Eliana Thorne is forced to marry a shady billionaire by her aunt Livia to save the family's fortune and secure their future. The catch was, the man -Levi Vanderbilt -was dead. In everyone's eye, she was basically a human sacrifice to the Vanderbilt family. Much to her surprise on her wedding night there is a ghost living with her, her dead husband Levi is very much alive- And very unhappy with this new development of having a stranger claim his name and assets. Levi hated Eliana believing she is a pawn but decides to keep up appearances to find out who betrayed him. A drunken night leads to pregnancy, suffocating Levi. Just when Eliana grows tired of the toxic dynamic and constant abuse, she suffers a miscarriage and decides to leave. Until, she finds out Livia's true intentions causing them to fall into an uneasy alliance. Levi promises to kill her if she ever betrays him, but she finds her family's fortune locked in a biometric vault with only accessible by Levi. Slowly, the tensions and passion merge, blurring lines as allies as something romantic develops, can she win the heart of this terrible cold hearted billionaire? Or will their passion cost them something more?
This is it. My wedding. If someone had told me I'd be here yesterday, I'd say they were lying. But here I am, no falsehood detected. There is only another twenty minutes left till I become Eliana Vanderbilt. Mrs. Levi Vanderbilt.
"Eliana.." Aunt Livia crones in a sing song voice, clearly excited. "The guests are arriving."
She glances at me and her face contorts into a vicious sneer. Aunt Livia takes in my caramel tan skin, natural red lips enhanced by the lip stain I hurriedly smeared on and my slanted siren eyes.
"Well, you can put lipstick on a pig.." she eyes me from top to bottom.
I curl my fist, fingernails digging into my palms.
"Whatever, I'm sure your husband wouldn't mind." That statement seems to set her off and she began laughing hysterically. "Given the circumstances, widowed even before your marriage." She straightens back up again.
Her face goes serious as she finally makes eye contact with me. She opens her mouth to speak but is cut off by the wedding planner walking in.
"They are ready for you."
I take a breath steeling myself, as I walk out. The widowed bride.
Two days earlier
"Eliana," her voice thunders, sending a chill down my spine.
She's ere. That wasn't a good sign and I knew it. Aunt Livia's presence anywhere was never a good sign.
"Yes, aunt Livia." I say, walking up to her so she could see me. I hate how meek my voice sounds. It seemed to fuel her, knowing I was weak, I had no choice.
"Come in. I need to talk to you." She says with that cold sneer that never seemed to leave her face. She reminded me of the queen of heart in Alice in wonderland. Big head covered in red hair, eyes too large for hee face and a permanent grimace that made it impossible for anyone to look at her face for too long.
I walk into the study head bowed. My dirty blonde hair in a low bun, wearing clothes I had bought from a dollar store.
Her face turned to a frown when she took in my appearance standing at the door. "You couldn't put on something else?"
Aunt Livia does not try to hide her distaste for my outfit. I want to scream, I can't afford anything else. We barely have enough to live by, every cent I make goes into my dad. Some days I barely have enough to eat.
"Sorry." Is all I could muster up.
"How's your father?" She asks.
"He's... still the same. The doctors said they would try a new round of treatments since the last one doesn't seem to be working anymore." I say tears filling up my eyes. I grit my teeth not letting them fall. I have to ask her for more money. "Aunt Livia, the new treatment... it's expensive. I was wondering if you could spare even a little bit more."
My voice is cut off by her loud laughter. "More money?!"
It stings, he was her brother. My father was a thriving business man until he got sick. Suddenly his company stopped doing well and everything we had in savings was put into his treatment. The company went bankrupt and we are now drowning in debt.
Aunt Livia has helped, in her own way. She never lets me forget it. Every cent I get from her is through a lot of groveling.
"Aunt Livia... the doctors say this one is going to work. You know I wouldn't bother you if I didn't have to.." I say.
She laughs and even louder. "Do you know how much you owe me already? And now you're asking for even more?"
I flinch at hee harsh statements.
"You couldn't pay it for seven lifetimes, yet you want more." She continues. "Pray tell Eliana. How are you going
to pay it all back."
"When... when father gets better we will find.." I start.
"Blah blah, the story of your mothers fortune again. Your father isn't getting better, wouldn't it be easier to just stop. Save me my money." She says cruelly.
