Get the APP hot

Trapped With The CEO A Love She Never Wanted

His Unwanted Wife, The Hidden Genius

His Unwanted Wife, The Hidden Genius

Modern

4.5

I flew back to New York on my twenty-fifth birthday, carrying vintage gold cufflinks I spent weeks finding for my billionaire husband, Declan. But when I walked into our townhouse, I found him throwing a massive victory party with Sloane, a glamorous socialite, standing by his side as the proud hostess. "Don't cause a scene. Go upstairs." Declan coldly dismissed me in front of his guests. Even Poppy, the rookie player whose shattered ankle I had painstakingly rebuilt, rolled her eyes and ignored me to suck up to Sloane. Hiding in the shadows, I heard the maids gossiping that everyone thought Sloane was the future Mrs. Hartford. To make matters worse, I discovered Sloane had stolen my anonymous, groundbreaking medical algorithm and was planning to present it as her own. First my husband, then the girl I mentored like family, and now the scientific foundation I had built with my own hands. Declan even texted me to cancel our birthday breakfast without a single apology, treating me like an annoying afterthought. My tears vanished, replaced by a freezing clarity. I signed the divorce papers, leaving them on his desk with zero demands for his money. Then I packed my bags, booked a one-way ticket to Boston, and prepared to destroy them on the global stage.

Chapter 1

Aurelia Vance POV:

I had been married to Declan Hartford for three years.

Today was my twenty-fifth birthday, and I had flown back from Boston in secret, hoping for one quiet evening with my husband.

I'd spent a week carefully picking out a pair of gold cufflinks as a gift for my husband.

But the laughter spilling from the front door told me I was already too late: the woman who had taken my place at his side was already inside.

The heavy oak door swung open before I reached the porch. Three young players from the New York Titans, Declan's NHL franchise, stumbled out with crystal tumblers of scotch, laughing loudly. They barely glanced at me as they passed.

I stepped into the grand foyer. The heat hit me instantly,expensive champagne, roasted tenderloin, cigar smoke.

Dozens of people filled the double parlor: executives, scouts, wives in designer dresses.

In the center stood Declan, tall and broad in a bespoke charcoal suit. Beside him, laughing into his ear, was Sloane Whitfield, her backless silver dress catching the chandelier light. Her hand rested on his forearm like she belonged there.

Before I could take another breath, a blur of blonde hair darted past my elbow.

"Sloane!" Poppy Delacroix cried, throwing her arms around Sloane's slender waist. "You were completely right about the catering! This is literally the best victory party the team has ever had!"

Poppy is fourteen, a junior elite forward prospect.

I scouted her two years ago from a crumbling youth league, back when she was at her lowest.

Her parents had once shown me great kindness, and I knew they had already passed away, leaving her all alone in the world.

Declan and I adopted her together.

I rebuilt her shattered ankle with a custom rehabilitation plan.

I had always loved and cared for her as both a mother and a sister.

Now, she did not even glance in my direction.

Declan turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd until his eyes locked onto mine. The easy grin on his sharp jaw vanished instantly. His brows drew together in a hard, irritated line.

He excused himself from Sloane, cutting through the throng of players with long, impatient strides.

"Aurelia," Declan said, stopping two feet in front of me. His voice carried zero warmth. "What are you doing here?"

My throat felt like sandpaper.

"I took the four o'clock flight from Boston," I whispered, clutching the strap of my bag until my knuckles turned white. "It is my birthday, Declan. I thought we could—"

"We are celebrating the division win," he cut in, his tone sharp enough to draw blood. "The board is here. The sponsors are here. Sloane spent four consecutive days coordinating this event so the organization could project stability."

He did not look at me. His gaze slid past my shoulder to the bar, like I was a waitress who had wandered into the wrong room.

"Don't cause a scene," he added quietly. "Go upstairs."

A soft, mocking murmur rippled through a cluster of players' wives standing near the grand staircase. Two women with platinum blowouts exchanged knowing glances over their flutes of Dom Pérignon.

"I didn't know," I said, my voice barely audible over the swelling music. "I am sorry."

I turned toward the staircase, my legs trembling beneath my wool trousers.

Near the landing, Poppy was adjusting her designer jacket in the hallway mirror.

"Poppy," I said softly, pausing beside her. "How is your ankle feeling after Thursday's third period? Did you complete the isometric sequence I sent?"

Poppy rolled her eyes, sighing loudly as she pulled out her phone.

