Bound To The Devil From My Past

To save my family's dying company, I was forced to marry a billionaire I hadn't seen in fourteen years. But right outside the City Clerk's office, he tossed our marriage certificate at me like a cheap receipt and shoved a four-year-old boy into my arms. "Your new life has begun. You're on babysitting duty now." He sneered and left me stranded on the sidewalk. I realized with absolute horror that my new husband was Ellsworth Marshall, the sickly boy I had relentlessly bullied in middle school. He didn't spend five billion dollars to save the Bradford family. He bought me to execute a slow, suffocating revenge. He used his orphaned nephew as a pawn, explicitly threatening my father that if I failed to play the perfect, compliant nanny, he would instantly destroy our family's legacy. He even had his guards lock me out of his Long Island estate on my first night, forcing me to stand in the cold dark just to prove he owned me. I was trapped in a gilded cage, suffocated by the guilt of my past and the terror of my present. Why did he involve an innocent child in his twisted vendetta? How much humiliation was enough to pay for my childhood cruelty? Looking at the terrified little boy clinging to my skirt, I tightened my grip on my suitcase. If he wanted to destroy my will piece by piece, I had to find a way to survive the monster I created.

Chapters

Chapter 6

The lawyers filed out, leaving the two men alone in the heavy silence of the office. The air felt thick, charged with the aftermath of the signing.

Warren repeated his question, his voice hoarse. "What do you really want?"

Ellsworth didn't answer immediately. He stood by the desk, his fingers casually adjusting his cufflinks. The gesture was arrogant, dismissive, as if Warren's question was beneath his notice.

His gaze drifted across the desk, landing on a framed photo. It was Ashlie, smiling brightly in her graduation gown, her eyes full of hope.

Ellsworth's posture shifted, an almost imperceptible change. He didn't soften, but the harsh lines of his shoulders seemed to settle as he stared at the image. Warren couldn't decipher the look-it wasn't just coldness, but it wasn't warmth either. It was something else, something intense and possessive that made the hairs on Warren's arms stand up.

"What I want," Ellsworth said, his voice low, "doesn't depend on me. It depends on her."

Warren frowned. "Her? Ashlie?"

"Who else?" Ellsworth scoffed. "Did you think I bought half your company to be friends with an old man?"

Warren flinched but held his ground. "What are your plans for Ashlie? If this is about revenge for what happened back then-"

"Revenge?" Ellsworth cut him off with a cold laugh. "Mr. Bradford, you give me too little credit. I have no interest in childish games."

The denial confused Warren even more. If not revenge, then what?

"I married her for one reason," Ellsworth said, stepping closer to the desk. "To provide a stable family environment and a legal mother for my nephew, Keenen."

Warren stared at him, bewildered. His mind screamed that it was a lie. What a preposterous excuse! He expects me to believe he spent five billion dollars to find a nanny for his nephew? He must think I'm an absolute fool. This is a smokescreen, a ridiculous story to hide his real intentions. The real reason, the terrifying reason, is about Ashlie herself. "That's it? You could hire the best nannies in the world. Why marriage? Why Ashlie?"

"I've reviewed her file," Ellsworth said, his tone clinical. "She's clean, intelligent, and the Bradford upbringing wasn't entirely useless. She needs money, and I need a wife. It's a fair trade."

He paused, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "As for how I treat her... that will depend entirely on her performance."

Warren felt a knot of dread tighten in his stomach. "Performance?"

"Whether she can make Keenen happy," Ellsworth said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Whether she can play the role of a competent aunt. Whether she can... please me. If she performs well, the Bradford Group remains safe, and you and your daughter live comfortably."

He leaned in closer, his face inches from Warren's. "If she fails... Mr. Bradford, you know as well as I do that destroying a company is much easier than saving it."

The threat was explicit. He was tying Ashlie's well-being to the survival of the entire family. She was a hostage, and her good behavior was the ransom.

Warren's heart sank. He had saved his company, but he had placed his daughter in a gilded cage with a master who held all the keys.

Ellsworth straightened up, turning away from the despair on Warren's face. He walked toward the door.

At the threshold, he stopped. He glanced back over his shoulder.

"Oh, one more thing," he said, his tone casual. "Ashlie will be moving into the Long Island estate tonight. It's part of the agreement."

Without waiting for a response, he walked out, the door clicking shut behind him.

Warren collapsed into his chair. He felt like he had aged a decade in the last hour. He had sold his daughter's happiness, and the price was a prison.

He reached for the phone, his fingers hovering over the keypad. He wanted to call Ashlie, to warn her, to tell her to run.

But his hand trembled, and he slowly placed the receiver back down.

What could he say? It was done. He was the one who had pushed her into the tiger's den.

