you parade around with Kendall, supposedly 'helping' her, what will people say about me? That I was too difficult? Too selfish? That you had to marry my sister to 'save' her?"

He hesitated, a fleeting moment of genuine discomfort. "Amelie, no one would think that. I'd make sure... I'd make sure everyone understood the delicate situation. We'd imply you just needed space, time to grow."

Time to grow. The words were a fresh insult, implying I was immature, underdeveloped, a project needing his guidance. My blood boiled, a searing heat that quickly turned to ice. My hands clenched at my sides. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell him everything I knew, everything I suspected. But what was the point? He wouldn't hear it. He would twist it, deny it, make it my fault.

I felt a profound, aching weariness settle deep in my bones. It was a familiar feeling, one I had worn for years like a second skin. The weight of his expectations, my family's demands, Kendall's endless needs. It was suffocating. I had spent so long trying to make them happy, trying to be the "good daughter," the "understanding fiancée," the "supportive sister." I was so tired. So utterly, completely drained.

I remembered a conversation with my father years ago, when I was fighting for my first research grant. He had dismissed my ambitions, saying, "Why bother, Amelie? Kendall needs more attention. Your work is just a hobby. Focus on being a good wife." The memory was a dull throb, a constant reminder of how little my own aspirations had ever mattered to them.

"So, you want me to quietly disappear, Bryce?" I finally said, my voice devoid of emotion. "Let you play the hero for Kendall, and then, whenever you deem fit, you'll come back and 'save' me too, from the whispers and the rumors?"

"Not save you, Ames," he corrected, his voice attempting a soothing tone. "Protect you. You know I always want to protect you. Just... be patient. Like you always are."

Patient. The word tasted like bile. It was always about my patience, my understanding, my sacrifice. Never his. Never Kendall's. Never my parents'. It was always me. Always me waiting, always me giving, always me putting my own life on hold.

A cold, sarcastic laugh escaped my lips. "Oh, Bryce. You truly are a piece of work." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact. I knew then, with absolute certainty, that no matter what happened, I would never, ever be his "certainty" again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, his voice sharp with annoyance.

"It means I'll do what I have to do," I replied, my voice a whisper of defiance. "I'll go to the project. And you can do whatever you need to do with Kendall. Just... leave me out of it."

His tone immediately softened. "That's my girl, Ames. Always so sensible. I knew you'd understand. This is for the best. You'll see. We'll get through this, and then, when the time is right, we'll pick up right where we left off."

He sounded so smug, so confident in his manipulation. So certain. My stomach churned. Pick up right where we left off? As if I was a book he could simply put down and pick up at his leisure. The thought made me want to vomit.

"Right," I managed, the word a bitter taste on my tongue. "Of course we will, Bryce." My voice was laced with a venomous sarcasm he was too self-absorbed to detect. He truly believed he had won. He truly believed I would wait.

He truly believed I would still be his.

Continue Reading

Other books by Clara Winter

More
104 Sundays of Lies

104 Sundays of Lies

Modern

5.0

My world reset every Sunday, leaving me a blank slate for my loving fiancé, Ethan, and my best friend, Maria, to carefully guide. Every week, Ethan would patiently show me home videos of our happy life, our engagement, and explain my amnesia, reassuring me of his devotion after my rock-climbing accident. But a crude tattoo mysteriously appearing on my ankle, spelling "HE'S LYING," hinted at a truth my conscious mind couldn' t hold. Then I found a hidden note: "THE PILLS ARE SLEEPING DRAFTS. DON' T TAKE THEM." My heart sank as I realized the "vitamins" Maria gave me nightly were keeping me trapped in this cycle. I started pretending to take them, creeping out of bed one night to hear Ethan and Maria laughing, discussing how they were siphoning millions from my family, and planning their Bali escape. That agonizing discovery was nothing compared to seeing them passionately kissing on the couch, my fiancé and my best friend. A wave of pure, white-hot rage, unlike anything I'd ever felt, consumed me. When I confronted them, Maria shoved me, sending my head crashing against the coffee table. I woke up in a hospital, staring at Ethan, and then it hit me: the floodgates opened. Two years of forgotten betrayals, 104 cycles of lies, every single horrifying detail slammed back into my mind. He hovered over me, thumb drive in hand, ready to reset me again. "No," I whispered, forcing my voice to tremble. "Should I know who you are?" Relief washed over his face. He thought I was broken again, unsuspecting. But this time, I remembered everything. And he had no idea the game had just irrevocably changed.

