All Chapters of My Husband Cheated, So I Married His Billionaire Rival: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The Anniversary BetrayalAt 8:17 p.m., Celeste Morgan realized her husband was not coming.She stared at the empty chair opposite her, then at the two untouched glasses of champagne between them. The waiter had passed her table three times, each time offering the same sympathetic smile that made her want to disappear beneath the white tablecloth.“Would you like me to keep the food warm, ma’am?” he asked.Celeste glanced at her phone. “Just five more minutes, please.”She had said the same thing twenty minutes ago.Tonight was supposed to be special. Their seventh wedding anniversary. Seven years since Julian had slipped a cheap gold ring onto her finger in a tiny registry office, promising that one day he would give her everything she deserved.Back then, he couldn't afford a proper honeymoon. They had spent their first night as husband and wife in a small apartment with a leaking roof, sharing takeaway rice and laughing whenever rainwater dripped into the bucket beside their bed.Ce

CHAPTER TWOThe Wife He Thought He Could Destroy“Give me the document, Celeste.”Julian's voice had changed. The irritation was still there, but something beneath it made her grip the papers more tightly.Fear. For seven years, she had watched him face angry investors, stubborn suppliers, and competitors who wanted to see Morgan Enterprises collapse. He never flinched. He never backed down.Yet one old document had stripped the confidence from his face.“What does this mean?” she asked.Julian held out his hand. “It means nothing. It's an old business record.”“Then you shouldn't have a problem explaining it.”“Celeste, don't start.”“Start what?” She looked down at the paper again. Her name was printed clearly beside a percentage of the company's founding shares. Beneath it sat the signature she had written thousands of times. “You just told me I was never your business partner. So why is my name here?”“Because you signed some documents when we were starting the company. That does

Chapter 5: The WeddingThe wedding took eleven minutes.No cathedral. No orchestra. No white roses cascading down an aisle. Just a quiet judge in a private study at Blackwood Estate, two witnesses who didn't meet her eyes, and a man in a black suit who slid a ring onto her finger as though he were sealing a deal.Which, Celeste reminded herself, he was.The ring was a pale diamond set in platinum, simple and cold. It fit perfectly. She noticed that, and wondered how he had known her size."You may kiss the bride," the judge said.Celeste's pulse stumbled.*We didn't discuss this.*Damian turned to her. For one suspended second, she saw something flicker behind that impenetrable calm. Hesitation, maybe. Or a question.*Is this allowed?*She gave him the smallest nod.His hand rose to her cheek, light as a breath. His lips touched hers briefly, carefully, a kiss so restrained it was almost reverent. It lasted perhaps two seconds.It was the gentlest thing anyone had done to her in years

Chapter 7: The First StrikeJulian's biggest contract was called Project Meridian.Celeste knew it the way she knew her own handwriting. It was a three-year, four-hundred-million-dollar logistics partnership with Northgate Retail, the deal that would anchor the merger and make Vale Holdings untouchable. Julian had spent eighteen months courting Northgate's board. He had told every investor, every journalist, and every dinner guest that Meridian would define his legacy.He had also, Celeste remembered, been terrified of it."Page nine," she said.It was a quarter past midnight in the library. Damian sat across from her, sleeves rolled, a legal pad in front of him. Between them lay the Meridian documents, which his investigators had obtained through channels Celeste had decided not to ask about."You mentioned Halvorsen Logistics last week," Damian said. "This is the same supplier.""This is the *thread.*" She turned the page toward him. "Julian promised Northgate guaranteed delivery wi

Chapter 9: The Mother's DeathCeleste did not sleep.By dawn, she had read every file on the drive twice. The forged signatures. The shell companies. The slow, patient bleeding of her mother's trust. She had printed nothing and told no one, and when the sky lightened over the garden, she was still sitting cross-legged on the floor of her suite, surrounded by notes in her own cramped handwriting.It was the last folder that stopped her.It sat at the very bottom of the archive, unlabeled except for a string of numbers. She almost skipped it. Then she saw the date in the file properties.*Six years ago. March.*The month her mother died.Her hand hovered over the trackpad. *You don't have to open it,* a small, frightened voice whispered. *You could close the laptop. You could keep believing it was only an accident.*She opened it.The first document was a police report.**Morgan, Eleanor R. Single-vehicle collision. Route 14, Rhode Island. 11:40 p.m. Cause: loss of control on wet roadwa