Continue to next part

I hovered in the corner of the damp Runt Quarters, powerless as a ghost, watching my five-year-old daughter take her last breath. She died of a fever that a simple medicine could have cured. But my husband, Alpha Elroy, refused to pay for it. He was too busy dining with his mistress to waste resources on a "runt." When he finally arrived, there were no tears. He picked up my daughter’s small body like a bag of trash and tossed her into the incineration pit meant for criminals. "Stop hiding, Annis!" he roared at the empty woods, thinking I was alive and watching. "Your trick didn't work. The runt is dead." I screamed at him, clawing at his suit, but my hands passed right through him. Days later, his mistress gave birth to a son. But the baby was born with a fractured soul, dying. The doctor said only a bone marrow graft from the White Wolf bloodline could save him. Elroy didn't hesitate. He looked toward the incineration pit. "Retrieve the girl's body," he commanded his warriors. "Her bones will save the future Alpha." He intended to butcher our daughter's corpse to save his illegitimate child. Enraged, he hunted down the Rogue who had secretly stolen Emma's body before it could burn. "Give me the body!" Elroy demanded. "And tell Annis to stop spoofing her credit cards in Europe and show her face!" The Rogue looked at him with cold pity and threw a coroner's report at his chest. "Annis isn't in Europe, Elroy." "She has been rotting in a shallow grave for six months. Your mistress paid for the bullet."

Horror Romance Werewolf

8.1

Beyond The Champagne Silk: The Wife's Defiant Return

8.1

I spent forty hours hand-beading a gown for a woman who was currently sleeping with my husband. My fingers were raw, my vision blurred, and the needle had just driven deep into my index finger, leaving a drop of blood on the silk. Braxton walked into our penthouse, rain dripping from his suit, and didn't even look at me. But the scent hit me instantly—Bulgarian rose and white musk. It was the custom perfume Griselda, my own sister, commissioned in Paris. I had spent three years as a ghost in my own marriage, sewing costumes for the woman who had haunted my vows since day one. Braxton didn't bother to hide it anymore; there was a smudge of her coral lipstick on his collar. He didn't offer an explanation, only a command to finish the gown for the Met Gala so I wouldn't embarrass them. My mother called moments later, her voice sharp with the usual dismissal. She didn't care that I was bleeding or that my husband was cheating with my sister. She only cared that I was "falling behind" on Griselda's gown. I sat in the silence of that cold, marble cage, staring at the needle in my hand. For years, I had swallowed every insult and stitched every lie, believing I was the capable one who had to make them happy. But as the clock ticked, a door inside me finally clicked shut. I wasn't just tired; I was finished. I set the needle down, picked up my phone, and dialed my sister’s number to tell her she’d have to find someone else to bleed for her.

Horror Modern Romance

7.9

Claimed By Alpha Ceaser Cursed To Be His

7.9

He is cursed. She is a slave. Their forbidden bond will either save their world or set it ablaze. Caeser Varyn, the formidable Alpha King, is a figure of fear, his very blood tainted by a curse that has claimed every mate the Moon Goddess has given him. His existence is a lonely burden of twisted power, until a single, accidental touch changes everything. Ava is a ghost in the royal palace-an unseen slave girl with a quiet grace and a hidden power. When the Moon Goddess's mating mark appears on her wrist, Caeser shatters ancient laws and claims her as his own. Their forbidden union ignites a firestorm, forcing them to flee the burning palace and the outrage of the pack. Turned out she's gifted by the Moon Goddess and to survive, Ava must master the power she never knew she possessed, expose the traitors who surround them, and find a way to break the ancestral curse. If she fails, her love will be consumed, and their world will fall to the dark power of a corrupted god.

Fantasy Horror Werewolf

8.9

Heina: The Red Demon Dragon

8.9

Suddenly, it was his turn to gasp. Fear. Shock. Disbelief. I couldn't tell, but he released my hand like it was some poisonous object. He turned away from me, towards the boys. "We are doomed. She will bring an end to us all." ********************************************************************** She's plus sized She's partially blind A nerd with brains...and bullies Her name... isn't a name. It's a curse. She's a curse A curse living in the human world And someone followed her there - her greatest bully. She hates her birthdays, they are her nightmares. But her eighteenth birthday turns out to be her worse - finding out the man she's called 'dad' all these years isn't her dad. And his biological twin sons are her destined mates. But that's not the problem. She is. She's the dragon that shouldn't be let to live. She's a doom to the dragon tribe...even to her own mates. Now, every dragon wants her dead. And the witches' clan want her powerful blood. The only people who can protect her, are the very people her demon dragon wants to destroy! Dive into this paranormal fantasy and follow Heina on a journey of self-discovery, character growth and unleashing powers that will ruin everything and everyone... including her mates.

Adventure Fantasy Horror

7.9

Love Remade – When Love Goes Haywire

7.9

When her mother's medical bills threaten to destroy her family, Flora Bennett accepts billionaire Harris Kingston's shocking proposal: marry him for one year, and he'll pay every debt. But Flora soon discovers her husband isn't who he claims to be-and the women before her have vanished without a trace. Now trapped in a deadly game of identity and deception, Flora must uncover the truth before she becomes the next victim of a psychopath's twisted obsession.

Billionaire Horror Modern Romance

8.3

My Mate's a Bastard, My Mother-in-Law's a Monster

8.3

I, I'm Lila. My mate Peter branded our pup a bastard after a rigged moon blood test, driven by Freya's lies. Haunted by a past life's betrayal, I fled to the Lunar Maternity sanctuary, only to uncover Peter's affair with Freya. Worse: my mother-in-law, Eden, hoarded my clothes and drugged me-turns out, he's a hermaphrodite who forced himself on me, fathering the pup...

Horror Romance Werewolf

Bound To The Devil From My Past

Chapter 6

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