I sat across from Lucas Lauras, the wealthiest man in the world, my hands gripping the edge of my seat. My heart pounded in my chest as I kept darting my eyes around the restaurant, checking for journalists or paparazzi.
I couldn’t afford another scandal. Not after everything. "Are you okay?" Lucas asked, his deep voice snapping me out of my thoughts. "I... I’m fine," I lied, my throat dry. "Have anything to eat," he suggested, but I shook my head. I wasn’t going to eat or drink anything. My paranoia was at an all-time high. What if this was a setup? What if someone was recording me? And worst of all—why was he here? This was just a one-night stand. He was a billionaire. He had no reason to be in my life. "I have a deal for you," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. My heart skipped a beat. "What kind of deal?" I asked, barely breathing. He leaned forward, his sharp, calculating eyes locked on mine. "I know you're trending all over social media. Your life is falling apart. Your father’s company is collapsing. You were betrayed in the worst way possible," he said smoothly, each word cutting into my soul. "I can help you." I clenched my fists under the table. "Why would you help me?" I asked, suspicious. "Because I can." Silence. "What do you want?" I finally whispered. He smirked, taking a slow sip of his drink before responding. "A contract marriage." My entire body stiffened. "What?" "Marry me, Selena," he said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. I let out a bitter laugh. "You’re joking." "I don’t joke about business," he replied. "I’ll invest in your father’s company. I’ll make him relevant again. My influence will erase your scandals overnight. And your ex-best friend? Your ex-boyfriend? I’ll destroy them. Expose every secret they’re hiding. But in return, you become my wife." I couldn’t breathe. "And the world will know about this?" I asked. "Of course. It has to be public." My chest tightened. I wasn’t sure if I was being saved or if I was making a deal with the devil. But one thing was certain— I needed to say yes. Chapter Six: The Wedding Spectacle The invitation hit social media like a tidal wave. On I*******m, T*****r, and every platform in between, the announcement of our wedding—a union between two of the most influential people in the world—became the hottest news overnight. People were buzzing with questions: Was I double dating? Had I left my old life behind? Every comment, every rumor painted a picture of scandal, intrigue, and unexpected glamour. At first, my so-called best friend thought it was all a cruel joke. But within days, what began as mockery transformed into envy. Suddenly, everyone wanted to know more about the woman who had managed to turn her darkest moments into the most talked-about wedding of the year. The guest list was astronomical. Dignitaries from India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea, and even royalty from England confirmed their attendance. It was more than a wedding—it was a grand spectacle, a fusion of high society and global influence, the talk of every major city and news outlet. My father, for the first time in years, looked at me with pride. “You made me proud,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. My mother beamed with elation, and even my siblings couldn’t help but boast about the woman I had become. In the midst of scandal, betrayal, and despair, this union was a testament to resilience—a chance to rewrite my story. As I watched the invitations being shared by influencers and major media houses, I realized that this wasn’t just a wedding—it was a turning point. No longer would my past define me; I was stepping into a future that shimmered with promise, even if it was born from the chaos of yesterday.The day we got married legally was surreal—a collision of duty and desire, as Lucas and I exchanged vows "for richer, for poorer" in a ceremony that felt both timeless and painfully real. I recited my vows with trembling lips, watching Lucas beam with a happiness that bordered on disbelief. I couldn’t help but wonder what dreams he was nurturing in his eyes as he promised a future together, even if our union began as a contract.At our lavish reception, every detail was designed to dazzle. A guest of honor—a prince, no less—stepped forward and urged us to seal our promises with a kiss, a moment that was both beautiful and bitter. I couldn’t shake the thought that I was pledging myself to the wrong person, yet the spectacle forced a smile on my face. The celebration was a whirlwind of glittering lights, heartfelt toasts, and the murmur of influential voices from every corner of the globe.As the evening drew to a close, we slipped away from the prying eyes of the media and the relentle
