What Money Couldn\'t Buy

What Money Couldn\'t Buy

Ellene Millstein

5.0
Comment(s)
28
View
11
Chapters

The hospital air was cold, too clean, smelling like death trying to hide. I was running, lungs burning, clutching the $50,000 I'd scraped together-every cent Dad and I had, plus loans and extra shifts-desperate to save my father. He'd helped me raise the money for Izzy' s "crippling debt," a desperate plea from the woman I loved and planned to marry. I believed her, truly. Then the doctor delivered the blow: "Your father, Michael... he passed away an hour ago. He collapsed because he hadn' t been taking his prescribed medication. The expensive ones for his condition." My blood ran cold, the words echoing in the sterile hallway. He did this for Izzy. He killed himself to help my girlfriend. Numb, I found Izzy at her "struggling artist" apartment, her eyes feigning perfect concern. "It's for your debt," I rasped, handing her the thick envelope. Days later, working a catering gig, my father' s cheap cardboard urn tucked under my arm, I overheard her at a lavish party. Izzy, laughing with Liam Astor, her smug "childhood friend." "He actually passed the hardship test, Liam. Impressive, for a line cook." My blood turned to ice. Then Liam' s cruel reply: "The old man croaking was a nice touch. Really sold the desperation." They knew. They knew my father died. My father' s life, his sacrifice, was a game. A test. The love I felt for Izzy, the future I imagined with her, crumbled into ashes, just like the ones I carried. This wasn' t just betrayal; it was a grotesque, sadistic mockery. My selfless father, reduced to a pawn in her twisted elite games, his death a mere footnote in their cruel charade. The world tilted, reeling from the sheer, mind-numbing horror of it all. No. I wouldn't be their punchline. I quit my job, scattered Dad' s ashes, and left. Vanished. But when, years later, she' d desperately beg me to "come clean" and "come home" on national television, her pleas would ring hollow. I had found my peace, far from her toxic world, leaving her to the echoing silence of her monumental lies.

What Money Couldn\'t Buy Introduction

The hospital air was cold, too clean, smelling like death trying to hide.

I was running, lungs burning, clutching the $50,000 I'd scraped together-every cent Dad and I had, plus loans and extra shifts-desperate to save my father.

He'd helped me raise the money for Izzy' s "crippling debt," a desperate plea from the woman I loved and planned to marry.

I believed her, truly.

Then the doctor delivered the blow: "Your father, Michael... he passed away an hour ago. He collapsed because he hadn' t been taking his prescribed medication. The expensive ones for his condition."

My blood ran cold, the words echoing in the sterile hallway.

He did this for Izzy.

He killed himself to help my girlfriend.

Numb, I found Izzy at her "struggling artist" apartment, her eyes feigning perfect concern.

"It's for your debt," I rasped, handing her the thick envelope.

Days later, working a catering gig, my father' s cheap cardboard urn tucked under my arm, I overheard her at a lavish party.

Izzy, laughing with Liam Astor, her smug "childhood friend."

"He actually passed the hardship test, Liam. Impressive, for a line cook."

My blood turned to ice.

Then Liam' s cruel reply: "The old man croaking was a nice touch. Really sold the desperation."

They knew.

They knew my father died.

My father' s life, his sacrifice, was a game. A test.

The love I felt for Izzy, the future I imagined with her, crumbled into ashes, just like the ones I carried.

This wasn' t just betrayal; it was a grotesque, sadistic mockery.

My selfless father, reduced to a pawn in her twisted elite games, his death a mere footnote in their cruel charade.

The world tilted, reeling from the sheer, mind-numbing horror of it all.

No.

I wouldn't be their punchline.

I quit my job, scattered Dad' s ashes, and left.

Vanished.

But when, years later, she' d desperately beg me to "come clean" and "come home" on national television, her pleas would ring hollow.

I had found my peace, far from her toxic world, leaving her to the echoing silence of her monumental lies.

