The Confession
/1/112007/coverbig.jpg?v=a50eb2275df9d10a1189d151a3617521)
My Accidental Billionaire husband
They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, mine didn't. I came back with a marriage certificate bearing a stranger's name, a ring worth more than my parents' love ever was, and a son whose father I've never seen, never known, never remembered. I went to Vegas for a racing competition. I won. I celebrated. And somewhere between the victory and the sunrise, my life changed forever. For six years, I've lived with the consequences of one reckless night. I built an empire. I raised my son. And I searched for the man who changed my life without even knowing it. Then fate laughed in my face. My sister married my ex-fiancé-the man I was promised to since childhood. The man I was supposed to become Mrs. Windsor for. The man who now wears my family name... and looks far too much like my child. Every time I'm near him, the past presses closer. Every glance feels like a question I'm terrified to ask. I shouldn't notice him. I shouldn't feel anything. He is my sister's husband. But some secrets refuse to stay buried. Because the truth about Vegas isn't just in the ring on my finger or the child in my arms. It's standing right in front of me. And when it finally comes out, it won't just destroy a marriage, it will burn an empire to the ground.
Chapter 1 The Arrangement
Katia
I woke up to the sound of people singing badly.
"Happy birthday to you..." I blinked hard against the sunlight filtering through the curtains, my brain slow to reboot. The voices were getting louder, and for a second, I thought I was dreaming. A really weird, off-key dream.
"Happy birthday, dear Katia..."
My bedroom door flung open. I sat up so fast the blanket tangled around my legs like a trap. My vision adjusted just in time to see a small parade entering my room, Delia leading the way with a cupcake on a tray; Dad trailing behind her, holding a phone like he was filming a hostage video; and then, my mother, smiling. I nearly choked because my mom has never smiled at me.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart," she said; her voice was smooth and artificial, like she'd sprayed it with perfume before letting it out of her mouth.
I stared at her like she'd grown a second head. Because here's the thing: Martha didn't do birthdays. Not mine, anyway. Delia got birthdays. Princess themes, balloons, new dresses, and a chorus of relatives pretending they liked each other. I got awkward silences and last-minute gas station cards. I once got a vacuum cleaner. I was twelve.
So this? This felt like a setup.
"Um... thanks?" I said, my voice rough from sleep and suspicion.
Delia plopped the tray down in my lap like she was presenting a peace offering. "I made the cupcake myself," she said sweetly, which meant the maid probably did it while Delia supervised with a glass of wine.
I looked down at it. Vanilla with white frosting and one lonely candle jammed in the center like a warning flare.
"Blow it out," my dad said cheerfully, but his eyes were doing that thing they always did when he was nervous, darting around like they were looking for an exit.
I narrowed my eyes. "Okay, seriously. What's going on?"
My mom gave a soft laugh, as if I was being silly for having the correct instincts. She sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing the comforter as if she'd ever touched it before.
"You're twenty now," she said gently. "That's a very important age."
"Cool," I said, unimpressed. "Should I be bracing for a tax seminar or something?"
Delia giggled. Dad coughed.
Mom kept going, undeterred. "You're a woman now, Katia. And your father and I have something very exciting and important to tell you."
There it was. The sting in the frosting. The trap under the ribbon.
I sat up straighter. "Okay..."
She looked at me like she was about to hand me a tiara. "You've been chosen to marry Julian Windsor."
The room didn't go quiet; it went hollow.
For a second, I couldn't even process the words. I stared at her, waiting for a punchline, a camera crew, or something.
"Who?" I asked, even though I'd heard her perfectly.
"Julian Windsor," she repeated, like I was the dumb one. "The Windsor heir. Their family has been interested in an alliance for years. You were betrothed when you were sixteen."
I blinked. "What?!"
Dad gave me a sheepish look. "We didn't want to overwhelm you at the time."
"At the time? You mean when I was sixteen?!"
Mom's smile never wavered. "It was a strategic match. His family is very private. Very powerful. This is a good thing, Katia. You're incredibly lucky."
Lucky?
Like this was some kind of prize.
Like I should've been jumping up and down because I was the golden ticket in a billionaire breeding lottery.
"I've never even met him," I said, still struggling to wrap my head around the casual horror of what she'd just dropped on me like it was a brunch topic.