The headlines were everywhere—my engagement ring, a 16-carat raw diamond, was the talk of the world. I had never seen such a breathtaking jewel in my life, and it made me the envy of every woman. Lucas was young, wealthy, devastatingly handsome, and a devil in bed. Every time I looked at him, I couldn't help but thank God for the unexpected twist my life had taken.Yet, beneath all the glamor and passion, there was always that small, nagging reminder—I was in a contract marriage. No matter how sweet and perfect it seemed, the reality of its temporary nature haunted me.Lucas was the ideal husband. We rarely argued, and he treated me like a queen. Every day felt like a dream. But curiosity gnawed at me—I needed to know when this arrangement would end."When will this marriage be over?" I asked him one night, my heart pounding.Lucas leaned against the headboard, his sharp eyes locking onto mine. "Not now," he said, a slow smirk playing on his lips. "Why rush? We're living like the perf
The night was eerily quiet. Too quiet.I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of our massive penthouse, my billionaire husband sleeping peacefully beside me. The weight of the world sat on my chest. Something wasn’t right.At first, it had been easy to dismiss my ex’s desperate attempts to reach me—blocked numbers, anonymous DMs, even handwritten letters slipped into my car. But then, the strange things started happening.The same black SUV parked across the street for days. The unsettling messages warning me about Lucas. And then the letter to my father’s company."You stole my future. Now I’ll take everything from you."I didn’t want to believe it, but when private photos of me and Lucas from our honeymoon leaked online—intimate, personal—I knew my ex had crossed a line.When I showed Lucas the leaked pictures, his reaction was swift. Cold. Calculated. Deadly."You should have told me sooner," he muttered, dialing a number. His voice was dangerously calm.The next few days were a whir
I waited, my heart hammering in my chest as Lucas stared at the pregnancy test in my trembling hands. The silence stretched between us like a vast chasm, a pit of uncertainty that swallowed everything I had ever known. His eyes—those cold, intense blue eyes that had always held such power—searched mine with an unreadable expression. For a moment, I wondered if I had imagined it all, if the swirling emotions I had been feeling were nothing more than a fevered dream. But then, he slowly exhaled, his lips curling into a slow, dangerous smile. "Is this... real?" His voice was low, measured, as though he was testing my resolve. I nodded, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. "Yes. It’s real." For a second, there was nothing but the sound of my own heartbeat, echoing in my ears like a drumbeat. Lucas stood there, unmoving, his expression unreadable. And then, without warning, he crossed the room, closing the distance between us in three long strides. His hand shot out, grabbing my wri
The moment we stepped into the secure underground bunker, I felt the weight of everything pressing down on me, suffocating. The cold, sterile walls seemed to close in with each step I took, as if they were a physical manifestation of the secrets Lucas had been keeping from me. The lights flickered overhead, casting eerie shadows across the stark white floors. It was a place designed for survival, not comfort. I was barely aware of the guards around me, their sharp eyes constantly scanning for threats. My mind was elsewhere—on Lucas, on the message I had received, and on the growing sense that everything I thought I knew about my life was about to unravel. Lucas hadn’t been there when I entered. The moment I stepped inside, he was gone, leaving me to follow the guards through a maze of corridors. Every turn felt like a step deeper into a world I wasn’t prepared for, one I wasn’t sure I wanted to understand. I was escorted into a small, windowless room, and one of the guards shut the
I couldn’t sleep. The words I’d spoken to Lucas—"I’m pregnant"—kept echoing in my mind, unanswered, unresolved. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t said anything. It was the feeling that had taken root between us, an invisible barrier growing thicker with each passing hour. I had seen the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes when I told him. It wasn’t excitement. It wasn’t joy. It was doubt. And that doubt had been eating at me ever since. I stood by the window, staring at the twinkling city lights below, the hum of the city barely reaching me. I tried to push the storm inside me back, but it raged on, relentless. Tonight, I couldn’t avoid it any longer. When Lucas walked into the room, his presence filled the space, but the air between us felt colder than it ever had before. He didn’t speak at first, his hands in his pockets, his gaze distant. "Lucas," I began, my voice barely above a whisper. "We need to talk." He looked at me, then glanced away, a flicker of something unreadable cross
The night was thick with tension. I could feel it in the air—heavy and suffocating. Every time Lucas looked at me, there was something in his gaze that unsettled me. It wasn’t the warmth I had come to expect from him, but rather cold, calculating distance. My heart ached as I replayed his words in my mind. “I need to know the truth.” Those words haunted me, and no matter how many times I told him I was carrying his child, he still hadn’t fully accepted it. It wasn’t the pregnancy that I feared would break us—it was his doubt, the deep-rooted uncertainty that gnawed at his insides like a slow poison. I watched him from across the room as he stared at the phone in his hands, his jaw clenched in frustration. He had been distant for days, unwilling to meet my gaze for longer than a few seconds at a time. I wanted to scream, to demand that he believe me. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I understood. How could he trust me when everything around us seemed to be falling apart? The mes
