Who to Love

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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Stargazing! That is what they claimed to be doing but April's eyes were stuck on Uriel's face, butterflies dancing in her belly. She gradually shifted closer to him, her face moving closer to his as well.

"April, do you think you will ever get over your Katsaridaphobia?" Uriel asked.

"What's the meaning of that?" April asked absentmindedly, her thoughts still on him.

"Fear of cockroaches," Uriel answered.

"Oh, didn't know that is what it's called," she said, still staring at Uriel.

They were sitting on the roof of Uriel's house. His face was tilted up as he happily watched the stars. He finally seemed to notice April and he slowly turned his face towards hers, two pairs of eyes lost in each other.

"Kiss me," April demanded.

"April," Uriel breathed out in warning.

"I just want your lips on mine, please," April pleaded.

He moved his face closer, closing the distance, and just when their lips were about to touch, Uriel withdrew.

"What if your brother sees us?" he whispered.

"Who, Iver?" April asked, desperately wanting to feel his lips against hers.

"No, your other brother," Uriel replied.

"Orion?" she asked.

"Yes?" she heard the voice but it didn't come from Uriel.

She shifted around curiously, trying to find the source of the voice and just then, she slipped and was falling from the roof in slow motion.

April's eyes snapped open as she was jerked upright from her sleeping position on the bed. The culprit was Orion, who had his palm around her arm, his usual cold gaze on his face.

"O- O- Orion?" April stuttered out.

"Yes, again?" Orion answered, referring to the first time she had called him in her dream.

April inhaled, loving his scent. He and Iver uses the same cologne but he always managed to smell a bit different. His own scent has a mix of a woody smell, perhaps because he helps Mr Caddel with his work most times.

She unconsciously checked out his dressing, the attire was nothing special but he always made them looked extraordinary.

His man-bun was messily packed but that didn't decrease the level of his handsomeness. Assuming he was born with a rich background, he would have been a model, April thought.

Orion cleared his throat and that brought her out of her thoughts, and her mind was back on the situation at hand. She suddenly felt nervous at the fact that he might have realized that she was checking him out.

Orion released her arm and shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, his eyes not straying from her face. April looked down at her state of dressing and quickly moved the covers from her waist up till it reaches her neck.

She was only in her bralette and panties, that is how she sleeps everyday. Her mother has opposed her about it many time but April never listened, she likes being comfortable and wearing clothes to sleep weren't her thing.

"W-what are you doing here?" she gulped nervously, looking around the room to avoid his eyes.

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