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Get the APPFiftieth Birthday
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No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return
I went to the City Clerk's office for a routine copy of my marriage license to finalize a trust fund audit. I expected a simple piece of paper, but the clerk's pitying look told me my entire life was a lie. "The license was never finalized, Ms. Oliver. In the eyes of the state, you are single." The three-hundred-guest wedding at the Plaza and the Vogue features meant nothing. My husband, Gray Cooley, had intentionally filed the documents with a "procedural defect" so he could discard me without a legal divorce. Moments later, an iCloud invite titled "Our Little Secret" popped up on my screen. It was a photo of my best friend, Brylee, holding a positive pregnancy test at our Hamptons estate. Gray's text to her was the final blow: "Happy anniversary, babe. This baby is the best gift. Once the trust unlocks today, we're done with the charade." I soon discovered they were even stealing my career, reassigning my architectural masterpiece to Brylee while preparing my eviction notice. Gray's mother called me a "barren mule" in a leaked recording, mocking the infertility I suffered after saving Gray's life in a construction accident. I wasn't a wife; I was a three-year placeholder used to secure his inheritance. How could the man I bled for treat me like a disposable prop? How could my best friend carry his child while pretending to comfort me through my darkest moments? The betrayal burned until it turned into a cold, hard stone of fury. I didn't cry. Instead, I walked into the penthouse of the Barretts, the Cooleys' most powerful rivals. I signed a marriage contract with Kane Barrett, the man the tabloids called the "Beast of Wall Street." "I want a wedding," I told his father, my voice steady and lethal. "Bigger than the one I had with Gray." If they wanted me gone, they would have to watch me become the woman who owns their world.CHAPTER 1
MY BIRTHDAY GIFT
Sophia's POV
I slumped into the bed like a helpless orphan as soon as I placed Jaydon into his crib. Just one month into motherhood, but the stress was weighing me down like it's been two years of raising triplets. I was completely oblivious of the fact that I was still putting on sandals until I heard a dinge on my phone.
"Fuck! Can't someone rest for at least a minute?" I muttered angrily to myself as my peaceful sleep got disrupted by the call. Before my hand could reach the phone, the call had ended, and immediately, a message beep followed suit.
"Meet me at the Crescent Lounge, room 105, by 4:00 pm," the message read. It was from Frank.
I raised my eyes to the wall, and they met with the ticking clock, which was at the fourteenth hour already. Jaydon was sound asleep due to the high temperature he ran and excess cry he did since he was given the immunization.
Should I be happy or sad? Today is my twenty-fifth birthday, and the one person I was hoping to get a birthday wish from, expecting it to come along with unforgettable kisses, didn't even take a second look at my face before he left for work in the morning. Without hesitation, I called Frank's line to suggest an indoor celebration, due to Jaydon's health, but the phone rang till the end with no one picking up.
After trying relentlessly for five times, my faint smile faded, allowing my face to finally welcome a frown when I called for the sixth time and heard that the number was switched off.
"Well, I'm sure he's planning a surprise party for me," a convincing voice in me struck my thought, and I shrugged, dismissing every negative thought that was sprouting in my imagination.
I already knew that Frank can never forget my birthday! For the two years I've been with him, my birthday has always been an unforgettable day in our lives.
"Alice!" I screamed the nanny's name and gave her instructions on how to take care of Jaydon before I returned.
"Wow! You look really gorgeous, ma'am," the nanny complimented my dress with a smile, and I just imagined how Frank's eyes would be caught up at my seductive features once he sights me.
At exactly 3:50 pm, I was at the enormous building called the Crescent Lounge because I know how Frank hates it whenever someone is late to an appointment. I couldn't help myself from blushing at the first sight of the lounge, which one need not be told that only the elites can afford a meal in such a lounge, not to talk of a room. Well, that's one thing I love about Frank: he can spend even his last penny to put a smile on my face.
For more than fifteen minutes, I stood at the door and knocked without getting a response.
"What the hell is going on! Am I in the wrong room?" I muttered after a futile attempt to turn the doorknob of the silent room.
Drenched in disappointment after knocking for thirty minutes without getting any response, I turned to take my leave, but my steps were halted when I heard the loud sound of a door closing from inside, followed by the intensive laughter of two people.
At that moment, I knew I was in the wrong room, so I tried calling Frank to confirm the room number. Maybe he mistook a figure in the first message he sent to me, but his line was still switched off.
Taking a deep breath to relax my mind before leaving, my ears perked up when I heard the woman's scrupulous moans as the man slammed into her.
"Oh, I love that baby. Do it harder, Frank! Awww, I need it harder Frank!" The lady moaned.
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THE BILLIONAIRE'S BIRTHDAY GIFT
"What do you think you're doing? Taking custody of my child? Come on, this was the reason behind my marriage to you, Sophia!" said Frank Williams in his cold and domineering voice, piercing his deathly eyes on her as she handed the signed divorce papers to him. Sophia Lorenzo thought she was sign/0/80505/coverorgin.jpg?v=b388dbb3b681c726a90e5337b4e8910d&imageMogr2/format/webp)
The Birthday Betrayal
My husband, Ethan, always said the money was in my account for my birthday, but that thin comfort barely masked the ache of five years of neglect. Every year, on our shared birthday, he’d be "swamped with work," while his childhood friend and my birthday twin, Chloe, got the full Ethan Davis product/0/83487/coverorgin.jpg?v=7dc344ae561cf70a81d63866da7a3ebe&imageMogr2/format/webp)
The 21st Birthday Loop
For sixteen years, I was a phantom in the Miller house, my entire existence centered on raising Caleb. My destiny was sealed: on his 21st birthday, I was to become his wife, a debt my family couldn't pay. In my first agonizing life, that wedding day led to a decade of imprisonment in their dark b/0/82842/coverorgin.jpg?v=1909c426e023ddd7d470d20fe1886d15&imageMogr2/format/webp)
My 21st Birthday Betrayal
My 21st birthday gala was supposed to be a dream: my custom Tiffany gown, a perfect fiancé, a future as the Vanderbilt heiress. But a horrifying premonition shattered it, a vivid nightmare where my cousin Chloe stole my dress and my spotlight, while my fiancé Liam and even my own brother, Ethan, be/1/103128/coverorgin.jpg?v=451812381843dba22af34123dfbdb113&imageMogr2/format/webp)
My Birthday, His Cruel Betrayal
On my 28th birthday, my superstar boyfriend, Jarrett, stood me up. He had to comfort his co-star, Kisha. A few hours later, I saw the paparazzi photo that ended our seven-year relationship. Jarrett was in a dimly lit bar, his arm wrapped around a tear-streaked Kisha, her head on his shoulder. The/0/82853/coverorgin.jpg?v=6f59eedd2937fe9c2f565aa59d68e0b7&imageMogr2/format/webp)
My 21st Birthday: Day Of Reckoning
My 21st birthday gala. The grand ballroom buzzed, filled with the heavy scent of lilies. But my eyes snapped open to my private suite; I was back. Not in the cold, damp alley where they left me to die. It was that day again. Last time, my seemingly sweet cousin Chloe stole my bespoke gown, publ/0/70122/coverorgin.jpg?v=8acb6eeaaf7d2af2c3f884c3736a5d2c&imageMogr2/format/webp)
