The Secret of the Old Mansion

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.

Modern Revenge Divorce Revenge Female-centered Divorce

Download the Book on the App

The heat I feel makes my entire body feel as though I have been dipped in water, but the smell that fills my nose makes it well known that this is not water. The fact that I can breathe makes it clear that I am not underwater.

I slowly pull my heavy eyelids up to my equally heavy eyes. My vision is at first blur but slowly begins to get cleared.

My gaze is first to meet by my white dress~that's now not so white. Rumpled and unsettled on my laps. I feel my headbanging and the brass smell of blood fills my nose.

Being a runner in school, and having sustained many injuries, I know what blood smells like~ at least my blood. odd?.

I slowly raise my head as it's hanging over my laps. My eyes are welcomed by darkness but as soon as they adjust to the darkness, I begin to make sense of the room~atleast a little.

All that's before me is a door. Probably wooden, I can't make out much as the dominant theme of this room currently is darkness. I lift my head and I am almost blinded by the light bulb hanging over my head. It's the only form of light in here.

I look to my left and I find a little bed on an iron bed carrier. More like the ones you see in prisons. Am I in jail!?. What did I do!?. I look to my right and I see a rocking chair. And that's just it. All that's in this room.

I can at least tell that the room is painted pink. And... Is... Do I see blood on the wall!!?.

Fear suddenly grips me as this very scenario reminds me of a story 'Mommy's House' by z0mbies I read this story some days back. And now I feel like I am in the same story. What's going on!?.

I try to get up and only then do I realize that I have been tied to the chair on which I am sitting. What on earth is going on!?. I struggle with the chair taking care not to alert anyone around. Especially those responsible for my current state. Although I have no idea who is behind this.

My heart begins pounding furiously and fear begins to hold every single sense in my body. Is Harry responsible for this!?

Let me think back on what happened earlier this night. Maybe... just maybe I could connect some dots.

I close my eyes and let my head roll back as I try to picture earlier this night. But then the door begins to the creek. It is opening so slowly one would doubt a person is responsible for its movement. Anyways, I am ready to lash out at Harry once he Steps through that door. He can't go about things this way. What the hell was he thinking!?. What if he went about things this way I would forgive him!?... He...

Read Now