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13: The Perfect Lie
Last Updated:
2025-02-06 18:33:33
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Married To The Billionaire I Hate 14: The Worst Possible Scenario
Emily’s POV.The second the elevator doors shut, I felt the walls closing in. Not because of the tight space…but because of him. Cole Greyson. The one man I never wanted to be alone with.I folded my arms, letting out a sharp breath. “Perfect. Just perfect.”Cole leaned against the wall, adjusting his cufflinks like he hadn’t just ruined my entire night. “You’re welcome.”My head snapped toward him. “Excuse me?”“You said ‘perfect.’ I assumed you were thanking me.” His smirk was lazy, smug, infuriating.My hands curled into fists. “You seriously have zero self-awareness.”His eyes flicked toward me, cool and disinterested. “And you have zero gratitude.”A bitter laugh left my lips. “Gratitude? For what? For having to fake a marriage with the one person I hate most in this world? Yeah, thanks a lot, Cole.”He shrugged. “You didn’t have to say yes.”I stepped closer, fire burning through my veins. “You think I wanted this?”He tilted his head. “No. But you agreed. That’s on you.”I wan
Last Updated : 2025-02-07Married To The Billionaire I Hate 15: The Panic Sets In
Cole’s POV"Emily."No response.I shook her slightly, my heart hammering."Emily, wake up. Come on."Still nothing.Her breathing was shallow, her skin too warm. The terror, the shock…it had all been too much for her."Damn it," I muttered, running a hand through my hair.The elevator was still moving up, but I barely noticed. All I could see was Emily, lying there, her face pale, her lips slightly parted.For years, I told myself I didn’t care about her. That what happened between us was in the past. But seeing her like this? Completely defenseless?It did something to me.I clenched my jaw, reaching forward. Without thinking, I slid my arms under her and lifted her against my chest.She was too still. Too quiet."Just hold on, okay?" I muttered under my breath.The elevator dinged. The doors slid open.And suddenly, we were met with chaos.A cluster of hotel staff and security stood outside, their faces twisted in panic. Some gasped. Others immediately rushed forward."Sir! Mr. Gre
Last Updated : 2025-02-07Married To The Billionaire I Hate 16: Waking Up
Emily's POV.A groan slipped out before I could stop it. My head felt like it had been used as a punching bag, and my body ached in places I didn’t even know could ache. My throat was dry, my limbs stiff, and an odd tingling sensation ran through my arms.I blinked against the harsh sunlight streaming through the large windows, trying to remember where the hell I was. My vision blurred for a moment, then cleared just enough to make out the luxurious hotel room…the honeymoon suite, to be exact.And then I saw him.Cole.Sitting in a chair near the bed, legs stretched out lazily, arms crossed over his chest, watching me like he had all the time in the world. His expression was unreadable, but there was something about the way his lips curled at the corners, like he was amused.My stomach twisted. Why was he here?"You’ve got to be kidding me," I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut as if I could make him disappear by sheer willpower."Good morning to you too, sweetheart." His voice was deep
Last Updated : 2025-02-08Married To The Billionaire I Hate 17: A Queen Vs A Desperate Lover
Emily's POV.Cole, to his credit, didn’t react immediately. He stood by the window, shoulders tensing just slightly, before he turned around with the calmness of a man who had dealt with this kind of chaos before.He exhaled through his nose, then walked toward Vanessa, completely unbothered. "It’s fine," he said, addressing the staff. "You can go.""But, sir, we tried to stop her…""I said it’s fine," Cole repeated, giving them a pointed look.The staff exchanged hesitant glances before bowing slightly and retreating out of the room, closing the door behind them.Now, it was just the three of us.Vanessa looked like she was about to explode. Her hands were shaking, her breaths coming in short gasps, and her perfectly manicured nails dug into her palms.Cole reached for her, his voice lowering. "Vanessa, calm down."She smacked his hand away. "Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!" Her voice cracked with emotion. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"Cole sighed and ran a hand th
Last Updated : 2025-02-08Married To The Billionaire I Hate 18: Reclaiming Her Life
