Queen Anna
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.
Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Tolstoy clashed with its editor Mikhail Katkov over issues that arose in the final installment; therefore, the novel's first complete appearance was
Anna Karenina
Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction, Tolstoy considered Anna Karenina his first true novel, after he came to consider War and Peace to be more than a novel. Fyodor Dostoyevsky declared it "flawless as a work of art." His opinion was shared by Vladimir Nabokov, who especially admired "th
Anna diaries
A young girls writes about her life in her diary prior to a confrontation with her classmates that leads to murder, will her diary help the detective solve the case and put the culprit behind bars
Anna Smith: The Invisible Hunter
Amelia Hayes Bishop had a perfect life: a successful career as an architect, a beautiful home, and a decade-long marriage to her college sweetheart, Ethan. Their upcoming weekend at their Galveston beach house was meant to reignite their flagging romance. But Amelia had secretly uncovered Ethan' s
You Belong To Me Anna
Anastasia Angel, daughter of the former president of the country, was once kidnapped by one of her father's enemies, she was later rescued by Mahlon Brown a prominent billionaire but not every day are Sundays. On the day of their engagement, she found Mahlon with another woman, which made her furio
Anna of the Five Towns
Anna Tellwright, daughter of a wealthy but miserly and dictatorial father, lives in the Potteries area of Staffordshire, England. Her activities are strictly controlled by the Methodist church. Anna struggles for freedom and independence against her father's restraints, and her inward battle between
Queen
After running away from her abusive father, Jasmine ended up in the wrong territory where she was almost raped by 4 guys until she met Tommy, a well-known mafia who was a heartless monster. Jasmine knew exactly who he was and she had no idea why he had saved her. After he rescued her, Tommy took her
Lycan Queen
Shunned, bullied, and exiled, she was always considered a nobody within the pack. The pack treated her with anger and deceit, never realizing the dormant power within her inner self, which she also never knew. But everything changes the day several mysterious men arrive in the pack, flanking her
Queen Berserker
Lex is a 25 Year old she-wolf who is mateless, her father trades her to the murderous King Kaden in return for help with their lands. Kaden Is the Alpha of his pack and the King of his land. She doesn't want to meet him no less marry him. He doesn't want a mate or love. Will the two be able to come
Armor Queen
War is hard for a man. It cuts off the soul of a person. No one can survive it until they leave behind their sanity they said. A princess lost in a rebellion. She lead her life in the comfort of her castle but the reality was harsher for her. She was thought to be dead by her country but she returne
Dominant Queen
In the kingdom of futanari, Andrea reigns supreme as the Dominant Queen. With her fierce strength, breathtaking beauty, and unapologetic dominance, she holds all who cross her path within her grasp. But when she comes face to face with her greatest enemy, Andrea finds herself caught up in an unexpec
Queen Lucia
Mrs. Emmeline Lucas of Riseholm is a relentless social climber who rules her small English village with a calculating mind and an iron fist. She is attended at every turn by Peppino, who writes bad poetry, and her best friend, Georgie, with whom she plays Mozart duets and pretends to speak Italian.
Queen Lucia
The first volume of E.F. Benson's wildly satirical take on the Edwardian English upper class. The books were recently adapted by the BBC into a mini-series starring Sherlock's Mark Gatiss.Emmeline Lucas -- Lucia, to her friends -- is a determined social climber, determined to rise to the top of the
Queen Manikarnika
"Marry you?" She asked clearly astonished. "It's not by will." He said to his defense. "Then who's forcing you?" The princess inquired. "Nobody." "Am confused." "Am doing this to protect you." "How?" Queen Ira is an adopted daughter of the king Darsh pranav jai and Queen Poti pranav jai. Wh
Vampire queen
Prolong "I can never be yours, you mother f**king merciless blood sucker monster!" She said poking his chest while he just smirked.Turning around, she walk down to the door. Raisng his hand, she was raised by an invisible force which turned her around. "I told you, you are mine and min
HIS QUEEN
Alpha King Thane is wild and ruthless. He doesn't know how to be gentle. He is exasperated by the slave in red dress. He doesn't want another mate but no one else can have her.Esmeralda is attracted to the king. He acts hot and cold towards her and stirs up emotions she doesn't understand. She has n
Drama Queen
Nicole Vargas. Spoiled, rich, smart, and melodramatic. She graduated Fashion Design in Brazil and was the daughter of a well known artist and the CEO of 'The Vargas' hotel and casino chains. She could get anything she wants at just the snap of her fingers. Even her career. But she didn't. And she
QUEEN GODDESS
Brianna a simple girl who was very fond of her life and all the simple things in life you would find. All people have dreams and ambitions but what happens when Brianna's life takes a turn ? Will things become more better or worse when she is finally exposed to the outside world ...A world she
DANCING QUEEN
Kim Lalisa is a girl who has always wanted to be an idol but two things are stopping her which is her mum who doesn't want her to become an Idol and also her being poor which couldn't make her go to her dream school. But Lisa is a girl who doesn't give up easily decided to follow her dream when an o
Moonlight Queen
I'm from a land filled with mysteries unheard and untold. I'm the only child of the strongest Alpha King and Luna witch of my clan. My father had me betrothed from birth to an Alpha of another clan whom he found worthy of me but here I am deep in love with another man who barely looks at my face, I
