The Substitute Bride Forcefully Married to a Domineering Ruthless Billionaire
/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.
/0/34460/coverbig.jpg?v=20d510939f909c4c7927f15d394a21ea)
The Substitute Bride: Forcefully Married to a Domineering Ruthless Billionaire
Mature Contents Ahead. Please this book is highly rated 18+ "You'll pay for this Amelia, mark my words, you get married to me through deception, you'll suffer the consequences. And now, you'll face your first punishment, you want to be my wife huh, you'll face what happens to them on their wedding
/0/39476/coverbig.jpg?v=440c9c0b5c2794ab18b537f515b90489)
Married To A Powerful Domineering Billionaire
"You came to me, you initiated the whole thing that led to my being dis-virgined. I promised my grandma that until I get married, I wasn't going to share my bed with any woman, but you came along and forcefully took me to bed. You seduced me, you took my virginity, therefore you have to marry me."
/0/59029/coverbig.jpg?v=dc864851342e6b642d2089c8a688605f)
Married to the ruthless billionaire
n the glittering world of Manhattan's elite, after a devastating betrayal by her step-sister, Emily Donovan is thrown into the path of a notorious billionaire, Ryan Harrington. Betrayed and abandoned, Emily must lead the way through a complex hall of mirrors, with hidden adversaries and puzzling a
/0/94770/coverbig.jpg?v=955e8eb06e150530afbc121f22d22ee7)
Married To The Ruthless Billionaire..
Amara Cole never dreamed of marrying a billionaire. But when her mother's hospital bills grew unbearable, she signed a contract that bound her to the cold, ruthless Lucian Hale. One year as his wife. No love. No expectations. No freedom. Lucian is everything she should fear-arrogant, powerful, an
/0/45825/coverbig.jpg?v=93e22f7ccd3cefdb472d61afff13da5d)
FORCEFULLY MARRIED TO A BILLIONIARE CEO
"It is our wedding night" Layla Anderson cried after her husband Aidan Hillary who was forced into getting married to her agaisnt his wish. Aidan was not interested in Layla before the wedding and even after the wedding, so he asked to his PA to place her in another room and only ask to see her wh
/1/127437/coverbig.jpg?v=fbe798cf1cdf314b89d6568c1de239e6)
Substitute Bride: Sold To The Ruthless Biker
I woke up with a shattered rib and memories that weren't mine, transmigrating into the body of Annelise Roman, the abused, hidden daughter of a wealthy family. My new parents were swapping me out for my golden-child sister, Brielle. I was being sold as a human sacrifice to appease the Iron Wraiths,
/0/70439/coverbig.jpg?v=89d81a9da8c5cea1e8d9b16a1c73cbe0)
Married to a ruthless billionaire CEO
Emily's father's company was on the verge of going bankrupt and leaving them penniless, investors were pulling out and her father, Mr Richard was on the edge of losing his company and going to jail if he couldn't pay up the banks. The only way out at that moment was when he received a call from
/0/58532/coverbig.jpg?v=d2b5ea1576405018b8c2a6398c0524da)
SUBSTITUTE BRIDE TO THE PARALYZED BILLIONAIRE
When Emma Parker is summoned from her humble rural life to the glittering world of Brooklyn’s elite, she never expects the price of her family's generosity. Her uncle and aunt, desperate to secure a lucrative business alliance, compel her to impersonate her glamorous, rebellious cousin Isabella in a
/1/113782/coverbig.jpg?v=6bc374f59df4d2cf41b383a05c8bf8ca)
Married To The Ruthless Disgraced Billionaire
I was once the untouchable heiress to the Schroeder empire, until a corporate fraud conviction stripped away my life and threw me into federal prison for five brutal years. On the day of my release, I stepped out into the freezing rain only to realize I had been utterly abandoned by everyone I love
/1/115112/coverbig.jpg?v=3c7070893449c9d435d6f8552ab6aa64)
Married To The Ruthless Billionaire Husband