Emily's POV.The car ride was silent except for the soft hum of the engine. I stared out the window, watching the city come alive under the morning sun. Skyscrapers, pedestrians, coffee shops, life was moving forward, and so was I.Cole and his pathetic little girlfriend were behind me now, exactly where they belonged.I leaned back against the seat, rubbing my temple. My dress still clung to my body, wrinkled and ruined from last night. The expensive fabric felt suffocating. My makeup…God, I didn’t even want to look at my face. I probably looked like something out of a horror movie.“Straight home, Miss Hart?” my driver, Leo, asked from the front seat.I thought about it. Home. What was that even supposed to mean? The mansion I grew up in? The penthouse I bought to escape that mansion? Or the prison of a hotel Cole trapped me in?“No,” I said. “Take me to the Ritz. I need a suite.”Leo nodded, no questions asked. That’s why I liked him. He did his job without treating me like a fragi
Last Updated : 2025-02-12Married To The Billionaire I Hate 19: Twenty-four Hours To Fix The Mess
Cole's POV.The world was burning, and I was standing in the middle of it, phone in hand, watching my life collapse in real-time.Every major news outlet, every gossip blog, every social media platform was eating up the scandal like it was the juiciest story of the year."Emily Hart Walks Out on Cole Greyson Just 2 Days After Their Wedding!" "Hart Heiress Flees Honeymoon Suite – Trouble in Billionaire Paradise?" "Cole Greyson Left Behind as His Bride Vanishes!"The photos were everywhere—Emily walking out of the hotel, her posture elegant despite her ruined dress, make-up and birdnest of a hair. Even her expression was unreadable. The press had caught her getting into a black car. And her wedding ring nowhere in sight.Meanwhile, I was stuck here, trapped in this disaster of my own making.I exhaled sharply, gripping my phone so tightly my knuckles turned white.This was bad.The internet was a wildfire, and I was at the center of it. People were talking…laughing, judging, feasting
Last Updated : 2025-02-12Married To The Billionaire I Hate 20: The Confrontation
Cole's POV.I had always been a man who got what he wanted. Connections, wealth, influence…I had them all. But none of that mattered now if I couldn’t find Emily.The moment she walked out on me, my entire world had gone to hell. The media had gotten wind of the story. My father had called, yelling through the phone, making it clear that if Emily wasn’t back as my wife within 24 hours, Greyson Corps would be handed over to my cousin.I wasn’t about to let that happen.I had spent the entire day making calls, pulling every string I could. The best private investigators, cybersecurity experts, and even a few underground contacts…I spared no expense. I needed to find her before it was too late.By evening, I got a lead.She had checked into one of the most expensive hotels in the city. The irony wasn’t lost on me. She wasn’t hiding. She wasn’t running. She was waiting.For what?To watch me crumble? To see how far I would go?Whatever it was, I didn’t care.By 9 PM, I was standing outsid
Last Updated : 2025-02-13Married To The Billionaire I Hate 21: Not Leaving
Emily's POV.I stood by the window, arms crossed, my back to Cole. The city stretched out in front of me, lights blinking, cars moving, the world going on like nothing was wrong. Inside this room, though, the air was thick, suffocating. Cole stood behind me, his presence pressing against my back like a weight I refused to acknowledge. He had forced his way in, tracked me down like a desperate man clinging to something already gone.I didn’t turn around. I didn’t give him the satisfaction."Say whatever you want, Cole. It won’t change a damn thing," I said, reaching for the whiskey bottle on the counter. I poured myself a drink, the liquid steadying me.But Cole wasn’t leaving. His father’s threats must have been ringing in his ears. The humiliation, the headlines, the fear of losing everything…it was crashing down on him. His silence stretched long enough that I knew he was struggling to keep it together."Do you really hate me that much?" His voice was low, rough, like he was barely
Last Updated : 2025-02-13
Latest chapter
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 140: The Long Con