"Aurelia, please, not right now," she muttered without looking at me. "Sloane is introducing me to a marketing director from one of our partners. I don't have time for your spreadsheets."

The dismissive edge in her voice hit me harder than Declan's coldness. I had stayed up until three in the morning reviewing her biomechanical scans while she was recovering from surgery, and now I was just an annoyance in the way of her social ascent.

I walked up the rest of the stairs and entered the primary suite—the massive, sterile bedroom allocated to me under our prenuptial agreement.

I sat on the edge of the mattress and pulled out the velvet box. The gold cufflinks gleamed under the bedside lamp, cold and useless.

Downstairs, cheers erupted. The sound vibrated through the floorboards.

I walked to the French doors overlooking the rear garden. Down on the illuminated patio, Sloane was directing two servers by an ice sculpture. Declan stood beside her, his head bent down as he listened to her speak, his hand casually brushing the small of her back.

They looked like the couple the city expected them to be.

My phone buzzed in my coat pocket. I pulled it out, hoping against hope.

It was an email notification.

"Happy Birthday, Aurelia. Remember that true science requires patience and solitude. You are meant for greater arenas than New York boardrooms. -Dr. Edmund Sterling."

My mentor at Harvard was the only person in the world who had remembered.

I typed a brief "Thank you, Professor" and shut off the screen.

Hours passed. The bass eventually quieted, replaced by the occasional clatter of glassware and slamming car doors. My throat burned with thirst.

At two in the morning, I padded downstairs in my stocking feet to fetch a glass of water from the butler's pantry.

As I rounded the corner near the service hallway, the voices of two newly hired catering maids stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Miss Whitfield is stunning," the first girl whispered, scraping dessert plates into a bin. "Mr. Hartford's girlfriend carries herself like royalty."

"A girlfriend?" the other asked, pausing. "But isn't Mr. Hartford rumored to be married? Is it inappropriate to be this close with Whitfield?"

"Married?Where did that come from? Even if there was one, they must have split long ago. I've worked three events here this month, and Miss Whitfield is the only woman hosting by his side. Everyone knows she's the future Mrs. Hartford."

I shrank back into the cold shadow of the archway, my blood turning to ice.

In the home where I held a legal marriage certificate, my presence had already been wiped clean.

Continue Reading
Trapped With The CEO : A Love She Never Wanted

Trapped With The CEO : A Love She Never Wanted

Romance

5.0

22-year-old Evelyn Carter is attempting to start over in California while avoiding her past. She will be embarking on a new career path as a private school teacher. She is smart, attractive, and doesn't put up with nonsense. Who wouldn't notice her? However, what happens when she attracts the attent

Trapped Marriage With the CEO

Trapped Marriage With the CEO

Romance

5.0

Lunar, a strong-willed woman with dreams of a happily ever after, finds her world shattered when her fiancé, the man she thought she would spend her life with, betrays her trust. Forced into a corner with limited options, she enters a marriage of convenience with Arkan, a wealthy businessman who alr

THE WIFE HE NEVER WANTED

THE WIFE HE NEVER WANTED

Romance

3.5

Isla Calloway's marriage was never built on love, it was a carefully orchestrated alliance between two families, and she had accepted it with quiet strength. Despite Adrian, her husband, being cold and distant, Isla carried on with dignity, hoping someday she would be seen for more than just the wo

The Luna they Never wanted

The Luna they Never wanted

Werewolf

5.0

Aria never wanted to marry Kael, the arrogant playboy her father forced her to accept as her fiancé. But Kael had his own twisted motives-he only wanted her because she was the one girl who refused him. When Aria rejected his demand to sleep with him a week before their wedding, Kael tried to take

THE BRIDE HE NEVER WANTED

THE BRIDE HE NEVER WANTED

Mafia

5.0

The Bride I Never Wanted One betrayal. One reckless decision. One deadly mistake. The night before my wedding, I found my fiancé in bed with my maid of honor. Heartbroken and humiliated, I did what any rational woman would do-I ran. What I didn't expect was to find a stranger on a bridge, second

Not The Man She Wanted

Not The Man She Wanted

Billionaires

5.0

Jenny agreed to marry Fabiola in a 3-year contract marriage in a move to stop her mother from being jailed. The situation got messier when Jenny discovered she was pregnant after a one-night stand with a total stranger. How will this unfortunate incident affect her marriage with Fabiola? Will she

