Frozen Cargo, A Betrayed Wife

Frozen Cargo, A Betrayed Wife

Mo Xiaoxiao

3.5
Comment(s)
3.9K
View
10
Chapters

My husband made me ride in the freezing cargo hold because his mistress wanted peace and quiet. I died back there, clutching the "vitamins" she gave me, while they laughed in the front seat. It wasn't until my frozen body was found that Atlas realized he had just killed his own wife and unborn child. Ten years ago, I saved Atlas from a car crash that left me with the mind of a child. He hated me for it. He treated me like a burden and let his mistress, Kacie, feed me high-dose abortion pills disguised as health supplements. When the police uncovered the truth, Atlas' s world shattered. He discovered Kacie had never been pregnant-but I was. Consumed by a belated, violent rage, he executed Kacie with his own hands and demanded the death penalty for himself. He thought death would be his redemption. He thought he could find me on the other side and make amends. But when his spirit finally reached out to mine, begging for forgiveness, I didn't feel the love I had yearned for in life. I felt nothing. "Go away, Atlas," I whispered, watching his soul crumble. "I'm finally free."

Frozen Cargo, A Betrayed Wife Chapter 1

My husband made me ride in the freezing cargo hold because his mistress wanted peace and quiet.

I died back there, clutching the "vitamins" she gave me, while they laughed in the front seat.

It wasn't until my frozen body was found that Atlas realized he had just killed his own wife and unborn child.

Ten years ago, I saved Atlas from a car crash that left me with the mind of a child.

He hated me for it.

He treated me like a burden and let his mistress, Kacie, feed me high-dose abortion pills disguised as health supplements.

When the police uncovered the truth, Atlas' s world shattered.

He discovered Kacie had never been pregnant-but I was.

Consumed by a belated, violent rage, he executed Kacie with his own hands and demanded the death penalty for himself.

He thought death would be his redemption.

He thought he could find me on the other side and make amends.

But when his spirit finally reached out to mine, begging for forgiveness, I didn't feel the love I had yearned for in life.

I felt nothing.

"Go away, Atlas," I whispered, watching his soul crumble.

"I'm finally free."

Chapter 1

My stomach felt like a thousand tiny needles were pricking me, twisting inside me with a cold, wet grip. Every bump in the road sent a fresh wave of agony through my belly, making my head throb. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to make the pain disappear, but it only got bigger, a dark, heavy blanket smothering me.

"Atlas," I whimpered, trying to push past the heavy ski bags and cold metal poles pressing against me. My voice was small, choked, swallowed by the roaring engine and the loud music from the front.

He didn't hear me. He never did.

He had put me in the back, in the cargo hold of his big, black SUV. The space was dark and cold, even colder than the mountain air outside. I hated the dark. It made the bad thoughts come, the ones that made my chest feel tight and swimmy.

"Stop whining, Elsie," Atlas had said earlier, his voice sharp and impatient. It cut through me, colder than the air in here. "Kacie and I need to talk. Can't you just be quiet for once?"

He turned up the music then, a loud, thumping beat that vibrated the car. It was his way of telling me to disappear. He always did that. He liked quiet when Kacie was around.

My stomach cramped again, hard, like a giant hand was squeezing my insides. A warm, sticky liquid was spreading between my legs. It smelled coppery, like the pennies Momma used to let me hold. But this wasn't pennies. This was bad.

I reached for the locket around my neck, the cold metal a small comfort against my throbbing chest. Momma had given it to me. "Be a good girl, Elsie," she had said, just before she went away forever. "Be good, and Atlas will love you. He has to. He promised."

I was always good. I tried so hard. But Atlas never loved me. He never even looked at me, not really. Not like he looked at Kacie.

My head felt heavy, swimming in a thick fog. Ten years ago, the world had crashed in on me. I remembered the twisted metal, the awful screams. I remembered pulling Atlas out, his face pale and still. Then, everything went black. When I woke up, the world was different. Colors were too bright, sounds too loud. And my thoughts... they were like a child's crayon drawing, simple and broken.

They told me I saved Atlas. They said his family owed me. And Momma, she made them pay. She made Atlas marry me. It was supposed to keep me safe, keep me from being alone. But I was more alone now than ever.

