Ride or die
/1/127579/coverbig.jpg?v=2ea34f2e2c2f3053a637d5acfe2fbf25)
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.
/0/45780/coverbig.jpg?v=f7760b193126c15b01909383c73fff86)
Shut Up Or Die
A lottery game that can take someone's life, whoever becomes the ultimate winner, their life will be taken away after getting the main prize, namely visiting a luxurious mansion that can grant all the wishes of the winner. Elise and Yessy, two people who have won the lottery and won the same main pr
/0/64065/coverbig.jpg?v=20250113175424)
DIE! OR MARRY ME
Selena Quintanilla, sole heir to the city's most feared mafia family, finds her life turned upside down when the sudden death of her father bequeaths the family throne to her. However, in order to maintain peace amid the bloody conflict between the mafia, the father has devised a difficult choice: S
/0/72069/coverbig.jpg?v=8ef6ac584435fdec4cb578986212f038)
Mate? Or Die!
When Serena finds herself mated to her oppressor, she knew she was one of the few wolves that the moon goddess hated. She has resolve, bring down her old mate and make sure everybody pays for what they have done to her. Lycan king Ardan has to find his mate before he turns thirty and time is running
/0/15026/coverbig.jpg?v=be3fdb1e77abccaf9aa92f855d00cfb8)
/0/11743/coverbig.jpg?v=4ed4585b2ba35882cfb1099317e04ffc)
/0/80698/coverbig.jpg?v=6876b76ef3dfe29bde3276332efcbf35)
The Rodeo Queen's Second Ride
I was moments from becoming Lone Star Rodeo Queen, poised to cement my place in Texas society, just as I had in another reality. But in that past, that "first life," my story ended brutally. The economy tanked, my husband, Blake, blinded by his obsession with Clara Belle Hayes, abandoned our kids an
/0/26113/coverbig.jpg?v=a9ebfb4b61d9f5c43053462d55d2f651)
Ride Her Shoes
Nmachukwu, an 18 year old with numerous dreams and fantasies like every young girl her age, is put in a dilemma when she is asked to get married to a Chief and become one of his Wives. Being in love with Echezona who happens to be the eye candy of many girls because of strong and muscular he was b
/0/77183/coverbig.jpg?v=61b25f70400379a3bd3f9f7a13dea643)
How to tame a Tyrant CEO ( or die trying)
The moment Lucy Carter steps into the shoes of Mrs. Anderson, her world tilts. Her new husband in New York City is all undeniable allure-handsome, powerful, and utterly dominant. But his allure is a mask for a chilling reality: a temper that's notoriously cold, arrogantly dismissive, and completely
/0/57042/coverbig.jpg?v=03bd1dcb4eb1fc51c236164ede0e8772)
SOLD TO A CURSED KING : STRIP OR DIE
She was sold to a dangerous king, as his sex slave, by her parents , in exchange for wealth.. Not any king,, but a cursed beast king.. Who is known to be cruel and heartless.. Well that is what happened to a timid and kind human girl.. Born by an Angel and a Beast,, King Ariston Erasmos,, is wha
/0/3304/coverbig.jpg?v=3a7f342781cc1e519c328b7f135ff442)
Die Last
Georg Engel (29.10.1866 - 19.10.1931) war ein deutscher Schriftsteller. Seine zum Teil unter dem Pseudonym Johannes Jörgensen veröffentlichten Romane erschienen in hohen Auflagen. Engels Roman „Die Last" erschien erstmals 1898.
/0/12840/coverbig.jpg?v=bdcd8499903c4b8f396fcebf76ff4110)
/0/73926/coverbig.jpg?v=d73b0113cf9ed54772260fcd04d357e1)
The Last Ruby Wolf - Live as a Queen or die as a Monster
Sienna Valeria Storm thought her only crime was surviving. As the last Ruby Wolf, she has been hunted, accused of murdering an Alpha, and forced into hiding. But when she stumbles into the path of Kieran Draven Wolfe, the most feared Alpha of the Shadowfang Pack, her fate is sealed. He offers her a
/0/25961/coverbig.jpg?v=955638bfcb4b770eca709dcb6c11646a)
What if I die?
Entering a one-sided love isn't easy, especially if the relationship you have is only for a business. "Why do you have to be alive?" My lips loosened up as I sensed the bitterness in his voice. It is as if he hates my existence so much that he has to do something for me to be gone already. "Why d
/0/61038/coverbig.jpg?v=61f54a7bb2326797d5553ede55ab3291)
Love To Die For
The only granddaughter of Alister Cassius, Viviana, meets a tragic end at the hands of her treacherous boyfriend, Nico. Her seemingly perfect life shatters in an instant. But fate isn't done with her yet. Viviana wakes up not as herself, but as Liora—a girl forced to disguise herself as a boy to su
/0/80964/coverbig.jpg?v=3a16a1f79d94d92b99bcbbdfe0af1dba)
The Alpha Must Die
She craved a normal life... Her main goal was to live "the happily ever after" version in the Cinderella story. Unbeknownst to her that life was never a bed of roses. In a twinkle of an eye, Emilia almost lost her purpose in this world, a mysterious accident stole her parents and left her under the
/0/21297/coverbig.jpg?v=52fb7dac718ac078d666d04146461b6d)
Fated to die
My name is Melissa Bradson. I am an orphan who got lucky to be adopted, as a baby, by a couple,who were still looking for a child of their own. They took me in, loved and pampered me till I was seven and then they were blessed with kids of their own. My adopted mother saw me as a threat to her biol
/0/11293/coverbig.jpg?v=1bccb9ec8f49cfb33768157a0c98fea6)
/0/12839/coverbig.jpg?v=99db975c71b9d2ae77fc5ebc8a11340d)
/0/22446/coverbig.jpg?v=8d606e795fa76fa5389acf2a904e3682)
For Bitter or Worse
** "I do have to say, you taste exquisite. Nothing like an ordinary wolf." He comes even a bit closer, leaving nothing more than a few feet between us. "It's almost magical." He breathes and reaches out. He slowly carresses the fur on my back and to my horror he leaves a trail of sparks, my breathin
/0/89287/coverbig.jpg?v=5f08b95967d4d0d1ed1ebf40edc2ec46)
Fame or Revenge.
"I can't stop myself. You consume me Olivia, all of you!" Only daughter of powerful business mogul and drug lord, Olivia Murray wants a family of her own. Her world is shaken after she finds her husband-to-be, Asher in bed with one of his employees a week before their wedding. Feeling betrayed, s
