Five Years, A Beautiful Placeholder

Five Years, A Beautiful Placeholder

Cinderella's Sister

5.0
Comment(s)
13.9K
View
23
Chapters

Tonight was supposed to be perfect, our fifth wedding anniversary, and I, Ava Monroe, was glowing, a secret smile playing on my lips for the news I planned to share with my loving husband, Liam. But then, a strange, unlocked phone in his study revealed a picture: Liam with another woman, Sophia Chen, whose hand clung to his with an intimacy that made my blood run cold. Hidden, I heard his voice, tender and intimate, confirming my worst fears about Sophia and a chilling dismissiveness towards me: "Ava doesn\'t suspect a thing. She\'s probably in the kitchen, playing the perfect wife, just like always." He then spoke of a "real, legally binding" marriage that wasn\'t ours, calling our five years "a beautiful placeholder," a "five-year arrangement that\'s about to end." My perfect life shattered, exposing his carefully constructed deceit. My heart hammered with a terrifying realization: I was pregnant with his child, a child conceived in a lie, while he was secretly married to another woman. Then, at a charity gala, with my arm still bruised from Sophia\'s staged fall and Liam\'s furious accusations, I saw them. Under the table, while he held my hand for the cameras, his other hand stroked hers-a secret, intimate gesture meant for me. The sheer audacity, the cold, calculated performance, didn\'t even hurt anymore; it simply filled me with a profound, soul-crushing boredom. I just wanted out. Suddenly, a searing pain ripped through my body, as I collapsed, instinctively knowing Sophia had poisoned me, and Liam, blinded by his own narrative, walked away, leaving me to my fate. Waking up alone in a sterile hospital room, no longer pregnant, I learned the truth: Sophia had tried to kill me, and Liam' s betrayal went deeper than I ever imagined. I would disappear, but not before leaving behind the unedited truth of his monstrous betrayal.

Five Years, A Beautiful Placeholder Introduction

Tonight was supposed to be perfect, our fifth wedding anniversary, and I, Ava Monroe, was glowing, a secret smile playing on my lips for the news I planned to share with my loving husband, Liam.

But then, a strange, unlocked phone in his study revealed a picture: Liam with another woman, Sophia Chen, whose hand clung to his with an intimacy that made my blood run cold.

Hidden, I heard his voice, tender and intimate, confirming my worst fears about Sophia and a chilling dismissiveness towards me: "Ava doesn\'t suspect a thing. She\'s probably in the kitchen, playing the perfect wife, just like always."

He then spoke of a "real, legally binding" marriage that wasn\'t ours, calling our five years "a beautiful placeholder," a "five-year arrangement that\'s about to end." My perfect life shattered, exposing his carefully constructed deceit.

My heart hammered with a terrifying realization: I was pregnant with his child, a child conceived in a lie, while he was secretly married to another woman.

Then, at a charity gala, with my arm still bruised from Sophia\'s staged fall and Liam\'s furious accusations, I saw them.

Under the table, while he held my hand for the cameras, his other hand stroked hers-a secret, intimate gesture meant for me.

The sheer audacity, the cold, calculated performance, didn\'t even hurt anymore; it simply filled me with a profound, soul-crushing boredom.

I just wanted out.

Suddenly, a searing pain ripped through my body, as I collapsed, instinctively knowing Sophia had poisoned me, and Liam, blinded by his own narrative, walked away, leaving me to my fate.

Waking up alone in a sterile hospital room, no longer pregnant, I learned the truth: Sophia had tried to kill me, and Liam' s betrayal went deeper than I ever imagined.

I would disappear, but not before leaving behind the unedited truth of his monstrous betrayal.

