The Unwanted Wife: No Longer His Shield

Aryanna swiped the screen to answer.

Before she could even breathe a greeting, Damian Garza's voice exploded through the speaker.

"Get your ass back to the Long Island estate. Right now."

The raw, unhinged fury in his tone made Aryanna's stomach twist into a tight knot. He didn't wait for a response. The line went dead.

She didn't bother cleaning up the shredded check on the rug. She grabbed her Porsche keys from the console and walked out.

At 2:00 AM, Aryanna's Porsche tore up the gravel driveway of the Garza family's North Shore estate. The massive iron gates clanged shut behind her, sounding like a prison door locking into place.

The head butler met her at the entrance. He wouldn't look her in the eye. As he led her down the long, dimly lit hallway toward the study, every maid they passed quickly lowered their heads, staring at the floorboards. The butler's averted gaze, the maids' sudden deference tinged with pity-a cold knot of dread formed in Aryanna's stomach. This wasn't just about a late-night summons. Something was fundamentally broken.

Aryanna pushed open the heavy oak doors of the study.

Damian and her adoptive mother were sitting rigidly on the leather sofa. Their faces were pale and twisted with rage.

On the mahogany coffee table between them sat a torn medical envelope. The logo for the Mount Sinai DNA Testing Center was stamped in bold blue ink on the front.

Damian stood up. He grabbed the thick stack of papers and hurled them directly at Aryanna's feet.

"You are a fake," Damian spat, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. "A pathetic, worthless fraud who stole someone else's life."

Aryanna's breath hitched. Her trembling fingers reached down and picked up the scattered pages.

Her eyes scanned the bold text at the bottom of the first page. 99.9% exclusion of biological relationship.

The air was sucked out of her lungs. The room started to spin.

Her mother looked at her with pure disgust. "A nurse at the hospital swapped you. She wanted revenge against the rich. She took our real daughter and left us with a nobody. An orphan with dirty blood."

"Mom..." Aryanna whispered. She took a step forward, reaching out her hand to seek the warmth she had known for twenty-four years.

Her mother slapped her hand away so hard it stung. "Don't touch me."

Damian stepped into Aryanna's personal space, his shadow towering over her.

"We found her," Damian said coldly. "We found our real daughter. We are bringing her back to New York society where she belongs."

Aryanna's throat burned. "And what about me? What about the last two decades?"

"You?" Damian sneered. "You are going to keep your mouth shut. The Montgomery family cannot know about this scandal. Your only value to this family now is keeping Branden in your bed until the yacht merger is signed."

The reality crashed down on her, crushing her chest. She had just lost her bloodline. She had lost the only leverage she had in her marriage.

She forced her spine to straighten. She looked Damian dead in the eyes.

"And what if Branden is already cheating on me?" she asked, her voice a hollow rasp.

Damian's hand flew through the air.

The slap sounded like a gunshot in the quiet study.

Aryanna's head snapped to the side. The metallic taste of blood instantly flooded her mouth.

"Even if he brings his whore into your bedroom, you will smile and play the perfect Mrs. Montgomery!" Damian roared. "Do not ruin this deal!"

The burning pain in her cheek cleared the fog in her brain. She looked at the two people she had called parents. They were monsters. They only cared about the money.

She didn't say another word. She turned on her heel and walked out the door, shutting Damian's screaming behind her.

The autumn wind bit through her thin clothes as she walked out of the main house. She was shivering uncontrollably.

She climbed into the driver's seat of her Porsche. Before she could start the engine, her phone lit up again.

Eleonora Montgomery. Her mother-in-law.

Aryanna closed her eyes. She took a deep, jagged breath, swallowing the blood in her mouth. She pressed answer.

"Hello, Eleonora," Aryanna said, forcing her voice into its usual sweet, polished tone.

"Sending condoms to my son's office via courier?" Eleonora's crisp London accent dripped with absolute disdain. "How incredibly vulgar."

Aryanna gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.

"The Montgomery family does not need a daughter-in-law who acts like a jealous streetwalker," Eleonora warned coldly. "If you cannot handle your husband's little distractions with grace, we will find someone who can."

The double blow of losing her family and being threatened by her mother-in-law made Aryanna's vision go dark at the edges. She bit down on her lower lip so hard it bled again.

Normally, she would apologize. She would beg for forgiveness to keep the peace.

Not tonight.

"I will handle my marriage exactly how I see fit," Aryanna said. Her voice was dead flat.

She hung up the phone.

She dropped her head against the steering wheel. A low, guttural sob ripped from her throat, sounding like a dying animal. She cried until her ribs ached.

When she finally lifted her head, the tears were gone. Her eyes were completely empty.

She turned the key, slammed her foot on the gas pedal, and tore out into the dark night, heading straight back to Manhattan.