Nichole’s perfect life crumbles when she discovers her husband, Blake Williams Hamilton, is having an affair with his childhood sweetheart. Her heartbreak turns into a nightmare when she’s falsely accused of poisoning his mistress and forced to sign divorce papers while locked away. Betrayed and humiliated, Nichole realizes she’s been living a lie. Just as she hits rock bottom, her ex-fiancé, Adrain Gonzalez, steps in to save her from the clutches of Blake. Now Nichole must step in as the heiress to Valmont Empires, Orion Heights’ most powerful conglomerate. Determined to rise from the ashes, Nichole embraces the opportunity, stepping into a world of power, deception, and second chances. But as she works to rebuild her life and seek revenge, she must also confront the lingering question: Can she truly trust Adrian, or is his help just another trap?
Lihat lebih banyakChapter 1
Nichole's POV
The subtle knock on the door jolted me, and my heart leaped inside my chest. My head snapped toward the direction of the door, and I forced myself to breathe.
My hands trembled like flickering lights as I stuffed the report I was holding into my pocket... my pregnancy report.
I was supposed to be happy—this was what I’d always wanted—but a pang of doubt gnawed at me.
It had been a while since I’d seen my husband, Blake Hamilton William, the heir to H. Group. He was the current CEO, which could explain why he was always so busy. I barely had enough time with him. But now… today, he was mine.
My hands fastened over the doorknob, and with a shriek, the door opened, revealing my handsome devil.
"Hey, beautiful," he greeted me with a smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Yet, it was enough to make my insides twist.
"Do I know you, sir?" I asked playfully, leaning against the doorframe and curling my hands against my chest.
"What’s wrong with you?" Blake’s tone had an edge of harshness that made me swallow hard. His eyes locked onto mine as he inched closer.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood still. Suddenly, his demeanor lightened, and his lips curved into a smile.
"Why do you get so tense so easily?" he smirked, tilting his head to the side. "I was just teasing you. There’s no need to get so serious over nothing."
I gave a small smile and nodded. Blake was a complicated man, and despite being married for over three years, I was yet to fully understand him. The way he could shut me out or switch moods in an instant was unsettling.
"Hey, Bee."
The feminine voice made my eyes widen. Bee? Who was that? My mind began to spiral out of control.
Blake turned swiftly, his face lighting up.
"Lydia," he called out, and then I saw the way she jumped on him.
My chest tightened. Her face looked a little familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her. The real question was, why was she here? Worse, how did she even know Blake?
"Oh my God, is this the Nichole I’ve heard so much about? It’s a shame we haven’t met sooner," Lydia squeaked, stretching out her hand to me. My jaw tightened as I turned to Blake with a furrowed brow.
"Who is this, honey?" I asked, forcing a smile.
Blake tucked his hands into his pockets, a grin appearing on his face as he turned to Lydia. They exchanged a glance that made me feel unsettled.
"She’s Lydia. A friend," he said in a dry tone.
"A friend, really?"
I tried not to make my jealousy obvious, but I was never one to hide my emotions.
"What is your problem? I just said she’s a friend. What other explanation do you want?" Blake barked, and I pressed my lips together.
Was he seriously yelling at me because of this girl?
"Hey..." Lydia’s soft voice broke the tension, her delicate hand brushing over his arm.
Her eyes lit up with emotion, and for a moment, I thought she was about to cry. "Bee, it’s okay. If I had known your wife was so delicate and sensitive, I wouldn’t have come here. I would have just sent my secretary to pick it up."
"Pick what up?" I interjected.
"Nichole, can you please stop raising your voice? Lydia can’t take much of that. She’s not well," he said sternly. His hands gripped hers as he nudged her. "Come, let’s talk in my car. I have your things with me."
He cast an eerie glance at me. I opened my mouth to speak, but his eyes darkened, silencing me.
I bit my lip, tension building at the back of my throat.
After Blake settled whatever he was doing, he came back to me with a frown.
"What’s your deal? You overreacted when you saw me with Lydia."
I turned my face away, crossing my arms tighter over my chest.
"I’m your legal wife. Don’t I have the right to be?"
He sighed, ruffling his hair. "You can, but I assure you, she’s just a family friend. I ran into her at the airport. She was having car issues, and I offered to give her a ride."
I scoffed. "Given that she drove here, I wonder what kind of car issues she must have been having."
Blake cupped my face in his hands, and I sighed.
"Babe, stop. Lydia has cancer, so the doctor warned her not to stress her body. That’s why I offered to help. She left some of her medication in my car and just came to collect it."
"Oh..." I mumbled under my breath, guilt washing over me. God, I was such a fool.
"I’m so sorry. I hope she’s okay," I said softly.
"Yeah, she is."
My mind wandered back to our conversation, shame filling me.
"Take my bags inside," Blake ordered.
It was as if my body was programmed to respond. I scooped up his luggage and dashed back inside the house.
"I made your favorite meal," I mumbled with a smile. "Happy anniversary, my love."
"You made my favorite?" he asked, his voice warm but distant. His gaze wandered over the house before meeting mine.
For a moment, I thought he was about to say something, but instead, he just smiled.
Today was special—our wedding anniversary. It was the perfect time to reveal the big secret I’d been hiding.
We were having a baby. God, how I wanted to scream those words.
Blake grinned after a while.
"Thanks, baby," he said, wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me close. His lips found mine, and I melted into the kiss.
Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his pocket, and Blake jerked away.
Anger pushed against the back of my throat, and I hissed softly, pulling him by his collar so his eyes met mine.
"Can’t you just put work aside?" I pleaded softly. "At least for today."
Blake hummed under his breath and nodded.
"Don’t worry. I just want to silence the call so we won’t be..." he trailed off, mischief glinting in his eyes.
