Mr Vagrant Ms No Money

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu

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.

Modern Revenge Divorce

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"I didn't leak any of the family's business secrets. The massive losses of the company have nothing to do with me; it was her!" Isabella's eyes were slightly red as she defiantly stared at her father, Carlos, her fingers pointing at her stepmother, Regina.

She had heard with her own ears how her stepmother colluded with an insider to embezzle ninety million from the family business. But before she could report it, her stepmother preemptively accused her, framing her for the crime. But she had no evidence, and her father didn't believe her at all.

Now, she just wanted to gamble with her fate. Would her father choose to believe her, considering their father-daughter relationship all these years?

But...

'Smack!'

Father's slap came down hard, causing Isabella to fall to the ground. Half of her cheek immediately swelled high and red, with a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.

"Get out, just get out of here! The Riveras don't have a daughter like you!" Carlos pointed angrily towards the door, roaring, his veins bulging on his forehead.

Regina, the stepmother, walked over gracefully, soothing her father's heaving chest with a gentle smile. "Don't ruin your health over this. Isabella is still young and naive. Don't bother with childish matters."

Carlos was furious. "Young? She's 19 already! You spoil her too much. She almost caused our Rivera Corporation to collapse, and now she accuses you!"

Spoil her?

Isabella coldly chuckled at her stepmother's hypocritical and despicable face.

She knew Regina's goal was to make her father hate and despise her, to thoroughly disappoint him, and to push her out of the Riveras. This would allow her stepbrother and stepsister to openly inherit all of the Riveras' wealth.

Her stepsister Cynthia, who had always watched from the sidelines, smirked with schadenfreude, changing her demeanor, timidly grasping her father's hand, pleading with a worried expression. "Dad, please don't be angry. It's my fault for not stopping Isabella earlier. Otherwise, that incident wouldn't have become public knowledge. But she's still your daughter and my sister. Can't you forgive her and let her stay?"

Carlos shook his head. "Cynthia, you're too forgiving. Every time she messes up, you cover for her. She needs to face the consequences of her actions!"

Isabella glanced at her stepsister's fake expression and shivered.

Cynthia was referring to the scandalous photos of Isabella with several men in a hotel that had made headlines. It was Cynthia who had tricked her into going to the hotel, taken and manipulated the photos in secret, and leaked them to the media. This tarnished Isabella's reputation, brought disgrace to the Riveras, and enraged their father, who believed the photos were genuine. Yet, Cynthia managed to evade any blame for the incident.

The sickening act put on by this mother-daughter duo made Isabella feel nauseous.

Isabella rose to her feet, her eyes burning with anger as she stared at her stepmother and stepsister. "Stop pretending. Remember, what goes around comes around. The burden you placed on me, which led to my mother's death, I will repay it to you sooner or later."

Despite her delicate appearance, her voice carried an undeniable sense of menace. Her stepmother and stepsister trembled inexplicably.

Then, she turned to her father, her tone icy. "Dad, I pity you for marrying such a conniving woman."

Her words only fueled Carlos's rage. "You show no remorse. Your mother and sister have been defending you all along, yet you curse them."

With a burst of fury, Carlos lunged forward, grabbing Isabella and dragging her toward the door. "You've brought shame upon this family, nearly bankrupting Rivera Corporation. From this moment on, I disown you. You are no longer my daughter, and you are forbidden from ever mentioning the Riveras again! Get out!"

Bang!

The heavy gates slammed shut.

Isabella stood alone in the raging storm, wiping blood from her lips. The darkness of the night seemed to swallow her whole.

She lifted her face, letting the rain wash over her swollen cheeks.

"Don't cry, Isabella," she whispered, fighting back tears. "One day, the truth will come out, and those who have wronged me will face their reckoning."

She gazed into the endless downpour, thinking of the old house left to her by her deceased grandmother. It was her only sanctuary now.

...

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