The Billionaire's Asset: Cashing Out Freedom

The Billionaire's Asset: Cashing Out Freedom

Er Duo

5.0
Comment(s)
5.5K
View
150
Chapters

I spent three years acting as a high-end manufacturing plant for the Snyder dynasty, waiting for the day I could finally break my golden cage. Today, I slid the postnuptial amendment across the desk, trading my marriage for fifty million dollars and a chance to breathe again. I thought I was free the moment the elevator doors closed. But while I was at a club celebrating my "asset liquidation" with champagne and silk blindfolds, the Snyder empire was falling apart. My grandfather-in-law had a heart attack the second he heard I was gone, and he refused the surgery that would save his life unless I was the one to authorize it. Claudius didn't send a lawyer to bring me back; he came himself. He burst into my private VIP suite like a predator, his eyes cold enough to freeze the room. He saw the models, the drinks, and the blindfold, and he instantly assumed I was selling my dignity at a discount just hours after leaving him. He didn't care about the truth or the papers I'd already signed. He kicked the cameras out of his cousin's hands, cleared the room with a single look of death, and hauled me over his shoulder like a sack of grain in front of everyone. To him, I wasn't a woman or a wife; I was a critical piece of hardware that had gone rogue. "The separation is paused," he growled, pinning me against the leather seats of his Maybach as the child locks clicked into place. I stared at the bite mark I'd just left on his thumb, realizing that in the world of the Snyders, even a signed exit strategy was just another contract he was willing to break. This wasn't the end of my marriage; it was the start of a much more dangerous game.

The Billionaire's Asset: Cashing Out Freedom Chapter 1 Sign the Divorce Papers, I'm a Wealthy Lady Now

Claudius Snyder did not push the papers across the desk. He slid them.

The movement was precise, calculated, and devoid of any friction, much like the man himself. His fingers, long and manicured, rested on the edge of the document for a fraction of a second too long before retracting. It was the only sign of hesitation, and if Dylan hadn't spent three years studying his micro-expressions like a survivalist studying a predator, she would have missed it.

The postnuptial amendment sat on the mahogany surface. It was the only thing between them.

The climate control in the penthouse office was set to a rigid sixty-eight degrees. It was always sixty-eight degrees. The cold air bit at the exposed skin of Dylan's shoulders, causing a physiological betrayal she couldn't control. She shivered.

Claudius watched the shiver. His eyes, the color of a stormy Atlantic, narrowed slightly.

Dylan lowered her head. Her hair, a curtain of dark silk, fell forward to obscure her face.

"Is this the final offer?" Dylan asked.

Claudius leaned back in his leather chair. The leather creaked, a sound of expensive authority.

"It is a strategic realignment of assets, Dylan. You know the terms of the trust. This isn't personal."

Not personal. The words hung in the sterile air.

Dylan reached out. Her hand moved across the mahogany, her fingertips grazing the back of Claudius's hand. It was a ghost of a touch, barely there.

Claudius recoiled.

He pulled his hand back as if she were a live wire. The rejection was visceral, immediate, and instinctive. It wasn't just avoidance. It was revulsion.

Perfect.

Dylan picked up the Montblanc pen resting on the document. The weight of it felt good in her hand. Heavy. Substantial. A weapon. She hovered the nib over the signature line.

Claudius frowned. His brow furrowed, creating a single, sharp line between his eyes. He opened his mouth, likely to recite the pre-rehearsed speech about legal counsel and review periods. He was prepared for a negotiation. He was prepared for a fight.

Dylan did the math in her head. One signature equaled fifty million dollars, contingent upon a thirty-day quiet period before filing and the absolute stability of the Snyder Group's voting structure. Any disruption, and the agreement was void. One signature equaled the end of the suffocating dinners, the invasive medical checks, the silent judgment of a dynasty that viewed her uterus as a manufacturing plant.

She pressed the nib to the paper.

The sound was loud in the quiet room. Scritch, scratch. A fluid, decisive loop of ink. There was no hesitation. No shake in her wrist. It was the most confident thing she had done in three years.

Dylan set the pen down. She looked up, blinking rapidly. Her eyes were rimmed with red. The pinch she had given her own thigh under the table five minutes ago was paying dividends.

"I will have my lawyers review the final draft of the non-disclosure agreement," Claudius said, reaching for a folder.

