Elena Harrison never knew love not from the parents who despised her, not from the man she once trusted, and certainly not from the husband she was forced to marry. When she was sold into a contract marriage to billionaire Marcus Phillips, she thought things couldn't get worse. But walking into her new home only to find another woman already claiming his heart? That was just the beginning of her nightmare. Marcus never wanted a wife, especially not one chosen by his parents. But to escape an arranged marriage, he struck a deal with Elena, a woman he thought was nothing more than a means to an end. Until betrayal ripped them apart. Until his world crumbled. Until the wife he cast aside returned-not as the timid woman they all dismissed, but as the powerful heiress to one of England's most ruthless empires. Now, Elena isn't just back she's taking everything. His company. His legacy. Everything he owned But revenge is never simple, and the truth is never what it seems. With enemies lurking in the shadows and secrets from the past threatening to destroy them both, can Marcus prove that love was never their weakness or will Elena's vengeance shatter any chance at redemption? Betrayal tore them apart. Will love be enough to bring them back together?
Chapter 1 The Deal
"And just like that, another day ruined", Elena murmured as she heard her parents arguing endlessly in their room. She was still in her room and their noise woke her up.
She got up from bed and walked into the bathroom to take a bath.
She finished her bath and went back to her room to get ready for work. When she was done, she walked out of her room and went to the kitchen. She looked through it and there was nothing to eat at all.
"I need to restock the groceries" Elena muttered as she looked through the fridge.
"Are you expecting us to starve this morning?" Elena froze as she heard her mother's voice behind her.
"Good morning Mom", Elena said instead.
"That's not the answer to my question", Lucy snapped at her daughter and Elena flinched.
"I forgot to restock the groceries yesterday since I didn't come back on time. "I will do it today. "For now you guys should order something to eat", Elena said, and her mother scoffed.
"All these are excuses, you think I don't know you were in your cheap boyfriend's house", Lucy sneered and Elena sighed. She wasn't in the mood for arguments this morning, she needed her mind to be clear about the project she was working on.
"Mom, I will buy it today. "I will send some money to your account for the food this morning", Elena said, and quickly walked out of the house because she knew her mother would find a way to retort.
Her mom wasn't always like that. Everything changed when her dad's company went bankrupt. She had to be the one providing for the family since her mom was a full homemaker.
Every morning, Elena hoped for a better life for herself and her family.
_
Elena walked into the office with her normal plain expression. She walked straight to her cubicle. Just as she was about to start working, someone showed up.
"What happened this time?" Clara asked with a worried gaze.
"Just my mom being her", Elena replied and Clara nodded in understanding.
"You can come to my place today, we will drink your sorrows away", Clara said and Elena chuckled.
"I have to get groceries on my way back from work. "Mom and I had a fight about it this morning, maybe tomorrow", Elena replied and Clara grumbled.
"Miss Kenneth?" A deep voice was heard behind Clara, and she paused. She slowly turned towards the man with an awkward smile.
"Are you here to work or discuss?" he said.
"Sorry sir, I will get back to work", Clara said and hurried towards her cubicle while Elena smiled heartily.
"Why don't you want to get married? "I am not getting younger, I want to see my grandchildren?" Felicia said over the phone and Marcus sighed.
"Mom, not now", Marcus replied.
"That's what you've been saying for the past two years", Felicia scoffed and Marcus sighed again.
His office doors opened, and his assistant entered with some files in his hand.
"I will talk to you later mom, goodbye" Marcus said, and hung up before his mother could say anything further.
"From the finance department", Simon said as he dropped the files on the table and Marcus took them, looking through the files.
"Get me a wife before the end of the week", Marcus said, his eyes still on the files and Simon blinked in shock.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Marcus said after a while, his eyes leaving the file to Simon.
"No. "No sir", Simon said, and left the office.
Elena paid the attendant and took her groceries, leaving the store, her phone in her ears as she spoke to her boyfriend.
"I just got out of the store from buying the groceries. "How was your day?" Elena asked.
"It wasn't complete without you, but I am managing", Richard said in a flirtatious tone, and Elena blushed.
"We met yesterday, today is for my family", Elena replied as she approached her house.
"I know, you already said that", Richard replied and Elena smiled.
"I have to go now, bye" Elena said as she got close to her place.
"Bye babe", Richard replied, and Elena hung up.
Elena took deep breaths before entering the house. No one was in the living room though, so she walked into the kitchen to drop the groceries and went to her room.
She wanted to get into something comfortable before going to cook dinner.
When she got back to the kitchen, her younger brother was snooping through the groceries, and she glared at him.
"What are you doing?" Elena asked in anger as she walked towards him.
"Looking for what to eat, I am hungry" he said, and Elena scoffed. She hadn't eaten anything except for the little lunch she had at work, but she wasn't this tasty for food.
"Where's mom and dad?" Elena asked instead.
"Mom is probably shopping with the money you gave her and dad is definitely drinking somewhere", Fedrick said nonchalantly, and Elena shook her head.
Fedrick was only 15 years old, but he already knew a lot because of their stupid parents. If anything, she pities her brother the most, but sometimes he is very annoying.
He took up the advantage that their parents liked him more, and it was clearly obvious that Fedrick was the favorite child.
"Cut these vegetables", Elena said, but Fedrick refused, so she had to force him to do it by threatening him not to pay his school fees.
She was obviously joking, there's no way she wouldn't pay his school fees, but that got him to cut the vegetables.
Elena's mom came back home with a lot of shopping bags and Elena sighed. She had always been like that. She uses any money she's given to buy things and if Elena doesn't give her money, they will get into a huge fight because of it.
Fedrick screamed from the kitchen and Lucy dropped her bags and went into the kitchen. Elena turned her attention towards her brother.
"How did you cut yourself?" Lucy asked.
"She said if I didn't, she wouldn't pay my fees", Fedrick said, pointing towards Elena and Lucy glared at her.
"You wretch, how dare you say that to your own brother? Now he had hurt himself. "I always knew you wanted to hurt him", Lucy said to Elena with a dark glare.
"Mom, it's not like that", Elena tried to explain, but Lucy didn't listen.
"I don't want to hear your complaints", she yelled and pushed Elena, who struggled to hold her stamina so she wouldn't fall to the ground.
Lucy took Frederick away and Frederick turned towards Elena, sticking his tongue out to her and Elena bit her lips, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.