Flash Marriage To The Secret Tycoon
Kathern was forced out of her sister's home by her abusive brother-in-law, who violently demanded she pay half the rent or get out.
To protect her sister from his rage, Kathern agreed to a six-month paper marriage with a stranger—an old woman's grandson, Bronson—in exchange for a simple apartment.
But her new husband treated her like a scheming gold digger from the very first second.
He showed up to City Hall in a cheap suit, shoved a brutal prenup in her face, and dumped her in a completely empty, dust-filled apartment.
"Just don't cause any trouble," he warned coldly, before leaving her alone.
When Kathern politely texted him to ask if he was coming home for dinner, he immediately blocked her number.
Kathern was furious and baffled. She didn't want a dime of his money, nor did she care about his boring middle-management job.
She had only agreed to this marriage for a place to sleep, yet this arrogant man treated her like absolute garbage.
Refusing to swallow the insult, Kathern immediately dialed his grandmother to expose his behavior.
She was going to build her own independent life, completely unaware that her "cheap corporate loser" of a husband was actually the ruthless billionaire CEO of the Vaughan empire.
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Chapter 5
Kathern parked her scooter on the curb outside Gussie's apartment building. She grabbed the plastic bags filled with heavy bottles of bleach and surface cleaner from the floorboard and marched up the three flights of stairs.
She shoved her key into the lock and pushed the door open. The deafening sound of a reality TV show blasted from the living room.
Glenwood was sprawled across the center of the sofa. One leg was thrown over the armrest. He was aggressively chewing a handful of potato chips, letting the greasy crumbs fall freely onto the carpet.
He turned his head as Kathern walked in. A nasty smirk twisted his lips.
"Look who's back," Glenwood mocked loudly over the TV. "Couldn't find a sucker to take you in, huh?"
Kathern didn't even look at him. She walked straight past the sofa and went into the guest room. She grabbed the handle of her massive, pre-packed suitcase and dragged it out into the hallway.
The hard plastic wheels scraped loudly against the wooden floorboards.
Gussie ran out of the kitchen. Her hands were covered in thick white dish soap bubbles. When she saw the suitcase, her face crumpled. Tears instantly spilled over her eyelashes.
Gussie rushed forward and grabbed the top of the suitcase with her wet hands.
"Kathern, please don't do this," Gussie cried, her voice trembling. "I'll find a night shift. I'll pay your half of the rent. Just don't leave."
Glenwood snorted loudly from the sofa.
"If you take one dime of my money to pay for her," Glenwood threatened, pointing a greasy finger at Gussie, "I'll file for divorce tomorrow."
A surge of pure, hot rage shot through Kathern's veins. She snapped her head toward the sofa and glared at Glenwood with such violent intensity that he physically recoiled, pulling his leg off the armrest.
Kathern turned back to her sister. She reached out and gently wiped the tears off Gussie's cheek with her thumb. She grabbed Gussie's wrist and pulled her toward the small dining table.
Kathern unzipped the front pocket of her backpack. She pulled out the marriage certificate—the thin piece of paper she had picked up at City Hall— and slammed it down onto the wooden table.
Gussie stared at it. Her hands shook as she reached out and picked it up.
Gussie's eyes locked onto the official seal and the two names printed on the marriage certificate. Her breath hitched in her throat. Her eyes widened in absolute horror.
Gussie jumped up from the chair so fast it tipped over and crashed onto the floor.
"What is this?" Gussie gasped, pointing a shaking finger at the paper. "What did you do?"
The crash made Glenwood sit up. He walked over to the table and looked down at the certificate. He threw his head back and let out a loud, barking laugh.
"You actually did it," Glenwood sneered. "You dragged some homeless bum off the street to marry you just so you wouldn't have to pay rent."
Kathern's hand shot out. She grabbed the half-full glass of cold water sitting on the table and threw the liquid directly into Glenwood's face.
Glenwood shrieked. The cold water dripped down his nose and soaked his shirt. His face turned purple with rage. He raised his fist and lunged toward her.
Kathern's hand darted to the heavy ceramic fruit bowl on the table. She gripped its thick rim, her knuckles turning white, and lifted it like a bludgeon. Her eyes were completely dead, devoid of any hesitation.