Continue Reading

Other books by Ellene Millstein

More
Betrayed By Love, Reborn In Fire

Betrayed By Love, Reborn In Fire

Billionaires

5.0

Eleanor Vance, tech titaness, finally leaned back, champagne in hand, on her Monte Carlo terrace. Six months into hard-earned semi-retirement, her empire was thriving, and today, her daughter Sarah and son-in-law Mark were officially taking the reins. A notification shattered the peace. "VANCE TECH SHOCKER: NEW HEIRESS ANNOUNCED AS FOUNDER' S DAUGHTER BRANDED A FRAUD." Her blood ran cold as she saw the image: Mark, arm around a smug stranger named Lily Miller, the Vance Tech logo looming like a tombstone. Sarah' s phone went straight to voicemail. "Sarah, darling, it' s Mom. Call me back the second you get this." Mark answered, voice sickeningly cheerful. "Eleanor! Enjoying the Riviera, I hope?" Then, dropped a bombshell: "Sarah Vance is not, in fact, Eleanor Vance' s biological daughter. She is an illegitimate child… The true inheritor… is my daughter, Lily." Eleanor watched live footage: Sarah, her dress torn, screaming "He' s lying! I' m her daughter! Mom, he' s lying!" as security dragged her away. Mark' s smooth voice narrated: "Sarah has been… unwell." The camera zoomed on Sarah' s anguished face, then a guard shoved her out. The world vanished for Eleanor; only a burning rage remained. She hurled her glass, shattering it against the wall. "Get the jet ready," she commanded, voice dangerously calm. "Get me everything you can find on Jessica Brown and Lily Miller. Dig." "I' m going home," Eleanor vowed, her eyes like flint. "And I' m going to burn their world to the ground." How could Mark, her trusted son-in-law, conspire with Jessica, a former employee fired for corporate espionage, to publicly destroy her daughter and steal her legacy? The deeper horror: the faint red welts on Sarah' s back in the video; this wasn' t the first time he' d hurt her. Why hadn' t Sarah called? What kind of hell had her child been living in while she was sipping champagne across the world? The guilt was crushing, but the fury burned brighter. Eleanor wouldn't just fight; she would annihilate. "When we land, we go directly to headquarters." Mark thought he' d won; he just triggered the war of his life.

Her Escape, His Eternal Loss

Her Escape, His Eternal Loss

Romance

5.0

The familiar ache pulsed behind my eyes, a constant companion in the sterile white room where sheets matched my pale, bruised skin. They had given me electric shock therapy again, leaving my mind a fog of agony. A key turned, and in walked Ethan Miller, the man I was supposed to marry, his face handsome but cold, etched with pity and disgust. "Still acting like this, Chloe?" he snapped, accusing me of hurting a nurse-a lie I was too broken to fight. Then Liam Thorne, my half-brother, joined him, an insincere mask of concern plastered on his face. "See, Ethan? She' s completely gone," Liam purred, blaming my supposed violent tendencies on the stress of his "illness." Ethan, my savior turned accomplice, instantly sided with Liam, his trust absolute. But then Mark Evans, a childhood friend turned doctor, assessed my condition, his voice serious as he unveiled the severe trauma and abuse they' d inflicted on me. Liam quickly deflected, accusing me of self-harm, a narrative Ethan chillingly affirmed. Liam then proposed transferring me to a private institution, the 'Thorne Wellness Center' -a name that sent a jolt of terror through me, a prison designed just for me. Desperate, I pleaded with Ethan, "Please, don' t take me there. I' ll do anything." He hesitated, a flicker of the old Ethan visible, and agreed to take me home. But Liam intervened, whispering manipulations, leading me back into the trap. I screamed as orderlies grabbed me, but it was too late. They injected the sedative, and I went limp, my savior watching as he condemned me. The torture at Thorne Wellness Center was worse than I could have imagined, leaving my mind fractured, my body starved. When Ethan finally came to pick me up, he was horrified by the skeletal, lifeless woman I had become. In that moment, a plan formed in my fragmented mind. I had to escape, even if it meant jumping from a second-story window. Under the cover of darkness, I slipped from my gilded cage, running, barefoot and silent, into the night.