To save her dying mother, Adaline walked into the Waldorf Astoria to deliver a shirt to her fiancé. She didn't know her stepsister, June, had swapped her keycard. Adaline stumbled into a pitch-black suite and was brutally assaulted by a stranger in the dark. The nightmare didn't end there. June pa
/0/91516/coverbig.jpg?v=a6adc1f13279fd6df5ac1f438b1291e7)
Married to the ruthless Billionaire Mafia
I was meant to study law. Instead, the law sold me. My father's debts sold me into a contract marriage with Dante Moretti, the heir to a mafia empire who hides behind a billion-dollar legal empire. To the world, he's the polished, untouchable CEO. Behind closed doors, he's ruthless, demanding, a
/1/121195/coverbig.jpg?v=f3a7c5f01936dbdba2161467d2339c4b)
Reborn And Married To The Ruthless Billionaire
For six years, Elena Craig dedicated her life and her brilliant mind to her fiancé, Jory Black. She built his tech empire from the ground up, believing they were heading toward a perfect marriage. But her reward wasn't a wedding ring. It was a staged car crash and the suffocating, damp earth of a f
/1/119418/coverbig.jpg?v=e9440a3881c53938d2439f598ed37efd)
Married To The Ruthless Crippled Billionaire
I was the abandoned daughter of the Foster family, locked away in a sanatorium for five years. Today, my father forced me to marry the notorious, wheelchair-bound billionaire Alistair Carlisle in my sister's place. My sister had faked a fatal heart condition to escape the arrangement. My ex-fian
/0/40169/coverbig.jpg?v=7d8c1c0fac2d3c19dfb64edd2de80968)
Married To A Billionaire
"What the fuck are you saying?! We are what?!" "You heard me right, we're married. Good morning, my dear wife,"
/0/58141/coverbig.jpg?v=580d9ea8feccd93e86ab89edf86c6f2b)
Billionaire Substitute Bride
"Don't you feel a bit of regret, or even sadness? You should know you've spewed coffee at Mia, because if one day I exchange places with her and she's still mad at it, she would definitely get back to you and she might even get frantic. Do you understand how terrible a frantic woman can get? Are you
/1/116494/coverbig.jpg?v=068912c481de66814a2a762ab937df60)
Substitute Bride: Healing The Ruthless Heir
Serena's stepmother forced her to take her cousin's place and marry the Beaumont family heir. Everyone in New York knew Felix Beaumont was a disfigured, crippled madman after a horrific car crash. To ensure her compliance, her ruthless family completely emptied her little brother's medical trust f
/0/50976/coverbig.jpg?v=57625a822f4cb48bee47a2ff8dd050d0)
Forcefully Married To My Second Chance Mate
Thrown into a loveless marriage with the heartless alpha king after a brutal rejection, Aurora discovers a shocking truth—she's been wed to her second-chance mate. As forbidden love and ancient prophecies collide, she must choose between her destiny and the chains of her past. Embark on a captivatin
/0/50740/coverbig.jpg?v=644ea56fc72798896919e6cf981394ee)
Married To The Ruthless Alpha
In a world masked with supernatural creatures, alliances and loyalties are tested when a young girl finds out that the ruthless Lycan king she is being forced to marry turns out to be her mate. But the imbroglio worsened when she found out that the very man she now considered a mate and a husband,
/0/76562/coverbig.jpg?v=d1c3ddaef36ee6ad67834390ab02c0c3)
MARRIED TO A STRANGER : THE BILLIONAIRE'S BRIDE
BLURB Gold Bennett thought she had it all, until the man she'd loved and supported through law school shattered her world. Jason, her charming, ambitious boyfriend, had promised they'd build a life together. But when a rich heiress comes into the picture, he doesn't hesitate to abandon Gold, leaving
/0/57731/coverbig.jpg?v=377755a49c7ee4b60b7a9fce4b33d3ab)
Substitute Bride To The Alpha.
Clara you have to do this, for your clan, for your pack and for your family. Those words my father had said to me rang as a bell in my ears, yes I knew I had to do it. I had to marry this alpha whom my sister was meant to marry, whether I liked it or not that was my fate. It was sealed. I could onl
