When Love Becomes A Deadly Scheme

When Love Becomes A Deadly Scheme

Gavin

5.0
Comment(s)
56
View
23
Chapters

On our fifth anniversary, my husband Jacoby posted a tribute to our "perfect love" for the world to see. That same day, I was signing the divorce papers he didn't even know existed. I had discovered he wasn't just cheating with his junior analyst, Bridgette; they were using my secret trading algorithms for a massive insider trading scheme. He paraded their affair, publicly proposed to her, and after their first attempt on my life landed me in the hospital, he moved her into our home. They wanted me gone for good. He called me his "rock" online while whispering to her that I was a "fragile old witch." He thought I was a fool, too weak to fight back. So I gave them exactly what they wanted. I faked my own death. And as the "grieving" widower prepared to claim my fortune at his family's grand gala, I prepared to make my own spectacular entrance.

Chapter 1

On our fifth anniversary, my husband Jacoby posted a tribute to our "perfect love" for the world to see. That same day, I was signing the divorce papers he didn't even know existed.

I had discovered he wasn't just cheating with his junior analyst, Bridgette; they were using my secret trading algorithms for a massive insider trading scheme.

He paraded their affair, publicly proposed to her, and after their first attempt on my life landed me in the hospital, he moved her into our home. They wanted me gone for good.

He called me his "rock" online while whispering to her that I was a "fragile old witch."

He thought I was a fool, too weak to fight back.

So I gave them exactly what they wanted. I faked my own death.

And as the "grieving" widower prepared to claim my fortune at his family's grand gala, I prepared to make my own spectacular entrance.

Chapter 1

Eliana Baker POV:

The clerk slid the de facto marriage registration across the polished table. It was our fifth anniversary, a day that should have been filled with champagne and promises, now marked by this sterile document.

Its cold print screamed of infidelity, of a life I thought was mine unraveling before my eyes.

The irony was a bitter taste in my mouth. Five years to the day, Jacoby Rosales had slipped a diamond onto my finger, whispering about forever. Now, five years later, forever was being legally undone by his casual cruelty.

My hand didn' t tremble as I picked up the pen. It moved with a chilling precision, signing away my marriage, my dreams, my very identity as Jacoby' s wife. The paper didn't just hold legal clauses; it held the shredded pieces of my heart.

The chair on the other side of the table remained empty, just as Jacoby's side of our bed had been for too many nights. A hollow ache settled deep in my chest.

"Callie," I said, my voice steady despite the tremor that threatened to seize my soul. "Please ensure this is filed immediately. And discreetly."

Callie, my assistant, nodded, her face a mask of professional calm, though her eyes held a silent sympathy. "Consider it done, Eliana."

"And the arrangements for the gala next week?" I continued, already moving past the wreckage of my marriage to the architecture of my revenge. "Are Jacoby and Bridgette on the guest list?"

Callie's brow furrowed slightly. "Bridgette Cole, his junior analyst? Yes, they're both confirmed. Shall I remove them?"

A ghost of a smile touched my lips, a cold, predatory curve. "No, Callie. Absolutely not. Make sure they have the most prominent seats in the house. Front and center."

Callie looked at me, a question in her eyes. "Are you sure, Eliana? That charity gala is a very public event. Our five-year anniversary is also next week."

I turned my gaze to the window, watching the city lights blur into a watercolor smear against the darkening sky. It was a view Jacoby and I had once shared, toasted to, dreamed under. Now, it was just a backdrop to my desolation. The date hung in the air, a cruel whisper of what we once were.

"Yes, Callie. I'm very sure." My voice was quiet, but it carried the weight of steel. "It' s my birthday too. Make sure it's a night they-and everyone else-will never forget."

Callie hesitated, then nodded. "Understood. Eliana, if I may... your family. They're still expecting to meet Jacoby at the firm's shareholder meeting."

I clenched my jaw. My family. Powerful, influential, and fiercely protective. They had insisted on a prenuptial agreement that would leave an unfaithful spouse with nothing. Jacoby, blinded by ambition and perhaps by a naive belief in his own charm, had dismissed it as a formality.

"They'll meet him, Callie. Just not in the way they expect." I stood up, the emptiness in the room mirroring the emptiness in my heart. "And make sure the 'special' invitations are sent out for that meeting."

The silence hung heavy, broken only by the distant hum of the city. I felt a cold dread settle in my stomach as I heard my phone vibrate. It was a social media alert. Jacoby.

Jacoby Rosales: Five years with this incredible woman, Eliana. Every day is a blessing. Grateful for our journey, our love, our future. #AnniversaryLove #Soulmate #Blessed

A wave of nausea washed over me. The comments poured in, showering him with praises for being such a devoted husband. "Couple goals!" "So sweet!" "True love!"

He even replied to one: "She' s my rock, my everything. Couldn' t imagine life without her."

My rock? My everything? The words were a bitter mockery. He was performing, painting a perfect facade for the world while systematically dismantling my life behind the scenes.

I stumbled toward my desk, the room tilting slightly. His words were like a physical blow, a fresh wound on top of old ones. I sank onto the plush leather chair, my hands clenching into fists.

Just yesterday, I had come home early, hoping to surprise him. Instead, I had found a voice message on our home phone. Not from a client, not from a colleague, but from a woman. Her voice was too sweet, too familiar.