The tension in our penthouse had reached a breaking point. The air was thick with uncertainty, and I could feel the weight of my own thoughts pressing down on me. Lucas’s coldness, his distance—nothing felt right anymore. Every time I looked at him, I saw the doubt in his eyes. He loved me, I knew that, but he couldn’t fully trust me. Not after everything that had happened. I was carrying his child, and yet, it felt like he was still questioning whether this was real.I stared at myself in the mirror, running my hands over my flat stomach, the baby growing inside me a constant reminder of everything that had shifted. I thought about my future, and for the first time in a long while, I felt utterly alone. Was this really what I wanted? Could I raise a child in this kind of environment? Was it fair to bring a baby into this fractured love story?I sat down on the bed, the weight of the decision ahead of me suffocating. I’d been thinking about it for days now—whether it would be easier
The night air was crisp, and the city’s skyline sparkled with the glow of neon lights. Serena stood at the window of her penthouse, staring out at the world she had once tried so hard to fit into. Her life, her journey, had been anything but ordinary, and she had built it from the ground up. Yet, no matter how many mountains she climbed, the shadows of her past always seemed to loom, threatening to pull her back into the dark. But tonight, tonight was different.Tonight, Lucian had planned a surprise birthday party for their daughter, Chloe. The media had buzzed about it for days, and though Serena hadn’t known the full details, she could already feel the tension mounting. Lucian, with his charm and political ties, had made the grand gesture—inviting all the right people, making sure the event would be covered by the press. It was supposed to be a moment of redemption, a way to publicly restore his image. But there was something deeper at play tonight, something Serena couldn’t ignor
It had been days since the media frenzy surrounding the scandal had calmed, but Serena's heart had yet to catch up with the peace the world thought she had found. Her thoughts remained a storm of confusion, betrayal, and reluctant understanding. She had rebuilt herself, brick by brick, while the world watched. But now, a message had arrived, one she never expected—one she wasn’t sure she was ready to face.Lucian’s apology.It came unexpectedly, the message piercing through the silence she had grown used to. Serena had been sitting at her office desk, the weight of her responsibilities settling on her shoulders like an unrelenting storm, when the notification flashed across her phone.“I know I’ve failed you. I hurt you in ways I’ll never be able to forgive myself for. But I want you to know how deeply sorry I am, and I’m asking you, Serena, for a chance to make it right. Please, let me prove to you that I can be the man you deserve.”Serena’s breath caught in her throat. His words,
Serena sat in front of her vanity mirror, staring at her reflection, the weight of the past few days pressing heavily on her shoulders. She hadn’t slept properly in days. The rumors, the whispers, the allegations—everything felt like a storm that never stopped battering her. It wasn’t just the media that was tearing her down. It was the pain in her heart, the unrelenting feeling of betrayal, and the realization that everything she had built could be crumbling before her eyes.Her fingers trembled as she picked up her phone. The headlines blared at her like flashing lights in a dark room. Serena Voss: Unfaithful Wife. Scandal Shakes Political Family. Lucian Voss to Remarry after Family Scandal. Her Ex-Boyfriend: The Truth Behind the Affair. The social media comments were even worse, calling her everything from a home-wrecker to a liar, questioning her loyalty as a wife and mother.She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Lucian hadn’t spoken to her since the public fallout, and ev
Serena had been up all night, her mind racing. She could no longer ignore the pieces of the puzzle that were slowly revealing themselves, each discovery harder to digest than the last. Jason’s phone call had given her the push she needed, and she had already traced a few threads herself. The truth, though, still eluded her.Now, Jason stood before her, his face grim. The information he had gathered wasn’t just shocking—it was destabilizing.“Serena,” he began, his voice low and measured, “you need to understand that what I’m about to tell you isn’t just about family. It’s about biology, about genetics. It’s about the unspoken truth of your bloodline.”She motioned for him to continue. The room felt small, suffocating. The air was thick with tension as he explained further.“The connection between you and your ex—it’s not merely a coincidence of fate. It’s genetic, and it's deeper than you could have imagined. Your family tree... it’s complicated. But I found something. A connection