I throw myself down on the floor on my knees. "Please, he will get better. I just know it. Please just help us once again."
"My brother will get better... I live for the day. Okay." She agrees. "Get up, your begging annoys me. I'll help, but you have to do something for me in return."
"Okay. Anything." I say getting up.
"Anything..." she smirks.
Aunt Livia gets up, removing a file from her drawer, placing it on the table. "Sit."
I sit and she gestures to the documents, for me to open it.
What could this be? I open it cautiously, dreading what it could contain. Is it a slave contract? Does she want me to give up all my human rights to her? I wouldn't put that past her.
To my surprise it's a picture of a man, blurry so I can barely make out his face, but irregardless a picture. There are many pictures like that I note, flipping through the pages.
After the pictures it's a document. I see headers like, schools, hobbies, most frequented places along with a shirt bio data. Name: Levi Vanderbilt, Age: 30, Occupation: businessman.
What even is this? I look up to see Aunt Livia staring at me intently.
I flip to the last page and it's a marriage contract. The more I read the more my face morphs into shock.
I look up once again at Aunt Livia.
"Yes, that's your husband. The man you're going to marry, Levi Vanderbilt."
My ears are ringing as she goes on. Marriage? Its worse than a slave contract. I can hear her distantly say.
"Marry Levi Vanderbilt and I'll forgive your debt and take care of your father's treatment."
To my left, a girl rehearsing lines about "passion for brand strategy." To my right: some guy nervously pitching his startup to himself. And me? Here for my first "real" job interview, hoping to impress a major socialite and finally start my life. Then Amir Alec Khan happened. Billionaire. Tabloid king. Rumored ties to the underworld. The kind of man you don't just meet-you're swept into his orbit. And right now, he's got one problem: to go legit, he needs to look like a family man. Solution? A contract wife. So, now I'm in a fake marriage with a man who doesn't do "normal." But just when things start to feel real, his past comes calling. Secrets. Threats. And I'm realizing his world may shatter before I can even decide if I want in. How many kidnappings can one marriage survive, anyway?
Evelyn finds her self in a precarious situation when both her neighbors want her. The problem is they are two billionaires- who happen to already be in a relationship with each other. After being burned by a very famous recent celebrity ex, she is skeptical. Work isn't helping, what does one say about an author who is unable to write? When it comes down to it and she falls into their carefully crafted web. Will they fix her or will she drown them?
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
Her fiance and her best friend worked together and set her up. She lost everything and died in the street. However, she was reborn. The moment she opened her eyes, her husband was trying to strangle her. Luckily, she survived that. She signed the divorce agreement without hesitation and was ready for her miserable life. To her surprise, her mother in this life left her a great deal of money. She turned the tables and avenged herself. Everything went well in her career and love when her ex-husband came to her.
Allison fell in love with Ethan Iversen, the soon-to-be Alpha of the Moonlight Crown pack. She always wanted him to notice her. Meanwhile, Ethan was an arrogant Alpha who thought a weak Omega could not be his companion. Ethan's cousin, Ryan Iversen, who came back from abroad and was the actual heir of the pack, never tried to get the position nor did he show any interest in it. He was a popular playboy Alpha but when he came back to the pack, one thing captured his eyes and that was Allison.
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.
While Sienna reached the pinnacle of her success, Julian remained the forgotten son of his family, the one who had secretly stolen her first kiss in the shadows of the night. As Sienna hit her darkest moment, Julian returned home, leaving his life behind, only to witness her tears glistening in the moonlight as she reluctantly accepted another man's proposal. When Sienna needed Julian more than ever, he had risen to a position of power and had become her most steadfast pillar of support. "Please marry me." There was no one else in the world who could love Sienna as deeply as Julian did.
To the public, Arabella was Owen's trusty secretary who catered to all his needs and served as the primary blood donor of his beloved, who was in a coma. Behind closed doors, she was Owen's submissive wife. Arabella was quiet and obedient, and she endured every humiliation without a word of protest. Rumored to be a neat freak, Owen had tossed the last woman who had dared to kiss him into the river. Yet he pinned Arabella against the wall and demanded, "Give me a child, and I’ll let you go!" Arabella pushed him away and flashed him a cold smile. "You are not worthy!"