My enemy My mate
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.
My Enemy,.My Betrothed Mate
"Our union is nothing, but an allegiance to the alliance your father's pack owes my father," he said, glaring at her. She stood before him teary, and trembling in fear, he continued. "As long as my father's legacy is kept, and my pack is safe, I will keep your sorry ass." "Now, get lost!" -------
My Fated Mate, My Coldest Enemy.
Aiden Madden, Alpha of Blackwood, intended to reject his arranged mate, Emery Travis, whom he deemed "loose" from scandalous photos. But her scent hit him like a physical blow-his Fated Mate. Then, he watched in horror as another man intimately touched her, confirming his worst fears of betrayal and
Daddy's Enemy is My Mate
I accidentally had a one-night stand with my father's enemy. "Morning, mate." He is naked, holds me tenderly, My eyes widened in fear, my virginity was given to a strange male wolf instead of my fiancé. *************** Ava, the daughter of the Blue River Pack Alpha, Robert. She was doted on by her
My Husband, My Enemy
I suspended a five-year-old student named Leo for pushing another child down the stairs. As the head child psychologist at an elite academy, I was used to difficult children, but there was a chilling emptiness in Leo's eyes. That evening, I was abducted in the faculty parking lot, dragged into a va
My husband, my enemy.
Tracy Hall, a young and successful daughter of a wealthy home, sees her life turn around when the Hall group is faced with an uncertain future. To save the group, she steps into the marital net with Greg Knox, a person she had always detested. While the two seem to have only hatred and anger t
My Alpha, My Enemy
Born as the only wolfless person in her pack, Blake's life had been nothing but misery and humiliation, and she never expected things to change. But one innocent accident would change the course of her life forever when she met an Alpha in the male bathroom of her school. Now that her path had cross
My Wife, My Enemy
Five years into our child-free marriage, a rule my wife Sarah adamantly enforced, she introduced me to Luke and Annie, identical three-year-old twins, claiming they were "ours now." My heart, longing for a family despite a vasectomy two years prior, a sacrifice for her, soared with a confusing m
Enemy of my heart
"'Will you marry me?' The words tumbled out before she could catch them, and yet, somehow, she nodded. Maybe it was the stranger's piercing gaze that held her captive. Maybe it was the sting of betrayal still fresh from her abandoned wedding. Whatever the reason, she agreed to marry a man she'd neve
MY ENEMY LOVER
Roland Wyatt, the 32-year-old CEO of The Wyatts, a multi-billion dollar fashion empire, had never been challenged until Blair Rodrigo slapped him. Their first meeting turned sour when his car splashed dirty rainwater on her, and he insensitively refused to apologize, offering her $100 instead. In
Marry My Enemy
Maudy Angelia never thought that she would be trapped in a contract marriage with Marcel Beret, her mortal enemy since high school. The offer given by the handsome young CEO forced Maudy, who was already desperate, to sign a contract. However, Marcel turns out to only want to control the girl to
Mated To My Enemy
"Will you teach me how to earn the knowledge of your name, my Lord? I am a fast learner, I promise." My words faded into a whisper when I felt the bulge underneath his pelt and my breath hitched in awareness. His arms banded around my waist at once and our hips met, his organ pushing at me from un
My Mate, My Fate
!! WARNING...Mature Contents !! ****Synopsis*** "You're mine Emery!" His deep husky voice fanned my ear as the hair in my body stood up in acknowledgment. Only he can make me feel this way, only him can claim me this way but he's a monster, a big bad monster. "I'm not letting go of you" ****
My Stepson, My Mate
He hated my gut! I detested his arrogance! I was supposed to be his ex-stepmother,but I hated pack politics and returned to the human community after Alpha Holt's death. I was forced back to heal the wounds of the one that hated me the most, my stepson Adrian. To the world he was the famous NHL g
My mate; My bully
Jane William is finally free of her bullied high school life and living on her own while she attends college. Finally free of her prison, she thinks her troubles are over, until her high school bully shows up and crashes her chances of enjoying her college years. Alex Davis realizes as soon as he s
My Brother, My Mate.
Maureen is a girl who has always been protected by her brother. They loved each other like every sibling. Their parents rarely had time for them so her brother was like her parent to her. Anyone who messed with her had her brother to contend with. Her brother turned eighteen four years before her a
My Mate, My Hate
What do you do when your mate turns out to be the Alpha of the pack you and your people have lived to hate? Blue Blood pack and Blacktooth Guardians pack have never been on good terms ever! Arya, the daughter of the Alpha of Blue Blood pack has never desired anything in her life. She always gets eve
My Brother My Mate
“Are you sure you want to deny me as your mate?” Because of the dread, I felt in Bradley’s voice, I could not respond appropriately. I could feel his hold on my shoulder harder, showing that he disagreed with my statement. “We shouldn’t be talking about this since we’re siblings,” I say, realizing t
My Mate, My Killer
“I was looking for a man named Zarion, but I ended up here.” Most of them gasped when I uttered Zarions’ name. “Don’t mention that name because it’s cursed!” someone hissed. My brows furrowed at her reaction. “Why? "He's the Alpha of this pack. He was banished because he didn't want to take the posi
Fated To My Enemy
BLURB It's when you're at your lowest you find out who truly is for you and those that have been your enemy in friend's clothing the whole time. The moment my father was executed and Piper's father elected, I realised that my so-called best friend was my greatest enemy. She took everything I had
Married To My Enemy
"My woman" he called out as he started moving towards me. I started moving backwards,trying to avoid what was coming for me. "I waited all my life to have you to myself. I always knew I wanted you. Now you're mine." He said, still progressing towards me. "I don't care what Clara told you, you're
