Jilted By Nephew, Claimed By King

I was kneeling on the cold concrete of an abandoned warehouse, staring at a ticking timer while a masked man held a knife to my throat. My fiancé's nephew, Preston, finally burst through the door, but he wasn't alone. He was clutching my stepsister, Felicia, both of them looking frantic. The kidnapper gave Preston a brutal choice: the bomb was rigged to the door, and he could only take one woman with him. The other would stay behind to burn. Without a single second of hesitation, Preston grabbed Felicia's hand and turned his back on me. "I'm sorry, Annelise," he said, his voice flat and devoid of any real regret. He slammed the heavy iron door shut, leaving me to scream in the darkness as the flames began to roar. He didn't just leave me to die; he did it to protect his inheritance, treating me like a piece of trash that was finally being cleared from his path. Later, in the hospital, he didn't even offer an apology. Instead, he raised his hand to strike me, threatening to finish what the fire started if I dared to speak a word about his cowardice. His stepsister laughed, trying to pour scalding coffee on my face while calling me a pathetic loser who should have stayed in the warehouse. I sat there, cowering and shaking like a broken girl, letting them believe they had won. I watched their cruelty with wide, watery eyes, wondering how they could be so blind to the monster they were provoking. What Preston didn't know was that the entire kidnapping was a performance I had choreographed myself, and every second of his betrayal was recorded in 4K. Now, I've successfully moved into the manor of the real king-his uncle, Francesco Lancaster. He thinks he's rescued a wounded bird, but he's actually invited a world-class predator into his home. The game is no longer about survival; it's about total destruction.

Chapters

Chapter 6

The air in the room seemed to vanish, sucked out by the sheer gravitational pull of Francesco's rage. He didn't shout. He didn't run. He walked into the room with a terrifying, predatory slowness.

He walked past Preston as if he didn't exist. He went straight to Annelise.

"Uncle Fran, she's faking it!" Preston stammered, lowering his hand. "She attacked Felicia! She's... she's crazy! You didn't see what she did!"

Francesco ignored him. He crouched down beside Annelise. He took off his suit jacket, draping the heavy, warm fabric over her shoulders.

"Annelise?" he asked softly.

She looked up. Her eyes were wet with tears. She was shaking so hard her teeth chattered.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, clutching the lapels of his jacket. "I'm so clumsy. I made him mad."

Francesco saw the blood. A shard of the vase had sliced her calf. A thin line of crimson ran down her leg, soaking into her sock.

He stood up. He turned to Preston.

Preston took a step back, hitting the wall. "Uncle Fran, listen to me. She twisted Felicia's wrist! She threatened to break her arm!"

"I see a woman on the floor bleeding," Francesco said. "And I see a man with his hand raised."

"She's lying!" Felicia screeched from the corner. "Look at my dress!"

"Silas," Francesco said without looking back.

Silas appeared in the doorway. "Sir."

"Remove Ms. Carson. If she speaks again, ban her from all Lancaster properties. Permanently."

Silas nodded and grabbed Felicia by the elbow, dragging the protesting woman out of the room.

Francesco stepped closer to Preston. He towered over him.

"You come into my hospital," Francesco said, his voice a low rumble. "You threaten my ward."

"She's not a ward! She's a psycho!" Preston yelled, desperate now. "She knows things about the accounts! She's not who she says she is!"

Francesco reached out. His hand clamped around Preston's throat. He didn't squeeze to choke; he squeezed to control. He lifted Preston onto his toes, pinning him against the wall.

"You are a disappointment, Preston. You always have been. But now, you are a nuisance."

Francesco leaned in close. "If I ever see you within ten feet of her again, I will not call the police. I will break your legs myself. Do you understand?"

Preston gurgled, his face turning purple. He nodded frantically.

Francesco released him. Preston slumped to the floor, gasping for air.

"Get out."

Preston scrambled to his feet and ran. The door slammed shut behind him.

Silence returned to the room, heavy and thick.

Francesco took a deep breath, composing himself. He turned back to Annelise. She was still on the floor, watching him. Her eyes were wide, but the fear... the fear seemed different now.

He walked over and knelt again. He reached out, his fingers hovering near her face. He gently took the glasses off her nose, setting them on the table.

"Did he hit you?" Francesco asked.

"No," Annelise whispered. "You stopped him."

She reached up, her hand trembling, and touched his cheek. Her fingers brushed against the rough stubble of his jaw.

"Thank you," she said.

Francesco felt a strange tightness in his chest. He hated weakness. He despised tears. But seeing her like this, so small in his oversized jacket, ignited a protective instinct he didn't know he possessed.

"It's over," he said roughly. "I'll handle them."

He scooped her up into his arms, mindful of the glass. He carried her to the bed and set her down.

"Rest," he commanded.

Annelise lay back against the pillows. She watched him walk to the window, his shoulders tense. She allowed herself a small, imperceptible smile.

The King was moving his pieces exactly where she wanted them.

