All Chapters of The Billionaire's Unwanted wife: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

The man in the doorway was Julian Vane, Alaric’s cousin and the primary shark circling the Thorne empire. Julian didn't just want Alaric’s position; he wanted to dismantle everything Alaric loved. The fact that he was smiling told me that this marriage was already a battlefield."A pleasure to meet you, Elara," Julian said, his voice dripping with faux-sincerity. "I must say, Alaric’s taste has improved. I didn't think he had the stomach for something as... volatile as you."Alaric’s grip on my waist tightened for a fraction of a second—a possessive reflex that caught me off guard. "Leave us, Julian."The command was absolute. Julian lingered for a moment, his eyes lingering on me with an intensity that felt like a threat, before he slid out of the room.The silence that followed was suffocating. I stepped away from Alaric, creating a necessary void between us. "Why me?" I asked. "There are a hundred women in this city who would kill for your name. Why go through the effort of marryi

The woman was trembling so violently that she could barely stand. She looked like a broken porcelain doll, her expensive gown ruined by streaks of crimson and rainwater. Alaric reacted with a speed that blurred my vision. He was across the room in a heartbeat, catching her before she collapsed onto the marble floor."Seraphina?" Alaric’s voice lost its cold edge, replaced by a sharp, jagged urgency. "What happened? Who found it?"I stood frozen, my dress still half unzipped, the cool air of the room hitting my skin. The romantic tension that had been simmering between us just moments ago vanished, replaced by a thick, suffocating sense of dread. I didn't know who this woman was, but the way Alaric held her was not the way he held me. There was a familiarity there, a deep-seated history that I had not been briefed on in our contract. The tenderness in his voice was a weapon, reminding me that while he had bought my presence, he had not bought my place in his heart."The vault in the ea

I bolted back to my room, my mind a whirlwind of betrayal and confusion. I ignored Alaric, who was still standing by the window, his silhouette a dark blot against the moonlight. I dove for my laptop and opened the email from Julian.The image was grainy, but the text was clear. It was a page from the black ledger. My father’s name was there, but it wasn't just a debt. There was a note in the margin, written in a sharp, aggressive hand.Vance knows about the illegitimate heir. Payment made to ensure silence. If he speaks, destroy the asset.I stared at the words until they blurred. An illegitimate heir? Alaric was the sole heir to the Thorne empire, or so the world believed. If there was another, someone with a prior claim to the throne, the entire corporate structure of Thorne International was a house of cards."You're reading it," Alaric's voice came from behind me, cold and sudden.I spun around. He was standing right behind me, his presence towering. He didn't look angry; he look

The aftermath of Silas’s arrival felt like a siege. The Thorne estate, which had already felt like a fortress, now felt like a cage with a wolf inside. Alaric spent the next forty-eight hours locked in his study, the sound of shouting matches and slamming doors echoing through the halls.I found myself in a strange limbo. I was the wife of the man in the study, but I was also the target of the man in the guest wing. Silas didn't hide his interest in me. He didn't send flowers or write poems; he staged "accidental" encounters in the gallery, the garden, and the dining hall. Each time, he pushed a boundary. He would stand a fraction too close, his voice dropping to a confidential whisper, telling me things about Alaric that made my blood run cold."He doesn't love you, Elara," Silas murmured one afternoon as we stood before a massive oil painting of the Thorne patriarch. "He loves the idea of you. He loves that you are a puzzle he hasn't quite solved. But once the puzzle is complete, A