"Take one more step," Kathern whispered, her voice dangerously low.
Glenwood froze. He stared at the heavy ceramic object poised to smash his skull, then looked at the absolute lack of fear in Kathern's eyes. He cursed under his breath, wiped his wet face with his sleeve, and backed away, retreating into his bedroom.
The living room fell dead silent. Gussie collapsed onto the floor. She buried her face in her hands, trembling not just from the marriage certificate, but from the sheer, terrifying escalation of violence she had just witnessed, and began to wail.
Gussie grabbed the fabric of Kathern's jeans. "It's my fault," she sobbed hysterically. "You sold yourself to some old creep because I'm too weak to protect you. You ruined your life for me."
Hearing the raw agony in her sister's voice made Kathern's throat burn. Her own eyes filled with hot tears.
She dropped the heavy bowl on the table and dropped to her knees. She wrapped her arms tightly around Gussie's shaking shoulders, pressing her face into her sister's hair.
"I didn't sell myself," Kathern said fiercely into Gussie's ear. "He's a good person. I promise you."
Gussie shook her head wildly, refusing to listen, just repeating the word 'sorry' over and over again.
From the bedroom, Cody woke up from the shouting. He started screaming at the top of his lungs. The sound of her baby crying snapped Gussie out of her spiral. She sucked in a ragged breath and stopped crying.
Kathern grabbed Gussie's arms and pulled her up from the floor. She smoothed down Gussie's messy hair, her mind racing to build a story that would stop her sister's heart from breaking.
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9.7
Emaline Finley was drowning in massive debt to keep her dying father alive, even enduring a humiliating blind date with an arrogant man just to find a financial lifeline.
But the fatal blow came from her former best friend, Kitty. Kitty, who was already engaged to Emaline's ex-boyfriend, deliberately told Emaline's father that his expensive treatments were bleeding his daughter dry.
Out of extreme guilt, her father threw away his life-saving medication and checked himself out of the hospital to die at home. When Emaline found him, he was coughing up pools of bright red blood, his lungs rapidly collapsing. As the paramedics rushed him away, Kitty called to gloat, mocking Emaline's poverty and telling her to go watch her father die.
Emaline was completely shattered, suffocating under the sheer injustice of it all. She had been betrayed, stripped of her dignity, and was now forced to watch her only parent slip away because of a cruel, spiteful lie.
Just as her world went dark, a wildly wealthy stranger stepped in. Cullen Preston, the mysterious man who had witnessed her humiliating date, paid the astronomical medical bills and brought in the city's top surgeon to pull her father back from death. But his salvation wasn't charity.
"Consider it a dowry."
He bought her father's life, and in exchange, he demanded Emaline as his wife.
9.6
HIS Minnie Mouse
9.6
When Claire agrees to play her cold-hearted boss's girlfriend for a weekend, she never expects a fake romance to turn into a nine-month marriage contract worth millions. She becomes trapped in the world of the ultra wealthy and her abusive ex resurfaces to blackmail her with millions. She also falls in love with her cold-hearted boss, leading to an affair that gets her pregnant. But the reason for the contract marriage is no longer necessary. What happens now that Claire has no reason to stay married to her cold boss?
9.3
For five years, I was Ashton Miller's invisible partner, his loyal fiancée, pouring my life into building his empire from the shadows. Tonight, the Bronze Deer exhibition, my masterpiece, was finally opening at the Met, a testament to our shared future.
Then, Bianca, a third-tier actress, stepped into the spotlight in *my* custom Vera Wang wedding dress. My blood ran cold as Ashton's arm circled her waist, his whispered words promising to make her the "new queen of the city."
Five years of trust and sacrifice crumbled. I was a blood bag, drained and discarded. When I publicly exposed their lies, Ashton cornered me backstage, his face twisted in fury, threatening to ruin me, to blacklist me forever. I ripped off his engagement ring, tossing it at his chest. "We're done," I said, walking out as his enraged screams echoed.