Continue to next part

My fiancé always told me he loved me. But not long after our engagement, I woke up suffocating in the dark. He was pressing a pillow over my face, his eyes cold and dead, while my half-sister stood by watching with fake pity. They had orchestrated everything just to steal my trust fund. It all started with a massive hotel scandal. They had drugged me, thrown a cheap escort into my bed, and brought a mob of paparazzi to ruin my reputation. When my fiancé broke through the crowd, playing the heartbroken victim, he knelt down with a massive diamond ring. "I know things have been hard, but I love you. If you come home with me, I will forgive all of this." In my past life, I cried tears of gratitude and let him slide that ring onto my finger. That ring sealed my death warrant. I lost my company, my dignity, and eventually, my life. Until my lungs burned and my heart stopped, I didn't understand. How could the people I trusted most plot my murder so ruthlessly? Why did they have to tear my entire life apart? Opening my eyes again, I was back on the morning of the hotel scandal, exactly one year ago. But the man lying bare-backed in my bed wasn't a random escort. It was Johnathan Chase, my family's biggest corporate rival and the most ruthless predator on Wall Street. Listening to the paparazzi pounding on the door, I smiled coldly.

Action Modern Romance

8.5

Alpha's Rogue Luna

8.5

Due to an insurgence in rogue activities; wolf groups are finding it essential to forge agreements with other packs to protect themselves . It is largely done by marriages between Alphas and she-wolves of high rank members in another. Snow – who was an abandoned rogue herself; discovered by Amanda, the daughter of the Moonbeam Packs Gamma wolf – is about to be pushed into pre-arranged marriage with an awful, lecher of an Alpha. Neither sister wants Snow to have to marry him - alliance or not – therefore, Amanda helps Snow leave the pack the night before the wedding. Snow finds herself unwittingly intruding onto the Cerberus Pack's territory; and, ending up protecting their Beta's young sister from a nasty rogue assault. When the Alpha sees Snow for the first time; he proclaims her to be his mate. She resists at first, even though she's curiously attracted to him; and, ultimately gives in to her inner-wolf's need and accepts him as her mate. Meanwhile, the jilted Alpha is angry, and wants Snow back . not out of love, but, out of spite and desiring payback for running out on him. He even goes as far as collaborating with renegade cells to go to war with the Cerberus Pack to get Snow back.

Action Romance Werewolf

9.3

Ex - Husband's Late Redemption

9.3

After five years of a cold, neglected marriage, Sarah finally chooses herself and leaves her husband, Mark. She was once a devoted wife who endured his indifference, but her departure marks a dramatic transformation. As Sarah thrives in her newfound independence, a stunned Mark realizes the depth of his mistake. He begins a desperate pursuit to win her back, but Sarah is no longer the woman he once ignored. Can his late redemption ever be enough?

Action Modern Romance

8.4

Flash Marriage To My Ruthless Professor

8.4

I signed a prenuptial agreement with a cold-blooded Wall Street predator just to unlock my trust fund and fight my greedy stepmother. We were nothing more than legal roommates bound by a strict three-year contract. But to survive the corporate war at my family's company, I skipped my mandatory university finance class and paid a guy to answer the roll call for me. The stand-in was immediately caught and kicked out by the notoriously ruthless new professor. That night at dinner, I complained to my contract husband about the professor. "He's an unreasonable, arrogant dictator who gets off on torturing his students," I complained bitterly. My husband just calmly cut my steak and listened as I bragged about how I was going to fake-cry and manipulate the professor the next morning. I even rushed to the faculty office the next day and performed a desperate, tearful apology to an elderly man I assumed was the tyrant. I thought I had perfectly balanced my corporate war and my academic life. I thought I had fooled everyone. But when I confidently sat in the front row of the massive lecture hall, the heavy wooden doors pushed open. The terrifying new professor walked onto the podium and aggressively wrote his name on the chalkboard: Elliot Dillard. It was my contract husband. He looked down at me with cold, merciless authority, knowing every single lie I had told, and slowly called my name.

Action Modern Romance

9.4

Healing My Seven Broken Beast Mates

9.4

My retirement was finally approved, and I was supposed to be sipping drinks on a sunny beach. Instead, a cold system voice forced me into a nightmare scenario: "Cursed Mates Who Want Me Dead." I woke up in a stinking cave, trapped in the body of a psychopathic tribal princess. The memories that flooded my brain made me sick. The original owner of this body had forcibly marked seven of the continent's most powerful beast-men and reduced them to tortured pets. She had ripped the shimmering scales off Jordi the Merfolk prince, gouged out a proud wolf-man's power crystal, and snapped an eagle-man's magnificent wings. Now, Jordi was a mutilated, terrified mess hiding in a corner. He was so traumatized that he tried to slit his own throat just to escape me. His sister was actively trying to assassinate me. To make matters worse, the system warned me that if I didn't heal these seven ticking time bombs, my soul would be erased. Yet the future timeline clearly showed that these men would eventually unite, burn my tribe to the ground, and dismember me alive. I was paying for a monster's sins. Every time I tried to show mercy, they thought it was a sick new torture method. Words were useless, and my very presence was a trigger. But I am a Tier-S operative, and I don't play the victim. I forced the system to unlock my powers and strapped on my tactical gear. "Stay here and don't starve." I left the trembling Merfolk behind and walked into the deadly primitive forest, heading straight for the powerful Oasis Tribe to take back his stolen scales by force.

Action LitRPG Mafia

8.7

Heartbreak And Wars

8.7

BLUR Aloe reaches her limit in her toxic marriage when she discovers her billionaire husband was cheating on her on their matrimonial bed and wasn't remorseful about it. Pregnant and desperate to escape her toxic husband, she flees into the arms of his sworn enemy, Blake Matthew. Caught in a war between two old sworn rivalers, Aloe must fight for her life and her child... But now the question is, can she reclaim her future without losing herself to the war between two men who want to destroy each other?

Action Modern Romance

Jilted By Nephew, Claimed By King

Chapter 6

You may also like