The Ex-Wife’s Grand Return

The Ex-Wife's Grand Return

Ardisj Matthies

4.0
Comment(s)
19.1K
View
24
Chapters

My husband, Brady, was supposed to be the love of my life, the man who promised to protect me forever. Instead, he was the one who hurt me the most. He forced me to sign divorce papers, accusing me of corporate espionage and sabotaging company projects, all while his first love, Hettie, who was supposedly dead, reappeared, pregnant with his child. My family was gone, my mother disowned me, and my father died while I was working late, a choice I'd regret forever. I was dying, suffering from late-stage cancer, and he didn't even know, or care. He was too busy with Hettie, who was allergic to the flowers I tended for him, the ones he loved because Hettie loved them. He accused me of having an affair with my adoptive brother, Callum, who was also my doctor, the only person who truly cared for me. He called me disgusting, a skeleton, and told me no one loved me. I was terrified that if I fought back, I would lose even the right to hear his voice on the phone. I was so weak, so pathetic. But I wouldn't let him win. I signed the divorce papers, giving him Simon Corp, the company he always wanted to destroy. I faked my death, hoping he would finally be happy. But I was wrong. Three years later, I returned as Aurora Morgan, a powerful woman with a new identity, ready to make him pay for everything he had done.

The Ex-Wife’s Grand Return Chapter 1

My husband, Brady, was supposed to be the love of my life, the man who promised to protect me forever. Instead, he was the one who hurt me the most.

He forced me to sign divorce papers, accusing me of corporate espionage and sabotaging company projects, all while his first love, Hettie, who was supposedly dead, reappeared, pregnant with his child.

My family was gone, my mother disowned me, and my father died while I was working late, a choice I'd regret forever. I was dying, suffering from late-stage cancer, and he didn't even know, or care. He was too busy with Hettie, who was allergic to the flowers I tended for him, the ones he loved because Hettie loved them.

He accused me of having an affair with my adoptive brother, Callum, who was also my doctor, the only person who truly cared for me. He called me disgusting, a skeleton, and told me no one loved me.

I was terrified that if I fought back, I would lose even the right to hear his voice on the phone. I was so weak, so pathetic.

But I wouldn't let him win.

I signed the divorce papers, giving him Simon Corp, the company he always wanted to destroy.

I faked my death, hoping he would finally be happy.

But I was wrong.

Three years later, I returned as Aurora Morgan, a powerful woman with a new identity, ready to make him pay for everything he had done.

Chapter 1

The law office of Simon Corp was always cold, the air thick with the scent of paper and quiet ambition. It was a place of power, and Karissa Simon was supposed to be its queen.

"I, Karissa Simon, being of sound mind and body, do hereby declare this to be my last will and testament." Her voice was soft, but it carried in the silent room.

Darcy Dodson, her chief legal counsel and oldest friend, watched her with a worried frown. Karissa was anything but of sound body. She was frail, the life seeming to drain from her a little more each day.

"I bequeath my entire estate, including all my shares in Simon Corp, my personal properties, and all other assets, to one person."

The pen in Darcy' s hand paused. She knew what was coming.

"To my husband, Brady Kennedy."

The name hung in the air, a testament to a love that had never been returned.

Darcy finally broke the formal procedure. "Karissa, are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure, Darcy."

"Let me at least get you some water. Or call a doctor. You look pale."

Karissa shook her head, a faint smile on her lips. "No, I need to get home."

"Why?" Darcy pleaded, her voice cracking slightly. "He won't even be there."

"I have to cook dinner for him." It was a duty she had performed every single day of their four-year marriage. A duty he had never once acknowledged by eating her food.

She remembered the countless nights, the perfectly prepared meals growing cold on the table, her hope dimming with the setting sun.

A deep sense of loss settled in her chest, a familiar ache.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Darcy." Karissa stood, her movements slow and deliberate.

She walked out of the office, her figure looking thin and fragile against the large glass doors.

