Trapped in a Gilded Marriage
Joy Brown · Completed · 7.9k Words
Introduction
Until I found the heart donor report he'd been hiding in his study for three months. 98% match. He'd signed it "postpone."
That night, fireworks filled the London sky, his mistress laughing in the background. Standing over my brother's body, I finally got it—he'd been killing my brother all along.
I ripped up his check, sold every piece of jewelry he'd ever given me, and threw the divorce papers in his face.
"Murderer"—that's all I said.
Three years later, I'm getting a standing ovation at the Golden Hall. He shows up in the snow, eyes red, begging for forgiveness.
I just smiled. "Charles, you died three years ago."
Chapter 1
Joanna's POV
After my seventh "affair," I asked Charles for a divorce.
He slammed his pen down on the desk with a sharp crack.
"Joanna," he leaned back in his chair, watching me like I was putting on a cheap show, "how much this time? The new Cartier collection, or something custom from Van Cleef?"
I watched him flip open his checkbook.
"I said divorce, Charles."
He laughed. The scratching of his pen across paper sounded harsh in the study. He signed his name, tore off the check, and tossed it at my face.
"Five hundred thousand. That should buy you three months of 'heartbreak.'"
The check fluttered to the carpet. I bent down, picked it up, and tore it into pieces right in front of him.
"I'm serious."
Charles finally looked up. Those gray-blue eyes held no warmth at all.
"And then what? Leave me, and how are you going to pay Leo's eighty-thousand-dollar treatment next month?" He stood up, adjusting his cufflinks. "The charity gala starts soon. Go change."
He turned toward the door, tossing over his shoulder, "Five minutes. Don't keep the driver waiting."
An hour later, we sat in the front row of the charity gala.
I held Charles's arm, maintaining a practiced smile.
I was his perfect accessory—quiet, beautiful, and completely soulless.
Until Sienna appeared.
She wore an aggressively red gown, and as the hottest supermodel of the moment, she made no attempt to hide her intentions as she walked straight toward us.
"Charles!" She called his name with intimate familiarity, completely ignoring my presence. "Look, that's the necklace I was telling you about."
In the display case, a pink diamond necklace was up for auction.
Charles's arm slipped from mine as he naturally placed his hand behind Sienna's waist. "Like it?"
"I love it, but..." Sienna shot me a provocative glance. "Would Mrs. Thorne mind?"
I felt the stares around us like needles piercing my skin. The whispers, the mocking looks.
"She doesn't mind." Charles's voice was cold and certain. "Joanna's always been generous."
He raised his paddle.
"Five million dollars."
The entire room erupted.
I stood there feeling my blood turn to ice. Five million dollars. That was two years' worth of Leo's treatments.
He could casually throw away five million to win a smile from his mistress, but at home he'd strangle me over Leo's medication approvals, forcing me to beg and plead.
"Congratulations to Mr. Thorne for winning this treasure for Miss Brooks!" the auctioneer shouted excitedly.
Sienna publicly kissed Charles's cheek, drawing cheers from the crowd.
I watched it all, nausea churning in my stomach.
My phone buzzed. A text from the hospital: Next month's fees: $83,000.
Staring at that message, tears finally spilled down my cheeks.
This was why I couldn't leave.
This was why I had to endure it all.
"Joanna." Charles's voice came from above.
I looked up.
"Sienna and I are going to the private room to discuss some business," he took Sienna's hand. "You stay here and eat something."
He leaned close to my ear, lowering his voice. "Don't wander off. Lots of reporters around."
I stood by the champagne tower for twenty minutes.
The private room door was slightly ajar. Laughter spilled through the gap, mixed with the crisp sound of ice clinking against glass.
I walked over.
"...those dates of hers?" It was Sienna's coy voice.
"I arranged them all." Charles's voice carried the loose quality of intoxication. "Three actors, two gallery assistants, a piano teacher, and a college student. All my people."
Laughter erupted from the room.
"Aren't you worried she might actually fall for one of them?" a male voice asked.
"Joanna?" Charles laughed, the sound cold and cutting. "She's a nun at heart. She needs three days of psychological preparation just to hold hands. I know her too well—moral guilt is her prison. She can't play those games."
The sound of clinking glasses.
"And those pills you've been giving her..."
"Birth control. Every morning in her vitamin pills." Charles's tone was matter-of-fact. "She thinks having a baby will trap me. As if. Having a sick brother is trouble enough—adding a kid to the mix?"
The sound of breaking glass suddenly filled the air. I hadn't dropped anything. Someone in the room had knocked over a glass.
