Patrick Walshe Mcbride Married Novels & Stories

"After six months, we're done." "Fine." "So don't fall in love with me." "Trust me, Romeo. That's the last thing I'm worried about.” * * * * In every story, the stepsister who steals the groom is the villain. This time, she’s the heroine. On her wedding day, Bailey Hartfield discovers her fiancé never loved her; he was only with her to win a dare. Humiliated and heartbroken, she escapes to her favorite gallery — only to stumble into another wedding… and be mistaken for the bride. One reckless seduction. One desperate lie. One audacious demand. And suddenly, Bailey is bound to a six-month marriage with Romeo Lancaster — billionaire heir, artistic genius, and the man her stepsister, Sierra, was supposed to marry. Now tied to a tycoon who refuses to be controlled, Bailey finds herself in a marriage built on leverage, scandal, and unfinished family wars. Publicly, they are untouchable. Privately, they are negotiating power. He wants freedom. She wants revenge. Neither of them planned on wanting each other. After six months, their contract ends. The only question is… Who will walk away first?

My parents made Dana and me settle it with rock-paper-scissors. Loser had to marry the Baillieu heir—the so-called "freak." I won. Then flipped the script. "Cool. I'll take Blake. Dana can have the empire." Last time? I was dumb in love with Michael—Dad's adopted golden boy. Chose the company, stayed behind, and handed Dana off to Blake Baillieu. Big mistake. Six months in, Dana was gone—wrecked by that marriage. Right before she croaked, she texted Michael blaming me. Said I lost the game and ditched the deal, dumping Blake on her. Michael? Snapped. Dude went full psycho. Turns out, he and Dana had been sneaking around for years. He dragged me behind the Baillieu estate and forced a dozen intellectually disabled men to assault me. "If it weren't for your cruelty, Dana would still be alive! You'll pay for everything she suffered!" I was over eight months pregnant—almost due. Begged him to stop. Begged for my baby's life. He didn't care. Kept ordering them to take turns. Even when my water broke, he just watched. Both my baby and I died that night. Now? I'm back. And this time, I rewrote the story. Step one: marry Blake.

As Jastrelle's golden girl, I draw lots to pick my groom, and fate finally hands me Felix Ledger, the childhood sweetheart I've wanted forever. During the impromptu wedding, a funeral convoy belonging to a scion of a rich family in Jastrelle passes right outside. I hate the omen. Felix laughs, pulls me into his arms, and places the veil over my head himself. "I'll take it as a good omen. With you, I'm covered from first breath to last," he says. His adoptive sister, Winnie Ledger, hears him, bursts into tears, and bolts outside. The funeral convoy runs her down, and she dies. Felix barely reacts. Three years later, Dad is framed, driven into bankruptcy, and falls gravely ill. He dies, and I lose everything. At the funeral, Felix sends everyone off, shoves me into the open grave, and buries me alive. He spits, "You rigged everything to get me. You left Winnie ruined. She bolted outside, and that funeral convoy ran her down. For three years, remorse has eaten me alive. I want you torn apart! "With your last protector gone, I can finally make you suffer a hundredfold the pain Winnie felt and ease my hatred!" When I open my eyes, I'm back at the groom-selection ceremony. Dad smiles as he hands me the lots. I shake my head, look out the window, and point at the funeral convoy passing outside. "I'm not choosing anyone. I'll marry that dead man!"

SYNOPSIS For three years, Elena Hart believed marriage was built on patience, sacrifice, and unconditional loyalty. She dedicated herself completely to her husband, billionaire heir Ryan Ashford, becoming the perfect wife his family demanded graceful, supportive, obedient, and endlessly understanding of his emotional distance. She tolerated his late nights, his increasingly cold behavior, and the subtle hostility from his family, she convinced herself that love required endurance. On the night of their third wedding anniversary, Elena expected a romantic dinner and perhaps a chance to finally reconnect with her husband. Instead, Ryan handed her divorce papers. As if that wasn't enough,he informs her that another woman is pregnant with the heir his family has been waiting for, something Elena had supposedly failed to provide. With humiliation and frustration, mixed with emotional damage, Elena signed the divorce papers and walks away from the marriage. But what Ryan did not know is that just hours before the divorce, Elena discovered she is pregnant with his child. Unable to process the betrayal and terrified for her future, Elena walked nto a night of reckless drinking in Las Vegas. She wakes the next morning in a luxury penthouse owned by Adrian Kane.. One of the most feared billionaires in the country, CEO of Kane Global, and Ryan Ashford’s greatest business rival. Without arguing much, Elena agrees to stay married to Adrian. As Elena journeys into Adrian's dangerous world of billion-dollar deals, she starts uncovering disturbing truth about her failed marriage.