The pain in my belly flared, sharper this time, and I gasped. My eyes fluttered open, but there was only darkness. I tried to curl into a ball, to make myself smaller, to make the pain smaller. But it was too big. Everything was too big. The darkness, the cold, the pain.

I wanted Momma. I wanted her to sing me a lullaby, to stroke my hair and tell me it would be okay. But Momma was gone. And I was alone in the dark.

A sudden, jarring lurch of the SUV threw me against the hard wall. A sharp, stinging pain shot through my head. The world tilted, then spun. My breath caught in my throat. I felt myself floating, light and strangely peaceful, above the cold, dark cargo hold.

I looked down. There I was, curled up on the floor, my small hands clutched to my stomach, a dark stain spreading on my jeans. My eyes were open, but they looked empty. Like the dolls Momma used to put away in the attic.

The music was still thumping, loud and oblivious. I could see through the thin partition, into the main cabin. Atlas was laughing, his head thrown back. Kacie was beside him, her hand on his arm, her red lips curving into a smug smile.

"She's finally quiet," Kacie purred, her voice dripping with satisfaction. "I told you she'd eventually shut up."

Atlas chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that used to make my heart flutter, long ago, before the crash. Now, it just sounded... empty. "Right," he said, taking Kacie's hand. "Always making a scene, that one. What a burden."

Burden.

That word echoed in the confined space, bouncing off the ski equipment, off my still body.

He looked at Kacie, his gaze soft and full of something I had always craved. "Soon, Kacie," he murmured, squeezing her hand. "Soon, she'll be out of our lives for good. Then we can really start fresh. You and me. And our baby."

Our baby. The words twisted in my non-existent gut. I felt a strange, cold emptiness where my pain used to be. It wasn't just Kacie's baby. It was my baby, too. Or, it would have been. If Kacie hadn't forced those little white pills down my throat, telling me they were vitamins. "Atlas wants you to be strong," she' d said, her smile too sweet. "Take these. They'll help you stop complaining."

And now, I was silent. Forever.

I'm dead, I thought, a strange calm washing over me. The pain was gone. The cold was gone. Only a faint sense of lingering sadness remained, like a forgotten echo.

The SUV finally slowed, pulling into a grand, stone-lined driveway. Bright lights from a towering lodge glittered against the snow-covered mountains of Aspen. A valet in a crisp uniform hurried to open their doors.

Atlas and Kacie stepped out, hand in hand, their faces alight with the excitement of arrival. Kacie shivered delicately, pulling her designer fur coat tighter. "It's freezing, darling," she cooed. "Let's get inside."

"Just a moment," Atlas said, glancing back at the SUV. "Did anyone see Elsie? She's probably sulking somewhere." He sounded annoyed, not concerned.

Just then, a hulking figure in a thick, black jacket approached the SUV. His face was grim, his eyes hard. He had a tight, unpleasant smile. He looked like trouble, the kind Momma always warned me about. His name was Mr. Thorne, Atlas's fixer, a man who always seemed to carry a dark secret in his eyes.

"Atlas," Thorne said, his voice gravelly. "I've handled the... arrangements. The facility is expecting her. They're ready to take her in tonight, no questions asked."

Kacie beamed at Thorne, a triumphant spark in her eyes. "Perfect. I can't wait to finally have some peace and quiet around here."

Atlas' s brow furrowed. "Are you sure this is the right place, Thorne? It looks a bit... run down. I want her taken care of, not just tossed aside." Even in this, his concern was less for me, and more for avoiding a messy situation. He was worried about appearances. Always.

Thorne chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "Don't you worry, boss. It's discreet. Very private. She'll be... comfortable. And out of sight. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

Kacie stepped closer to Atlas, stroking his arm. "Darling, don't fuss. Thorne knows what he's doing. Elsie will be fine. She always finds a way to be 'fine.' Now, let's go warm up. I'm starving."

Atlas sighed, a hint of irritation in his voice. "Fine. But if there's any trouble, Thorne, you deal with it. I don't want to hear another peep about her." He looked toward the rear of the vehicle, his gaze passing right through where I floated. "She always manages to be such a nuisance, even when she's trying to be good."

I watched them, a strange sense of detachment settling over me. My story had ended, alone in the dark, cold cargo hold. And they, the living, were already planning my erasure. Atlas, Kacie, Thorne. They were all in on it, in their own ways. My silent plea, my last breath, had gone unheard, unnoticed. It was just another nuisance, another problem to be solved, like an annoying fly buzzing too close.

