Married to the Tyrant in a Wheelchair

My boyfriend and stepsister murdered me for my inheritance, their celebratory kiss a final insult above my broken body on the rain-slicked concrete of the port. As my soul floated inches from my own face, a tyrant the world knew only as a disfigured cripple, Charles Moses, arrived with a team of soldiers. He ignored my killers, who were now begging for their lives. Instead, he fell to his knees in the mud and blood. He cradled my lifeless head in his hands, and a gut-wrenching sob of pure agony tore from his throat before he carried my body into the black ocean. As the water closed over us, I didn't understand. Why did this monster, a man I had never met, weep for me as if I was his entire world? My eyes snapped open. I was five years in the past, coughing up water in a hospital bed. It was the night my family screamed at me for ruining my stepsister's dress after she'd tried to drown me. When they offered to marry me off to the "crippled monster" Charles Moses to save my perfect stepsister from that fate, I didn't fight them. I smiled and said yes. This time, I would walk straight into the lion's den myself.

Chapters

Chapter 3

Augustina changed into a cheap, oversized hoodie the hospital nurses had bought from a discount store.

She walked out of the sliding glass doors of Cedars-Sinai. The midnight Los Angeles wind whipped her damp hair across her face.

A black Lincoln Navigator idled by the curb.

The family driver, Gus Kowalski, stood by the hood. He didn't move to open the door for her. He just chewed his gum and looked away.

Augustina didn't wait. She pulled the heavy door open herself and climbed into the very back row, squeezing into the narrowest seat.

Cindy and Kayleigh were already settled in the spacious, reclining captain's chairs in the second row. The heavy scent of Chanel No. 5 suffocated the air inside the cabin.

The SUV pulled smoothly away from the curb and merged onto the interstate heading toward Bel Air.

The interior was dead silent. The only sound was the low hum of the climate control system.

Cindy couldn't handle the quiet. She turned slightly in her seat, her tone dripping with condescension.

"Your behavior in front of those nurses was appalling," Cindy scolded. "Gulping water down like a refugee. You have no concept of high society etiquette."

Kayleigh reached out and gently patted Cindy's hand.

"Don't be too hard on her, Mom," Kayleigh said, her voice sickeningly sweet. "She just doesn't know any better."

Kayleigh paused, making sure Augustina was listening. "By the way, Mom, I need to go to the Ivy League alumni fitting tomorrow morning. The tailor is flying in from Milan."

It was a blatant display of power. A reminder of the elite resources and status Augustina would never touch.

Augustina leaned her head against the cold glass of the window. She didn't even blink.

She watched the streetlights blur past, her mind already calculating how fast she could liquidate whatever assets she could grab and disappear.

Cindy frowned. Augustina's lack of reaction felt like a direct challenge to her authority.

Cindy twisted her body around to glare at the back row.

"Are you listening to me?" Cindy snapped. "Tomorrow morning, you will stand in the living room and formally apologize to Kayleigh in front of the entire family."

Augustina slowly turned her head.

Her dark eyes locked onto Cindy in the dim light of the cabin.

She kept her voice completely flat, devoid of any emotion.

"No."

Cindy gasped. Her hand flew to her chest. She couldn't believe this girl, who usually craved her approval like a starving dog, had just flat-out refused.

Kayleigh's fingernails dug hard into her own palms. A flicker of genuine panic crossed her face.

In the driver's seat, Gus glanced in the rearview mirror. He shook his head in disgust, assuming this was just another pathetic cry for attention.

Before Cindy could scream, the Navigator took a sharp turn. The tires crunched onto the private driveway of the Bel Air estate.

Massive wrought-iron gates swung open, revealing a sprawling, brightly lit European-style mansion.

The SUV stopped in front of a towering fountain. Two rows of servants stood at attention on the front steps, holding umbrellas.

Gus threw the car into park and rushed out. He opened the doors for Cindy and Kayleigh, holding a large umbrella over their heads to shield them from the drizzle.

Augustina pushed open her own door.

She stepped out. Her foot landed squarely in a deep puddle on the stone pavement.

The freezing water instantly soaked through her cheap canvas shoes, chilling her toes to the bone. She didn't even look down.

A butler rushed forward, handing Kayleigh a warm, thick towel. He completely ignored Augustina, leaving her standing in the rain.

Augustina tilted her head back and stared at the massive structure.

This was the cage that had buried her dignity in her past life.

She took a deep breath of the cold air. Her jaw set. She walked up the pristine white marble steps with heavy, deliberate strides.

Continue to next part

Dr. Elena Vance’s life is upended when her ex-fiancé, a ruthless corporate heir, attempts to seize her family’s medical research for profit. Refusing to let his greed destroy her father’s legacy, Elena partners with a mysterious security expert to protect her clinic. As legal battles turn into dangerous physical confrontations, she must navigate a web of betrayal and hidden agendas to secure justice and find a love built on true integrity, not power.

