My Boyfriend Stole Charm From Others

While I Was Bleeding Out, He Lit Lanterns For Her

Katie Oettgen

As I lay on the floor of our manor, bleeding out from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, I used my last ounce of strength to call my husband, Cole. I begged him for help, my vision blurring. But the only thing I heard was the clinking of champagne glasses and his mistress's giggle in the background. "Stop the drama, June," Cole snapped, his voice cold. "We're about to go on stage. Don't call again." He hung up, leaving me to die alone on the Persian rug while he accepted an award with another woman on his arm. I woke up in the hospital days later. My baby was gone. They had removed my fallopian tube. Cole finally arrived, smelling of expensive scotch and his mistress's perfume. He didn't hug me. He didn't cry. Instead, he leaned over my hospital bed, pressing his knee into the mattress until my fresh stitches tore open and bled. "You embarrassed me by calling an ambulance," he hissed. "My mistress, Alycia, says you're faking it. Clean yourself up." He left me bleeding again to go announce a $10 million donation to Alycia's "groundbreaking" medical research. I stared at the TV screen, numb. The research Alycia was taking credit for? It was mine. I wrote that patent years ago under a pseudonym. They thought I was just a poor, orphan housewife who needed Cole's money to survive. They had no idea I was actually a billionaire scientist hiding my identity. I pulled the IV needle out of my arm. A drop of blood fell onto the divorce papers I had been hiding. I didn't wipe it off. I signed my name right over it. Then I walked into the bank, reactivated my dormant account with $128 million, and bought the penthouse directly overlooking Cole's house. The mourning widow is dead. The avenger is born.

Romance Crime Revenge Pregnancy Enemies to Lovers Pregnancy Personal Growth

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No. Absolutely not.

Aurora's fingers curled around the edge of the table, her nails digging into the wood.

How dare he?

"No, Dad! I refuse to marry a man I don't even know just for the sake of the company!"

Her voice rang through the grand dining room, shattering the silence that had always existed in the house. The high ceilings and expensive paintings did nothing to soften the weight of her words as they clashed against her father's unshakable presence.

Across from her, Mr. Everly barely blinked. His face remained composed, but the tightening of his fingers around his whiskey glass gave him away. The ice clinked softly, the only sound in the vast room aside from her erratic breathing.

To him, this was not an argument.

It was just a transaction.

"Aurora, be reasonable," he said, his voice low. The practiced tone he always used to close deals and manipulate contracts.

"This isn't just any man. He is powerful and well-connected. This will benefit you."

A bitter laugh scraped its way up her throat. Benefit me?

She shook her head in disbelief, her nails pressing deeper into the polished surface of the table.

Of course, that's how he saw it.

"You make it sound like I'm a product to be sold," she snapped, her voice laced with resentment.

But that was exactly what she was to him-a carefully groomed heiress, prepped and polished for the highest bidder.

Her father sighed, slow and patient, as if she was the unreasonable one. "This is about securing your future."

A sharp pain spread through her chest, squeezing the air from her lungs.

Her future? Or the company's?

She didn't even need to ask.

Aurora's pulse pounded in her ears as she shoved back her chair, the legs screeching against the marble floors.

She couldn't do this.

If she stayed even a second longer, he'd start again-calm words laced with manipulation, his voice weaving a net around her, tightening until she second-guessed everything.

But not this time.

She turned on her heel, her heels clicking sharply against the polished floor as she strode toward the grand staircase.

"Aurora..."

His voice carried through the air, rich with expectation and laced with duty.

It pressed against her back like a heavy weight, the same weight she'd carried all her life.

But she ignored it.

Not because she didn't hear him. But because if she stopped now, she wasn't sure she would be able to walk away.

A Prison Wrapped in Gold...more like Her Prison Wrapped in Gold.

Aurora Everly was beautiful.

Curves in all the right places.

Sultry, hypnotic eyes that could bring any man to his knees.

Full lips that whispered power, and elegance.