My eyes, from my ethereal vantage point, drifted back to my lifeless body, still tucked amongst the forgotten ski equipment and luggage. No one was looking for me. No one ever really did.

Continue Reading

Other books by Mo Xiaoxiao

More
Reborn From Fire: The Mafia King's Bride

Reborn From Fire: The Mafia King's Bride

Mafia

5.0

The fire that melted my skin should have been the end of my story. I had been the perfect mafia wife. I obeyed my father, I married Dante Genovese, and I even birthed his daughter. But in return, he locked us in a safehouse and lit a match. He watched from behind a steel door as I burned to ash, all because his mistress, Sofia, was jealous and wanted me out of the picture. My own brother had spiked my champagne to ensure I was too weak to fight back. I died screaming, my lungs filling with smoke and the scent of my husband's betrayal. But when I gasped awake, I wasn't in hell. I was in the bridal suite at the Ritz-Carlton. My hands were smooth. My skin was unblemished. The date on the digital clock burned red in the darkness. It was three years ago. It was the night of our engagement. The night it all began. Dante was in the bathroom right now, humming contentedly as he washed off the scent of his mistress before coming to claim his "lawful prize." In my past life, I waited for him. I let him take me, thinking my submission would earn his love. Not this time. I didn't run to the lobby for help. My family had sold me out. Instead, I took the elevator to the Penthouse floor. To the territory of the Outfit. To the door of Matteo Moretti—The Butcher. The only man ruthless enough to make Dante tremble. When the door opened, revealing a man with eyes like ice and a gun in his hand, I didn't flinch. I fell to my knees and looked up at the monster who could save me. "I am Elena Vitiello," I whispered, the drug in my veins setting my blood on fire. "And I have a proposition."

Claimed By The Uncle: My Sweet Revenge

Claimed By The Uncle: My Sweet Revenge

Modern

5.0

I was the "crazy girl" my family sent to a survivalist commune in Utah to rot. Four years later, I returned to Manhattan with a titanium USB drive and a heart full of ice, ready to blackmail the one man who could burn my family to the ground. But I underestimated how much they hated me. My fiancé, Preston, was already laundering money through my inheritance and sleeping with my replacement. He didn't even flinch when I showed him the evidence of his crimes. Instead, he grabbed me by the shoulders, smashed my phone, and shoved me out of his moving Lincoln into a midnight storm. I hit the wet pavement hard, my knees scraping against the asphalt as I watched him drive away, laughing about how I was a "dirt-poor exile" that nobody wanted. Within minutes, my credit cards were flagged as stolen and my father’s lawyers were drafting a statement calling me mentally unstable. I was left shivering in a puddle of oily sludge, wearing a ruined Chanel suit, with no money, no home, and no one to hear me scream. I couldn't understand how they could be so cruel. I was their flesh and blood, yet they treated me like a broken toy to be discarded in the trash. I was a "distressed asset" in a city that only valued gold. That’s when a black armored SUV pulled to the curb. King Wagner—the ruthless shark of Wall Street and Preston’s own uncle—looked at my muddy face with cold, calculating eyes. He didn't offer me pity; he offered me a leash. "You belong to me now," he whispered, pulling me into the dry warmth of his car. By the next morning, he had announced our engagement to the world, turning me into the very weapon that would slit my family's throat.

You'll also like

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda
4.7

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch—a titan of industry and my best friend’s father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

