Went to jail for a crime she didn't commit, Elena loses love, freedom, and fortune. Now released, she finds her cheating husband engaged to another. But fate throws a lifeline: a mysterious stranger with a shocking offer. He's Luke's wronged half-brother; Atlas Grant and he needs Elena's help to bring down their ruthless family. Can Elena trust this man who also have secrets he hides? Is revenge worth the risk, especially when the price tag is ten million dollars? And who is Atlas Grant?
View MoreELENA CARLSON
“Let us raise a toast to the newly engaged couple,” Mr. Grant, my husband’s father, announced and everyone raised their glasses with smiles plastered on their faces.
The clinking of glasses was the last thing I heard before my head started spinning and my eyelids became heavy with a sudden drowsiness. My legs wobbled and I slumped to the ground just as my vision went black.
I blacked out.
At my husband’s engagement party. He was getting married. To another woman that wasn't me.
A few hours later
“I love you, Elena. I will bring down the world for you. I will swim through oceans and move mountains for your sake ” The words of Braden echoed in my ear once again. Those words kept me sane.
I slowly opened my eyes, and the world around me was a blur. My head was pounding and my mouth felt dry and sticky. I tried lifting my hand to my forehead, but it felt like a wobbling leaf so it fell back onto the pillow.
What happened? I thought to myself.
I tried to remember, but my memories are foggy and unclear. I struggled to sit up, but a wave of dizziness washed over me and I fell back onto the bed. Where was I? This didn't feel like my bed. It was too soft and comfortable.
Was I back in that prison cell where I had spent the last seven years of my life?
Okay, think. What was the last thing that happened?
“Oh, you are awake,” a voice echoed in the background. A voice I knew all too well. My husband, Luke Grant. The man I had just walked in on his engagement party.
I frowned, my head was still a lightweight from the blackout. I lifted my body from the bed and that was when I was able to make out my environment. I was in a familiar room I never thought I would be in again. it was a room I knew all too familiar.
It was a holding cell.
What the actual fuck!
“What is going on Luke?” I asked, still trying to wrap my mind around the absurdity that happened to be my life.
“Sit down, Elena,” He instructed, gesturing for me to sit on the chair in front of an iron desk. His gesticulation drew my attention to the middle aged man at the far end of the room. My heart skipped at the sight of the man. He was familiar.
Mr. Sanchez, my lawyer, or rather, the legal representative of the Grant family, served as my lawyer when I was charged with second-degree murder.
I dragged my legs to the chair, staggering a few steps before I finally made it. I collapsed on the chair, breathing heavily. Luke and his Lawyer strode to the opposite chairs and settled down, his gaze stern. It was almost like I wasn't staring at the man I had known and married for the past eight years.
“Why didn't you inform me that you were getting out?” Luke asked in a cold, almost robotic tone.
I gazed at him with a blank face. I wanted to surprise him. I had been very excited when I got out but I didn’t tell him even when every part of me wanted to. I got out a few months early on good behavior and I wanted to surprise my husband.
Guess I was the one being surprised now.
I did not respond as my mind was still trying to comprehend all that was going on here. The Lawyer, Mr. Sanchez drew out a folder from the briefcase and handed it to me.
I glanced at it with a racing heart. My entire world literally crashed when my eyes caught the content of the file he handed to me. I swallowed nothing, my heart beginning to race.
DIVORCE PAPERS.
“What is this Luke?” I asked as tears began to well up in my eyes. Everything was suddenly beginning to make sense to me but I don't want them to.
“I am sure you can read, Elena. What does it look like?” he retorted, his voice very cold.
“Was this why you didn't come visiting for the past one year? Because you are engaged to another woman?” My lips wobbled as I belt out the words to him, sounding unintelligent. Luke made a mocking sound that not only broke my heart but made my fingers tremble.
This was too much. This was way too much for me to bear.
“You foolish bitch!” He began to say before I could start talking again. “Did you ever think for a second that I would stay married to an ex-convict like you? I am a fucking Grant!” He snapped, sending cold shivers down my spine.
An ex-convict. That was all I was to him.
