The Billionaire Widow's Redemption

The Billionaire Widow's Redemption

Gavin

5.0
Comment(s)
8.1K
View
22
Chapters

For three years, my husband Carter Hancock had erectile dysfunction. Or so he told me. I was the one who pulled him from a fiery car crash, and this marriage was his promise to cherish the hands that saved him. But tonight, I overheard him with my sister-in-law, Jodie. He confessed his condition was a lie to avoid touching me, and that he' d always loved her. Our marriage was just a sham to appease his grandfather. The betrayals kept coming. He claimed she was the one who saved him. He abandoned me during a landslide to rescue her. When I woke up in the hospital with broken ribs, he asked me to donate skin from my leg to fix a scratch on her face. He wanted to mutilate my body for the woman who stole my life, the woman carrying his secret child. My love was a burden, my sacrifice a joke they laughed about behind closed doors. Then I found the final, soul-crushing truth: our marriage certificate was a fake. I was never his wife, just a placeholder. That night, I picked up my phone and called the one person he' d warned me away from. "Alex," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I need to leave. Can you meet me in Europe?"

Chapter 1

For three years, my husband Carter Hancock had erectile dysfunction. Or so he told me. I was the one who pulled him from a fiery car crash, and this marriage was his promise to cherish the hands that saved him.

But tonight, I overheard him with my sister-in-law, Jodie. He confessed his condition was a lie to avoid touching me, and that he' d always loved her. Our marriage was just a sham to appease his grandfather.

The betrayals kept coming. He claimed she was the one who saved him. He abandoned me during a landslide to rescue her. When I woke up in the hospital with broken ribs, he asked me to donate skin from my leg to fix a scratch on her face.

He wanted to mutilate my body for the woman who stole my life, the woman carrying his secret child. My love was a burden, my sacrifice a joke they laughed about behind closed doors.

Then I found the final, soul-crushing truth: our marriage certificate was a fake. I was never his wife, just a placeholder.

That night, I picked up my phone and called the one person he' d warned me away from.

"Alex," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I need to leave. Can you meet me in Europe?"

Chapter 1

HAZEL POV:

I found out my marriage was over the same way the rest of the world did: on a news alert. But the lie had been living in my house for three years.

For one thousand and ninety-five days, my husband, Carter Hancock, had erectile dysfunction. Or so he told me. It was a condition that only existed within the walls of our bedroom, a cruelty reserved only for me.

Tonight was the 1096th day. I'd seen the doctor's report I wasn't supposed to see. Carter was perfectly healthy. The lie was a wall he had built between us, and tonight, I was going to tear it down.

I stood outside his study, my hand raised to knock, when I heard voices from inside. A woman's soft laugh, followed by Carter's low murmur. It was Jodie, my sister-in-law.

"Honestly, Carter, how much longer do you have to pretend with her? I can't stand seeing you two together," Jodie said, her voice dripping with the familiar disdain she saved just for me.

My hand froze in mid-air. My heart started to pound against my ribs, a frantic, trapped bird.

"Just a little longer, my love," Carter's voice was a gentle caress, a tone he had never used with me. "Grandfather is still watching. He feels he owes you for saving my life from the crash. This marriage to Hazel is just a show to keep him happy, to keep you in the family."

The world tilted. My breath caught in my throat. She saved him? No. That wasn't right. I was the one who pulled him from the fiery wreckage of his Ferrari. I was the one whose hands were scarred from the shattered glass and twisted metal.

Carter's next words shattered what was left of my world.

"Jodie, you know I can't stand touching her. This sham of a marriage is the only way I can be with you. Once I have full control of Hancock Industries, we can be together. Properly."

He loved her. He had always loved her.

"And what about her brother, Gary?" Jodie's voice was laced with a cruel amusement. "His dying wish was for you to take care of his little sister. He must be rolling in his grave."

"He should have minded his own business," Carter spat, his voice suddenly cold. "If it weren't for him, I would have married you years ago. All my kindness to Hazel, all the patience... it was all an act. Every second with her feels like an eternity."

A wave of nausea washed over me. The past three years, my patient love, my careful nursing of his supposed trauma, my unwavering support-it was all a joke to them. A story they laughed about behind closed doors.

My whole marriage was a lie. My love was a burden. My very presence was a performance he was forced to endure.

My stomach churned, and a bitter taste rose in my throat. I stumbled back from the door, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle a sob. My foot caught on the edge of the Persian rug, and I went down hard, my knee slamming into the marble floor.

Pain shot up my leg, sharp and white-hot. It was the same knee I had injured pulling him from that car wreck. A new pain layered over an old scar, a physical reminder of the truth.

I remembered the day he proposed. He had held my scarred hands in his, his eyes filled with what I thought was adoration. "Hazel," he'd said, "these hands saved my life. Let me spend the rest of mine cherishing them."

It was all a lie. A beautifully crafted, soul-crushing lie.

