The Substitute Bride The Cartel King Refused To Let Go
Roksana Castillo stayed invisible, hiding behind thick lenses and a quiet desk job in a small company. But when her sister flees her wedding day with a secret lover, leaving behind a cartel boss, the Castillo family needs a substitute.
They hand Roksana over at gunpoint. Santiago De-Luca. At forty, he is the ruthless CEO of De-Luca Holdings and the cold-blooded head of the Mexican cartel. He wanted an alliance; instead, he got a frightened ghost with silver eyes and a mouth that defies him. He makes the rules: she is his property, locked behind his iron gates, existing only at his command. Every touch is a warning, every glance, a trap.
Yet, as dark threats circle the mansion and a phantom stalker tries to tear Roksana apart, Santiago finds himself breaking his own ironclad laws to keep her alive. But the walls of the De-Luca estate are built on lies. When the truth of Roksana’s true bloodline emerges, revealing her as the heiress to the sworn enemy that wiped out Santiago’s family—the obsidian empire shatters.
He swore to kill every last Loretta. But how do you slaughter the only woman who ever made your black heart beat?
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Chapter: Chapter 5Roksana’s POV“Have your seat,” Santiago De-Luca spoke. His voice was thick, low, carrying that heavy, suffocating authority you simply couldn't say no to. I walked over to the sofa across from him, my steps slow and agonizing, each movement sending a dull, agonizing throb through my lower back from the brutal fall at home. I sank onto the cushions, every nerve ending screaming. His eyes remained glued to me, stripping me down as he assessed every inch of my frame, making me feel small, entirely stripped of any remaining dignity. I buried my gaze in my lap, my fingers tightly entwined.“The name?” he asked, and I snapped my head up to look at him.He didn't even fucking know the name of the woman who had just been sold to him like livestock. “You should probably ask the people who sold me to you,” I shot back, instantly regretting the defiance when a sharp, crack whipped against my back. A raw, piercing wince tore from my throat.I glanced back in sheer panic to see two towering m
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 4Roksana's POVThe second their hands let go of my arms, my knees gave out completely.I tried to force myself to stay upright, but the brutal, white-hot pressure in my back made my legs useless. I crumpled, catching myself on a table with a sharp hiss of pain that tore straight from my throat.Blinking back the thick haze of tears, I forced my gaze up toward the man sitting on the far side of the room. He was scrolling effortlessly through a sleek tablet, completely detached from the wreckage of my life. Up close, he looked younger than he did in the grainy press photographs, a sharp jawline, dark hair falling neatly over his forehead, and an air of terrifying, absolute composure.I swallowed hard, sucking in a ragged, defiant breath. "I’m not marrying you!" I spat, my voice shaking from the sheer agony radiating through my spine.His hand paused. He lowered the tablet.His dark gaze drifted up, locking onto mine and pinning me in place. The weight of his eyes, calculating, dead, an
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 3Roksana’s POVMy reflection in the full-length glass didn't look like me. It looked like a corpse dressed up for a cruel, open-casket viewing, a stranger trapped inside a white, silk-wrapped coffin.The heavy fabric clung to my ribs like a second skin, each breath a struggle against the corset biting into my waist, mocking the freedom I was about to claw back with my own bare hands.My reflection began to smear and dissolve as hot tears flooded my vision. My chest seized, the air turning to dry ash in my lungs. I can’t do this.I whipped away from the mirror, my heels clicking frantically against the hardwood. I crossed the bedroom in two desperate strides, slammed the heavy mahogany door shut, and turned the heavy brass key with a sharp, echoing click that felt like sealing a tomb.I threw myself at the window, shoving the glass wide to let the sharp morning air hit my burning, tear-streaked cheeks. The moment I looked down, my stomach plummeted into a sickening, violent freefall
