Get the APP hot

Chased By Nikolas Ardolf

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
CHASED BY TWO BILLIONAIRES

CHASED BY TWO BILLIONAIRES

Romance

5.0

"Where did you go?" He questioned, not bothering to adjust his unbuttoned shirt. I had run away but here I was coming to apologize for my actions. "You think you can come and go as you please?" His fingers pressed against my cheeks, firm but not painful, forcing me to meet his gaze. "No, I-I," I

Chased By Three Alphas

Chased By Three Alphas

Werewolf

5.0

Sold and rejected by her stepfather, Elena makes wise use of her gifts and becomes relevant in the country, but the unexpected begins to creep in after three Alphas show up to chase her back as their Luna. But then, she is now pregnant for the cold and domineering Alpha who her parents sold her to,

Chased by an Arrogant Zillionaire

Chased by an Arrogant Zillionaire

Romance

5.0

Heartbroken after being cheated on by her lover, Zofia vents her anger by sleeping with a gigolo. However, to her surprise, the man turns out not to be the gigolo she hired but instead the CEO of New Starlight Consortium named Xavier. As a result of their one-night stand, Zofia becomes pregnant and

She was being chased by a Billionaire

She was being chased by a Billionaire

Billionaires

5.0

Gianna Moran's attitude was vulgar, happy-go-lucky, shameless, and capable of breaking a man's heart. Her aunt, who is widowed and without a child, takes her in when her parents are nowhere to be found. As a result, she is the stand-in. She is a pampered brat who makes her aunt cover even her most

Chased By My Billionaire Ex-husband

Chased By My Billionaire Ex-husband

Romance

5.0

I thought I was free from the grips of Frederick, the man who caused me so much pain, but little did I know he would come knocking on my door the next moment. "You can't escape from Liliana, so stop running and come to me," he muttered boastfully. "And why would I do that?" I retorted with a frow

Chased By Billionaire After One Night

Chased By Billionaire After One Night

Billionaires

5.0

Due to the plight of her family, Phoebe had no choice but to embark on the path of selling herself. In an accident, she had a tangled night with Alexander. Everything began to derail, and even if she fled to the ends of the earth, she would still be found by him and entangled... *** Phoebe screame

CHASED BY MY BILLIONAIRE EX HUSBAND

CHASED BY MY BILLIONAIRE EX HUSBAND

Billionaires

5.0

On the day that Sienna gives birth to their daughter, her loving husband vanishes without a trace. Heartbroken and betrayed, she rebuilds her life, channeling her pain into a successful career as a TV presenter, but the scars of his abandonment never fully heals. Eight years later, Sienna is transf

Ruthless Desire: Chased By My Ex's Billionaire Best Friend

Ruthless Desire: Chased By My Ex's Billionaire Best Friend

Modern

4.8

Bethany, a stunning woman burdened by financial woes, wrestled with her future prospects in the city after fleeing her manipulative former lover. At the same time, a bold and unyielding man began to pursue her with relentless passion. The word on the street was that the aloof Mr. Swanson had taken

After the divorce, the ceo chased his wife.

After the divorce, the ceo chased his wife.

Billionaires

5.0

In the second year of marriage, Maeve was pregnant. She was full of joy and waited for a divorce agreement. In a car accident, Maeve lay in a pool of blood and begged Shaune Ford to save their child, but watched him leave with the ex-girlfriend in his arms. She was so frustrated as she slowly closed

Fire Phoenix

Fire Phoenix

History

4.9

What would you think of someone riding around the countryside snatching bride and bridegrooms? Is he insane, bisexual? Gay? What if he were only five ? Why then? Here we have the tale of Yun Canglan, who was born into an ancient past after perishing accidentally in the modern world. Her first thou

Craving For You

Craving For You

Romance

4.8

To ensure her sister's happiness, Mia began investigating her future brother-in-law. After all, she couldn't just let her sister marry a total stranger- even if he were Ethan, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. However, she got caught spying on him. Suddenly, Mia's world got tu

Be Your One And Only

Be Your One And Only

Romance

4.6

The day Irene was dumbed by her boyfriend was the same day that she got engaged. Drunk in sadness and alcohol, Irene found herself answering a tipsy "yes" to Aaron's invitation to marry. By the time she sobered up, she found herself whisked in a marriage with a man she barely knew. At first, each

Love Fools Me Around

Love Fools Me Around

Romance

4.8

Her mother's scheme granted her a wild one night stand with a stranger. But as soon as the sun rose, her family's debts were paid off, and everyone disappeared on her. At that time, she found herself miserably abandoned. Five years later, she had already become a famous painter once she returned to

Rejected By Him, Claimed By His Brother

Rejected By Him, Claimed By His Brother

Werewolf

4.5

On the day of our mating ceremony, I wore a beautiful white dress, waiting to become the Luna of the pack. To ensure my Fated Mate, Kade, loved me for my soul and not my rank, I had hidden my true Alpha nature and lived as a fragile Omega. But instead of my groom, my best friend Selena walked into

Rejected By My Mate, Claimed By Contract

Rejected By My Mate, Claimed By Contract

Werewolf

5.0

Fiona thinks she has it all-love, loyalty and a secured life-until her mate, Alpha Kael, leaves her for his first love, Laila. Abandoning her at the altar on the day of their bond reaffirmation before the moon goddess, Fiona watches helplessly as Kael dotes on Laila from the shadows without knowing

Unmade By Love, Remade By Self

Unmade By Love, Remade By Self

Modern

5.0

My life for the last decade has been an endless parent-teacher conference, a special kind of hell where I was the main exhibit. It all shattered when my nine-year-old stepdaughter, Madisyn, hurled a weighted beanbag at my head, then publicly denounced me as a "kept man" and a "gold-digging loser."

Erased by Love, Forged by Revenge

Erased by Love, Forged by Revenge

Sci-fi

5.0

The warning chimed at noon, not from a guest or the wedding planner, but a sterile blue pop-up in my vision: [System Warning: Marriage to Mark Turner not detected. Seven days remaining until digital erasure.] My phone buzzed. A trending story: "Tech Mogul Mark Turner Weds Socialite Olivia Crest in

Scorned By Family, Freed By Fury

Scorned By Family, Freed By Fury

Modern

5.0

The charity gala was supposed to be my final act of freedom, a staged exit from a life that wasn' t mine. Instead, it ended with the shriek of shattering glass, my sister' s scream, and the cold accusation in Charlotte Sterling' s eyes, a theatrical terror I knew was fake as she bled onto the prist

Betrayed By Love, Reborn By Fate

Betrayed By Love, Reborn By Fate

Sci-fi

5.0

The cheap cotton sheets felt real, too real for a man who' d just died a brutal death in a remote facility. My eyes snapped open to my familiar apartment, the one I shared with Sarah, a place I hadn' t seen in over a year. Then I saw my reflection: unmarred, clear-eyed, not the skeletal, scarred f

Betrayed By Blood, Loved By None

Betrayed By Blood, Loved By None

Modern

5.0

The valedictorian medal, cold against my skin, was a stark reminder of the ceremony an hour ago. My father' s face was a mask of disappointment, my mother fussed over my adopted brother, Alex, who sat slumped on the sofa. My crime? Not mentioning Alex in my valedictorian speech. An academic speech,

MoboReader