You'll also like

Abandoned Ex-Wife: Now Untouchable

Abandoned Ex-Wife: Now Untouchable

Tao Yaoyao
5.0

My five-year-old daughter was dying in the ICU, her heartbeat replaced by the continuous, electronic scream of a flatline. I gripped her cold hand, my throat sealed shut by a terror so absolute I couldn't even cry out. I dialed my husband Grayson's private number, the one reserved only for me and his assistants. He declined the call instantly. A second later, a text buzzed against my palm: "In a meeting. Do not disturb. Stop calling." Five miles away, Grayson was at a luxury gala, adjusting his silk tie and laughing with Belle Escobar. He told her I was just being "dramatic" and using our daughter's "fever" as an excuse to avoid the event. He had no idea Effie's heart had already stopped. When I finally reached our penthouse, soaked from the rain and carrying Effie's small socks in a plastic bag, Grayson didn't even look at me. He snapped at me for ruining the hardwood floors and asked if I'd left Effie with the nanny just to "feel sorry for myself." Three days later, while I buried our daughter in a small, lonely ceremony, Grayson was at the Hamptons. Belle posted a photo of him golfing with the caption: "A mental health day with the boys." He didn't even attend the funeral, but he returned home demanding I clear out Effie's room to make a study for Belle's son. The injustice burned through me until there was nothing left. I swallowed a handful of sleeping pills, desperate to join my daughter. But instead of the darkness, I woke up to blinding lights and the scent of Grayson's expensive cologne. I was standing in a ballroom, wearing a blue silk dress I had already burned. Above me, a banner read: "Happy 5th Birthday Kaiden & Effie." I was back, exactly one year before the tragedy. This time, I wasn't going to be the grieving wife. I was going to be their worst nightmare.

The Billionaire's Blind Bride: No Mercy

The Billionaire's Blind Bride: No Mercy

Emma
5.0

I married Clive Harrington, the coldest billionaire in Manhattan, under a strict contract that forbade any emotional burdens. When I needed a high-risk surgery to save my sight, I checked into the clinic alone, hiding the procedure from a husband who saw me as nothing more than a legal asset. I thought I could handle the darkness in silence. But while I was blind and bandaged in my hospital bed, my biological mother called, screaming that if I didn't produce a Harrington heir by the end of the fiscal year, she would cut off the life-saving treatments for my disabled sister. I was crawling on the cold hospital floor, desperately feeling for a cane I had dropped, when I touched a pair of expensive leather shoes. It was Clive. He was supposed to be in London closing a multi-million dollar deal, but there he was, watching his "contract wife" groveling in the dark like a beggar. He didn't walk away in disgust. He carried me to a five-thousand-dollar-a-night VIP suite and sat by my bed, listening in chilling silence as another voicemail from my mother filled the room, calling me a "useless broodmare" who was only worth the trust fund disbursements my marriage secured. I expected him to remind me of Clause 34B or hand me divorce papers now that I was "damaged goods." Instead, I felt his thumb brush a stray tear from my cheek, his presence shifting from a statue of ice into a predatory shield. "I thought I was just currency to you," I whispered, my voice trembling behind the gauze. "Just an investment." Clive didn't answer with words. He picked up his phone and called his head of legal with a single, terrifying command: "Kill the Douglas family’s credit lines. Every debt, every lien—trigger them all. If they want a war, I’ll give them a massacre." As he leaned down to kiss my bandaged forehead, I realized the contract was dead. My husband wasn't protecting an asset anymore; he was hunting the people who had dared to touch what belonged to him.

I'm Divorcing with You, Mr Billionaire!

I'm Divorcing with You, Mr Billionaire!