Dylan stood up. The chair scraped against the floor.

"Your team can handle it," she said softly.

She turned her back on him. She walked toward the elevator, her heels clicking a steady rhythm on the marble floor.She looked like a woman who had lost everything.

The elevator doors slid open. She stepped inside and turned to face him one last time. The doors began to close, slicing away the view of Claudius Snyder sitting alone in his glass tower.

The moment the metal doors sealed shut, Dylan's posture collapsed.

But not in grief.

She dropped her shoulders and threw her head back. Her hands curled into fists at her sides.

Yes.

The word was a silent scream of victory.

Back in the office, Claudius felt a sudden, irrational spike of heat in his chest. He picked up the Montblanc pen she had used. He turned it over in his fingers, looking for the warmth of her hand, but the metal was already cold.

Snap.

The sound was sharp. The resin barrel of the pen fractured in his grip. Ink bled onto his thumb, staining the skin black.

A knock sounded at the door. Jensen, his executive assistant, stepped in.

"Sir, the car is waiting for Mrs. Snyder."

Claudius looked at the ink on his hand. He didn't wipe it off.

"Her status is...under review, Jensen. All external communications remain unchanged. Internally, restrict her access. I will handle the board."

Jensen blinked, masking his surprise with a nod.

"Understood, sir."

Down on the street, the Manhattan sun was blinding. It hit Dylan's face like a physical blow, stripping away the artificial chill of the office. She pulled out her personal phone, the burner she had kept hidden in a hollowed-out book for six months.

She dialed.

Zoe picked up on the first ring.

"Tell me you're out," Zoe screamed.

Dylan's voice shifted. The tremble was gone. The softness was gone. It was replaced by a lazy, smoky drawl. It was the voice she used to dismantle corporate raiders, now repurposed for her own liberation.

"Elysium. Tonight. Get the best booth. This is a pressure release valve, Zoe. I need to burn the last three years out of my system."

"Are we mourning the death of a sham marriage?" Zoe asked.

Dylan laughed. It was a dry, sharp sound.

"No. We're celebrating an asset liquidation. I'm cashing out."

A black sedan pulled up to the curb. It was the house car. Sterling, the family butler. Dylan stopped smiling. She slid her sunglasses onto her face, masking her eyes.

She got into the car. The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror. He tapped his earpiece.

"She looks calm, Mr. Sterling. Very calm."

High above, Claudius stood at the floor-to-ceiling window. He watched the black speck of the car merge into the yellow river of taxis. He rubbed the ink on his thumb, smearing it deeper into his skin.

Continue Reading

Other books by Er Duo

More
The Mafia Don's Regret: She Is Gone Forever

The Mafia Don's Regret: She Is Gone Forever

Mafia

5.0

I carried the first word I had spoken in ten years like a sacred offering, ready to surprise the man who had saved my life. But through the crack in the study door, I heard Josiah tell his Underboss that I was nothing but a noose around his neck. "Grace is a burden," he said, his voice cold. "I can't become Don while babysitting a mute ghost. Lexi brings power. Grace brings nothing but silence." He chose to marry the Mafia Princess for her father's trade routes, dismissing me as wreckage. But the true betrayal didn't happen in that office. It happened in the woods during an ambush. With bullets flying and the mud sliding beneath us into a ravine, Josiah had to make a choice. I was injured, trapped at the bottom. Lexi was screaming on the ridge. He looked at me, mouthed "I'm sorry," and turned his back. He hauled Lexi to safety to secure his alliance. He left me to die alone in the freezing mud. I lay there in the dark, realizing the man who swore a blood oath to protect me had traded my life for a political seat. He thought the silence would finally swallow me whole. He was wrong. I crawled out of that grave and vanished from his world completely. Three years later, I returned to the city, not as his broken ward, but as a world-renowned artist. When Josiah showed up at my gallery, looking shattered and begging for forgiveness, I didn't sign. I looked him dead in the eye and spoke. "The girl who loved you died in that ravine, Josiah."