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 2Roksana’s POVThe silk dress hit my chest like a lead weight, I held unto it instinctively. Trying to process what she meant till it finally hit. “Excuse me?” My brow shot up.Why would I marry him? He was meant to marry Allison, not me.“I said you’re marrying him. Get dressed,” Mom glared at me.“No. I refuse to marry someone old. I refuse to be a second chance. I won’t be marrying that old monster.”The words left my lips before my brain could even catch up—small at first, but backed by a sudden, violent surge of adrenaline.Dad took a step forward, his massive frame looming over me. “Watch your tone, Roksana. You would marry Santiago you—”“I said no!” I snapped, my voice cracking, stepping back until the edge of the mattress bit into the back of my knees.“And what made you think you’ve got an option here? I’m your mother. I know what’s best for you, now get dressed and go down those stairs,” Mom deadpanned.The trembling in my hands vanished, replaced by a burning, choking fury
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 1Roksana POV“Roksana!”Mom’s voice pierced the air, sharp and hysterical, as she crossed the threshold. She didn't pause. Her eyes raked the room, darting toward the washroom, wrenching the door open, checking every shadow as if hunting a ghost.A cold knot formed in my stomach. Mom never stepped foot in my room. The only time she crossed this boundary was to find Allison, or to demand I track Allison down.“What’s going on?” I pushed myself off the bed, letting the novel slip from my fingers.She ignored me, spinning back around. “She’s not here. She didn’t tell you where she was going?”Where she was going? A nervous, breathless irritation flickered through me. “She’s not home?”“Stop acting as if you don’t know anything! I’m very sure she told you!” Mom shrieked, freezing mid-stride. She muttered a frantic curse under her breath, then whipped her glare back to me, venom dripping from her eyes. “Allison told you, didn’t she?”“Told me what?” I stared at her, utterly blind to the
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 5Seraphina’s POVPulling the soft fabric Cas had brought over my bare body, I walked over to the mirror and stared at my reflection. My skin looked pale, almost translucent under the harsh light, and my eyes were hollowed out, rimmed in red.Sighing, I turned on the tap, splashing cold water over my face and rinsing out my mouth. The bitter taste of alcohol still coated my tongue, heavy and toxic.Drying my face and hands, I walked out of the washroom, my gaze dropping instantly to his silhouette standing near the window of the room. I sucked in a sharp, painful breath, forcing myself to look at him.“Thanks for tonight,” I mumbled, my voice flat, dead. “I’ll be repaying it back.”His brow shot up, a sharp crease forming between his eyes. “What are you talking about?”“The help you offered,” I scoffed bitterly, wrapping my arms tighter around myself. “It’s probably because you need my womb for your precious unborn child, right? So no problem. I’ll see you in the hospital when you’re r
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 4Seraphina’s POVA cold hand slipped under the edge of the silk, and I violently shoved the person away, pressing my whole weight deeper into the mattress as if I could melt right through the wood and disappear from the world entirely.The hand came back, reaching for me again. I lashed out, shoving it off with a choked sob.“It’s me, Phin.”My eyes flew open at the sound. That voice. Only one person on this earth ever called me that.My blurry gaze locked onto a familiar, carved face, and the fight drained out of me in a single, shattering breath.There he was. The man I had loved through years of silence and ghosts. The same man who had slipped out of my life like smoke, only to crawl back wearing a different name and a terrifying new skin. “Cas,” I muttered, the weight of the night crushing my chest. If only he wasn't married to Valentina.If only.His hand reached for me again, cautious this time. I didn't push him away. Instead, I launched myself forward, burying my face blind