My love for Carter started when I was a teenager. He was my brother's best friend, charismatic and brilliant. I had crushed on him for years, writing his name in my notebooks, dreaming of a future that now felt like a nightmare. I had devoted ten years of my life to loving him, three of them as his wife.

And for what? To be his alibi. To be the placeholder for the woman he truly loved. To be a pawn in their twisted game.

Every gentle touch, every "I'm sorry, Hazel, it's the trauma," every night spent in our shared, sterile bed-it was all poison. He married me to repay a debt to Jodie. A debt that I had earned.

A violent retch escaped my throat. I scrambled to my feet, my body shaking uncontrollably. I had to get out. I had to escape this house of lies.

My phone felt heavy in my trembling hand. I scrolled through my contacts, my eyes blurring with tears, until I found his name. A name I hadn't called in three years, not since Carter had subtly convinced me he was a bad influence.

Alex Porter. My childhood friend. My anchor, before Carter became my storm.

The phone rang twice before he picked up.

"Hazel?" His voice was hesitant, surprised.

The sound of his name on my lips was a ragged whisper. "Alex."

"Hey," he said, his tone shifting from surprise to concern. "It's been a while. Everything okay?"

I couldn't form the words. A choked sob was my only answer.

"Hazel? What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I need you," I finally managed to say, the words breaking apart. "Can you help me? I need to leave."

There was a pause on the other end, a beat of silence that felt like an eternity.

"Yeah," he said, his voice now firm, serious. "Of course. Where do you need me to be?"

He didn't ask why. He didn't need to. He had seen the shadows in my eyes on my wedding day.

"I can book a flight," I whispered. "Can you... can you meet me in Europe?"

"Whatever you need," he said, his voice a lifeline in the darkness. "But what about him?"

"He can't know," I said, my voice shaking. "Not yet."

Another strangled sound came from behind the study door. A woman's moan.

I felt sick.

I heard Carter's voice again, muffled but clear enough. "Don't worry, my love. The baby will have everything. We'll tell everyone it's a miracle. We'll say it's mine and Hazel's. She'll be the perfect cover, just like she always is."

Continue Reading

Other books by Gavin

More
Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

Contract With The Devil: Love In Shackles

Mafia

4.5

I watched my husband sign the papers that would end our marriage while he was busy texting the woman he actually loved. He didn't even glance at the header. He just scribbled the sharp, jagged signature that had signed death warrants for half of New York, tossed the file onto the passenger seat, and tapped his screen again. "Done," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. That was Dante Moretti. The Underboss. A man who could smell a lie from a mile away but couldn't see that his wife had just handed him an annulment decree disguised beneath a stack of mundane logistics reports. For three years, I scrubbed his blood out of his shirts. I saved his family's alliance when his ex, Sofia, ran off with a civilian. In return, he treated me like furniture. He left me in the rain to save Sofia from a broken nail. He left me alone on my birthday to drink champagne on a yacht with her. He even handed me a glass of whiskey—her favorite drink—forgetting that I despised the taste. I was merely a placeholder. A ghost in my own home. So, I stopped waiting. I burned our wedding portrait in the fireplace, left my platinum ring in the ashes, and boarded a one-way flight to San Francisco. I thought I was finally free. I thought I had escaped the cage. But I underestimated Dante. When he finally opened that file weeks later and realized he had signed away his wife without looking, the Reaper didn't accept defeat. He burned down the world to find me, obsessed with reclaiming the woman he had already thrown away.

Unwanted by Him, Chosen by the Stronger Alpha

Unwanted by Him, Chosen by the Stronger Alpha

Werewolf

4.3

I was the Pack’s shame, a twenty-year-old "Runt" who had never shifted. Yet, I clung to the desperate hope that Alpha Marcus, the man I had loved my entire life, would finally claim me at the Full Moon Gala. Instead, he stood before the entire Pack with Izzy, a woman who looked at him with hunger rather than love. With eyes as cold as stone, he didn't just ignore me; he destroyed me. "I, Marcus Thorne, reject you, Olivia Hayes." The rejection snapped our bond, but the nightmare was just beginning. When Izzy framed me for poisoning her, Marcus didn't hesitate. He chained me in the dungeon and wielded the silver whip himself. Each lash burned like liquid fire, tearing through my skin as he demanded a confession I couldn't give. I woke up in a pool of my own blood, only to hear the nurse whisper the truth I was never meant to know. The silver toxicity hadn't just broken my body; it had killed the unborn pup I didn't even know I was carrying. Marcus had whipped the mother of his own child to protect a liar. He had killed his heir for a woman who was faking her own pregnancy. That night, as I crawled through the mud to escape, the weak Runt died. In the freezing waters of the river, my bones snapped and reshaped. I didn't just shift; I became the legendary White Wolf. And when Marcus finally realized the truth and came begging on his knees, I looked at him with my new, violet eyes and prepared to give him the rejection he deserved.

You'll also like

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book