When Family Becomes The Enemy

When Family Becomes The Enemy

Modern

5.0

"A daughter should never marry better than her family, Sarah. It's a simple truth." My adoptive father, Mr. Miller, laid down the law every night, telling me my only job was to be grateful and listen to his "guidance." Then, a week later, my successful boyfriend, Michael, came to dinner, flowers in hand. My father, who had just fawned over my brother Kevin's wealthy girlfriend, turned ice-cold. "Get out of my house," he snarled at Michael, shaming me and driving him away. Hours later, the nightmare escalated. My father, drunk and enraged, announced he had already arranged my marriage to Leo, a man I barely knew. When I refused, he lunged across the table and struck me. I fled, humiliated and betrayed, only to have my father ambush me at work the next day with Leo. He publicly announced our "engagement," turning my professional life into a circus. Michael walked in on the chaos, and the trust in his eyes vanished. He left, unable to handle the "chaos." My own family, including my mother, then blamed me for everything, even after my brother physically assaulted me. They demanded I fix their problems, clean up their mess. How could my own family do this? What twisted logic allowed them to treat me like property, to sabotage my life at every turn, while showering their biological son with privilege? Why was I, the dutiful daughter, always the one punished? Their cruelty, their endless demands, transformed my despair into a cold, hard rage. I saw their game, and I decided then and there: if I couldn't fight them head-on, I would dismantle their power from the inside. They wanted a pawn? Fine. They were about to get a queen.

You'll also like

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

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 Ghost Wife's Billion Dollar Tech Comeback

The Ghost Wife's Billion Dollar Tech Comeback

Huo Wuer

Today is October 14th, my birthday. I returned to New York after months away, dragging my suitcase through the biting wind, but the VIP pickup zone where my husband's Maybach usually idled was empty. When I finally let myself into our Upper East Side penthouse, I didn't find a cake or a "welcome home" banner. Instead, I found my husband, Caden, kneeling on the floor, helping our five-year-old daughter wrap a massive gift for my half-sister, Adalynn. Caden didn't even look up when I walked in; he was too busy laughing with the girl who had already stolen my father's legacy and was now moving in on my family. "Auntie Addie is a million times better than Mommy," my daughter Elara chirped, clutching a plush toy Caden had once forbidden me from buying for her. "Mommy is mean," she whispered loudly, while Caden just smirked, calling me a "drill sergeant" before whisking her off to Adalynn's party without a second glance. Later that night, I saw a video Adalynn posted online where my husband and child laughed while mocking my "sensitive" nature, treating me like an inconvenient ghost in my own home. I had spent five years researching nutrition for Elara's health and managing every detail of Caden's empire, only to be discarded the moment I wasn't in the room. How could the man who set his safe combination to my birthday completely forget I even existed? The realization didn't break me; it turned me into ice. I didn't scream or beg for an explanation. I simply walked into the study, pulled out the divorce papers I'd drafted months ago, and took a black marker to the terms. I crossed out the alimony, the mansion, and even the custody clause-if they wanted a life without me, I would give them exactly what they asked for. I left my four-carat diamond ring on the console table and walked out into the rain with nothing but a heavily encrypted hard drive. The submissive Mrs. Holloway was gone, and "Ghost," the most lethal architect in the tech world, was finally back online to take back everything they thought I'd forgotten.

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch-a titan of industry and my best friend's father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