Broken Ring, Billionaire Secrets: Watch Me Shine

Broken Ring, Billionaire Secrets: Watch Me Shine

Cornelia
4.5

I sat on the edge of the examination table, the crinkle of the sanitary paper sounding like thunder in the sterile room. The doctor didn't even look at me as he confirmed the news: the pregnancy was over. My husband, Keyon, didn't answer my call. He just sent an automated text: "In a meeting." When I returned to our cold mansion, I found his iPad glowing with a message from his "muse," Katina. He was throwing her a secret gala tonight-on our third wedding anniversary. He told her he couldn't wait to escape the "boring" and "draining" atmosphere I created at home. Keyon didn't stumble in until 3 AM, smelling of Katina's perfume with a smear of red on his collar. When I handed him the divorce papers, he laughed in my face. He called me a "glorified housekeeper" with no skills and no future, promising I'd be back in three days begging for a subway ticket. He even bet his friends ten thousand dollars that I wouldn't survive a week without his name. He had his assistant cancel my credit cards and block my gate access before I even reached the end of the driveway. He wanted me to starve. He wanted me to crawl. He sat in his office, mocking the "desperate" woman who pawned her three-million-dollar wedding ring for scrap metal just to pay for a meal. I stood on the rainy curb, watching the man I had protected for three years treat my life like trash. He didn't know about the ultrasound I just threw in the bin. He didn't know that while he was calling me "dull," I was the one secretly writing the code that kept his billion-dollar empire from collapsing. As I slid into a cheap Uber, I opened a hidden, encrypted app on my phone. The screen refreshed to a dashboard for an account Keyon didn't know existed. The balance was ten figures long-the accumulated wealth of "Solaris," the world's most elusive tech genius. Keyon thinks he just evicted a parasite, but he's about to find out he just declared war on the only person who can hit "delete" on his entire life.

The Placeholder Bride's Secret Billionaire Revenge

The Placeholder Bride's Secret Billionaire Revenge

Luo Ye
5.0

For two years, I was the invisible force behind tech billionaire Kieran Douglas, convinced that our "private" romance was his way of protecting us from the tabloid spotlight. I managed his mergers, warmed his bed, and waited for a future that didn't exist. The illusion shattered at 6:00 AM when a Page Six alert debuted Kieran’s "real" romance with socialite Aspen Schneider. Before I could even process the betrayal, Kieran sent me a cold, professional text: "Order flowers for Aspen. Pink peonies. Her favorite." When I tried to walk away, my own mother called me a disgrace and threatened to lock my inheritance forever unless I married a sixty-year-old businessman to save her failing estate. At a high-society gala that same night, Aspen intentionally crushed my burned hand in front of the cameras, while Kieran stood by and dismissed me as a "mediocre assistant" who had overstayed her welcome. I stood in the cold New York rain, drenched in champagne and humiliation, realizing that every sacrifice I made for Kieran was a joke. I was a ghost in a penthouse that was never mine, discarded the moment his "soulmate" returned. To the world, I was just a placeholder whose time had run out. But Kieran forgot one thing: my father’s multi-million dollar trust fund unlocks the moment I legally marry. I didn't need love; I needed a signature and a shield. I walked into a discreet law firm and signed a marriage contract with a man I believed was the city’s most notorious, scandal-ridden playboy. I thought I was marrying a degenerate "beard" to buy my freedom and secure my revenge. I didn't realize the man who signed that paper wasn't a playboy at all, but Gaston Collins—the most powerful and dangerous man on Wall Street—and he had no intention of letting our fake marriage stay fake.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book
Frozen Cargo, A Betrayed Wife Frozen Cargo, A Betrayed Wife Mo Xiaoxiao Modern
“My husband made me ride in the freezing cargo hold because his mistress wanted peace and quiet. I died back there, clutching the "vitamins" she gave me, while they laughed in the front seat. It wasn't until my frozen body was found that Atlas realized he had just killed his own wife and unborn child. Ten years ago, I saved Atlas from a car crash that left me with the mind of a child. He hated me for it. He treated me like a burden and let his mistress, Kacie, feed me high-dose abortion pills disguised as health supplements. When the police uncovered the truth, Atlas' s world shattered. He discovered Kacie had never been pregnant-but I was. Consumed by a belated, violent rage, he executed Kacie with his own hands and demanded the death penalty for himself. He thought death would be his redemption. He thought he could find me on the other side and make amends. But when his spirit finally reached out to mine, begging for forgiveness, I didn't feel the love I had yearned for in life. I felt nothing. "Go away, Atlas," I whispered, watching his soul crumble. "I'm finally free."”
1

Chapter 1

09/12/2025

2

Chapter 2

09/12/2025

3

Chapter 3

09/12/2025

4

Chapter 4

09/12/2025

5

Chapter 5

09/12/2025

6

Chapter 6

09/12/2025

7

Chapter 7

09/12/2025

8

Chapter 8

09/12/2025

9

Chapter 9

09/12/2025

10

Chapter 10

09/12/2025