But I felt something shatter inside my chest.
I rushed into the bathroom and locked the door.
The woman in the mirror had red-rimmed eyes and trembling lips. I turned on the faucet and buried my entire face in the cold water.
The suffocating feeling washed over me. But the memories from three years ago were crystal clear.
Central Park in autumn, Charles wrapping a scarf around my neck, laughing as he said "you're not wearing enough"; him at Lincoln Center listening to me play cello, then walking backstage afterward with an armful of white irises; him kneeling on one knee at my father's grave, saying "Let me take care of you, Joanna. Let me take care of you for the rest of your life."
Water droplets ran down my chin into my collar.
The sound of the lock turning. I jerked my head up, frantically wiping my face with paper towels.
Sienna walked in. She caressed the five-million-dollar pink diamond necklace around her neck, its brilliance making my eyes ache.
She leaned against the sink counter, leisurely touching up her lipstick. In the mirror, her eyes slanted toward me.
"Been crying?" She capped her lipstick. "I can see why. Hearing your own husband say those things must be pretty humiliating."
I said nothing and turned to leave.
She reached out to block my path.
Last Chapters
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Old wounds reopen, grief masquerades as rage, and love refuses to stay buried. As parenthood binds them together and the past demands accountability, Emily and Ryan must face the question neither of them is ready to answer: is broken trust the end of their story… or the beginning of a love forged through loss, forgiveness, and brutal honesty?
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
Love's Deadly Equation
I was sent to her.
To watch her. To protect her. And, when the order comes… to kill her.
My name is Keegan Caffery. I’m the Carter Mafia’s best hitman. I don’t miss. I don’t fail.
At least, I didn’t use to.
I don’t know what it is about her that got to me first—her mouth, her mind, or the way she looks at me like I’m not what she should fear.
I’ve had a gun to her head since I walked into her life.
She knows it.
And she still doesn’t run.
She just watches me back like she’s studying a problem she refuses to call impossible.
She’s the one variable I can’t control.
And God help me… I don’t want to.
I have an order. I have loyalty. I have a trigger.
But every time I imagine it—
I can’t stand it.
Her or me. That’s the math.
It’s a deadly equation I don’t want to solve.
⬥ Maisie ⬥
I’m not ordinary. I stopped pretending long ago.
My name is Maisie Seo. IQ 145. Clinical genius.
Which sounds impressive until you realize what it actually means: I don’t fit anywhere people expect me to.
I see patterns everywhere. Outcomes before they happen. People like equations I’ve already solved.
It gets lonely in a world you’ve already figured out.
So I dull myself down. Smoke the edges off. Pretend, badly, to be the kind of normal that lets people stay.
Then he walked in.
I knew what he was immediately. Dangerous. Intentional. Wrong in all the right ways.
I should be afraid of him.
I keep waiting for that to kick in.
Instead, I’m fascinated.
Because for the first time in my life… I’ve found something I can’t solve.
He is my deadly equation.
The MC Hacker’s Stolen Princess
She did not come to find out her father had promised her to another man.
As the only daughter of Shane “Rook” Rourke, president of the Lost Coast Renegades MC, Taryn has always known club business comes first. But when Rook signs a treaty with the dangerous president of Iron Mesa, he crosses a line even she never imagined.
Safe passage through Arizona territory comes with a price.
Her.
Kellan Stroud is thirty, powerful, ruthless, and already waiting at Sturgis to meet the woman he expects to marry.
Taryn wants no part of him, no part of the agreement, and definitely no part of a future chosen for her by two men who think a signature is enough to decide where she belongs.
Then she meets Bobby Fuentes.
At twenty, Bobby is one of the youngest fully patched members of the Sons of Doom MC. He is quiet until he has something to say, dangerous when he needs to be, and smart enough to get into places no one else can. Hacking is what he does best.
Until Taryn gives him a new problem to solve.
One reckless connection at Sturgis becomes something neither of them can ignore, and when Bobby realizes exactly what Rook has promised away, walking away stops being an option.
But stealing another president’s future wife is not a misunderstanding.
It is an insult.
A betrayal.
And in the MC world, it can mean war.
Taryn refuses to be anyone’s property.
Bobby has never been good at following rules.
And Kellan Stroud does not forgive what he believes belongs to him.
The road out of Sturgis may cost them everything first.
Tango 2 the Alpha's Heart
My gaze snapped to his. He was smiling, causing my heart to skip a painful beat. Before I could respond, the music began, and my body instinctively reacted to the sweet melody.
I found myself molded to Lex's will, my feet irresistibly following the dance steps.
