A Luna Lost

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

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"Mom, I'm home!" Hazel called out into the empty living room before glancing into the kitchen, where her mother would usually be by this time, preparing dinner-but she wasn't there.

"But her and Dad's car is packed outside," she muttered, helping herself to a cup of cold orange juice.

She placed the cup into the dishwasher and walked upstairs in search of her parents. She was about to climb the stairs when she heard her father's voice coming from the study.

"Dad, I'm home, did you leave something behind? Where is Mom?..." she asked, opening the door to see that her parents had a visitor.

"Oops, sorry," she apologized, backtracking out the door as she noticed her parents' nervous stares from her to the man opposite them.

The man looked up from the documents he was reading, his brown eyes meeting Hazel's onyx ones. His lips stretched into a warm smile as their eyes met. His smile sent Hazel's heart racing.

'Handsome!' she gasped in surprise as his brown eyes flickered gold, filled with several emotions: excitement, lust, and attraction.

He cleared his throat and beckoned her in.

"Why don't you join us, miss? Your parents and I were just completing a deal," he asked in his heavy Italian accent, sending butterflies deep into Hazel's stomach as he patted the space beside him for her to take.

Hazel took a step forward, trying to get closer to the handsome man but was stopped by her mother's shaky voice.

"No, no, she just returned from school and needs to get cleaned," her mom argued nervously, earning a raised eyebrow from the handsome man.

Getting the hint, Hazel clasped her hands together and bowed toward the stranger.

"Excuse me, sir, I'm sorry I disrupted your meeting. I need to clean up as I'm sweaty all over."

"That's fine. What's your name?" he asked, bringing out a pen from his jacket pocket to sign the document he had been reading.

"Hazel."

"You have a lovely name, Hazel. Let's not be strangers when we next meet, alright?"

As Hazel disappeared behind the door toward her room, the atmosphere in the study grew more tense.

"Lorenzo, I mean Alpha Lorenzo, is there a reason your Pack moved all the way here from Italy?" Mr. Eric Halton, Hazel's father, asked.

A smirk and a mischievous glint appeared in Lorenzo's eyes as he maintained deep and unshaken eye contact with the man sitting in front of him.

"Oh, I thought it would take some time, but I found what I have been looking for, Halton. Why have I never heard you had another beautiful daughter apart from the one-what was her name again?"

"Ruby," Eric provided.

"Ah, yes, Ruby. Fierce one, that one was, don't you think?" Lorenzo complimented, adjusting his suit as he stood up to leave, placing the document on the table separating them.

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