The man whose empire I secretly built called me a parasite, his mistress feigning tears, painting me as delusional. My guilt vanished, replaced by freezing, absolute hatred for the man who twisted reality to erase my existence.
Standing in the New York rain, I finally pulled out the military-grade encrypted phone hidden for five years. The line clicked open instantly, a low, gravelly voice asking, "Is it you?" Before I could answer, Archer's voice hardened: "Give me the location. I'll be there in ten minutes. Who touched you? I want his life."
8.2
My son Leo had just died, and the silence in our cramped apartment felt like a physical weight crushing my chest.
Before I could even process the grief, my husband, Preston, kicked the door open and threw divorce papers onto the table.
Behind him stood Gloria, wearing a pristine cashmere coat and the diamond pendant Preston swore he had pawned to pay for Leo's hospital bills.
"Sign it," Preston said coldly. "You get nothing."
Gloria smirked, mocking me for failing to keep my sick child alive. When I tore up the papers in a blinding rage, Preston slapped me to the floor.
Then, my biological mother, Jerilyn, walked in. Instead of helping me, she pulled a serrated kitchen knife from her bag and plunged it deep into my stomach.
As I lay dying in a pool of my own blood, Jerilyn leaned in and whispered the devastating truth.
"I swapped you in the nursery. Gloria is my blood, and you belong in a Manhattan mansion. I can't let you ruin her life."
Until my lungs stopped working, I was consumed by a roaring, violent hatred. My own mother had traded my life of privilege for poverty, let my son die, and then murdered me to protect the fake.
Opening my eyes again, the dingy ceiling and the agonizing pain were gone.
I was sitting at a wooden desk, surrounded by the chatter of teenagers.
I was back in high school. And this time, I was going to make them pay.
8.8
Sold for scraps.Saved by a monster. Destined to rule them all.
Faith is a "Dud", a wolfless orphan living in the shadows of the trenches. Treated as a servant by her own family, she hides a mind more brilliant than any Alpha's instinct. But in the process of winning a life-changing scholarship, she is betrayed. Drugged and sold to traffickers by her own aunt, Faith thought her life was over -until she falls from a third-story window and lands on the hood of a car that belongs to the most dangerous man in the country.
Killian Nightshade. Billionaire. Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. A man who rules with ice in his veins and power in his hands.
Killian doesn't do favors. He makes investments. He claims Faith as his "Personal Shadow" to work off the debt of his ruined car. But as he forces her into the shark-infested waters of the North Elite Academy, he finds himself breaking his own rule: Never get attached to the help.
While Faith battles ruthless bullies and the predatory interest of Killian's rival, Silas, a twenty-year-old secret begins to stir in her blood. She isn't just a Dud. She is a legend. And when the girl who was sold for scraps finally shifts, the entire werewolf world will have to decide: Will they bow to their new Queen, or be burned by her fire?
8.5
Kelsi Owens stood in front of the mirror in a six-figure gown, ready to marry into the wealthy Harrington family.
But her fiancé, Jeb, didn't even look at her. He abandoned her right in the middle of the fitting because his widowed sister-in-law, Seraphina, called crying.
That same night, Kelsi collapsed on her apartment floor with a ruptured appendix. Sweating and in blinding agony, she called Jeb for help.
Instead of concern, she heard Seraphina laughing and party music blaring in the background. Jeb just snapped at her.
"Stop being dramatic. Seraphina is the guest of honor tonight. I can't leave."
He hung up, leaving her to call her own ambulance. Kelsi woke up from emergency surgery completely alone, only to receive a cold text from Jeb calling her fragile.
To make matters worse, her toxic adoptive family didn't care that she almost died. They demanded she crawl back and apologize to Jeb just so they could keep leeching off her connections and trust fund.
Lying in that cold hospital bed, the illusion finally shattered. For three years, she had always been the one left waiting. She realized she meant absolutely nothing to the people she loved.
Kelsi didn't cry, and she didn't beg.
She calmly texted Jeb to call off the engagement, blocked his number, and cut ties with her greedy relatives forever.
She was finally walking away. What she didn't know was that the city's most ruthless billionaire had been watching her, and he was already weaving a golden net to claim her for himself.