The Stand-In Wife's Spectacular Comeback

For three years, I was nothing but a ghost in my marriage, a pathetic stand-in forced to dress exactly like my billionaire husband's dead fiancée. On our third anniversary, he left me to face armed intruders in our remote estate alone. When I called him begging for help, he mocked me for faking a home invasion for attention and hung up to comfort his mistress. The nightmare only got worse. The next night, my stepmother and half-sister drugged me at a family gala, trying to ruin me by handing me over to a sleazy producer. I escaped into a pitch-black hotel suite, only to be overpowered by a drugged stranger in the dark. Traumatized and covered in bruises, I secretly took an emergency contraceptive pill. When my husband found the crumpled receipt on the floor, he didn't ask if I was hurt or where the violent marks on my neck came from. "You cheap whore. You broke the loyalty contract." He drafted the divorce papers immediately, stripping me of every penny, and ordered me thrown onto the street. He thought without his wealth, I wouldn't survive a day in New York and would come crawling back to him like a dog. I didn't shed a single tear. I calmly signed the papers, dropped my diamond ring on his glass table, and walked out. What my arrogant ex-husband didn't know was that before I became his obedient shadow, I was "Lan"—the legendary, anonymous fashion designer the entire world was desperately looking for. Now, I was taking back my empire.

Chapters

Chapter 5

The dial tone echoed in the dead silence of the bedroom. Evert glared down at Clarine, looking at her as if she were a piece of rotting garbage.

"You will not get a single cent from the Lynch family," Evert sneered, adjusting his cuffs with sharp, jerky movements. "You violated the contract."

He waited for her to break. He waited for her to fall to her knees, to sob, to beg for his forgiveness.

Instead, Clarine slowly sat up. Her hands were shaking, so she dug her fingernails ruthlessly into her palms, using the sharp, grounding pain to force her features into stillness. She reached for the collar of her sweater and adjusted it with stiff, deliberate movements, hiding the bruises. By the time she looked up, her face was completely devoid of emotion, a carefully constructed mask of ice.

Her silence infuriated him. "Do you think this is a game?" Evert stepped closer, his shadow looming over her. "Without my money, you won't survive a day in New York. You'll be crawling back here like a dog."

Clarine tilted her head up. Her eyes met his, cold and unblinking. "This was a transaction, Evert. The transaction is over."

The utter indifference in her tone felt like a physical slap to his face. Evert's hand shot out. He grabbed her jaw, his fingers pressing brutally into her skin.

"Don't play tough with me," he hissed, his breath hot against her face. "My lawyers will make sure you can't even rent a closet in this city."

Clarine reached up and forcefully peeled his fingers off her face. She stood up, walked to the walk-in closet, and picked up a small, velvet box. It was the custom cufflinks she had designed for their anniversary.

She walked past him and dropped the box straight into the trash can.

Evert's chest tightened strangely at the sight, but the anger quickly swallowed it. He sneered, turned on his heel, and slammed the door behind him.

The next morning, Clarine sat in a quiet, dimly lit cafe in Manhattan.

Her best friend from college, Faye Mercer, sat across from her. Faye stared at the faint bruises peeking above Clarine's collar. Her coffee cup slipped from her hand, spilling brown liquid across the table.

"He did what?" Faye gasped, her face pale.

Clarine spoke in a flat, detached voice. She told Faye everything. The drugged wine, the dark room, the stranger, the receipt, and Evert's ruthless eviction.

Faye slammed her fist on the table. "That blind, arrogant bastard! We are going to the police. We have the recording of Marta!"

"No," Clarine said softly. "The Lynch family owns the police. They will bury it, and they will bury me. I need to cut the cord completely."

A sudden burst of camera flashes and loud cheering erupted outside the cafe window.

Clarine turned her head. Across the street, a new, ultra-luxury art gallery was hosting its grand opening. Cherie stood on the red carpet, wearing a sparkling designer gown, soaking up the paparazzi's attention.

A black Maybach pulled up to the curb. Evert stepped out. He looked immaculate in a tailored suit. In his hands, he held a massive bouquet of fresh Damascus roses.

Cora's favorite flowers.

He walked up to Cherie and handed her the bouquet. He smiled at her-a soft, genuine smile Clarine hadn't seen in three years.

Clarine watched them from across the street. The final, invisible chain around her heart snapped.

She picked up her cold black coffee and downed it in one gulp. The bitter liquid shocked her system awake.