Continue Reading

Other books by Cinderella's Sister

More
Claimed By My Fiancé's Ruthless Uncle

Claimed By My Fiancé's Ruthless Uncle

Modern

4.3

I spent our third anniversary alone in our penthouse, adjusting a white rose and waiting for a man who didn't want to come home. When my fiancé, Chris Osborne, finally arrived, he didn't notice the 1982 Lafite or the dinner I’d prepared. He looked at me with disgust, calling my desire for a wedding date "pressure" before storming out to a private club. I followed him, hiding behind a marble pillar at The Vault as I recorded his voice on my phone. He was laughing with his friends about a $20 million bet. He called me a "boring ice queen" and a "marble statue," explaining that he only needed to keep me around until the merger closed so he could steal my shares and "cut me loose." To make it worse, my own father was in on it, prioritizing his stock price over his daughter's life. Broken and barefoot in a torrential Manhattan downpour, I sought refuge at the Four Seasons. I collapsed into the arms of a tall, dangerous-looking stranger and begged him to take me upstairs. I wanted to be erased, to forget the transaction my life had become. After a night of salt and desperation, I left my engagement ring on his nightstand as payment for services rendered and fled. The next morning, I realized I had jumped from the frying pan into the furnace. My "stranger" wasn't a nobody. He was Gallagher Osborne—the ruthless patriarch of the family and my fiancé’s uncle. He tracked me to a private clinic, trapping me in a room while holding my medical file and the ring I’d discarded. He told me I was his now, and that he’d dismantle Chris piece by piece if I didn't comply. I was a piece of currency to my father, a bet to my fiancé, and a prize to his uncle. I had no allies, no escape, and no mercy left. I realized that being the "perfect daughter" had only made me a target. If they wanted to play games with the "Ice Queen," I decided to give them a frostbite they would never forget. I trashed my art gallery, backdated a diagnosis for a psychotic break, and sent a cryptic suicide note to Chris. As Gallagher watched from the shadows and Chris panicked over his investment, I began the process of scorching the earth. The merger was still happening, but I wasn't the bride anymore—I was the wrecking ball.

You'll also like

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu
4.5

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.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
Five Years, A Beautiful Placeholder Five Years, A Beautiful Placeholder Cinderella's Sister Romance
“Tonight was supposed to be perfect, our fifth wedding anniversary, and I, Ava Monroe, was glowing, a secret smile playing on my lips for the news I planned to share with my loving husband, Liam. But then, a strange, unlocked phone in his study revealed a picture: Liam with another woman, Sophia Chen, whose hand clung to his with an intimacy that made my blood run cold. Hidden, I heard his voice, tender and intimate, confirming my worst fears about Sophia and a chilling dismissiveness towards me: "Ava doesn\'t suspect a thing. She\'s probably in the kitchen, playing the perfect wife, just like always." He then spoke of a "real, legally binding" marriage that wasn\'t ours, calling our five years "a beautiful placeholder," a "five-year arrangement that\'s about to end." My perfect life shattered, exposing his carefully constructed deceit. My heart hammered with a terrifying realization: I was pregnant with his child, a child conceived in a lie, while he was secretly married to another woman. Then, at a charity gala, with my arm still bruised from Sophia\'s staged fall and Liam\'s furious accusations, I saw them. Under the table, while he held my hand for the cameras, his other hand stroked hers-a secret, intimate gesture meant for me. The sheer audacity, the cold, calculated performance, didn\'t even hurt anymore; it simply filled me with a profound, soul-crushing boredom. I just wanted out. Suddenly, a searing pain ripped through my body, as I collapsed, instinctively knowing Sophia had poisoned me, and Liam, blinded by his own narrative, walked away, leaving me to my fate. Waking up alone in a sterile hospital room, no longer pregnant, I learned the truth: Sophia had tried to kill me, and Liam' s betrayal went deeper than I ever imagined. I would disappear, but not before leaving behind the unedited truth of his monstrous betrayal.”
1

Introduction

02/07/2025

2

Chapter 1

02/07/2025

3

Chapter 2

02/07/2025

4

Chapter 3

02/07/2025

5

Chapter 4

02/07/2025

6

Chapter 5

02/07/2025

7

Chapter 6

02/07/2025

8

Chapter 7

02/07/2025

9

Chapter 8

02/07/2025

10

Chapter 9

02/07/2025

11

Chapter 10

02/07/2025

12

Chapter 11

02/07/2025

13

Chapter 12

02/07/2025

14

Chapter 13

02/07/2025

15

Chapter 14

02/07/2025

16

Chapter 15

02/07/2025

17

Chapter 16

02/07/2025

18

Chapter 17

02/07/2025

19

Chapter 18

02/07/2025

20

Chapter 19

02/07/2025

21

Chapter 20

02/07/2025

22

Chapter 21

02/07/2025

23

Chapter 22

02/07/2025