The Wife He Burned, The Queen She Became Novels & Stories

The moment it touches her skin— A violent spark flashes. She jerks slightly, wincing but she doesn’t let go. Smoke curls from her fingers, the scent of burned flesh filling the air. Gasps erupt throughout the hall. “She’s… the Queen…” someone whispers. “Then how did it burn her too?” “It doesn’t make sense.” “She’s the rightful owner… why would it hurt her?” The Alpha Queen raises her hand, still smoldering, and lifts her head with the icy poise of a goddess. “Can you all see?” she says, her voice calm, yet piercing. “I just got burnt by my own necklace. Does that mean I’m a fake Queen too?”

Vivienne shakes her head, “He took advantage of me. When I saw you in that hospital bed, your back was covered in burns, and the doctors said you might not survive. It broke something in me. I’m not the type of woman who cheats.” “You never came to see me,” I say through gritted teeth. “I did. When they first brought you in. Before the surgery. They were still trying to remove your clothes. I ran away when I saw it.” I scoff, “So you are the type that runs when things get hard. I’m glad I didn’t marry you. I deserve a woman who accepts all of me, even my scars.” “Do you think your wife could stomach it. I’d like to see what her reaction would be. What does she do when she sees your scars?”

“You already did. When you taught me how to fight.” Before he could stop her, she pulled away and ran back into the smoke. “ARIA!” Damian roared. Her silhouette vanished into the flames. On the Island of No Return, love became a weapon, and the queen walked willingly into the fire.

I was his by choice. That night, there were no contracts. There were no Vances or Morettis. There were only two survivors, clinging to each other as the world outside began to burn. In the eyes of the underworld, the Matrimonium was complete. I was no longer the girl who ran from the fire; I was the woman who had walked into the flames to claim her king.

Because I'd already learned how to rise from ash. Final line: They didn't come looking for a queen. They came for the fire. And I... I was already burning.

But I saw the unease in his eyes. Good. Let him worry. Let the whole house wonder how much power this woman held over me. It only made the game sweeter. Because soon, very soon, they would see. Selena wouldn’t just be my wife in name. She’d be my queen. My match. My downfall, perhaps. But mine all the same. And when she finally burned, she’d burn only for me.

Chaos erupted once again, shouting and screaming and a stampede to get away from me. ‘Your father allowed your mother to be killed...’ the cold fire murmured, filling my soul with that fiery coldness, ‘Burn him...His cowardice allowed your mother to be killed...He took her eldest daughter from another man to be his lover as a means of revenge...Command us to burn him and show who the Queen is—’

Somewhere in the past, she had walked out of a hospital and realized she could no longer rely on the person she had married. And somewhere between those two moments, without ever noticing it happen, Adrian Whitmore had become a stranger in his own marriage.

"Sir, please! Mrs. Costello has just lost her child and has been running a fever. You'll only push her over the edge like this!" "Get out of the way!" Then, he turned to me, shouting, "Last warning—apologize to Emily!" I raised my head defiantly and glared into his eyes. "The biggest regret of my life was falling in love with you and marrying you, William!" After those words, the gun slipped from William's hand. He suddenly remembered I was his wife, the woman he had sworn to love forever. However, to cover up his lies, he had to continue his act in front of me despite his guilt. He ordered, "Lock her in the basement. No food or water until she apologizes!"

But it can choose where to burn. And tonight? I burned for him. Just not forever. Because when the war starts and it will I won’t be anyone’s queen. I’ll be the goddamn empire.