Darcy watched her go, a bitter thought crossing her mind. Karissa Simon, the celebrated heiress of the city, was now just a shadow, clinging to a man who despised her.

The drive home was quiet. The city lights blurred into long streaks of color, mirroring the tears that welled in Karissa's eyes but never fell.

She pulled out her phone, her thumb hovering over his name. She pressed the call button.

It rang several times before he answered. "What do you want?" His voice was as cold as ever.

"Brady," she said, the name a soft caress.

"Don't call me that," he snapped. "It's disgusting."

The familiar pain twisted in her gut. She had called him that since they were children, back when he had promised to protect her forever.

Then, she heard another voice in the background, a woman's voice, soft and sweet. "Brady, who is it?"

His tone softened instantly. "No one important."

Karissa's breath hitched.

"Don't call me again unless it's to sign the divorce papers," he said, his voice laced with contempt.

She tried to keep her voice steady, to hide the tremor. "I'll have dinner ready for you."

The line went dead.

She stared at the phone, the silence of the car amplifying the ringing in her ears. A single tear finally escaped, tracing a cold path down her cheek.

She was so weak. So pathetic.

She was terrified that if she fought back, she would lose even the right to hear his voice on the phone.

When she arrived at their villa, the place was dark and empty. It was a house he'd had designed for his first love, filled with things she was allergic to but had never dared to remove.

She went to the kitchen, a space she had transformed from an unfamiliar territory to her only sanctuary. She had learned to cook for him, a world away from the boardrooms and balance sheets she was raised with.

The house was cold, echoing with a profound loneliness. She turned on some soft music, the melody a weak shield against the silence.

The clock ticked past midnight. He wasn't coming home.

She cleaned up the untouched food, her heart a leaden weight in her chest. As she was about to turn off the lights and go to her empty bed, she heard the front door open.

Hope, that foolish, stubborn thing, flared in her chest.

He walked in, bringing a gust of cold night air with him. He smelled of another woman's perfume.

"Brady, you're back," she said, her voice full of a relief she couldn't hide. "Are you hungry? I can heat up some food."

She reached out to take his coat.

He suddenly grabbed her, his grip like iron, and pushed her against the wall. His eyes were dark with a mix of alcohol and something else, something possessive and cruel.

Karissa' s heart hammered against her ribs. She was scared. "Brady, what are you doing?"

He leaned in, his lips about to crush hers, but the sound of his name on her lips seemed to sober him up slightly. He recoiled as if burned.

"Don't touch me," he snarled, his voice a low growl. "You make me sick."

He turned and strode up the stairs, leaving her shaking against the wall.

The emotional whiplash made her stomach churn, and a wave of nausea washed over her. It was always like this. One moment of hope, followed by a crushing blow of reality.

Why did he hate her so much? She couldn't understand.

She cleaned herself up, the shame clinging to her like a second skin. She went upstairs and quietly prepared his pajamas and a glass of warm milk, placing them by his bedside as she always did.

She waited for a long time.

He finally came out of the shower, a towel slung low on his hips. He didn't even look at her.

He looked at the divorce papers on his nightstand, which she hadn't signed. Then he turned to her, his face a mask of cold fury.

"I want a divorce, Karissa."

She stared at him, her world tilting on its axis. "Why? Why now?"

He looked at her, and the words he spoke next shattered what was left of her heart.

"Because Hettie is back."