"Neither has Delia," she replied smoothly. "But if things had gone differently, she would've married him instead. You should be grateful it's you."
"Wow," I muttered. "How generous of you, Mother."
Delia leaned against the bedpost, swirling her hair around her finger. "He's supposed to be really handsome. And rich. Like... rich rich. The Windsors own, like, everything. Casinos. Oil. Maybe a spaceship? I don't know. They're super secretive."
"Oh great," I snapped. "So I'm marrying a ghost with a trust fund, and you know this how?"
My mom's eyes hardened, just for a second. "Don't be dramatic. He's real. And they chose you. That should mean something."
"No," I said. "What means something is that you waited four years to tell me I was promised to a complete stranger like this is a medieval auction."
My dad cleared his throat. "We thought we'd wait until the Windsors reached out. And... they have."
I stared at him. "You mean this is happening now?"
"They've arranged to meet in a few weeks," my mother said. "There will be dinner. Formalities. You'll get to know each other before the engagement becomes public."
Public? Right. Because this wasn't a relationship. It was a press release waiting to happen.
"I can't believe this," I said, my voice flat. "You didn't even ask me."
"You don't ask about opportunities like this," she said firmly. "You accept them."
That was her tone now. The mask was slipping. She wasn't the smiling mother with a cupcake anymore. She was the CEO of this family, and I was a failed acquisition being forced into a merger.
I got out of bed, shoving the tray off my lap. The cupcake toppled sideways, the candle smearing frosting across the blanket like a smear of white lies.
"I need air," I said.
Mom stood up. "Katia, don't be ridiculous-"
"No. I need to think. I'm going to Vegas."
That caught her off guard. "Vegas?"
"Just a weekend," I lied. "To clear my head. You want me to marry a stranger? Fine. But let me have one moment of freedom first."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but Dad touched her arm. "Let her go. She'll come around."
I watched the silent war play out in her expression. In the end, control won. Because she thought she already had it.
"Fine," she said, that awful smile returning. "Go. Take some time. But don't forget what's waiting when you come back."
I didn't answer.
I was already packing the second the door closed.
They thought they were giving me space. What they didn't know was that I wasn't going to Vegas for air. I was going for speed.
/0/6157/coverbig.jpg?v=dd45b1e0babcd0c9a5e3d4a768d6da8a)
The Confessions of a Beachcomber
Edmund James "Ted" Banfield (4 September 1852 – 2 June 1923) was an author and naturalist, best known for his book Confessions of a Beachcomber.
/0/6156/coverbig.jpg?v=1f7886d6a38221e41c98dd795c7b0aa3)
The Confession of a Child of the Century — Complete
The Napoleonic Wars are over. Octave, a young Parisian, loves his mistress Elise - until he witnesses her being unfaithful. In despair, he descends into decadence and libertinism. However, the death of his father takes Octave to the countryside where he falls in love with Brigitte, a young widow who
/0/12656/coverbig.jpg?v=d4e18776c6a883085c06a04bb39a6e42)
/0/8131/coverbig.jpg?v=4936f5da53dc623339f33314d177a1a0)
The Confessions of a Collector
Published in 1897, this autobiography of a bibliophile was praised by The New York Times as "entertaining" and "amusing." Hazlitt's self expression through book collecting shows him to be a man embracing of the flow and change of literature through the fifty years he collected.
/0/15712/coverbig.jpg?v=a295ef214f4bb89a51a04c361aeb224e)
/0/23419/coverbig.jpg?v=afb2ad0e02b18f2fc1ceca6ab1f2c3f7)
The Secret Confession
Myra was the type of lady who was always willing to accept less in life. A plus-size woman with sexual fantasies for men and a belief in unconditional love, she was blissfully married and blessed with a kid until destiny intervened and ended her marriage by accusing her of being unglamorous and unat
/0/15563/coverbig.jpg?v=30c61bf0e774080f0018dcfd745db3fd)
The Boy Scout Camera Club or, The Confession of a Photograph
The Boy Scout Camera Club or, The Confession of a Photograph by G. Harvey Ralphson
/0/41778/coverbig.jpg?v=1547bc4220b9705f5c136ab40ac0c87b)
His Forbidden Confession
She met him as a child, he raised her like his daughter...until she fall in love with him. She was the princess of a kingdom, betrothed to another strong king. He was a young priest, swore to only love god and never touch or even think about any woman. Will he be able to resist that love and tempt
/0/10853/coverbig.jpg?v=41dcce1bc9642189aefbee1cfc38760e)
Confession de Minuit / Roman
Je n'en veux pas à M. Sureau; Je suis tout à fait mécontent d'avoir perdu ma situation. Une douce situation, voyez-vous? Mais je n'en veux pas à M. Sureau. Il était dans son droit et je ne sais trop ce que j'aurais fait à sa place; bien que, moi, je comprenne une foule de choses, malheureusement.
