LOGIN"I spent two years becoming his perfect shadow. Now, I'm going to watch him kneel, beg, and realize too late that the wife he threw away was the greatest mistake of his life." Leila Stonne was the invisible wife. Quiet. Loyal. Submissive. She survived her forced marriage to corporate tyrant Karl Hawthorne by clinging to a desperate hope: If I become extraordinary enough, he will finally love me. By day, she stayed hidden. By night, she poured her architectural genius into a masterpiece design meant to finally make him proud of her. But on their second anniversary, the illusion shatters. Karl walks into her studio, ignores the cold dinner she prepared, and drops divorce papers over her life’s work. He is marrying Natalia Scott, a glittering, hyper-wealthy celebrity heiress. Discarded and humiliated, Leila signs the papers and disappears. She walks away with zero dollars, completely stripping his billionaire surname from her identity. But she carries a secret that will bring his empire to its knees: She is pregnant with his child. Months later, the world changes overnight. Leila wins a prestigious global architecture prize, claiming a five-hundred-million-dollar award. The quiet woman Karl threw away as "obsolete" is suddenly a global phenomenon. And the first person to claim her is Karl's dangerous older brother, George Hawthorne. George saw the queen Karl was too blind to value. Now, Karl realizes his fatal mistake. He wants his wife back. He wants his child back. He wants another chance. But by the time he finally learns to kneel… Leila no longer remembers how to forgive.
View MoreKARLThe sharp turn of a key in the front door cut through the silent darkness of the foyer.I blinked against the sudden light, my vision burning as it locked onto Leila standing at the threshold.She was soaked. Her dark hair was plastered against her forehead, dripping streams onto the collar of her plain coat.Seeing her shivering frame, a sudden wave of satisfaction surged through my chest, burning away the panic that had suffocated me all evening.The street had been too cold for her.I leaned back against the leather cushions of the couch."Where are you coming from by this time, Leila?"She didn't slow her stride. She didn't flinch from the blinding glare of the chandeliers.She walked straight toward the staircase, her boots leaving wet, quiet tracks on the polishe
LEILAThe cabin of George’s SUV was heavily insulated, swallowing the Beverly Hills downpour until it was nothing more than a distant static.I sat against the plush seat, forcing my spine into a straight line to keep my chattering teeth from clicking together. My wet hair plastered flat against my forehead, dripping slow streams down my jawline and onto the collar of my soaked wool coat.I was shivering, but my arms remained clamped like iron bands across my lap.George sat inches away from me, his broad shoulders casting a massive silhouette against the glass.His dark eyes remained focused on my wet, trembling frame. Without a word, he slid his tailored suit jacket from his shoulders and draped it over my arms. The warmth immediately radiated against my skin.“Thank you.”I forced my breathing
KARLNatalia's apartment was hollow, the living room completely empty when I entered. The lights were low, casting sharp, dark shadows across the furniture, but the silence was broken by a rhythmic strike echoing from the rear of the apartment.Clack. Clack. Clack.The sound of a blade cutting through something and hitting a solid surface guided my boots down the hallway.I followed the noise directly into the kitchen.Natalia stood under the bright island lights, her emerald silk robe tied tightly at her waist. She was slicing a cucumber, her posture rigid, her focus entirely locked onto the wooden cutting board.She didn't turn around when my footsteps entered the room. She didn't drop the knife or run to embrace me like she always did.I stepped closer, the familiar scent of her gardenia perfume mixing with the crisp smell of the vegetables. I reached out, my hands sliding toward her waist to pull her back against my chest.She shifted her weight smoothly, slipping out of my grip b
LEILA"Every single dollar of that six million is legally frozen, Leila. You have absolutely nothing outside of my name."Karl’s voice vibrated through the speaker of my phone, stripped of humanity, and dripping with an imperial entitlement that treated my entire existence as a minor clause on his financial ledger. Behind me, the steady, rhythmic lashing of the first heavy rain sheets against the floor-to-ceiling glass panel sounded like a firing squad.I didn't blink. I didn't let my breath hitch, refusing to give him or the sneering real estate broker watching me from across the marble table a single scrap of emotional satisfaction."My father expects us at the estate tomorrow evening at seven o'clock sharp," Karl continued, his tone flattening into an absolute command. "You will confirm this divorce is completely mutual, or I will ensure you don't have a single dollar to buy a sheet of drafting paper. You have twenty-four hours to remember who built your life, Leila."My fingers ti
EVELINA The notification was still on my screen when I woke up.CONGRATULATIONS. YOU HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE APEX URBAN PRIZE. Final submission window: 7 days.I stared at it through a few hours of broken sleep and the dull ache climbing up the back of my neck.Outside the studio windows, the sky h
EVELINA “Sign them whenever you’re ready.”A white envelope landed on my keyboard. For a second, I thought it was another batch of revisions from Sterling Group. Then I saw the words on the front.Divorce Agreement.Julian Sterling stood across from me in his charcoal suit, still buttoned up. His
EVELINA Dominic.For a second, I thought it would be Julian. Or Theodore. Or nobody.Hotel hallways were always full of people coming and going. Most of the time, nobody looked twice at you.But Dominic was walking toward me. His hands were in his pockets, his expression flat and unreadable. He st
EVELINA The door opened.Aria Vance walked in with one hand resting lightly on Julian’s arm. She glanced around the table easily, already smiling before anyone spoke.Julian looked across the room. His eyes passed over me without stopping before settling on his parents.“Dad. Mum.” A beat. “ This












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