All Chapters of His Tamed Wife, The Wild Heiress: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter 1ADRIAI stood outside the VIP room with trembling hands, clutching the thermos of soup that still burned my palms through the insulated container. The hallway of Eclipse Club reeked of expensive cologne and poor decisions, much like my marriage."Sir, your wife is here with the soup for Miss Amber," Adina's voice filtered through the slightly ajar door before I could knock.My husband's secretary. Always so efficient, always so beautiful in her tailored suits that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. I'd tried befriending her once, during the first month of our marriage. She'd looked at me the way one might look at a stray dog—with pity and mild disgust."Tell her to leave it with you," Damien's voice replied, cold and dismissive. "I don't want her embarrassing me in front of everyone."I should have left. God knows I should have turned around, gone home, and pretended I hadn't heard that. But my feet remained rooted to the plush carpet, and my heart—that stupid, desp

Chapter 3ADRIAThe hot water scalded my skin, turning it pink and raw, but I didn't move to adjust the temperature. I stood under the shower spray until the bathroom filled with steam, until I could barely see my own hand in front of my face, until every trace of that soup—and his touch—had been washed down the drain.My phone buzzed on the bathroom counter, the sound cutting through the white noise of running water. I ignored it. Then it buzzed again. And again.With a sigh, I turned off the shower and wrapped myself in a towel, my wet hair dripping onto the tile floor. The phone screen lit up with a new message, and I already knew who it was from before I picked it up.**Damien: Don't bother coming back to the club. Your presence and that horrible soup you made have made Adina sick. I won't be coming home tonight either.**I stared at the message, waiting for the familiar ache in my chest, the desperate need to fix things, to apologize, to beg him to reconsider. I waited for the te

Chapter 5ADRIAThe pharmacy was one of those twenty-four-hour chains that dotted the city, fluorescent-lit and nearly empty at this hour. I walked through the automatic doors with my sweatshirt hood pulled up, avoiding the bored cashier's gaze as I made my way to the first aid aisle.My chest and stomach still burned where the soup had scalded me. I'd checked in the storage unit bathroom—the skin was angry and red, blistering in a few places. Nothing serious enough for a hospital, but painful enough that I needed something to take the edge off.I grabbed burn ointment, bandages, and on impulse, added a bottle of extra-strength pain relievers. The cashier barely looked at me as she rang up my purchases, too engrossed in whatever show was playing on her phone.The drive back to Damien's house—I couldn't bring myself to call it home anymore—took another thirty minutes. It was nearly two in the morning when I pulled into the driveway, expecting darkness and silence. Instead, every light

Chapter 7DAMIENThe champagne had lost its appeal hours ago, but I kept the glass in my hand anyway, half-listening to Marcus drone on about some yacht party in the Mediterranean. Amber sat across from me, laughing at something Kieran said, her hand occasionally brushing mine in that deliberately casual way she had perfected.I should have been happy. My first love was back from Paris, looking even more stunning than I remembered. Adina was pressed against my other side, playing her role as the devoted secretary to perfection. My friends were here, the night was young, and I'd just successfully put my pathetic wife in her place.So why did I feel like something was crawling under my skin?I pulled out my phone and sent Adriana a message, something perfunctory about not bothering to come back and not coming home tonight. It was harsher than necessary, but she needed to understand that there were consequences to her incompetence.One minute passed. Then two.My phone stayed silent.I f

Chapter 9DAMIENBut I couldn't concentrate. My mind kept drifting back to that moment when I'd opened the door and seen Adriana getting out of an unfamiliar car. Where had she gotten that car? Whose car was it? And why had she been wearing clothes I'd never seen before?"Mr. Castellan?" Melissa's voice pulled me back to the present. "Is everything alright? You seem distracted.""I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well."That was partially true. I'd slept better than I had in months, actually, with Adriana warm against me. But I'd woken up multiple times, each time checking to make sure she was still there, still breathing, still real.What the hell was wrong with me?Around mid-morning, Adina showed up unannounced, letting herself into my office like she owned the place. She was wearing another one of those expensive dresses that hugged every curve, her hair perfect, her makeup flawless.A year ago, I would have cleared my schedule to spend time with her. Six months ago, I would have at le