You'll also like

The Convict Heiress: Marrying The Billionaire

The Convict Heiress: Marrying The Billionaire

Rollins Laman
4.6

The heavy thud of the release stamp was the only goodbye I got from the warden after five years in federal prison. I stepped out into the blinding sun, expecting the same flash of paparazzi bulbs that had seen me dragged away in handcuffs, but there was only a single black limousine idling on the shoulder of the road. Inside sat my mother and sister, clutching champagne and looking at my frayed coat with pure disgust. They didn't offer a welcome home; instead, they tossed a thick legal document onto the table and told me I was dead to the city. "Gavin and I are getting engaged," my sister Mia sneered, flicking a credit card at me like I was a stray dog. "He doesn't need a convict ex-fiancée hanging around." Even after I saved their lives from an armed kidnapping attempt by ramming the attackers off the road, they rewarded me by leaving me stranded in the dirt. When I finally ran into Gavin, the man who had framed me, he pinned me against a wall and threatened to send me back to a cell if I ever dared to show my face at their wedding. They had stolen my biotech research, ruined my name, and let me rot for half a decade while they lived off my brilliance. They thought they had broken me, leaving me with nothing but an expired chapstick and a few old photos in a plastic bag. What they didn't know was that I had spent those five years becoming "Dr. X," a shadow consultant with five hundred million dollars in crypto and a secret that would bring the city to its knees. I wasn't just a victim anymore; I was a weapon, and I was pregnant with the heir they thought they had erased. I walked into the Melton estate and made an offer to the most powerful man in New York. "I'll save your grandfather's life," I told Horatio Melton, staring him down. "But the price is your last name. I'm taking back what's mine, and I'm starting with the man who thinks he's marrying my sister."

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu
4.5

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.

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Temple Madison
4.5

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

Broken Ring, Billionaire Secrets: Watch Me Shine

Broken Ring, Billionaire Secrets: Watch Me Shine

Cornelia
5.0

I sat on the edge of the examination table, the crinkle of the sanitary paper sounding like thunder in the sterile room. The doctor didn't even look at me as he confirmed the news: the pregnancy was over. My husband, Keyon, didn't answer my call. He just sent an automated text: "In a meeting." When I returned to our cold mansion, I found his iPad glowing with a message from his "muse," Katina. He was throwing her a secret gala tonight-on our third wedding anniversary. He told her he couldn't wait to escape the "boring" and "draining" atmosphere I created at home. Keyon didn't stumble in until 3 AM, smelling of Katina's perfume with a smear of red on his collar. When I handed him the divorce papers, he laughed in my face. He called me a "glorified housekeeper" with no skills and no future, promising I'd be back in three days begging for a subway ticket. He even bet his friends ten thousand dollars that I wouldn't survive a week without his name. He had his assistant cancel my credit cards and block my gate access before I even reached the end of the driveway. He wanted me to starve. He wanted me to crawl. He sat in his office, mocking the "desperate" woman who pawned her three-million-dollar wedding ring for scrap metal just to pay for a meal. I stood on the rainy curb, watching the man I had protected for three years treat my life like trash. He didn't know about the ultrasound I just threw in the bin. He didn't know that while he was calling me "dull," I was the one secretly writing the code that kept his billion-dollar empire from collapsing. As I slid into a cheap Uber, I opened a hidden, encrypted app on my phone. The screen refreshed to a dashboard for an account Keyon didn't know existed. The balance was ten figures long-the accumulated wealth of "Solaris," the world's most elusive tech genius. Keyon thinks he just evicted a parasite, but he's about to find out he just declared war on the only person who can hit "delete" on his entire life.

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Secret Triplets: The Billionaire's Second Chance

Roderic Penn
4.5

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.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
His Ninety-Nine Betrayals, My Freedom His Ninety-Nine Betrayals, My Freedom Clara Winter Modern
“My fiancé, a Navy SEAL Commander, postponed our wedding 99 times for my manipulative sister. For our 100th attempt, I put my foot down. This date, or no date. He called two weeks before the wedding to cancel again. But this time, he threatened my career to force my compliance. Then I overheard the truth. He was planning to marry my sister-a "temporary" arrangement to get her into an exclusive therapy program. After he divorced her, he'd come back to me. I was his "certainty." His backup plan. My own mother supported it, slapping me when I refused to play along. "You will be a proper wife," she hissed. I had spent five years as a placeholder, my life put on hold for their drama. I was done waiting. I hung up the phone, canceled the wedding permanently, and volunteered for a three-year, off-the-grid assignment. But first, I took my wedding dress and a pair of scissors.”
1

Chapter 1

19/12/2025

2

Chapter 2

19/12/2025

3

Chapter 3

19/12/2025

4

Chapter 4

19/12/2025

5

Chapter 5

19/12/2025

6

Chapter 6

19/12/2025

7

Chapter 7

19/12/2025

8

Chapter 8

19/12/2025

9

Chapter 9

19/12/2025

10

Chapter 10

19/12/2025

11

Chapter 11

19/12/2025