SILLAGE

No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return

Xiao Xiaosu

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.

Modern Revenge Divorce

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With her hands grasping the sheets tightly, Rose Lin bent up to see him sprawling over her body.

She groaned as the pain and pleasure mixed together. The she pushed her hips upwards in an effort for his body to agree with hers even more.

"Relax."

A smooth voice came from the top of her head. However, she also noticed his breathing became much heavier than usual.

Rose Lin unconsciously released her tightly curled fingers and the bed sheet around her crumbled back down.

It was no other than Burke Gu, the man who she had been married to for half a year.

She had loved him for twelve years, so she didn't really mind trusting him with this simple act.

Burke Gu gazed deeply at the bewildered Rose Lin under him. Her seducing eyes, shadowed by the lurking darkness around them.

The moment he entered her, he groaned as hundreds of thoughts flashed into his mind.

This was his wife – his actual wife. As groans and moans echoed throughout the room, he just couldn't believe that he was this lucky.

It felt as if a fire was lit up right in his chest as he lived in the moment over Rose's skin.

He leaned over and kissed her sweet and soft lips, and she moaned, pulling his face deeper into hers.

The next morning,

a pile of paper dropped in front of Rose.

She stopped what she was doing, stunned at being shocked out of her reverie. She took the forms doubtfully and scanned the familiar content.

Wasn't this their agreement, the contract they signed before marriage?

"What do you mean?"

she said, trying to steady her already shaking voice.

There was a two year deadline on their marriage. They'd already been married for half a year, yet he found the time to take it out again. Was there something wrong?

"Look at the third clause," he stated.

She narrowed her eyes at the third clause of their agreement.

"On the basis of both sides' wishes, both sides can perform the duty of a couple."

She was dumbfounded, her tongue tied at the predicament.

Trust Burke to label sex in such a formal manner.

Back then, there was only one clause in their obligation, that Rose didn't need to serve Burke in bed. All she needed was to act like his wife in public.

Once he saw the change in her face, he reached out and buttoned his suit sleeve with one hand elegantly. "You don't have to think too much into it. I'm a man, and I have my own needs to fulfill, and you happen to be the solution," he stated.

A flicker of surprise flashed in her face.

Did she hear it right? Did Burke just ask her to have sex with him?

In fact, she never really heard him speak of this topic till the time they both signed the arrangement.

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