Continue Reading

Other books by Ardisj Matthies

More
The Billionaire's Silent Bride: Unspoken Vows

The Billionaire's Silent Bride: Unspoken Vows

Modern

5.0

Waking up in silk sheets should have felt like a dream, but the smell of expensive whiskey and masculine musk triggered a warning siren in my skull. I was in Dorian McClain’s bed—the man who could crush my entire existence with a single signature. I fled his hotel suite like a ghost, but in my hungover panic, I snatched the wrong phone. By the time I reached my crumbling apartment in Queens, that one mistake had already set my life on fire. My uncle Silas had trashed my home, demanding money for my grandfather’s nursing home bill. When he saw Dorian’s encrypted phone, he didn't see a mistake; he saw a ransom. He sold me out to debt collectors who held a switchblade to my throat, forcing me to call the billionaire I had just abandoned. Dorian didn't save me out of mercy; he came to reclaim a security breach. He treated my rescue like a cold business transaction. He had me fired from my job and forced me into a marriage contract just to secure his family trust. He even made me beg for my grandfather’s life, demanding a humiliating act of submission for a medical bill that was mere pocket change to him. To him, I was just a mute, broken girl—the perfect silent accessory for his public image. "Welcome to hell, Mrs. McClain," he murmured, his voice a low rumble as he slid a massive diamond onto my finger. He thinks my silence is a trauma-induced weakness. He thinks he bought a submissive pawn who will stay in her gilded cage. But as I sat in his penthouse and bypassed his "unbreakable" firewalls in seconds, I realized he had made a fatal mistake. Dorian McClain didn't just buy a wife; he invited the CIA’s most dangerous ghost into his private mainframe. Echo is back online, and I’m going to burn his empire to the ground.

Reborn Bride, Deadly Betrayal

Reborn Bride, Deadly Betrayal

Romance

5.0

The silk sheets felt too soft, the air too clean. I sat up quickly, my hands flying to my stomach. It was flat, but not with the emptiness of starvation. It was the familiar flatness of the night before my wedding. My past life wasn\'t a nightmare. It was a memory. And today was my wedding day. Again. A sharp cramp seized my stomach, and cold sweat broke out across my forehead. That feeling was horribly familiar. It was happening again. In the grand hall of the Stone family estate, filled with the city\'s most powerful, the air was thick with fear that kept them silent. No one wanted to upset the Stones. Next to me, Brittany whimpered softly. We were both on our knees, captives in the middle of my wedding reception. Whispers started to ripple through the crowd, quiet but sharp. "Who will Liam choose?" "Chloe is probably done for. Liam never wanted this arranged marriage anyway. Maybe he' ll use this to get rid of her for good…" Liam stood before us, his handsome face a mask of stone. His eyes never left Brittany. "I want both," he said, his voice level. A cruel joke. The blade pressed deeper into my back. Brittany cried, "Liam, save me!" Without hesitation, Liam said, "Chloe, Brittany is different. She only has me. So I have to save her." He paused. "If something happens to you today, I' ll take care of your parents. I' ll repay you in the next life." My heart stopped. He was offering my family' s company as compensation for my life. I stared right back at him, the man who had killed me. "Why do you think the Kingston Corporation would still partner with the Stone family if you don' t choose me today? Liam, you overestimate yourself. And who the hell wants a next life with you?" His face darkened. "Chloe, are you pushing me?" he asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. The old Chloe would have fallen silent. That Chloe died in a cold basement, her baby dead inside her. I was awake now. "I wouldn' t dare push you, Mr. Stone," I said. "But today is our wedding. The security is extremely tight. If Brittany' s presence here was your doing, then tell me, how did this kidnapper get in with a knife?"