The crowd gasped as Lex pulled me into a more intimate position, his hands roaming over my body in a seductive manner.
The experience was both terrifying and magical, allowing me to feel every longing emotion through the dance.
I soon found myself lost in his arms.
When the music finally stopped, my arms were wrapped around his neck, his hands resting on my back, our noses almost touching. He gazed deeply into my eyes.
The ballroom fell silent.
Was he about to kiss me?
Lilly’s life was never easy; she lost her memory and family in a blazing fire. Angelica found and took her in—only to make her a slave to the household.
Years of torment and abuse left Lilly weak, vulnerable, and believing she was without a wolf, but that didn't mean that all hope was lost.
At night, in her dreams, he would patiently wait for her—the man who brought sunshine into her darkest moments.
They would dance the night away, but as dawn approached, he would vanish into the morning sun.
Lilly had given up hope of finding a mate, having a family, and leading a normal life.
But things are about to drastically change for her...
Secrets, lies, betrayal... and a baby on the way.
What if Lilly wasn't wolf-less? What if it was all a lie?
What if she had a living family? Would she stay and bond with them or make a run for freedom?
THE CHRONO WITCH: BENDING TIME TO SAVE HIM
What she wasn't ready for was finding out Zayn Ponteris had been dead the entire time.
The grief shatters something inside her. And before anyone can stop it, Kayla does something no sorceress should be able to do—she travels back in time.
Suddenly she's fifteen again, standing at their end of year formal, with Zayn alive and right in front of her, completely unaware that in another timeline she watched his parents mourn him.
This time, Kayla is determined to save him. Except nothing goes according to plan.
Zayn has a girlfriend. And the closer Kayla gets to changing his fate, the more she realizes her powers are bigger and more dangerous than she ever imagined.
The supernatural world is closing in. The clock is running out. And the one person standing between Kayla and everything hunting her is the same boy she keeps bending time to protect.
Kayla has no idea what's in store for her.
Because when you bend time, fate bends back.
CHASING GHOSTS
Faking It With My Worst Enemy On Ice
But on his birthday, everything falls apart when his girlfriend exposes Clare's most humiliating secret in front of the entire team.
Just when Clare is ready to disappear, Rhys Calloway, her worst enemy and the team's arrogant captain, pulls her into his arms and tells everyone she is his girlfriend.
She should have pushed him away, but she kissed him back instead.
Now Clare is locked into a two-month fake relationship with the most infuriating man she has ever met, trying to get over a stepbrother who never cared and survive a captain who makes her forget why she was supposed to hate him.
The problem is that Rhys kisses like he means every single second of it, and just when Clare starts to move on, Zane decides he wants her back.
One girl, two hockey players, and a heart that was never supposed to feel this much. Will she choose the stepbrother who broke her or the enemy who caught her when she fell?
Fated to the three Alphas of MOONCREST college
Fated to the three alphas of MOONCREST college... book 1
Fated at mooncrest: Stuck with the two alphas.... book 2
A half-blooded girl. Three charismatic Alpha Wolves. And a destiny-bound bond.
Malia Reed always felt she was nothing special except for her bloodline; she only wanted to survive in the shadows.
Until she entered Mooncrest college…everything changed. A destined, inescapable bond bound her to the powerful and handsome Alpha Wolves—Aiden, Cian, and Rowan Moonfall Wolf.
The entire academy was abuzz with excitement; everyone was talking about it.
As her hidden powers awakened, the dark secrets of her parents surfaced. Enemies drew closer. And what about her three destined companions? Their feelings were subtly shifting…
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The Mafia King's Unknown Doctor Wife
Where The Ice Gives Way
Blake Atlas scents his mate the moment Charlotte arrives. The bond hits hard and unmistakable, but Charlotte doesn’t recognise it. She doesn’t know why her chest keeps pulling toward the one boy she absolutely cannot afford to want. Blake is Charlie’s new hockey captain. Charlie’s chance at making something good. Charlie makes it clear; his sister is off-limits and Blake tries to do the right thing, but secrets don’t stay buried forever. Rogues prowl the edges of town. The ice cracks. The bond tightens. Then Charlotte’s rare white wolf awakens, the very thing that makes her powerful, also makes her a target.
Shanti needs Shakti. (Peace needs strength.)
Where the Ice Gives Way is a slow-burn YA paranormal romance filled with fated mates, protective alpha energy, fierce sibling loyalty, found family pack bonds, hurt/comfort, and quiet, aching tension. It’s a story about first belonging, learning to be cared for, and what happens when the girl who has always held everyone else up finally falls, and someone catches her.
