Novels by 𝕁𝕠𝕙𝕟

The room was dark when I woke up.For a moment, I didn’t know where I was only that my chest hurt and my throat felt tight, like I’d been crying for hours.Then I remembered.I wasn’t in the mansion with Lucas anymore.I was alone.The hotel room smelled faintly of detergent and old air. My suitcase sat unopened by the door, because unpacking meant accepting that I was really here that I had left and not going back.Or been left.I curled onto my side, pulling the blanket tighter around myself.That was when the memory came.It always did.I was eight years old the first time I learned that silence could be safer than speaking.My father’s voice boomed through the small apartment, sharp and angry, cutting through the thin walls. I sat on the floor outside the bedroom, my knees hugged to my chest, counting the cracks in the tiles.One……………Two……………Three………….If I stayed quiet, maybe he wouldn’t notice me.“Amara!” he shouted.My heart skipped a beat.I didn’t move.Inside the room, my

The silence stretched too long.Cameras hovered in the air, microphones angled toward Lucas like weapons waiting to strike. Vanessa stood a few feet away, her expression calm, victorious like she already knew how this would end.I watched Lucas’s face it was expressionless.This was the moment.The moment that would decide whether staying had been worth it.“Lucas?” a reporter prompted. “Is your wife telling the truth?”He opened his mouth.But nothing came out.That pause was everything.Vanessa smiled.“Yes,” Lucas said finally. “There was a contract.”The world exploded.Shouts overlapped. Flashes blinded me. My ears rang as voices shouted paid wife, sham marriage, fraud.I felt like I was falling.Lucas raised his hand, trying to regain control. “But……..”“But what?” Vanessa cut in smoothly. “You’re going to pretend it meant something?”I turned to him, my heart pounding. “Finish it,” I whispered. “Please.”He looked at me.And for a second, I thought he would.“There was a contra

The scandal broke at exactly 9:17 a.m.I knew the time because my phone wouldn’t stop vibrating, the screen lighting up again and again like it was possessed.I was still in bed when the first headline appeared.BLACKWOOD’S CONTRACT WIFE EXPOSED: BILLIONAIRE MARRIAGE A SHAM?My heart dropped.I clicked before I could stop myself.Photos of me stepping out of the mansion, Vanessa walking in days earlier, Lucas looking cold and distant beside me. The article was long, detailed, and cruel. It talked about a marriage agreement, unnamed sources, and a woman who had “sold herself for security.”That woman was me.My hands started shaking.Another notification came in.Did you know about the contract?Were you paid?Are you pregnant or just pretending?I threw the phone onto the bed like it had burned me.The door burst open seconds later.Lucas.His jaw was tight, his phone clutched in his hand. “You’ve seen it.”“That was fast,” I said hollowly.“I’m handling it,” he said immediately. “The

The dinner invitation sat on the vanity like a threat.I stared at it while the stylist adjusted my hair, the words Blackwood Holdings Private Dinner stamped in elegant gold lettering. Lucas had promised it would be quiet. No press. No surprises.But nothing in my life with Lucas Blackwood had ever been simple.“You look nervous,” the stylist said gently.“I’m not,” I replied too quickly.The lie tasted bitter.When I entered the dining hall that evening, every conversation paused for half a second too long. Eyes followed me—assessing, judging, calculating. Men in tailored suits. Women with smiles sharp enough to cut glass.Lucas stood at the head of the table, commanding attention without effort. When his gaze met mine, something unreadable flickered in his eyes.Relief?Concern?He pulled out a chair beside him. “Sit here.”It wasn’t a request.I sat anyway.The dinner began smoothly—too smoothly. Business talk, polite laughter, glasses clinking. I kept my posture straight, my smile

Coming back didn’t feel like surrender.It felt like stepping into a storm I had already been burned by.The mansion doors closed behind us with a heavy thud, the sound echoing through the hallway like a warning. I didn’t take another step. My body was still tense from the drive, my heart still racing from everything Lucas had said at the hotel.“I’ll stay,” I had told him.But staying didn’t mean forgiving.Lucas stood a few feet away from me, hands in his pockets, his shoulders stiff. He didn’t look at me right away, and for once, his silence felt uncertain.“You can take the master bedroom,” he said finally. “I’ll move to the guest wing.”I blinked, surprised. “Why?”“Because I don’t want you to think this is me trapping you,” he replied. “You came back on your terms. I won’t cross that.”Something twisted in my chest.“Thank you,” I said quietly.Mrs. Collins appeared at the top of the stairs, relief visible in her eyes when she saw me. “Welcome home, Mrs. Blackwood.”Home.The wo

The night air hit my face like a slap as I stepped outside the mansion.For the first time since the wedding, I felt like I could breathe.My hands shook as I flagged down a taxi at the gate, clutching the small bag I had packed in a rush. I didn’t know where I was going—only that I couldn’t stay. Not in a house where I was constantly reminded that I was temporary.“Where to?” the driver asked.I hesitated. “Just… drive.”The car pulled away, the massive Blackwood mansion disappearing behind us.I should have felt relieved.Instead, my chest ached.I pressed my forehead against the window, watching the city lights blur. I had known this marriage wasn’t built on love. I had known Lucas Blackwood wasn’t the kind of man who gave his heart freely.So why did it hurt like this?My phone vibrated.Once.Twice.I didn’t need to look to know who it was.I turned it off.—Lucas Blackwood had never chased anyone in his life.People came to him. Investors. Enemies. Women. They all waited.So wh