Amnesia's Kiss, Divorce's Demand

Amnesia's Kiss, Divorce's Demand

Romance

5.0

The first thing I felt after waking up from surgery was a dull ache and the annoying beeping of a machine. My eyes fluttered open to a sterile white ceiling. I didn' t know where I was, and I couldn't recognize the woman in a sharp business suit standing by the window-Chloe Davis, my wife. The doctor said the surgery was a success, and that I, "Liam," would make a full recovery. Liam? I had just donated a kidney, but not to myself. It was for her ex-fiancé, Liam, a fact she didn't even acknowledge. "The press is waiting outside," she said, spinning my near-death experience into PR for her company, hoping it would help with Series B funding. I stared at her, my mind blank. The past seven years, gone, erased by a surgical complication. I was twenty-two again. The man who had sacrificed a part of his body for her ex was a stranger to me. I grabbed a clipboard and wrote two words: DIVORCE AGREEMENT. Then I signed my name. "I want a divorce," I told her. She laughed, a short, ugly sound. "Don' t be ridiculous, Ethan. Is this some new way to get my attention? It' s pathetic." The pitying glances from the nurses and other patients' families made me sick. They saw a devoted husband, a hero. Chloe, seeing their sympathy, leaned in. "You think this stunt will work? You've been trying to guilt me for years. It won't work now." Then, as if discussing the weather, she said, "You' re fired, by the way... Think about your mistakes, Ethan. When you' re ready to apologize, you know where to find me." But it wasn't a mistake. "I just woke up," I said to her retreating back. My voice was stronger now. My friend Mark burst in, "Chloe' s assistant called me. A kidney? For Liam? Are you insane?" I looked at him. "I don' t remember... I don' t remember the last seven years." A seven-year chunk of my life, just… gone. Now, that memory, and all the others like it, felt like they belonged to someone else. It was like reading a sad story about a character I didn't know.

You'll also like

The Mute Bride Is The Secret Mastermind

The Mute Bride Is The Secret Mastermind

Jin Yi
5.0

I was the titan of Wall Street until an indictment and an ankle monitor turned my penthouse into a gilded cage. To save face, I was forced into a marriage with Elza, a "mute" girl from the Schmidt family whom I treated as nothing more than a silent piece of furniture while my empire crumbled. The night I was poisoned at a high-society gala, a mysterious server in an oversized uniform saved my life with terrifying, clinical precision. They disappeared into the night, leaving me with a silver cufflink and a burning obsession to find the shadow who held my life in their hands. Back home, I took my frustration out on Elza, telling her she was "exhausting to look at" and "smelled like sickness" after her charity visits. Her own family treated her like a stray dog, trying to humiliate her at the next gala by dressing her in what they claimed was a cheap knockoff while whispering to the press that she was nothing but a high-end escort. "Stay out of my way," I would growl at her, never noticing the steel in her eyes. I sat at my table, watching my rivals' stocks plummet and wondering who "The Zero"—the legendary financial ghost—really was. I never suspected that the woman I ignored was the same one solving the equations that were currently burning Manhattan to the ground. The injustice peaked when Elza stood before the city's elite, not as a victim, but as a queen. She dropped over a hundred million dollars to buy back her family’s legacy, revealing a secret fortune that made my own empire look like pocket change. As I grabbed her wrist and saw the small red mole hidden beneath her watch, the truth hit me like a physical blow. The silent wife I had despised was the savior I had been hunting, and she was finally done playing the victim. "We have a lot to talk about, wife," I whispered, realizing I had been sleeping next to the most dangerous woman in the world.

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda
4.7

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch—a titan of industry and my best friend’s father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

The Billionaire's Secret Twins: Her Revenge

The Billionaire's Secret Twins: Her Revenge

Shearwater
4.5

I was four months pregnant, weighing over two hundred pounds, and my heart was failing from experimental treatments forced on me as a child. My doctor looked at me with clinical detachment and told me I was in a death sentence: if I kept the baby, I would die, and if I tried to remove it, I would die. Desperate for a lifeline, I called my father, Francis Acosta, to tell him I was sick and pregnant. I expected a father's love, but all I got was a cold, sharp blade of a voice. "Then do it quietly," he said. "Don't embarrass Candi. Her debutante ball is coming up." He didn't just reject me; he erased me. My trust fund was frozen, and I was told I was no longer an Acosta. My fiancé, Auston, had already discarded me, calling me a "bloated whale" while he looked for a thinner, wealthier replacement. I left New York on a Greyhound bus, weeping into a bag of chips, a broken woman the world considered a mistake. I couldn't understand how my own father could tell me to die "quietly" just to save face for a party. I didn't know why I had been a lab rat for my family’s pharmaceutical ambitions, or how they could sleep at night while I was left to rot in the gray drizzle of the city. Five years later, the doors of JFK International Airport slid open. I stepped onto the marble floor in red-soled stilettos, my body lean, lethal, and carved from years of blood and sweat. I wasn't the "whale" anymore; I was a ghost coming back to haunt them. With my daughter by my side and a medical reputation that terrified the global elite, I was ready to dismantle the Acosta empire piece by piece. "Tell Francis to wash his neck," I whispered to the skyline. "I'm home."