"Jacoby, darling, you were amazing last night. Bridgette will be so jealous. Can't wait for round two tonight."

Bridgette. The name hit me like a physical blow. His junior analyst, the ambitious young woman he'd introduced me to with a casual, "She's good, really talented."

I remember that day. At a corporate dinner, Jacoby had introduced us. Bridgette had smiled, her eyes cold and calculating even then. She' d tried to engage me in conversation about some complex trading algorithms, a field she knew I was passionate about but rarely discussed publicly. I' d offered some vague, polite answers, unwilling to reveal the depth of my involvement in the tech world. Now, I understood. She wasn' t interested in conversation; she was assessing the competition.

That night, Jacoby had come home late, reeking of expensive perfume and cheap excuses. I' d seen the faint lipstick stain on his collar, the rumpled shirt, the forced cheerfulness in his eyes. He'd tried to pull me into an embrace, but I'd recoiled, a silent scream trapped in my throat.

He hadn't even noticed. Or perhaps he hadn't cared. He'd just muttered something about a late meeting and crashed onto the bed, snoring almost immediately.

The next morning, I confronted him, armed with the voice message. He denied it, of course, his eyes wide and innocent. "Eliana, that's absurd! She's just a colleague. Maybe a prank call?"

But the scent of cheap perfume still clung to his clothes. Later that week, I' d found a crumpled receipt in his suit pocket for an expensive dinner for two at a restaurant he knew I loved, a restaurant we always went to for our special occasions. The date on the receipt was the night he' d claimed to be working late. And the payment? His personal credit card.

The final straw had been a photo, sent anonymously to my phone. A grainy image of Jacoby, laughing, his arm around Bridgette Cole, their faces inches apart, at that very restaurant. The caption: "True love blooms where you least expect it."

My heart had shattered, not into a million pieces, but into a cold, hard lump of ice. The pain was still there, but it was a distant, numb ache, like a phantom limb. All that remained was a burning resolve.

My phone vibrated again, a new message. Another social media post from Jacoby, a picture of him and Bridgette at a high-profile industry event. She was glowing, her hand resting possessively on his arm. The caption read: "Celebrating a successful quarter with my brilliant team. Hard work pays off!"

The comments were just as effusive. "What a power couple!" "You two are unstoppable!"

I stared at the screen, my eyes dry. There was no more rage, no more tears. Just a profound, chilling emptiness. The contrast between his public persona and his private betrayal was a chasm I could no longer bridge. He wasn't just cheating; he was parading his infidelity, rubbing it in my face, daring me to react.

He would soon learn that I always played the long game. And I always won.

Continue Reading

Other books by Gavin

More
Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

Mafia

4.5

I watched my husband sign the papers that would end our marriage while he was busy texting the woman he actually loved. He didn't even glance at the header. He just scribbled the sharp, jagged signature that had signed death warrants for half of New York, tossed the file onto the passenger seat, and tapped his screen again. "Done," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. That was Dante Moretti. The Underboss. A man who could smell a lie from a mile away but couldn't see that his wife had just handed him an annulment decree disguised beneath a stack of mundane logistics reports. For three years, I scrubbed his blood out of his shirts. I saved his family's alliance when his ex, Sofia, ran off with a civilian. In return, he treated me like furniture. He left me in the rain to save Sofia from a broken nail. He left me alone on my birthday to drink champagne on a yacht with her. He even handed me a glass of whiskey—her favorite drink—forgetting that I despised the taste. I was merely a placeholder. A ghost in my own home. So, I stopped waiting. I burned our wedding portrait in the fireplace, left my platinum ring in the ashes, and boarded a one-way flight to San Francisco. I thought I was finally free. I thought I had escaped the cage. But I underestimated Dante. When he finally opened that file weeks later and realized he had signed away his wife without looking, the Reaper didn't accept defeat. He burned down the world to find me, obsessed with reclaiming the woman he had already thrown away.

You'll also like

Reborn: Contract Marriage With The Dark Alpha King

Reborn: Contract Marriage With The Dark Alpha King

Graciousbeauty
4.5

Gianna Benton, a woman who came from a great family, a family with ancient history, had always lived a life that's overshadowed by her younger sister, Quinn. After her unfair death with her unborn baby at the hands of the man she loved, Gianna got reborn. Now with the opportunity to live again, Gianna rejects her mate and gives herself to alpha Axel, falling into an unexpected contract marriage. Both plans to use each other, and falling in love isn't part of the deal for them. Gianna plans to get her revenge on her former lover, alpha Nathan, who killed her in the past because of her younger sister, but surprisingly to her, alpha Nathan wants his mate back, and Gianna is determined not to let the past repeat itself. ------------------------------------------------- "Is this hell?" "Gianna, what's wrong with you? I know that you are excited, but you need to stop acting weird." Mom said. I reach out my hands to touch her face, but she slaps my hands away. This is real, I thought. Somehow, I have gone back in time to the day I got married to Alpha Nathan. "I need to take a picture of you, but I can't do it without your sister. Wait here for me while I go get your sister." Mom left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. My hands formed a fist in anger as I thought of Quinn and Alpha Nathan. I don't know how I have traveled back to the past, but I'm not going to let myself make the same mistake I did in my past life; I'm not getting married to alpha Nathan. No matter what, I need to put a stop to this wedding.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book