Blurb: One night shattered her innocence. One betrayal awakened her fury. Leah Sterling has always been the quiet one, the forgotten daughter trapped in the shadow of her stepsister Natasha and tormented by her stepmother, Vivian. But when they drug Leah and arrange for her to be ruined by a stranger, the carefully constructed facade of her life crumbles. Waking up in the arms of a man she's never met, Leah's world spins out of control. And the worst part? Her family's plot worked-until it didn't. Ethan Blackwood, the powerful, stone-cold tycoon, was supposed to marry Natasha. But when the proposal reaches the Sterling family, he's unaware he's asking for the wrong sister-the woman he slept with that night was Leah. Desperate to escape the humiliation, Leah is forced into a marriage with Ethan, while Natasha seethes with jealousy. Now trapped in a marriage built on lies, Leah's heart burns for more than just survival. With her family plotting against her and her husband unknowingly tangled in their deceit, Leah vows one thing: revenge. She'll tear down everything they hold dear, and this time, no one will see it coming. In a world where love and betrayal are two sides of the same coin, Leah must decide-will she find redemption, or will her thirst for revenge destroy her before she can claim what's rightfully hers?
Lihat lebih banyakLeah woke to the faint sound of footsteps outside her door. Her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the soft light filtering in through the curtains. She was still in Ethan's house, a place that now felt more like a prison than a sanctuary. The tension from the night before lingered in the air, making her chest feel tight.She sat up, her mind drifting back to the strange look Ethan had given her before he left the room. It wasn't just coldness-it was like he knew something she didn't. Something important. But, as always, he'd left her with more questions than answers.As she dressed, a knock at the door startled her. Leah froze for a moment, expecting Ethan, but when she opened it, one of the staff stood there, holding an envelope. "This came for you, miss."Leah frowned, taking the envelope. "From who?""I don't know, miss. It was left at the door early this morning."The door closed behind her as she stood, staring at the envelope. No name. No sender. Her heart raced as she tore it o
Leah sat on the edge of the large bed, her fingers curling into the silk sheets beneath her. She stared at the door, waiting-unsure of what exactly she was waiting for. Since arriving at Ethan's penthouse, the tension between them had only grown. She felt trapped, not just by her circumstances but by his presence, which filled the space around her, heavy and inescapable.Ethan entered the room without a word, his tall figure casting a shadow across the floor. He removed his jacket, moving with a calm control that only irritated Leah further. He always seemed in control, like everything was part of some plan only he knew."Are you going to ignore me forever?" Leah's voice broke the silence, her frustration boiling over. She had been stuck here since the wedding, and Ethan had barely said anything to her about what came next.Ethan paused, his back still turned to her. "I'm not ignoring you, Leah." His voice was quiet but firm."Then what is this?" she asked, her voice rising. "You drag
The dawn light spilled into the room, casting a harsh glow over the disheveled bed where Natasha lay, her body tense with anger and disgust. Mr. Hargrove's deep snores filled the space beside her, his arm draped possessively across her waist. The weight of it repulsed her, a reminder of the chains that now bound her to this man.How did it come to this? she thought bitterly, her eyes fixated on the ceiling, counting every breath in a futile attempt to keep her fury at bay. But the rage gnawed at her insides, relentless, turning over every humiliation from the night before.Ethan Blackwood.Leah.Her father.Each name burned in her mind. Her pulse quickened, matching the pace of her thoughts. They will all pay.She slid out from under Hargrove's arm as silently as possible, careful not to wake him. His scent, a pungent mix of alcohol and expensive cologne, clung to her skin, making her stomach turn. Natasha glanced back at him, her lip curling. He wasn't a husband; he was her punishmen
The tension in the grand hall had only grown thicker in the minutes after Ethan and Leah's sudden departure. A wave of confused murmurs swept through the gathered guests, but no one dared speak too loudly, especially under the shadow of Mr. Hargrove's mounting rage.He stood in the center of the room, his face flushed a deep red, fists clenched at his sides. His eyes were locked on the door Leah had just been dragged through, his anger simmering into something dangerous. He had been humiliated, and worse-he had been outplayed by Ethan Blackwood in front of everyone."That bastard!" Hargrove hissed, slamming his fist down onto a nearby table, sending wine glasses toppling to the floor. The crashing sound silenced the remaining murmurs as all eyes darted between him and Victor Sterling, the man responsible for this mess.Victor's face had gone pale, his forehead beaded with sweat as he glanced nervously around, clearly afraid of what was about to unfold. The threat of Ethan Blackwood hu