"Faye, give me your laptop," Clarine demanded.

Faye quickly pushed her encrypted laptop across the table.

Clarine's fingers flew over the keys. She bypassed standard browsers, routing her connection through three different VPNs before opening a hidden dark web portal.

She logged into an email account she hadn't touched in thirty-six months.

The inbox showed 9,999+ unread messages. Frantic pleas from top European fashion houses, desperate offers from venture capitalists, all begging for one person: the legendary, anonymous designer known only as "Lan."

Clarine clicked on the most recent email from the CEO of Dreamscape Atelier, her own hidden company. It was marked URGENT.

Faye leaned over, her eyes widening in absolute shock as she saw the screen. "Clarine... you're Lan?"

Clarine didn't answer. She typed a single sentence in reply to the CEO.

Tell the board Lan is back.

She hit send. The glow of the screen illuminated the sharp, dangerous glint in her eyes.

She closed the laptop and looked at Faye. "I'm not just getting a divorce. I'm taking back my empire."

Continue to next part

Ayleen Avery was just a struggling hotel worker trying to survive her shift. But during a sudden blackout, she accidentally stumbled into the pitch-black VIP suite of a ruthless billionaire driven mad by chronic insomnia. Calmed only by her unique natural scent of roses and rain, the terrifying man attacked her from the shadows and forced himself on her. Terrified and broken, Ayleen fled at dawn, unknowingly leaving behind her late mother's antique rose necklace in his bed. Her greedy coworker found the necklace, claimed to be the woman from that night, and was instantly swept into a life of luxury. Meanwhile, Ayleen was blackmailed into a forced marriage with her attacker—Cassius Doyle—to save her adoptive father from prison. Deceived by the stolen necklace, Cassius believed Ayleen was a manipulative spy. He brought the coworker into their home and paraded her around the master bedroom. "In this house, you are lower than the dirt on my shoes." He choked Ayleen, forced her to sleep in a damp storage room, and treated her with violent disgust while pampering the thief. Ayleen was suffocating in absolute despair. She had lost her innocence, her freedom, and her mother's only relic to a vicious liar. She couldn't understand how this all-powerful man could be so completely blind. Why couldn't he recognize the very scent that had cured his agonizing madness? Staring at the dark bruises he had just left on her neck, Ayleen wiped the blood from her lip. She would endure this three-month marriage to secure her family's safety, but once the contract ended, she would expose the truth and tear down the fake savior he cherished so much.

Billionaire Horror Romance

7.2

CEO's Getaway Love

7.2

After a one night stand with the woman whose house Jason broke into, his life has never been the same. Like a siren's call, he can't get the nymphomaniac woman off his mind. Weeks later, while getting intel for the crew's next heist, Jason lays eyes upon the woman and follows her into a secret strip club. She appears to lead a double life. One where she's the CEO of a multimillion company and her father's golden child. The other side of her life is that she owns a strip club and is extremely erotic. Can Jason learn to live with her as she is? Will he put his pride aside to be with the woman? ... especially when his crew is hired to kidnap a woman who turns out to be the love of his life.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.3

Craved By My Husband's Best Friend

9.3

Marissa was the perfect wife. She traded her high powered corporate ladder for home cooked meals and a designer sanctuary, all to support her husband, Ethan. But when Ethan confesses to a four month affair not out of guilt, but because his mistress is extorting him for $300 million...Marissa's world turns to ash.Ethan's solution is as twisted as his heart. "Cheat back. Get even. Stay married."Driven by a cocktail of rage and Revenge, Marissa decides to take him up on his offer. She heads into the night looking for a single moment of rebellion to wash away the scent of Ethan's lies. She finds it in the arms of a cold, devastatingly masked handsome stranger who makes her forget everything.Broken and fueled by the betrayal, Marissa decides to take the ultimate risk. She slips into an exclusive, members only masquerade club...a place where names don't exist and only desires matter. Behind a lace mask, she meets him....a man who smells of expensive bourbon and cold command.He is the first person in years to see the fire in her, not just the wife she became.They share a night of scorched....earth passion that leaves Marissa breathless and "even." She leaves before the sun rises, intending for the stranger to remain a ghost of her revenge. But some ghosts have a name.When the masks come off and the corporate world demands her return, Marissa comes face to face with the man from the club. He isn't just anyone. He is Xavier Sterling....the ruthless billionaire CEO she once worked for, and the man Ethan calls his "best friend."Xavier knows her scent. He knows her touch. And most dangerously, he knows exactly what Ethan did to her. Now, Marissa has to navigate a world where her husband wants her to stay, the mistress wants her dead, and the CEO wants to own the one woman he was never supposed to touch. Now, Marissa is caught in a lethal triangle. Xavier wants to own her, Ethan wants to keep her to save his reputation, and the $300 million debt is threatening to drown them all. In a world of billionaire power plays, Marissa is about to learn that revenge is a dish best served... in the CEO's bed.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.7

