Sold To Maxwell Barlow
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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.
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Sold to the Mafioso
Andressa lives in Brazil without knowing her true origins. The woman she believed to be her mother sold her to the mafia to pay off her debt and live comfortably. But Andressa discovers the whole charade and flees from the mafia while pregnant. Her father finds her and takes her to the United States
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Sold To A Vampire
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Sold To Alpha Isaac
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Sold To Mate
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Sold To Him
“Do I want a taste?” his voice deeper than he had ever spoken. His eyes pinned on me like I was the only thing that fascinated him. “What do I do?” I thought to myself as he moved closer to me, I wanted to run away, to res
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Sold to the CEO
He thinks she left him for a price. She left him to save a life. Three years ago, Krystal was the scholarship girl who captured the heart of New York's most eligible billionaire heir. Their marriage was a fairy tale-until the King of the city, Alex's father, tore it apart. Faced with a choice betw
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Sold to a billionaire
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Sold to the LycanKing
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SOLD TO THE RUTHLESS
A beautiful and empathetic woman, Isabelle Marino, unwillingly enters into the marriage with Liam Callahan, a manipulative and cold business magnate who had been involved in a terrible accident. As they must face many obstacles due to their forced arrangement, they struggle not only with themselves
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Sold To Alpha Noux
In a world where power is paramount, kathy Moralis is sold to the cruel Alpha Noux, a werewolf with a murky past. An immediate connection sparks a flame too hazardous to ignore, but when kathy's true identity is exposed, the alpha turns her away, leaving her heartbroken. Fortunately, fate gives them
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Sold To A Stranger
Lucy a brilliant beautiful girl once lived with her parent. Her mom died in a fatal accident one afternoon. The dad married another woman. Her stepmom treated her cruelly. She sold her to a stranger. Will Lucy survive in her new home? Let's find out what happens.
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Sold To Xavier
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Sold to Diaz Cartel
"I just wanted to dance." She whispered as hot tear rolled down her cheeks. *** *** The last thing anyone wants is to be a dispensable member of the leading mafia family. But that's exactly what Althea became. As a lowly born, Althea makes money by performing shows at the biggest clubs, she's ha
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SOLD TO THE BILLIONAIRE
I thought my life was mine to control; my choices were my own. But everything crumbled when my father's desperate secrets unraveled, leaving me with one shocking truth-I was the price to pay for his mistakes. The name Kensington Creed echoed power and danger. A billionaire with a shattered past and
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Sold To Mr. Lawson
It all began with two hundred million dollars. "Going once, going twice, and Selena Moore is sold to Maxwell Lawson!" Because of a certain rule in Cline's auction event, Selena was picked as one of the items that would be bid on. The rule is simple: the winner would get a one-day date with the it
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Family sold to dealer
Yasmim, a young mother of two boys, sees her life completely changed after being sold to a drug dealer. from SP to Rio his life changes completely. sequence of the series family sold to drug dealer book 1 in the middle of the hill war book 2 (available at dreames.
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Sold To The Mafia
On her twenty five birthday, Zara Kingston got an ultimatum - Win the Competition Or Marry to the man her father arranged for her. With utter disbelief and shock she accepted, since she was confident enough to win. However after losing the competition, she thought this wouldn't be a matter of discu