The most unforgettable day of Theresa's life shattered her world. It was revealed that Harley Babylon was never Richardson’s biological child—despite Theresa's unwavering claims of innocence. Her worst nightmare came true when Delilah stepped into her place, forcing her out of the home she'd built and initiating divorce proceedings. Heartbroken and betrayed, Theresa returned to her family home, carrying the weight of a failed marriage. But just when she thought love had abandoned her, Jayden—her longtime best friend—stepped forward. He could no longer suppress the feelings he'd hidden for years. What Richardson took for granted, Jayden cherished. From tender conversations to passionate nights, Theresa's new chapter began—rooted not in betrayal, but in a love that had been waiting all along.

Freya Miller and Dylan Anderson two very different individuals who have barely even heard about each other, but have to marry each other to save their family businesses. How do they feel about a love-less marriage? What will Freya do against her husband cold attitude? Will they fall in love to each other?

A promise that Phyllis Lu made when she was only five years old will lead her to marry her superstar idol. If she was in love with the said idol, she would be extremely happy. However, her heart is with someone else. She had an unrequited love with her internet friend, whom she had never even met. How will she lead a married life if she has another person in her heart?

Lucifer isn't in hell. He's right here on earth, in my bedroom, wearing a three-piece suit and luring me into the deepest parts of hell. He told me I was his when he took my virginity, and I didn't believe him until he stole me away from my own wedding and tied me to him for eternity. There is no escape from my psychopathic husband, not when my body is a slave to his dark touch. There is only one option: to destroy him before he possesses more than just my body.

During my cousin Monica Bleuthe's birthday party, my boyfriend, Grayson Chapman, who claimed to be on a business trip, suddenly appeared holding her hand and toasting the crowd. We were stunned when our eyes met. Monica hugged his arm intimately. "I forgot to introduce him to you, Ella. This is my boyfriend, Grayson. He's the CEO of the company we worked with last time." Grayson approached me and lowered his voice to say, "It's just a misunderstanding. I'm only pretending to be Monica's boyfriend." We had been in a relationship for four years, and he had never allowed our relationship to go public. He even refused to let me attend any high-end parties with him because he thought I was just an ordinary employee who was not glamorous enough to be introduced to anyone. He had no idea that my father wanted me to gain valuable work experience away from the family business. I hid my identity so that I would be better equipped to take over my family business one day. If I had married Grayson, he would have enjoyed a portion of my family's fortune. Unfortunately, that was no longer possible.

I was known all throughout high society as the perfect, obedient daughter. Suitors lined up at my door in droves, yet I insisted on marrying Grayson Thatcher, whose family fortune had crumbled, all because of a promise we made when we were young. I thought we would be partners building a life together, but he fell deeply in love with his childhood sweetheart, a girl who spent her days running wild. The night before our wedding, he went street racing with her and they both got arrested, causing him to miss the ceremony entirely. The scandal made it everywhere. On New Year's Eve, he left me to organize the family banquet alone while he ran off with his childhood sweetheart to some crowded plaza. To see a different display of fireworks, they set fire to balloons people had released into the sky and triggered a massive blaze. Once again, I exhausted every connection I had to get him out of the mess. I cleaned up 999 of his reckless mistakes and kept the Thatcher family's business afloat, making sure he could live without a care in the world. I thought that eventually, he would at least remember some small part of what we meant to each other. Yet when I fell critically ill and needed a heart transplant, he took the only available donor heart and gave it to his childhood sweetheart instead. That was the first time I broke down and demanded answers. He stared at me, cold and unmoved. "You have the nerve to ask me that? If you hadn't forced yourself on me, I would've gotten together with Maeve years ago. You're as stiff as an old lady. How could you ever compare to someone like her? She's full of life. "I've let you play Mrs. Thatcher for over a decade. I was more than generous. Maeve is going to be my wife now. When she dies, we'll be buried together. You won't even get that much." I died consumed by bitterness and rage. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the matchmaking event. I picked up the marriage proposal the Thatchers had sent and tore it to pieces. Then, I reached for the one from the wealthiest family in the room and smiled. "Dad, if I have to get married anyway, I might as well marry the man with the most money and power."