Stevie-lou's POV.It started with a warning. A heads-up. A whisper over wine and dim lighting."He has two meetings tomorrow. One at nine, one at twelve. Big shots. Foreign investors," I told Jeremy, keeping my voice low even though we were alone in the rooftop bar. My nails tapped the glass of my mimosa. "If they pull out, Hart bleeds. Bad."Jeremy didn’t even flinch. He leaned back in his chair, that slow, dangerous smirk pulling at his lips. Dressed in all black, like always. He looked like sin and sex and danger, and he was mine. Still mine."You got the names?"I nodded, passed him the folded napkin I wrote them on.He took it, barely glancing, before tucking it into his jacket. "Say less."That was the first time. The first chaos. Jeremy made some calls. Hired a guy who hired a guy who knew a guy. Something about an anonymous protest happening downtown. Just enough noise to block traffic, delay cars, reroute important men with no time to waste.The investors didn’t make it to Ha
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 139: Playing The Perfect Wife
Stevie-lou's POV.The honeymoon ended faster than it started.Smith had to get back to work, back to his throne at Hart Enterprise, where a single misstep meant losing billions and every shark in the water smelled blood. And me? I got a front-row seat to the life I’d only ever seen in dreams. Luxury. Power. Diamonds for breakfast, pearls for lunch. All wrapped in Smith’s smile like I was the luckiest woman alive."I have a surprise for you," he said one evening, stepping into the penthouse still in his tailored navy suit, tie loosened, phone glued to his hand.I looked up from the couch, brushing popcorn crumbs off my robe. "Another one?"He gave a crooked grin. "You're going to want to put on shoes for this."Ten minutes later, we were downstairs, and the valet drove up something that looked like it belonged in a superhero movie. A Bugatti La Voiture Noire. Black. Gleaming. Worth about $19 million."Holy sh*t," I gasped, my mouth hanging open.Smith just chuckled, handed me the keys,
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 138: Fever Dreams And Silk Lies
Smith's POV.My head was pounding.Not the kind of pounding that comes from a few glasses of wine or a late night, but the kind that makes your whole skull feel like it's cracking open from the inside. It throbbed with each breath I took, like a drum beating in my ears. I groaned, forcing my eyes open even though my lids felt like sandpaper. Everything was too damn bright. The curtains weren’t even drawn. Just a wide-open window to the Miami skyline, pouring sunlight into the suite like it had no mercy.I sat up slowly, every muscle protesting. My suit was still on me...wrinkled, sweaty, uncomfortable. Jacket half-off my shoulders. Tie loosened, hanging around my neck like a noose. My shirt was half unbuttoned and sticking to my chest. My mouth tasted like cotton. My tongue felt thick. I looked around, trying to focus through the haze."Petunia?" I croaked.And then I saw her.She was sleeping like a dream beside me. Her hair was sprawled out on the pillow like silk threads, her mouth
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 137: Not Your Typical Honeymoon
Stevie-lou’s POV.The presidential suite smelled like roses and expensive linen. The suite was bathed in low, warm lighting, gold accents reflecting off glass. Smith had his hand on my waist the moment the door shut behind us."God, Petunia…" he whispered against my neck, his voice thick with emotion and desire. "I’ve waited so long for this night. I’m losing my damn mind."I forced a laugh, soft and shy, the way I knew he liked. “We’re married now,” I said, tilting my head, brushing my fingers through his thick hair. “You don’t have to wait anymore.”His lips crushed against mine, hungry and possessive. He backed me up against the wall, kissing like a man who had been starving for years. His hands fumbled with the zipper of my dress, but I gently stopped him, brushing my fingers over his.“Not so fast,” I murmured. “Let me get us something to drink. You look like you need to relax first.”He grinned, flushed and breathless, hair slightly tousled. “Fine. But hurry.”I turned away, gli
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 136: The Wedding Trap
Stevie-Lou's POVThe thing about revenge is that it tastes better slow. You let it simmer. You add sugar, lies, soft kisses. You let the man believe he’s safe, loved, maybe even saved. And then you pull the rug.Smith Hart thought he found the one. He really did. And I played that part with the kind of grace that would make Oscar winners cry.I watched him now, standing at the altar. Tall, powerful, in his black tux that probably cost more than what my dad needed for his surgery. A fucking heart transplant. One point three million dollars. Just that. And Smith had it. Sitting in one of his fat accounts, probably bored. But when my father needed him, he refused to help."Not my problem," he said.My father died a week later. Gasping for air in a hospital room that smelled like antiseptic and poverty.So here I was. Petunia Monroe. Orphan. Some perfect ballet dancer that Smith Hart fell in love with. Sweet. Charming. Smart. Mysterious.His fiancée.I had already let my real mother fly