I blushed, giggling, as his gaze bored into me.
The ringing persisted, and Blake’s face dimmed, color draining from his cheeks.
"I..." Blake faltered, exhaling. "I’m sorry, but I have to take this."
My face tightened, arms crossing over my chest, ready to argue. But the click of him answering the call silenced me.
"Hey."
My brow arched at the softness in his tone. Who was he talking to?
Blake’s eyes flickered to mine before he spun around, blocking my path and drifting to the corner of the room.
He murmured something I couldn’t hear, his shoulders stiffening.
Blake always took his calls in front of me, but lately, even before this trip, he’d started acting shady.
Loneliness crept in as I sniffed and forced a smile.
My hand caressed my stomach. I still had hope. Once I told Blake about the baby, everything would change.
As he turned, I beamed with joy.
"Babe, there’s something I want to say," I muttered before he spoke.
Nichole's POVThe videos from Vincent's tablet changed everything.Within hours of Jennifer sending copies to every major news station in the city, Lydia's carefully constructed victim narrative completely fell apart. The footage of her discussing Vincent's psychological conditioning, her plans to manipulate his memories, and her detailed instructions for his revenge campaign was undeniable proof of her true role.I watched from my office as the news reports played over and over again. Lydia's face on every channel, but not as the sympathetic victim she had tried to portray herself as. Now she was being called a mastermind, a manipulator, someone who had weaponized a mentally ill man for her own purposes."Former model Lydia Carson has been arrested on charges of conspiracy, psychological manipulation, and accessory to multiple murders," the news anchor was saying. "Carson allegedly used experimental psychological conditioning techniques to control convicted criminal Vincent Reeves, d
Nichole's POVJennifer had her laptop open on the small table beside Marcus's hospital bed, downloading the audio files from his tiny recording device. We all waited anxiously as the files transferred, hoping we finally had the evidence we needed to expose Blake and Lydia's lies."Okay, let me play the first recording," Jennifer said, clicking on one of the files.Vincent's voice came through the laptop speakers, clear and confident as he bragged to Marcus about his elaborate plan. We listened to him describe the fake police station, his surveillance network, his partnership with Blake and Lydia."This is perfect," I said, feeling hopeful for the first time since seeing Lydia on television. "Vincent is admitting everything."But as we listened to more of the recordings, my hope started to fade. Vincent talked about using Blake and Lydia, about manipulating them, but he also mentioned their fear and reluctance to help him."He's making it sound like they were scared victims," Adrian sa
Nichole's POVThe hospital waiting room smelled like disinfectant and anxiety. I had been sitting in those uncomfortable plastic chairs for two hours, staring at the doors that led to the emergency department, waiting for someone to tell us we could see Marcus.Adrian sat next to me, holding my hand and occasionally squeezing it when he noticed me getting too tense. Jennifer was across from us, her laptop balanced on her knees as she continued monitoring what was left of Vincent's surveillance network."Any update from the nurses?" I asked Adrian for probably the twentieth time."They said the doctor would come talk to us as soon as Marcus was stable," Adrian replied patiently. "He lost a lot of blood, so they need to make sure he's okay before they allow visitors."I knew Adrian was just repeating what we had already been told, but I couldn't help asking the same questions over and over. I felt helpless sitting here while Marcus was somewhere behind those doors, fighting for his life
Nichole's POVI had been pacing back and forth in my living room for what felt like hours. Every few minutes, I would stop and look at my phone, hoping for some kind of update from Adrian or the tactical team. But the silence was driving me crazy.Jennifer was still at her laptop, monitoring what she could of Vincent's surveillance network while keeping his cameras locked on false footage at the warehouse site. She had told me the disruption would last about an hour, but I had no idea how much of that time had already passed."Any word from them?" I asked for probably the tenth time."Not yet," Jennifer replied without looking up from her screen. "But that's probably good news. If something had gone wrong, we would have heard about it by now."I walked over to the window and looked out at the street. Everything looked so normal out there. People walking their dogs, kids riding bikes, neighbors chatting over fences. It was hard to believe that somewhere across the city, my friends were
Adrian's POVWe had been searching through the industrial complex for almost fifty minutes, and we still hadn't found Vincent or Marcus. Agent Rodriguez, Agent Thompson, and I had checked every building that Jennifer had identified as a possible location, but they were all empty."Ten more minutes," Agent Rodriguez said, checking her watch. "Then Vincent's surveillance comes back online and he'll be able to see us."I wiped sweat from my forehead and looked around at the maze of abandoned buildings that made up the old steel mill complex. There had to be dozens of structures here, ranging from small maintenance sheds to massive factory buildings."We're running out of time," Agent Thompson said. "Maybe we should call for backup.""No," I said firmly. "If we bring more people, Vincent will definitely spot us. Our only advantage right now is that he doesn't know we're here.""But we can't search this entire complex with just three people."I pulled out my phone and called Jennifer."Any
Adrian's POVI was sitting on a piece of concrete rubble, trying to clean the blood from cuts on my face with what was left of my torn shirt, when my phone started ringing. The screen was cracked from the explosion, but I could still see it was Nichole calling.My heart jumped. After that massive explosion, after being thrown across the parking lot by the blast, I hadn't been able to contact her to let her know I was alive. She was probably terrified, thinking that Vincent had killed all of us."Nichole," I said as soon as I answered."Adrian! Thank God!" Her voice came through clearly, filled with relief and tears. "Are you okay? We heard that explosion and then all our communications went dead. I thought... I thought you were all killed.""I'm alive. Hurt, but alive. Most of the tactical team made it out too.""What happened? Was it a trap like we thought?"I looked around at the destroyed warehouse, at Commander Stevens lying nearby with his broken leg, at the other team members nu
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