The Ten Dollar Wife Novels & Stories

The two people are my wife, Catherine, and her brother-in-law, Daxton. "Take a good look at this photo. That's Catherine, walking arm-in-arm with Daxton, buying the condom together. "And this is the failed payment slip from my pharmacy membership card. The item that couldn't be paid for was abortion pills. The purchase was made while I was out of town, but the location was right next to our home." As everyone stared in disbelief, I tossed the documents into Catherine's lap. I said, "Explain why your and Daxton's DNA ended up on the same condom. Explain why you two walked into the pharmacy together to buy it."

“This is my house. My bed. My husband.” Jade shrugged. “He told us his wife was out on vacation.” My husband stepped toward me. “I was going to tell you. I swear. The money is good. Really good. We need it.” I let out a single laugh, but it came out cracked and broken, nothing like a real laugh. “You need money so badly that you have to fuck other women on camera, in our bed?!” The clipboard woman checked her phone. “We still have forty minutes of light. Can we finish, or should we shut down?”

She looked exactly like a good wife. It turned out everything had been made up. Every business trip had been fake. Maybe guilt had gotten to her, so she had used an even more obvious cover, trying to make me feel loved while making herself look like a good wife. Every dish served at the reception was expensive, but none of it tasted like anything to me. When it was time to make the rounds for the toast, they came to our table. Sinead looked a little awkward, and so did the friends around her. Still, they all played along well enough. One of Sinead's timid friends almost called me by name, but Sinead stopped her in time.

I said, pointing at the floor. I pointed at the photo of Zara and the young man and continued, "That woman is my wife." The crowd fell silent for a moment before they burst into laughter. "Where did this crazy pauper come from? Did he go insane from thinking about money too much?" "Are you blind? That woman is Mr. Alan Barrington's wife. She's the CEO of Apex Group! She would never be attracted to a pauper like you. Stop dreaming!" What was going on?

"Husband, I'll show you it won't be me who loses. Pull yourself together. I'm waiting any moment to accept your money and become a hundred-billion-dollar heiress!" He rubbed my face. "Stop your pipe dreams. Taking money from your husband's pocket is harder than climbing to heaven." I pulled his hand down and said solemnly, "Let me be upfront. My bank account has a hundred thousand in it. How much do you have?" "About the same as you. Also ten, just not ten thousand but ten zeros," Colt answered, smiling. "..." After a long silence, I pointed at the door. "Go be with Kasha. Hurry, and bring me your ten zeros!"

I had been a housewife for ten years. Every day, I delivered lunch to my husband, Jackson Holloway, at his workplace. One day, it stormed heavily when I delivered his lunch. I said I would wait in the lobby and leave once the rain lightened up. Jackson frowned. “How will it look if you just sit there? It looks bad in front of my colleagues.” “But it’s raining too heavily.” “Leave quickly. If people see you looking like such a wretch, I’ll be so embarrassed.” He pushed me toward the exit. Right then, his colleague walked past and asked, “Hey, is this your wife?” Jackson’s expression changed. He coughed dryly and said, “No, this is my cousin. She’s just dropping by.” After that, he

“That’s a really tough question. It’s like asking one to choose between a father and his future wife. If I take her side, my dad would be upset. If I take my dad’s side, she would be upset.” Vivienne raised her eyebrow. “Your future wife? I got divorced recently, and you must have heard about my health issues. Yet you’re considering me as your potential future partner? Why? We don’t know each other well enough to believe that it’s an emotional statement. That means you are just interested in the wealth of the Penn family.” “I did not know that you were from the Penn family back when you were Regan’s wife,” Harry said. “It looked like you were struggling, so I wanted to help.”

I leaned over, glanced at the screen, and said, “Oh, you look so different with filters. I almost didn’t recognize you.” Mrs. Chen choked on her wine. Oliver—my cold billionaire who never laughed at family lunch—let out one loud, shocked bark of a laugh, then covered it with a cough. Serena’s face went red. “You little—” “—literacy coordinator?” I finished. “Yes. Who’s loud in exactly the right way. Amara told me today that real husbands don’t check the time when they read to their wives. How long did Oliver keep checking the time with you, Serena?”

he began slowly, “It seems I've started off on a wrong foot, but my proposal will be worth your time.” This bastard was WASTING my time. “Fivefourthreetwo—” “It would be a marriage of convenience.” he cut in louder before I could finish my countdown. “I need a fake wife for six months on paper. In return I'll give you ten million.” My mind fizzled out, all thoughts of mustering the courage to whack him suspended. Ten million? Ten. Million. Those two words cycled through interchangeably.

"And that a woman in a desperate situation may accept a great deal without asking what it will cost." It was an insult dressed as compassion. I had heard a lifetime of those. I sat very still and let the anger move through me, hot and bright, and then let it go quiet, because I understood that if I snapped, she would have what she wanted. A frightened woman. A grasping one. Someone she could point to. "Mrs. Sterling," I said. "You think I married your son for his money." "I didn't say that." "You didn't have to."