The Wine Press
4.2

I received a pornographic video. "Do you like this?" The man speaking in the video is my husband, Mark, whom I haven't seen for several months. He is naked, his shirt and pants scattered on the ground, thrusting forcefully on a woman whose face I can't see, her plump and round breasts bouncing vigorously. I can clearly hear the slapping sounds in the video, mixed with lustful moans and grunts. "Yes, yes, fuck me hard, baby," the woman screams ecstatically in response. "You naughty girl!" Mark stands up and flips her over, slapping her buttocks as he speaks. "Stick your ass up!" The woman giggles, turns around, sways her buttocks, and kneels on the bed. I feel like someone has poured a bucket of ice water on my head. It's bad enough that my husband is having an affair, but what's worse is that the other woman is my own sister, Bella. ************************************************************************************************************************ "I want to get a divorce, Mark," I repeated myself in case he didn't hear me the first time-even though I knew he'd heard me clearly. He stared at me with a frown before answering coldly, "It's not up to you! I'm very busy, don't waste my time with such boring topics, or try to attract my attention!" The last thing I was going to do was argue or bicker with him. "I will have the lawyer send you the divorce agreement," was all I said, as calmly as I could muster. He didn't even say another word after that and just went through the door he'd been standing in front of, slamming it harshly behind him. My eyes lingered on the knob of the door a bit absentmindedly before I pulled the wedding ring off my finger and placed it on the table. I grabbed my suitcase, which I'd already had my things packed in and headed out of the house.

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father

Temple Madison
4.5

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
What Money Couldn\'t Buy What Money Couldn\'t Buy Ellene Millstein Modern
“The hospital air was cold, too clean, smelling like death trying to hide. I was running, lungs burning, clutching the $50,000 I'd scraped together-every cent Dad and I had, plus loans and extra shifts-desperate to save my father. He'd helped me raise the money for Izzy' s "crippling debt," a desperate plea from the woman I loved and planned to marry. I believed her, truly. Then the doctor delivered the blow: "Your father, Michael... he passed away an hour ago. He collapsed because he hadn' t been taking his prescribed medication. The expensive ones for his condition." My blood ran cold, the words echoing in the sterile hallway. He did this for Izzy. He killed himself to help my girlfriend. Numb, I found Izzy at her "struggling artist" apartment, her eyes feigning perfect concern. "It's for your debt," I rasped, handing her the thick envelope. Days later, working a catering gig, my father' s cheap cardboard urn tucked under my arm, I overheard her at a lavish party. Izzy, laughing with Liam Astor, her smug "childhood friend." "He actually passed the hardship test, Liam. Impressive, for a line cook." My blood turned to ice. Then Liam' s cruel reply: "The old man croaking was a nice touch. Really sold the desperation." They knew. They knew my father died. My father' s life, his sacrifice, was a game. A test. The love I felt for Izzy, the future I imagined with her, crumbled into ashes, just like the ones I carried. This wasn' t just betrayal; it was a grotesque, sadistic mockery. My selfless father, reduced to a pawn in her twisted elite games, his death a mere footnote in their cruel charade. The world tilted, reeling from the sheer, mind-numbing horror of it all. No. I wouldn't be their punchline. I quit my job, scattered Dad' s ashes, and left. Vanished. But when, years later, she' d desperately beg me to "come clean" and "come home" on national television, her pleas would ring hollow. I had found my peace, far from her toxic world, leaving her to the echoing silence of her monumental lies.”
1

Introduction

12/06/2025

2

Chapter 1

12/06/2025

3

Chapter 2

12/06/2025

4

Chapter 3

12/06/2025

5

Chapter 4

12/06/2025

6

Chapter 5

12/06/2025

7

Chapter 6

12/06/2025

8

Chapter 7

12/06/2025

9

Chapter 8

12/06/2025

10

Chapter 9

12/06/2025

11

Chapter 10

12/06/2025