/0/82062/coverbig.jpg?v=a0bde69d81a82254160425201c738aa6)
A Mother's Deadly Confession
Ava Rodriguez's brilliant brother, Leo, won the acclaimed American Justice Fellowship. His future was supposed to shine, a beacon of hope for their family. Then, he died. They called it suicide, but Leo's last scrawled words to her were: "Don't accept the fellowship." Ava knew they were lying.
/1/110825/coverbig.jpg?v=74ac6ca408a28c700522af1798a9305d)
The Belated Confession from a Disqualified Father
My six-year-old twins, Liam and Lily, begged to go to Disneyland. But my husband, Julian Vance, planned to take his mistress to a prenatal clinic. Annoyed by the twins' crying and deeming them "too delicate and spoiled," Julian drove them out to the Mojave Desert, demanding they learn how to survi
/1/100377/coverbig.jpg?v=d3185f41ca99034c81030cd90d3f5b6a)
His Confession, My Shattered World
My boyfriend, Finn, and my best friend, Carly, were my entire world. After a childhood drifting through foster homes, they were the family I' d always craved, my anchors in a stormy sea. I thought I was the luckiest girl alive. Then, on the morning of my 23rd birthday, I stumbled upon a private vid
/0/90509/coverbig.jpg?v=060f1ea939585af029445661bae60542)
FORBIDDEN CONFESSION - AN EXTRA SPICY EROTICA COLLECTION
His massive cock stretched me, tearing, forcing its way inside my virgin core. A searing pain, quickly followed by an overwhelming fullness, ripped through me. I screamed, my body arching, my nails digging into the cold marble. Then, from behind, Silas pushed his own thick shaft into my ass, impali
/0/84489/coverbig.jpg?v=709189e4b82db523dfe119086465b9e5)
Moonlit Confession: One More Chance With My Beautiful Mistake
Just as Alina and Rhett finalized their divorce, a friend pressed Rhett. "So that's it? You don't regret it one bit?" Rhett just shrugged, jamming his hands into his pockets, a crooked grin sliding across his face. "It was just a deal from day one. There's nothing to regret." Yet at a party pulsing
/0/793/coverbig.jpg?v=20171120150342)
First and Last Things: A Confession of Faith and Rule of Life
After I had studied science and particularly biological science for some years, I became a teacher in a school for boys. I found it necessary to supplement my untutored conception of teaching method by a more systematic knowledge of its principles and methods, and I took the courses for the diplomas
/0/18231/coverbig.jpg?v=baf7388257bd58889dba5a3037b6fb03)
I Rule the Underworld
Once a mediocre man, and now a powerful Yama. His name is Evan Ye, the overlord of the underworld. He commands deceased historical figures and countless heroes from movies and cartoons. The sole purpose of his minions, whether it be the fearsome characters of computer games or the beautiful, sexy fe
/0/18482/coverbig.jpg?v=cab7f99796a207c586db0721bfc523b3)
Genius Twins And Their Mother
Lancy, a daughter of a wealthy family, is sold to an agent organization. During a mission, she is seriously injured and lost her consciousness. Years later she wakes up, unexpectedly finding that she has boy/girl twins. Her six-year-old boy is smart, with excellent business thinking; the girl is goo
/0/18510/coverbig.jpg?v=5e2bd42482281165f5c3d0f39d9ef28d)
Forever And Always
Twenty year old Viola's life seems to have bloomed into happiness as she proposes to her fiance at her birthday party. However, the man she thinks is in love with her turns out to be an extremely cruel husband, who takes control of her life after tying the knot. Expelled from the school, and humilia
/0/18080/coverbig.jpg?v=92077f1de15d5cf7aa84d8377d333bc1)
Trapped with the Lawyer
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!”