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 3Seraphina’s POV“Something heavy,”I told the bartender, my voice a hollow, floating above the bass vibrating through the floorboards. He dropped a heavy glass jar in front of me, sloshing with something neon and toxic. I muttered a thank you, lifted it, and swallowed it whole.Liquid fire tore down my throat, making my lungs seized, a violent cough ripped out of me as hot, furious tears spilled over my lashes. A hand landed on my back, heavy and soothing.“Back off,” I choked out, shoving the hand away, before snapping my head forward, gasping for air that felt too thin to breathe.I took another sip after regulating my breathing, letting the numbness creep in, staring into the pulsing neon blur of the club. The bass a distant heartbeat in my ears.Okay, so my life is officially over. No?Asked to be a surrogate for Valentina and him? The exact same guy I gave my heart to years ago, the one who left scars that never quite faded? And now, just when I foolishly thought I might final
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 2Seraphina POV“What’s going on here?”I demanded the second my hips hit the cushions of the sofa. Across from me, two pairs of eyes locked onto mine with an unsettling, heavy weight. The air in the room felt thick, suffocatingly tight.“Phina, it—” Derek started, cutting himself off with a sharp intake of breath, his jaw clenched. “You never liked me in the first place,” he said, his voice rising. “It felt like I was just some sort of garbage you were managing.”Garbage? Managing? What the absolute, mind-bending fuck was going on? Where on earth was this coming from?Panic mixed with sheer disbelief fluttered in my chest. I whipped my head toward Marina, searching her face for an explanation, a joke, a sign that this was a hidden camera prank. Instead, a dry, mocking chuckle slipped past her lips as she met my gaze with cold indifference.“It happened, Sera. Deal with it,” she rolled her eyes, leaning back against the cushions like she was talking about the weather.I blinked, my
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 1Seraphina POV“Excuse me?”I narrow my eyes at the three figures seated across me, my voice dropping an octave.“You heard me. Your sister is really sick and—”“Yeah, I heard that part. The next?” I interrupted him. “Repeat it.”“Stop acting this way, Seraphina. You heard your Dad. Your sister needs your help.” Mom snapped, and I faced her, my mouth opening for a word, but nothing came out.I blinked through the three of them, Dad looking at me with that same look I’ve seen all my life. “Valentina, what’s going on?” I asked, my gaze settling on her watching at how she was picking at her manicured nails. A dry chuckle escaped my lips at the look she gave me. There we go. The pretentious snake.“You know what? I’m not hearing it. What I know is I’m not doing any shits with you!” I deadpanned, wanting to move up to my room, but a hand grabbed onto mine, pushing me forward and making me almost trip.“Your sister needs your help. She had an accident, for God’s sake, can’t you help her?”
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 5Nora's POVI stared at her, my brows furrowed tight. What the hell is that supposed to mean? I was my parents' daughter. A Brown. Through and through, and nothing was ever going to change that."What on earth is that supposed to imply?" I glared at Matilda, wondering where on earth she pulled such a wild thought from."I didn’t mean it like that, Nora," she breathed out, backpedaling slightly before pressing on. "I just mean... the resemblance isn't really there. If you're truly their biological daughter, how come you don't take after either of them in any way?"I paused, my breathing instantly turning ragged. "You just didn't see it. There's a resemblance," I lied, the words tasting hollow in my mouth."Is that what you keep telling yourself? Have you ever actually seen the resemblance? Or have you just been too afraid to look at the differences?""Okay, Matilda, please just stop. I'll go wherever you want me to go, so just drop the accusations," I waved a hand dismissively, desperat
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 4Nora's POVIt’s been a week. A week since my entire world collapsed. A week since my parents were ripped away from me, a week since a drop-dead gorgeous murderer casually stepped into my dorm room and left me alive as a silent witness.Peace, boredom, absolute sorrow—I was feeling all of it at once, a tangled web of numbness I didn't even have the words to describe. Maybe the heaviness was a mix of raw grief and the terrifying paranoia that the killer might still come back for me. I would do what my parents raised me to do. Graduate with honors. Get a stable office job. Earn an honest living through my own sweat and tears. Buy my own house, get my own car, find a decent man, and have children of my own.That was the blueprint they mapped out for me, and I was going to follow it to the letter. I wouldn't dare deviate from it. That's why I was studying.I was reading more intensely than I ever had in my entire life. I never imagined I'd retreat this deeply into myself, turning into eve