From Blood Bag To Billionaire Queen

From Blood Bag To Billionaire Queen

Liz Nozick
5.0

For three years, I was the perfect, invisible wife to Bart Brown. On our third anniversary, I stood in the kitchen for four hours, preparing his favorite meal with imported truffles, only to receive a cold text command. "Crysta fainted again. Get to the hospital. Now." My rare Rh-negative blood was the only thing the Brown family valued. Bart didn't want a wife; he wanted a walking blood bank for his "sick" best friend, Crysta. While I was fainting from chronic anemia, Crysta was smirking in her hospital bed, clutching Bart's hand and mocking my "peasant" lifestyle. Even his mother treated me like a servant, demanding I vacuum the floors after I'd already offered my veins for the hundredth time. When I finally reached my breaking point and signed the divorce papers, they didn't let me go quietly. They filed a false police report, accusing me of stealing a multi-million dollar diamond necklace just to watch me crawl. I didn't understand how a family could be so heartless. I had cooked their meals, cleaned their house, and literally bled for them, yet they were determined to ruin my life the moment I stopped being useful. Did they really think I was a nobody with nowhere to go? Standing outside the hospital with a bruised wrist and nothing to my name, I didn't cry. I simply took off my cheap wedding ring and dialed a secure line I hadn't touched since the day I married him. "It's me, Dad," I whispered as a fleet of black Maybachs rounded the corner. "The extraction is a go. I'm coming home."

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
The Ex-Wife’s Grand Return The Ex-Wife's Grand Return Ardisj Matthies Modern
“My husband, Brady, was supposed to be the love of my life, the man who promised to protect me forever. Instead, he was the one who hurt me the most. He forced me to sign divorce papers, accusing me of corporate espionage and sabotaging company projects, all while his first love, Hettie, who was supposedly dead, reappeared, pregnant with his child. My family was gone, my mother disowned me, and my father died while I was working late, a choice I'd regret forever. I was dying, suffering from late-stage cancer, and he didn't even know, or care. He was too busy with Hettie, who was allergic to the flowers I tended for him, the ones he loved because Hettie loved them. He accused me of having an affair with my adoptive brother, Callum, who was also my doctor, the only person who truly cared for me. He called me disgusting, a skeleton, and told me no one loved me. I was terrified that if I fought back, I would lose even the right to hear his voice on the phone. I was so weak, so pathetic. But I wouldn't let him win. I signed the divorce papers, giving him Simon Corp, the company he always wanted to destroy. I faked my death, hoping he would finally be happy. But I was wrong. Three years later, I returned as Aurora Morgan, a powerful woman with a new identity, ready to make him pay for everything he had done.”
1

Chapter 1

21/07/2025

2

Chapter 2

21/07/2025

3

Chapter 3

21/07/2025

4

Chapter 4

21/07/2025

5

Chapter 5

21/07/2025

6

Chapter 6

21/07/2025

7

Chapter 7

21/07/2025

8

Chapter 8

21/07/2025

9

Chapter 9

21/07/2025

10

Chapter 10

21/07/2025

11

Chapter 11

21/07/2025

12

Chapter 12

21/07/2025

13

Chapter 13

21/07/2025

14

Chapter 14

21/07/2025

15

Chapter 15

21/07/2025

16

Chapter 16

21/07/2025

17

Chapter 17

21/07/2025

18

Chapter 18

21/07/2025

19

Chapter 19

21/07/2025

20

Chapter 20

21/07/2025

21

Chapter 21

21/07/2025

22

Chapter 22

21/07/2025

23

Chapter 23

21/07/2025

24

Chapter 24

21/07/2025