Action Modern Romance

8.0

His Betrayal, Her Billion-Dollar Revenge

8.0

For three years, I played the part of a simple housewife for my husband, Cedric. I buried my true self-Eleanor Curry, heiress to a massive security firm-to be the quiet wife he claimed to love. Then a chemical plant exploded. In the chaos, Cedric shielded his teammate, Cassidy, and left me behind in a collapsing building. "Forget her," I heard him tell his men. "She' s useless. A dead weight." I survived, only for him to force me, while I was injured and feverish, to donate blood to Cassidy for her "severe" injuries. But then I overheard them laughing in the next room. Her injuries were a lie. It was all a "little lesson," he said, to teach me my place. As my own wound reopened and bled through my gown, I reached for the hidden device in my bag. "Falcon reporting." A gravelly voice answered instantly. "Welcome home, little bird. We've been waiting."

Action Mystery Romance

9.4

It Turns Out You've Always Been There

9.4

I was diagnosed with acute leukemia the moment I found out York was dating another girl Winnie. My world shattered, and just when I thought it couldn't get worse, his uncle appeared. On their wedding day, Winnie whispered something strange to me. After the wedding, York's true face emerged. Yet, the truth ignited something fierce within me. I couldn't stand by, not even at the cost of my life. I would fight, using every ounce of strength to save him from his own lies. And in my final moments, I realized-York had always been there, hidden in the shadows, loving me in his own twisted way. Even as I bled out, I knew-he had always been there.

Action Modern Romance

7.3

Ninety-Nine Times, Then No More

7.3

This was the ninety-ninth time I caught my husband, Chase Vargas, with another woman in our five-year marriage. I stood in the hotel doorway, numb, tired of the cheap perfume and his cold, familiar eyes. But this time, his mistress, a blonde woman, hissed, "He told me all about you. The pathetic wife he's stuck with because of some business deal. He said he can't stand the sight of you." Her words, meant to hurt, were things I already knew, things Chase had made sure I understood. Still, hearing them from a stranger felt like a new humiliation. She lunged, scratching my face, drawing blood. The sting was a surprising jolt in my numb world. I wrote her a check, a routine part of this pathetic scene. Then my phone rang. It was Chase, calling from across the room. "What are you doing? Are you making a scene? Clean it up and get out. You're embarrassing." He thought I had orchestrated this, that I was the embarrassing one. The betrayal was casual, complete. "I'm tired, Chase," I said, the words finally coming from a place I thought had died. "I want a divorce." He laughed, a cruel sound. "A divorce? Elena, don't be ridiculous. You love me too much to ever leave me." I hung up. He then handed me a signed divorce agreement, telling me his true love, June, my adopted sister, was back. He wanted me to play the dutiful wife for her welcome-home concert. My heart, which I thought had turned to stone, felt a final, crushing blow. He wasn't divorcing me because I wanted it. He was divorcing me for her. I signed the papers. The ninety-ninth time was the last time he would do this to me.

Action Modern Romance

9.6

Revenge Marriage: The Jilted Ballerina's Comeback

9.6

I stood in the ballroom of the Pierre Hotel, holding a champagne flute that felt like a fragile anchor against a rising tide of anxiety. Across the room, the crowd of New York's elite parted as my fiancé, Campbell Brock, stepped onto the stage to announce a historic merger-and a shocking engagement to someone else. "I am proud to announce my engagement to Kandice Rose," he said, pulling the "real" daughter of the family into his arms while looking right through me as if I were a ghost. I dropped my glass, the crystal shattering at my feet, but the public humiliation was only the beginning. By the next morning, I was a viral meme dubbed the "Meltdown Girl," and the American Ballet Theatre had suspended me from my position as principal dancer for "moral turpitude." My bank accounts were frozen, my reputation was in tatters, and Kandice was on a livestream tearfully claiming I was a jealous foster girl who had tried to seduce Campbell behind her back. I had spent four years building a life with this man, only to be discarded like a piece of old wallpaper the moment a better business deal came along. How could the man who promised me a future turn me into a national joke overnight, and why was the world so eager to believe I was the villain in my own tragedy? When my high school best friend, the notorious billionaire playboy Charlton Bernard, found me drinking tequila in a dive bar, he didn't offer me a shoulder to cry on. He slid a marriage contract across the table and pressed a black titanium credit card into my hand. "Marry me for a year, Daphne," he said, his eyes burning with a dark, protective intensity that made my heart race. "We'll join their reality show as newlyweds and show the world exactly who the real winner is." I looked at the card, then at the man who had always been my shadow, and realized that being sensible had only gotten me dumped on a stage. "Let's go get married."

Action Modern Romance

9.2

The Alpha's Abandoned Mate

9.2

Elara’s life shatters when her fated mate, the ruthless Alpha Kaelen, publicly rejects her to pursue a more powerful alliance. Cast out and left for dead in the treacherous neutral zones, she must find the strength to survive alone. However, a hidden power within her blood begins to stir, drawing the attention of rival packs and dangerous foes. As Kaelen regrets his choice, Elara must decide if she will reclaim her place or forge a new destiny.

Action Romance Werewolf

Married to the Tyrant in a Wheelchair

Chapter 3

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