I didn't know which hurts more; his words or what he was about to make me do. But everything hurts. My chest hurt so bad.
“I went to prison because of you Luke, or don't you remember?” I asked, using my palm to wipe away the droplets of tears that were flooding down my cheeks.
“You are so dumb, Elena. Can't you see it? Even after all these years, you are still this gullible and naive. It was so easy to convince you to take the fall for me because you were so blinded by love,”
“You are my husband, and you were drunk. You would have gotten life imprisonment,” I muttered, glancing at the man who I had sacrificed my life for in the worst possible ways. Yet, he sat there and dared to make fun of me like that.
“As I said, ever so gullible. The same way you foolishly signed all the properties my brother gave to you over to me,”
My heart began to race, as it was all becoming clear; he used me.
“Just so you know, Elena. I never loved you. I was just supposed to marry you because my mom made me," he revealed.
“What do you mean?” This time, I snapped.
“My brother's inheritance, he willed it to you. I was just supposed to get it back and divorce your sorry ass. And then, the accident happened. That was a perfect avenue for me. You took the fall for me, I get to keep his property,”
I was once married to Luke's brother, Braden. He was the love of my life until cancer stole him away from me, and he willed all his property to me, the poor girl from the suburb whom he had married.
“You are wicked and cruel,” I spat, realizing I was just a pawn in Luke’s game.
“Yes, now sign the fucking divorce papers before I lose my patience,” he snapped, banging his fist hard on the table, sending a jolt of fear through my spine.
“And if I refuse to?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, as fear began to creep all over me. I didn't even know why I was hesitating after hearing everything he had done to me.
Suddenly, he yanked me by the collar of my shirt from the other side of the table towards him, strangling me and draining the air from my lungs.
“Don’t you dare me, Elena. I can easily kill you and get rid of your body, and no one will fucking know because you have no one. No one fucking cares about you, so stop being a bitch and sign the fucking paper, Elena,” he yelled in my face.
The tears wouldn't stop running. He was right, I had no one. He shoved me back to the chair and I let out a deep exhale, I stared at the papers as tears streamed down my cheeks even more. And with trembling hands, I picked up the pen and appended my signature to the file.
A devilish grin formed on Luke’s face, as he stood up from the chair, “Good girl. You can still reach out to me if you want to get fucked,”
“I will rather fuck the devil than let you ever touch me again,” I snapped back.
He grinned, “Your loss, bitch,” he turned around and made his way to the door with his Lawyer who had just sat there as a loyal spectator. He was about to pull the doorknob when he paused, swerving his face around to glance at me, “Elena, if you ever think of telling anyone…” he trailed off for a moment as if to make the words sink in. And then, he continued.
“I will kill you and bury your body in a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere,” he swore.
I swallowed, knowing fully well, that he could do all that and more. I collapsed to the floor as soon as the door clicked back in place, letting all my hurt and pain flow through my tears as I wailed at the predicament of my life.
I was so fucked.