Leah's pulse thundered, her breath catching as Ethan's words echoed in her ears. She's coming with me. His tone left no room for argument, no space for her to resist. She wasn't given a choice.Her gaze darted to her father, Victor, whose expression had hardened. He wasn't going to protect her. He wasn't going to stop this. Her heart sank as the full weight of her helplessness settled over her. This had already been decided-long before today. She was nothing more than a pawn in a game of power, handed over like a business transaction to save Victor from being destroyed.Mr. Hargrove stood there, seething with rage. "You can't take her! I paid for her-she's mine!" His voice was a cruel hiss, his grip tightening on her wrist as if claiming ownership through force.Ethan didn't even bother looking at Hargrove. He turned his cold, piercing gaze to Victor, his voice a quiet threat. "Tell him, or I will."Victor swallowed, his face pale, sweat beading at his temples. "Leah..." He looked at
The shock in the room was palpable. A wave of whispers rippled through the gathered guests as Leah stood frozen in place, her veil torn from her head by Mr. Hargrove's rough hands. She hadn't had time to hide her dismay, her eyes wide, lips parted in disbelief as the guests gasped.Ethan's heart pounded. He blinked, staring at the woman before him, the familiarity of her face slicing through the fog in his mind like a knife. The dark waves of her hair, the way her lips trembled-he'd seen her before. His mind scrambled to connect the dots, flashes of the night they had shared breaking through the haze of the drug. The soft whispers, the scent of her skin-it was her. The woman who had been in his bed, whose body had responded to his touch in ways he couldn't forget.But... Leah?Ethan's eyes flicked back to Natasha, who stood poised at the other end of the room, her pristine veil still in place, her expression one of simmering anger as her attention was pulled from her own ceremony. The
The sun barely peeked over the horizon when Leah opened her eyes, the morning of her wedding filled with dread rather than anticipation. She stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, her mind clouded with confusion from the events of the night before. The stranger she had spent the night with-his touch still lingered on her skin, a haunting reminder of how she had lost something precious to an unknown man.Her heart raced as the memory of his hands and the way he had looked at her came flooding back. He was cold, his face barely registering emotion, but his eyes-they had burned with a quiet intensity, something dark and consuming. She had never seen such eyes before, and yet, in the heat of that moment, they had both given in to the irresistible pull between them. Leah shook her head, trying to forget.The cold reality of the day loomed over her: she was about to be married to a man who was a stranger in every sense of the word, an arrangement forced upon her to save face after what her s
---The Sterling household was abuzz with excitement, a rare atmosphere of celebration filling the halls. Vivian paced back and forth in the grand living room, her smile growing wider with every step. Natasha sat across from her, barely able to contain her excitement. The letter from Ethan Blackwood's office had arrived earlier that morning, confirming what they had hoped for-a marriage proposal from the most powerful man in X City."We did it, Mother!" Natasha squealed, clutching the letter tightly in her hands. "Ethan Blackwood wants to marry me. Can you believe it? Me, married to the richest man in the city!"Vivian smiled, a glint of satisfaction in her eyes. Everything had gone exactly as planned. The night of Natasha's birthday, the carefully orchestrated events, the drugs-everything had fallen into place. At least, that's what they believed. Vivian was convinced that Ethan had slept with Natasha, and now he was making the only honorable decision: to marry her.Victor Sterling e
Ethan Blackwood sat in his sprawling office, the skyline of X City stretching out before him, a sea of glass and steel. His fingers drummed lightly against the polished mahogany of his desk, his mind replaying the events of the previous night. He could still feel her warmth, the softness of her skin, the way her body had trembled beneath him.His jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing at the memory. It had been a night unlike any other. Not because of the passion that had consumed them, but because she had been a virgin. That one fact kept gnawing at him, something that had lodged deep in his mind and refused to leave. A virgin. He had taken her innocence, and despite the haze of the aphrodisiac coursing through his veins, that knowledge had burned into him with a strange intensity.Ethan wasn't a man given to sentimentality, but he wasn't heartless either. He had done what he thought was right at the moment. The drug had affected her just as much as it had him, and leaving her untouched w
The pulsating bass of the party reverberated through the walls of the lavish mansion, thumping in time with Leah's racing heart. Laughter echoed, glasses clinked, and the scent of expensive perfume mingled with the aroma of rich hors d'oeuvres. Yet, in that moment, she felt trapped-an unwilling participant in a life dictated by her stepmother's expectations and her father's indifference.Leah's head swam with the effects of too many cocktails, each sip chipping away at her inhibitions, leaving her craving something raw and unfiltered. The crowd swirled around her like a kaleidoscope of bright colors and chatter, but all she could focus on was the gnawing emptiness that lingered in her chest. She wanted to feel alive, to break free from the chains that bound her to her past.She slipped away from the thrumming heart of the party, seeking refuge in a dimly lit room, her breath quickening as she entered. The space was adorned with opulent furnishings-dark velvet curtains, a plush bed dra...
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