He Thought I Was A Doormat, Until I Ruined Him

He Thought I Was A Doormat, Until I Ruined Him

SHANA GRAY

The sterile white of the operating room blurred, then sharpened, as Skye Sterling felt the cold clawing its way up her body. The heart monitor flatlined, a steady, high-pitched whine announcing her end. Her uterus had been removed, a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, but the blood wouldn't clot. It just kept flowing, warm and sticky, pooling beneath her. Through heavy eyes, she saw a trembling nurse holding a phone on speaker. "Mr. Kensington," the nurse's voice cracked, "your wife... she's critical." A pause, then a sweet, poisonous giggle. Seraphina Miller. "Liam is in the shower," Seraphina's voice purred. "Stop calling, Skye. It's pathetic. Faking a medical emergency on our anniversary? Even for you, that's low." Then, Liam's bored voice: "If she dies, call the funeral home. I have a meeting in the morning." Click. The line went dead. A second later, so did Skye. The darkness that followed was absolute, suffocating, a black ocean crushing her lungs. She screamed into the void, a silent, agonizing wail of regret for loving a man who saw her as a nuisance, for dying without ever truly living. Until she died, she didn't understand. Why was her life so tragically wasted? Why did her husband, the man she loved, abandon her so cruelly? The injustice of it all burned hotter than the fever in her body. Then, the air rushed back in. Skye gasped, her body convulsing violently on the mattress. Her eyes flew open, wide and terrified, staring blindly into the darkness. Her trembling hand reached for her phone. May 12th. Five years ago. She was back.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
The Billionaire's Asset: Cashing Out Freedom The Billionaire's Asset: Cashing Out Freedom Er Duo Modern
“I spent three years acting as a high-end manufacturing plant for the Snyder dynasty, waiting for the day I could finally break my golden cage. Today, I slid the postnuptial amendment across the desk, trading my marriage for fifty million dollars and a chance to breathe again. I thought I was free the moment the elevator doors closed. But while I was at a club celebrating my "asset liquidation" with champagne and silk blindfolds, the Snyder empire was falling apart. My grandfather-in-law had a heart attack the second he heard I was gone, and he refused the surgery that would save his life unless I was the one to authorize it. Claudius didn't send a lawyer to bring me back; he came himself. He burst into my private VIP suite like a predator, his eyes cold enough to freeze the room. He saw the models, the drinks, and the blindfold, and he instantly assumed I was selling my dignity at a discount just hours after leaving him. He didn't care about the truth or the papers I'd already signed. He kicked the cameras out of his cousin's hands, cleared the room with a single look of death, and hauled me over his shoulder like a sack of grain in front of everyone. To him, I wasn't a woman or a wife; I was a critical piece of hardware that had gone rogue. "The separation is paused," he growled, pinning me against the leather seats of his Maybach as the child locks clicked into place. I stared at the bite mark I'd just left on his thumb, realizing that in the world of the Snyders, even a signed exit strategy was just another contract he was willing to break. This wasn't the end of my marriage; it was the start of a much more dangerous game.”
1

Chapter 1 Sign the Divorce Papers, I'm a Wealthy Lady Now

09/02/2026

2

Chapter 2 Moving House

09/02/2026

3

Chapter 3 Prelude to the Frenzy

09/02/2026

4

Chapter 4 Bring in some male models

09/02/2026

5

Chapter 5 Call from My Ex-Husband

09/02/2026

6

Chapter 6 Lies and Games

09/02/2026

7

Chapter 7 My Ex Shows Up Uninvited

09/02/2026

8

Chapter 8 You're the top guy here

09/02/2026

9

Chapter 9 The Ex Catches Them Red-Handed

09/02/2026

10

Chapter 10 The Move Fell Through

09/02/2026

11

Chapter 11 The Billion-Dollar Escort

10/02/2026

12

Chapter 12 A Tip for the Service

10/02/2026

13

Chapter 13 Widow's Lament

10/02/2026

14

Chapter 14 Emergency incident

10/02/2026

15

Chapter 15 Immature protest

10/02/2026

16

Chapter 16 Alright, let's put on a show

10/02/2026

17

Chapter 17 Ring

10/02/2026

18

Chapter 18 Children and Lies

10/02/2026

19

Chapter 19 Butterfly tattoo

10/02/2026

20

Chapter 20 Third Wheel

10/02/2026

21

Chapter 21 Coward's Privilege

10/02/2026

22

Chapter 22 Testing the Boundary

10/02/2026

23

Chapter 23 Occupational Hazard

10/02/2026

24

Chapter 24 A young man with a buzz cut

10/02/2026

25

Chapter 25 Durian Diplomacy

10/02/2026

26

Chapter 26 Welcome to the snake pit

10/02/2026

27

Chapter 27 Half-sister makes her entrance

10/02/2026

28

Chapter 28 The Clone Husband

10/02/2026

29

Chapter 29 She is sharp-tongued

10/02/2026

30

Chapter 30 Cats and Sadists

10/02/2026

31

Chapter 31 Family Discipline

11/02/2026

32

Chapter 32 Her hands are dirty

11/02/2026

33

Chapter 33 Uncovering the Stepmother's Secret

11/02/2026

34

Chapter 34 We are discussing divorce

11/02/2026

35

Chapter 35 I'm working for your grandson

11/02/2026

36

Chapter 36 The Dying Wish

11/02/2026

37

Chapter 37 Boredom

11/02/2026

38

Chapter 38 The Failed Kiss

11/02/2026

39

Chapter 39 Cousin Julian

11/02/2026

40

Chapter 40 Save the Cat

11/02/2026