Engaged to the Ruthless Billionaire

9.7

Eliana Rivera is the firstborn daughter of business tycoon Cassian Rivera. When her father's company falls into debt, he marries her off to the arrogant and ruthless billionaire, Alexander Grayson, as part of a business contract and under the threat of blackmail. Alexander, the billionaire CEO, never planned to marry, but the pressure of blackmail forces him into a union with a woman he barely knows. Although Eliana doesn't see Alexander as her ideal partner, she agrees to the marriage out of a sense of duty. Once engaged, however, he barely acknowledges her presence and harbours disdain for her because of her father's actions and their relationship. But as they navigate their newfound relationship, the unexpected desire for each other's touch ignites-a twist neither of them planned, leading them toward an unforeseen love.

Billionaire Modern Romance

9.6

Framed By Betrayal: Billionaire's Possessive Contract

9.6

Haylie waited nervously at the Wall Street charity gala for her boyfriend Bryan, but a spiked drink hit her hard, leaving her stumbling into a VIP lounge. There, Chester Steele, the ruthless CEO of Steele Industrial, found her—drugged and vulnerable. What started as a frantic claiming in the shadows ended with him whispering she was his. But moments later, a security alert shattered everything: data breach traced to Haylie's terminal. Chester's fury exploded. He saw her brush past a Logan Group rival on footage and dumped her in the rain, firing her as a corporate spy. Bryan answered her desperate call with ice: "It's over." Reporters swarmed her door, branding her a traitor. Arrested at the office by FBI agents, she watched smug coworker Erin wave goodbye. Thrown in a cell, chained and grilled with fake evidence—offshore accounts in her name—Haylie learned the worst: charges now included her sick father, Ernest, framed for laundering the leak money. Plead guilty or he dies in prison. Innocent and raging, she couldn't fathom who planted it all—the gala bump, the logs, the forgeries. Why her? Who hated her enough to destroy her life? Chester burst in, posting unlimited bail but forcing her signature on a slave contract: live in his penthouse, serve him 24/7. As she collapsed in his arms, trapped in his gilded cage, Haylie vowed silently—she'd uncover the real traitor and make them pay.

Billionaire Modern Mystery

8.7

Kneeling To My Ruthless Billionaire Ex

8.7

Emerson worked grueling twelve-hour shifts just to keep her five-year-old son, Leo, alive. Her only lifeline was her partner Alden, who was willing to give up his wealthy family to protect them. But when Leo's bone marrow completely failed, the doctor delivered a death sentence. The only way to save him was a two-million-dollar treatment, or having another child with his biological father. That father was Finnegan Mcconnell, the ruthless billionaire who had accused Emerson of faking her pregnancy and abandoned her five years ago. Desperate for the medical fees, Emerson submitted her designs to Finnegan's company. Instead of advancing the money, Finnegan tore her portfolio to shreds and trapped her as a prisoner in his estate. To force her complete submission, he systematically destroyed her reality. He framed Alden with federal charges, leaving him facing twenty years in prison. Alden's mother stormed into the pediatric ICU, violently strangling Emerson against the wall. "Beg Finnegan to let my son go! You are a curse!" Even Emerson's own adoptive mother showed up at the hospital, just to publicly mock her dying child. Emerson was suffocating in despair. Finnegan already had a beautiful new wife and a five-year-old daughter—absolute proof he had been cheating while she was pregnant and alone. He had his perfect family. Why did he have to hunt her down and sever every lifeline she had left, just to watch her drown? With her son's heart monitor fading and Alden locked in a cell, her pride finally shattered. Emerson walked into the top-floor executive office and dropped to her knees at the devil's feet, but the desperate mother looking up at him was preparing for a devastating revenge.

Billionaire Modern Romance

The Stand-In Wife's Spectacular Comeback

Chapter 5

You may also like