ELENAI was struggling to come to terms with the fact that Atlas would actually leave me forever if it got to that.He seemed capable of such, although at the same time, his eyes held a different meaning.Anyway, I would try so hard to not care.Definitely, no matter whatever it is he has to say, I wouldn’t consider him for even a second, because he was bad news. I knew that too well to let myself get swayed. Again.But since he wouldn’t let me go without hearing him out, let’s do that.“Fine,” I folded my arms across my chest. “What do you have to say?”“Let’s head back to my suite,” he said as he reached for my arm. “We can talk back there—““No,” I slapped his hand away. “We can talk right here, or we’re not talking at all.”He let out an exasperated sigh. “Elena—““Listen, I don’t trust myself to be around you anymore, especially in closed spaces. So why don’t we talk out here?”“Fine,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “Let’s talk in the car.”I gave him a leveled look. “You d
ELENAFor a few shocking minutes, I couldn’t move. I just stood there, frozen, staring up into the familiar face that was revealed as the mask fell away.I couldn’t believe that I was standing in this room right now, and looking at Atlas Grant. The same Atlas Grant that should be back in Manhattan.Was this really him? Definitely. The fiery, intense look in his eyes was unmistakeable.How was he here? What was he doing here? How did he even find me?These questions and more bugged me, swirling around in my mind.But what took utmost priority was my brain screaming at me to get away from him. As far as I could.“Elena…” he started, lifting a hand to palm my cheek, and I seized the opportunity.Shoving him as hard as I could, I bolted towards the doors and out of the suite, making for the door that led to the parking lot.I couldn’t understand how he’d found me, but one thing was clear. I needed to get as far away as possible from him.No succumbing, even though his fingers on my skin h
ATLASHours earlierI stared blankly at the document sitting open on the desk in front of me. More like I stared right through it.I couldn’t remember how long I’ve sat like this for, but my ass was starting to ache. That was my only reminder that I’ve sat here too long, completely zoned out.My secretary had left a proposal on my desk ever since I came into work this morning, and I’d also arrived to find a pile of other documents waiting to be reviewed and signed.But all I’d successfully done was stare a hole into the document I was supposed to be reviewing.I’d been like this all week. A total mess…Never in a million years would I believe that not seeing a woman for a couple of days would get me this messed up. But in this case, it wasn’t just any woman.It was Elena, the woman that had captured me and my fucking heart, my entire being, and kept me in chokehold.Running on the treadmill, I saw her face. Pulling the fucking weights, I saw her face. Driving to work, I saw her face.
ELENATo my surprise, this man unabashedly put a palm on my thigh.He didn’t stop there. He’d gone ahead to trace a finger on my skin, and it frustrated me that I could not raise my hand and slap the silliness out of him.Uncomfortable as hell, but having to comport myself, I’d tried my best to give him everything I knew about the work dealers did in a casino.I was grappling at some point, but at least I gave it a try, right?By the time I was done with my explanation, I’d managed to scoot away from his grizzly hand.“So, how old are you?” He ran his eyes over my body in a leery manner, watching me like a hawk did its prey as I slowly got to my feet.What did my age have to do with anything? I clearly looked young, wasn’t that what mattered?“You don’t want to keep me hanging with the answers, sweetheart,” the man’s voice interrupted my thoughts, dark eyes taking in every inch of me, “trust me.”I swallowed hard, folding my palms together in front of me. “27, sir.”He nodded, seeming
ELENADays have gradually turned to a week, and I wouldn’t say life has been any better. Generally.Las Vegas was nothing like Manhattan.I was always cooped up in Lordy’s apartment unit, staring out her floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the bustling nightlife of Vegas.“I need to find a job, Lordy.” Once again, I stood at the floor-to-ceiling window, my back turned to my friend from one of the foster homes I was juggled around.Over the years, we’ve grown into the kind of friends that only reached out to each other on special holidays, just for courtesy’s sake. I bet she was surprised when I called her out of the blue, so randomly.But I wouldn’t deny the fact that Lordy was a real one.A real one would let me stay over at their place without any prior heads-up.I’d arrived in Vegas to an already boiling, relaxing hot-tub, and like, the most heartwarming meal ever.So yeah, Lordy is a real one.But when I say Vegas is nothing like Manhattan, I mean it sincerely. Achingly.This
ATLASWhat truly did catch my heart, was the way this caregiver with bouncy blonde hair and hazel green eyes handled my mother with absolute care and gentleness, like she was hers.She washed my mother’s hands and feet with tender movements, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she smiled up at my mother, who was as mesmerized as I was.She had so much graceful energy, her movements as equally gracious as her curves. Causing a thrill to race through my chest.I reached for the door handle. “I’ll see her now,” I said to Keelan without looking at him, then I twisted the handle and walked into the room.The blonde-haired, gorgeous-eyed caregiver and my mother, seemed so deep in thought they hardly noticed a third presence in my room. Until I cleared my throat.“You must be the new caregiver.”She whirled around, her eyes widening. “Oh,” she mumbled, hazel green eyes gleaming with mischief, “and you must be the son. Our beautiful Olandria here, hasn’t stopped speaking about her son whom s
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