The Husband She Never Knew

The Husband She Never Knew

Romance

5.0

For fifteen years, Ava Reed and Ethan Miller were Ghost and Shadow, an elite security duo woven from shared scars and unbreakable loyalty. Their world shattered the moment Chloe Davis, a client they were hired to protect, walked into their lives, and Ethan' s professional focus vanished, replaced b

Divorcing the CEO: He Never Wanted Me Until I Left

Divorcing the CEO: He Never Wanted Me Until I Left

Modern

5.0

For three years, Estella Mccarthy was the wife Alden Molina never wanted. She wore the ring. She attended his family dinners. She smiled beside the Wall Street billionaire whenever their marriage contract required it. And foolishly, somewhere along the way, she fell in love with him. Alden never

Trapped in Love with Alpha

Trapped in Love with Alpha

Werewolf

5.0

Aurora Williams only wanted to live a simple life as a veterinarian in her small town. But everything changed when she saved a wounded wolf-only to find it had transformed into a dangerous man with golden eyes and dark secrets the next day. Kael Blackwood is the Alpha of the Silverfang Pack, a lead

Trapped With The Billionaire

Trapped With The Billionaire

Romance

5.0

Angel never imagined she'd become a billionaire's wife-especially not by force. When Aaron Blackwood, ruthless CEO and heir to a multibillion-dollar empire, is backed into a corner, he makes her an offer she can't refuse. A contract. A marriage. A deal that should have been simple. But nothing abou

Trapped with the Doctor

Trapped with the Doctor

Billionaires

4.8

Trapped series - Episode V: Trapped with the Doctor. He is the director of the largest hospital in Shine Empire. She is the daughter of the director of Zoria Hospital. When the cool, heartless and high-handed Arvin Gomez meets the mischievous, cute and impulsive Angela Sanderson, what will happe

Trapped with the Lawyer

Trapped with the Lawyer

Billionaires

4.8

Trapped series - Episode II: Trapped with the Lawyer. It all starts on that fateful night, when Ella, who is the dear sister of Samuel’s best buddy, sneaks into the hotel where the drunken Samuel resides and gets pregnant… “I don’t want a divorce! I don’t want a divorce! I did no such thing!”

Love Contract With The CEO

Love Contract With The CEO

Modern

5.0

Mia carelessness was plotted by his whole family to harm her, so she became a lamb and was taken to some "old uncle's" place in place of her cousin. Some man, cancel the entire itinerary today, I have to go with my girl. Some woman: Brian, you dare sneak me to find another woman! Some man: My woma

A Love That Never Was

A Love That Never Was

Romance

5.0

I was a brilliant scientist, but in my family, I was always the shadow to my perfect, manipulative sister, Jetta. On the day I was set to receive the prestigious Harrison Award, my family was only focused on her graduation party, dismissing my life's work as a mere hobby. That same day, I was bruta

Faking love with ceo

Faking love with ceo

Billionaires

5.0

Lina Carter was just a waitress trying to make ends meet. On the other hand, Alexander Knight was a billionaire who would do anything to safeguard his empire. When he proposes a deal for her to be his fake girlfriend, it seems straightforward, he act like she loves him, stick to the rules, and walk

Trapped in a Forced Love

Trapped in a Forced Love

Billionaires

5.0

Aria, a simple and caring young woman, suddenly finds herself caught in a secret marriage with Dorian Calderon, a widower known for his cold and possessive nature. It all started with an accident involving her younger sister, Mira, who ran over Dorian's twin sister, Lina, who was pregnant at the tim

Trapped In The Love Of a hitman

Trapped In The Love Of a hitman

Adventure

5.0

La Rossa, a cold girl who became a contract killer. She gets a mission to kill someone. The target is the sole heir of the biggest business empire in Indonesia. But it turns out that the target is a paralyzed idiot with an ugly face named Gilbert. She underestimated her target, who turned out to

In Love With A Twin FACED CEO

In Love With A Twin FACED CEO

Romance

5.0

Claire Smith has everything money can buy, except freedom. As the pampered daughter of one of Las Vegas's wealthiest families, her life has always been dictated by her father's ruthless expectations and his obsession with powerful alliances. But Claire has sworn she'll never fall into his carefully

The wife I never met

The wife I never met

Billionaires

4.7

would marry someone whom you've just met? Liam and Ciara did, after a wild night of forgetting their problems they both decides to get married in their drunk state. Would they work on their married and learn to love each other or would they go their separate ways?.

MoboReader