Serena sat alone in her dimly lit office, her fingers trembling as they hovered above the desk. The phone had just gone dead, the silence filling the room with an eerie heaviness. Jason’s words echoed in her mind, like a hammer striking an anvil. Her ex. Her cousin. It was real. The bloodline, the connection, it wasn’t just some fleeting coincidence. She had known something had been off about her past, about her relationship with him. The attraction had been undeniable. But she had never questioned it, never thought to dig deeper. She had let herself fall into that dangerous comfort, that seemingly innocent nostalgia that washed over her whenever he was around. But now, everything had changed. Her ex—her cousin—was not just a figure from her past. He was family. Flesh and blood. The realization hit her with a brutal force, leaving her breathless. Her mind scrambled, trying to grasp the truth, but it felt like trying to hold water in her hands. The more she tried to make sense of it,
The next morning, headlines were ablaze. The entire country had something to say, and social media remained ruthless:“President’s Wife Savagely Silences Mistress!”“First Man Releases Statement, Socialite Exposed!”“Serena Voss: Unbothered, Unbreakable, Untouchable.”Serena became a quiet icon overnight—not because she shouted, but because she didn’t need to.And still, the war raged on.Luciana had become more vocal. More brash. Just like him.She interrupted her teachers, debated adults, and stared people down with an unsettling maturity.Sian, on the other hand, was quiet but dangerously perceptive. Always watching. Always gentle—but when he spoke, his words sliced through like a whisper wrapped in steel.Serena sat in her study, watching them from the glass window as they played. Her heart ached.“Why do they feel like strangers?”And as if fate were taunting her, Luciana threw a tantrum over a doll. The scream—the curling of her lip, the stomp—it was identical to his.Serena’s
Serena hadn’t planned to return home early.Her schedule had been packed with back-to-back briefings, state meetings, and a closed-door women’s leadership conference. But something that morning had felt off. Her chest had been tight since dawn, her instincts prickling like barbed wire beneath her skin.Maybe it was mother’s intuition. Maybe it was a woman's sixth sense.Whatever it was—it dragged her from her final meeting and straight home.The gates of the presidential residence were unusually open. And so were the arms of the man she had sacrificed everything for—her husband—Lucian.Because there, right in the middle of the stone-paved courtyard, surrounded by security agents and government aides, was Lucian.And in his arms… Amira.Her former best friend. The very woman who had once betrayed her.Serena’s heart stopped.Lucian wasn’t just speaking to her.He was kissing her.Slow. Public. Shameless.Amira’s hand was on his chest. His fingers tucked under her jaw. Serena’s lungs
Lucian Voss stood at the edge of his penthouse balcony, shirtless, cigarette burning between his fingers. The skyline of the city blinked in front of him like a warning—red lights, flickering buildings, the distant hum of chaos.But nothing matched the chaos in his chest.He’d seen the pictures.First on Twitter. Then in the tabloids. Then—God help him—in a viral video of Serena exiting a gala, her child nestled against her shoulder.The child.The one with his eyes.The one with his hair.He’d tried to ignore it. Told himself genetics weren’t that loud. Told himself Serena would never—But then came the whispers. The blogs. The articles with side-by-side photos of him and the baby girl with a caption that screamed:“Scandal: Did Serena Voss Have a Child With Her Ex?”His jaw clenched so tightly, he could taste iron.He wanted to defend her.He wanted to believe she was still the woman who once waited for him in the pouring rain, soaked and stubborn, demanding he fight for them.B
The clicks of camera shutters echoed like gunfire as Serena descended the stairs of the gala hall, wrapped in a floor-length emerald gown that shimmered under the chandeliers like a goddess reborn. Her smile was practiced, her back was straight, and her presence commanded the room—but inside, she was cracking in a thousand silent ways.Nathanial stood a few steps behind her, black suit sharp against his broad shoulders, his gaze sweeping the crowd with an alertness only someone who had seen danger up close could possess. To the world, he was her security detail. To Serena, he was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.“Senator Callahan, welcome!” a voice beamed as Serena extended her hand, exchanging air-kisses with political giants and old-money elites. She smiled through the ache. They saw glamour. They didn’t see the exhaustion behind her eyes, or the nights she cried into her pillow, clutching her newborn daughter—Liora—who looked so hauntingly like Lucian.Every curve