Dont Mess With DRACO
His Unwanted Wife, The Hidden Genius
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.
Don't Mess With DRACO
"Alexa, you provoked me, don't blame me for being impolite!" He growled, his voice hoarse and somewhat restrained. I am doomed. What courage possessed me to mess with this demon in front of me? "Mr Morgan, pls stop it!" I yelled and swung my hands to slap him. He held my wrist and smirked. "What?
The Masked Heiress: Don't Mess With Her
Yelena discovered that she wasn't her parents' biological child. After seeing through their ploy to trade her as a pawn in a business deal, she was sent away to her barren birthplace. There, she stumbled upon her true origins-a lineage of historic opulence. Her real family showered her with love an
Don't Mess With The MIT Heiress
The car horn blared, a familiar sound mirroring a day that once ended my world. My eyes snapped open to the rain-streaked window – SATs morning, a date etched in my memory, not for the test, but for the beginning of my ruin. Last time, it began with my 'friend' Jessica' s sweet smile, offering food
Dangerous: Don't Mess With The Domineering Boss
She fell into her sister's trap and had a one night stand that left her pregnant. Four years later, when she returned with her kid, a charming but bossy gentleman entered her life. From the moment she laid eyes on him, she found him familiar, but couldn't figure out why until she saw her son stand n
Don't Mess With the Cat Lady
I' m Chloe, a nursing student, always broke and buried in textbooks, a stark contrast to my influencer-wannabe roommate, Tiffany. We tolerated each other, barely. Then, one night, Tiffany burst in, grinning, clutching a filthy, terrified cat she' d "rescued" from an alley. "Meet Scrappy!" she squea
Don't Mess With The Ruthless Alpha
"You think you can break me, Casper? You think you can force me to love you?" My voice trembled with a mixture of anger and hurt. Casper's tone was cold. "Love? You still cling to that stupid notion? You are nothing more than a prisoner to me. I don't need your love. All I want is your obedience.
THE MESS YOU MADE
SYNOPSIS Andrea Serrano is a thirty two year old doctor who besides her career,her life is a complete mess. A major heartbreak whereby her fiance left her two days to their wedding leaving her devastated and hopeless about life and being happy ever again turned her life upside down and made her
The Hot Mess
"We should stop doing this," I said. "Stop doing what?" He asked, raising a brow. "Screwing around each other. It will hurt Kelly!" "Or, you are scared to find out what you truly desire..." He raised a brow as he took a step forward, making me take a step back. "No, I don't." I tried to sound
One Night, One Baby, One Billionaire Mess
Five years ago, Ava Sinclair was forced into a contract marriage with Damian Cross, a ruthless billionaire CEO, to save her family from financial ruin. Their marriage was cold and transactional, but one night, emotions got the best of them, leading to a passionate encounter. The next morning, Ava ov
Alpha Draco And His Omega Luna
"I am a low-ranking Omega, but my will is my own." They took everything from her. Her freedom, her pack, and her name. Sofia Fletcher has survived four years of slavery, a mate who rejected her for her own stepsister, and the kind of cruelty that teaches you never to hope. She has one rule left: t
Dreaming Of You
Ivy Luo is ordinary and optimistic. She drops out of school, works hard, and raises the child for her sister. She goes to a job interview at a grand hotel, but she feels uncomfortable as if having been drugged. Then she runs into a room wanting to calm down herself with water, where she meets this h
Iris at the vampire academy
In a world where mystery blends with supernatural powers, the girl Iris suddenly finds herself in a strange place, far from her normal life. She does not know how she arrived at this place, nor does she know those around her, but a strange feeling haunts her: that there is something within her that
Loving You Always And Forever
Ella married Raymond two years ago, but her husband disappeared. The first thing when he came back was to force her to divorce. More strangely, she suddenly got pregnant. He accused her of having another man’s child and she had to divorce! Little did she know that she was falling into his trap an
Fall Under Your Spell
Teresa didn’t expect her whole world would crumble apart because of a secret she learned. As a happy-go-lucky girl, she returned home solely to participate in a jewelry designing competition. On this unfortunate day, she got targeted by Jerome, the most cunning man she ever met. "What...what...what
Mesmerized By A Kiss
Bitterly swallowing all the torment, betrayal, and false accusations she had been suffering, Wendy arose like a phoenix from the burning ashes. What hadn’t killed her had crafted her from steel. She would make those who caused all her pain and agony, pay for what they had done to her. However, a r
No Way Out: Devil CEO Runs After His Wife
A planned car accident turned Sherri's life upside down. Jackson, the son of her foster father, thought that she was the one who had gotten his sister into that accident, and was determined to make her life a living hell. He mercilessly threw her onto the bed and scowled at the confusion in her eyes
DINNER WITH THE DEVIL
Arnold Jr., the only son of Arnold Palmer, one of the richest and most powerful men in America, was born into a wealthy family. He was cruel, mean, and the most notorious bully the school had ever known. After a scandal that nearly ruined his reputation, Arnold Jr. and Olivia's paths crossed. He tri
Romance With Mr Popular
What happens when young Bethel is made to get married to the Country's most popular richest idol? The country's pride? Who's actually a rude, annoying playboy and not ready to stay committed? What about the enemies? His step-brothers? The other female crushes? And his tiny little secret? It's a
Playing With Violet Ashlock
Playing With Violet Ashlock Austin Portwalt Crazy ambitious billionaire who loves making big deals. He loves money and wants more than what he has now. He loves his bachelor life and wants to continue it forever but too bad his parents set him an arrange marriage with Dubai's most successful busine
Secretary With Benefit
Lilith has long been in love with her Boss, Hyung Woo. Without expecting his feelings to be reciprocated by his Boss. He has never seen a man who looks like her Boss and is dating Lilith. But one night after it was announced that her Boss was engaged to another woman, what Lilith got was not heartbr