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 3Nora’s POVI stood frozen as the hospital attendant slowly pulled the stiff, plastic-lined sheet away from the two gurneys. I forced myself to look, every primal instinct in my body screamed at me to turn away and run. The bodies were charred beyond immediate recognition. Skin blackened, blistered, and stripped of anything that made them human. My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself forward, one agonizing step at a time, until I was standing beside the gurney on the left. It belonged to a woman. Trembling, my hand hovered over the ruined expanse of her forearm before I forced my fingers down to brush against the skin.There it was. Faint, scarred into the charred surface, but unmistakably present: the small, perfect circle with a crisp letter N stamped right in the middle."No," I choked out, stumbling backward. Hot, blinding tears spilled over my lashes. My gaze flickered from the dead woman to the second gurney. These can’t be my parents. No, it isn't possible. How could the
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 2Nora’s POVMy lungs burned. Every inhale tasted like copper and panic, the cold air clawing at my throat as I slammed the dorm room door shut behind me.Jesus, did I actually escape? Yes. They won’t find me, right? They can’t. Jude is a university filled with millions of student. How could a shadow in an alley find a face it only glimpsed for seconds?I paced the length of the cramped floorboards, my heart hammering a frantic, erratic rhythm against my ribs.“Now would you explain why the fuck you rushed in like a bat out of hell?”Matilda’s raspy, eternally annoyed voice pulled me out of my spiral. She was sitting up on her bunk, glaring at me, jaw working rhythmically on a piece of gum.I let out a shuddering breath, dropping my bag with a heavy thud onto my desk before throwing myself face-first onto my mattress. “I’m not talking to a brick wall, Nora.”“I saw someone die, Mally,” I muttered into the pillow, my voice muffled and shaking. “I actually saw a man get murdered.”A sharp
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 1Nora’s POVTo most people, college is a chaotic hurdle to survive. To me, it’s a sanctuary. Call me a nerd, but I’d take it as a badge of honor. Where else can you lose yourself completely in the quiet hum of a library, surrounded by the scent of old paper and endless possibility?My phone buzzed against the wooden shelf, breaking my trance. A small smile touched my lips as I saw my mom’s caller ID flashing on the screen.“Mom,” I answered, swiping the green icon.“Nora, how are you? Have you ate dinner?”My eyes widened slightly at her word then checked the digital clock on my desk: 11:14 PM. How had I lost track of the time for that long?“I’m in the library, Mom. I’ll call you the second I’m back at the hostel,” I promised. “You’re still in the library at this time?” I can picture her brow raised right now. “I had lost track of time, I’m heading home now.” After a quick chat, I tapped the red button and ended the call.I glanced up, suddenly realizing the cavernous room was entir
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
From The Billionaire’s Captive To His Queen
Fleeing a powerful billionaire after a life-altering night, Scarlett Jones spent five years protecting her daughter in the shadows.
But when Aiden Cole tracks them down, her world shatters, leading to wrongful imprisonment, a toxic forced contract marriage, and an unimaginable tragedy orchestrated by betrayal.
Left broken, mentally fractured, and driven by fierce vengeance, Scarlett returns transformed from a gentle mother into a cold, strategic villainess.
With blood feuds, corporate wars, and dangerous secrets closing in, Scarlett and Aiden must navigate a brutal path of grief, retribution, and redemption to claim a hard-fought happily ever after.
