His Dead Wife: No Longer the Surrogate Bride
Althea Johnson did not walk blindly into darkness.
Before the contracts, the demands of blood and legacy — Dominic Valtieri had loved her. It was fierce, dangerous, and real enough to make her believe she could stand beside a man the world feared. Behind his ruthless reputation, she had seen a man capable of choosing her.
For a while, he did.
Until the weight of his name consumed him.
By the time they marry, Dominic is no longer the man who once held her like something precious. He is colder, controlled by a dynasty that demands an heir and sees love as weakness. Still, Althea clings to the ghost of what they once were, hoping the man she loved is still buried somewhere inside him.
On their wedding night, that hope dies.
There is no tenderness—only possession. No love—only purpose. She is not a wife to him, but a necessity.
When she discovers she’s pregnant, the truth becomes unbearable.
Dominic did not choose her again.
He chose what she could give him.
An heir. A legacy. A continuation of a name built on power and fear.
To him, she is no longer the woman he loved.
She became a vessel.
But grief hardens into something far more dangerous than heartbreak.
Because Althea remembers who he used to be — and that memory burns.
If legacy has consumed Dominic Valtieri, then she will become the one thing his empire never accounted for: defiance.
She will not allow her child to be raised as a pawn in a dynasty built on fear. She will not let love be twisted into ownership.
And if she must burn his empire to the ground to set her child free—
She will.