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 135: Meeting The Family
Smith's POV.Emily poured herself another glass of red wine, the deep crimson liquid swirling in the glass as she tilted it to her lips. Her reading glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, and her keen eyes skimmed over the pages of a thick manuscript...some up-and-coming author her publishing house had just signed. She looked so at ease in her cozy Hamptons home, legs tucked beneath her on the wide cream armchair, elegant in a charcoal turtleneck and worn jeans. The streaks of silver in her shoulder-length brown hair shone under the golden afternoon light that filtered through the tall windows. Outside, the trees swayed gently, leaves rustling in the wind, and inside, the fireplace crackled, throwing warm, flickering shadows across the Persian rug and soft cream walls."You’ve been awfully quiet," she said, her voice was calm but laced with suspicion, still not looking up. "Either you're hiding something, or you’re about to fire someone again."I leaned back on the opposite couch,
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 134: The Sweetest Lie
Stevie-lou's POV.He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear again, like he always did when we were out together. A signature move. A gentle caress that screamed affection to anyone watching. And I smiled up at him, letting my eyes soften just the way he liked. My lashes lowered, lips parting slightly, the faintest curve playing at the corners of my mouth. I’d perfected it.I hated the way my skin tingled under his touch...not because I wanted him, hell no...but because I was so damn good at pretending, I could fool even my own body. It betrayed me every time, responding to his closeness like a lover’s would. It made my stomach turn."You look beautiful tonight, Petunia," Smith said, his voice low and deliberate, fingers brushing the small of my back like he owned me."You always say that," I teased, brushing my fingers lightly along his wrist, my nails just grazing his skin."Because it’s always true."His eyes held mine a second too long, just enough to tell me what was coming. His ga
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 133: Red Wine And Reckless First Kiss
Smith’s POV.It had been days.And I couldn’t get her out of my damn head.Petunia Monroe.That name had stuck in my brain like a thorn I couldn’t pull out. Everywhere I turned, she was there. Not physically. But in my head. In meetings. In the boardroom while numbers were being thrown around, projections, investments, power plays…I saw her face. The way she tilted her head. The way her eyes held mine when we spoke.I had tried to fuck her out of my system. Tried it with a blonde influencer who kept giggling every time I so much as looked her way. Then with a brunette who knew how to moan on cue and say all the right things. Nothing. It all felt like cardboard. Cold. Pointless.She was still there. Her black feathered leotard, the way it hugged her body like it was made for her. That ballet performance wasn’t just art…it was a goddamn message. I didn’t know what it said, but I felt it like a slap to the chest.And I couldn’t stop playing it in my head.During dinner, seated alone at m
Married To The Billionaire I Hate 132: His Eyes, Her Mask
Stevie-lou’s POV.My heart was still racing as I wiped the sweat off my forehead. That performance had eaten me raw. Every muscle in my body was still vibrating. The black feathered leotard I wore...designed with precision and attitude...hugged my skin like a second layer, still warm from the heat of the spotlight. I felt it in my bones. The music. The rhythm. The eyes. Especially his.I had seen the way Smith Hart looked at me.He was far back in the dark hall but there was no missing the way he leaned forward during the dance. The others might’ve been sipping their drinks, whispering among themselves or pretending to care, but not him. Smith Hart had been watching like I was the only thing moving in that whole damn room. His stare cut through the air, bold and direct, as if he had seen something in me nobody else had. It shook me a little. Not because I cared. But because I knew exactly who he was...and I despised everything he stood for.The man was ruthless. Sharp-suited, sharp-to