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Chapter: Chapter 5Scarlett’s POVGreetings were tossed my way as I entered Velvet Club, and I responded with a forced smile. Gosh, it was exhausting. Entering the dressing room, I was met with a chaotic house full of women: some laughing, some dressing, some stripped down to their thongs, and others doing their makeup. Above all, they all seemed happy with the job they were doing. Yet here I was, constantly hating myself for coming here. I just prayed I could pull myself out of the fucking debt my mom had dragged me into. Did that woman even deserve to be called Mom?She had stripped me of my dad’s name by running away with me because the man was poor, only to get tangled up with a thug. She got pregnant again, and just when I thought I was finally getting a sibling to talk to, she abandoned the little boy and ran off again. God knows where my little brother is. She had managed to pile up mountains of debt from different people and the worst of the bunch? A gang called Green Vipers. How she even go
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 4Scarlett’s POV{7 years ago}The elevator let out a sharp hiss as it opened, and I walked as fast as my heels allowed toward my office, checking to see if Mr. Woods had beaten me in.Not seeing him, I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Gosh, how the fuck had I managed to sleep right through a single missed alarm?Groaning, I shoved the door to my office open, dropped my bag on the desk, and sank into my chair, letting it hold the weight I hadn't realized I was carrying. A sharp footstep echoed outside. I straightened up instantly, smoothing my blazer and tidying my desk. Thank goodness I'd already prepared Sterling’s schedule for today. Standing back up, I walked over to the private coffee dispenser in the corner. Mr. Woods had an ego the size of the fucking Manhattan skyline. He refused to share a machine with the rest of the floor. Mug in hand, tablet tucked under my arm, I walked down the corridor to his office. I gave a sharp knock, and his gruff voice answered fr
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 3Scarlett’s POVI’d never in a million years thought I would actually be in a jail. Getting locked up like an animal.It just never crossed my mind that my desperate bid for survival would end like this. But here I was, caged up like a helpless bird. While my princess was out there somewhere, and I didn't even know if she was eating, if she was crying, or if she was breathing easy.The main door finally peeled open with a heavy, dragging creak. A burly guard stepped aside, gesturing sharply, and led me down a sterile, echoing hallway.Reaching a dismal, gray door at the end, he shoved it open, and I limped inside.My eyes dropped to the filthy, stained zinc toilet in the corner, and my stomach churned, making me halt in my tracks.I blinked past the fresh wave of tears threatening to spill, walking toward it and forcing my body to move.Standing over the sink afterward, I washed my hands, staring at my pale, haunted reflection in the cracked mirror as I blinked against the hot, contin
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 2Scarlett’s POVThe heavy oak slammed shut behind him, the deafening echo bouncing off the walls like a gunshot, sealing my fate.I slumped sideways onto the floor, my gaze locking numbly onto the cold wood grain beneath me as the reality of my defeat washed over me in waves.Aiden can’t just snatch my daughter from me. She’s all I got left in this cruel world. She’s meant to be mine, wrapped in my arms, safe from men like him. I was the one who went through hell to get that girl, shielding her from the dark. She was mine. Mine. Not his. Never his.A dull, agonizing ache slipped its way into my chest as vivid pictures of my little girl flashed relentlessly behind my eyelids—her bright, infectious laughter, the way her tiny hands used to wrap around my finger, how happy we were before he finally traced us down to this very room. How could I let him take that away?I shouldn’t have let her leave my sight. She should have been right here with me now, safe in my arms.Hot, heavy tears fel
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
Chapter: Chapter 1Scarlett’s POVThe silence in the room was heavier than lead, broken only by the fractured, ragged rhythm of my own breathing.My knees were bruised, embedded deeply into the rough, unforgiving hardwood floor, yet the physical pain was nothing compared to the suffocating weight in my chest. "How dare you take my heiress away from me!” Aiden Cole’s voice didn't roar. It didn't need to. It was terrifyingly calm. One that drifted across the room like a death sentence, freezing the blood in my veins. My vision swam through a thick, hot veil of tears, blurring the sharp angles of his imposing figure."Aiden, please," I choked out, my voice cracking into a jagged whisper before rising to a desperate, clawing shriek that tore at my vocal cords. “She’s my daughter as well! You can’t just snatch her away from me!""Your daughter?" A cruel, humorless curve touched his lips, his eyes devoid of any human warmth. "The minute I laid my eyes on that princess of mine, she stopped being your daugh
Last Updated: 2026-09-16
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