Bound by the Brand: His Contracted Bride

Bound by the Brand: His Contracted Bride

Gavin

5.0
Comment(s)
79
View
11
Chapters

My father and older brother, gone in a blink, left me, Ethan Miller, the last man standing and sole heir to a sprawling Texas ranch empire. The funeral dust hadn't even settled, but the vultures were already circling. My uncle, Robert, saw opportunity where I felt grief, while Governor Sterling delivered an ultimatum: secure my inheritance, or lose it to endless family disputes-by marrying within a year. Then, my ex-girlfriend, Brittany Carter, reappeared, her sympathy dripping with a sweetness that soured my stomach. I' d foolishly held onto a flicker of hope for her, even after she' d left when my prospects weren't "shiny enough." But all my illusions shattered when I overheard her and my cousin, Dylan, plotting. "He' s a wreck, completely clueless," I heard Britt sneer, her voice devoid of remorse. "He' s just a means to an end. Once he' s got full control, and I' ve wrapped him around my little finger, this ranch will practically be ours." My childhood rescuer, the girl I thought cared, was a calculating viper, mocking my grief, planning to carve up my legacy. The words hit me like a physical blow. The crushing weight of fresh profound grief twisted into something colder, sharper: pure, unadulterated anger. How could I have been so blind, so stupid? How could the people closest to me betray me so utterly, so cruelly? They clearly thought I was just a soft, grieving fool easily manipulated. But if they thought they could pick me clean, they were about to learn a harsh lesson. A fire ignited within me, burning off the sorrow. It was time to activate an old pact, one that would bring an unexpected woman into my life, and change everything the vultures thought they knew.

Introduction

My father and older brother, gone in a blink, left me, Ethan Miller, the last man standing and sole heir to a sprawling Texas ranch empire. The funeral dust hadn't even settled, but the vultures were already circling. My uncle, Robert, saw opportunity where I felt grief, while Governor Sterling delivered an ultimatum: secure my inheritance, or lose it to endless family disputes-by marrying within a year.

Then, my ex-girlfriend, Brittany Carter, reappeared, her sympathy dripping with a sweetness that soured my stomach. I' d foolishly held onto a flicker of hope for her, even after she' d left when my prospects weren't "shiny enough." But all my illusions shattered when I overheard her and my cousin, Dylan, plotting.

"He' s a wreck, completely clueless," I heard Britt sneer, her voice devoid of remorse. "He' s just a means to an end. Once he' s got full control, and I' ve wrapped him around my little finger, this ranch will practically be ours." My childhood rescuer, the girl I thought cared, was a calculating viper, mocking my grief, planning to carve up my legacy.

The words hit me like a physical blow. The crushing weight of fresh profound grief twisted into something colder, sharper: pure, unadulterated anger. How could I have been so blind, so stupid? How could the people closest to me betray me so utterly, so cruelly?

They clearly thought I was just a soft, grieving fool easily manipulated. But if they thought they could pick me clean, they were about to learn a harsh lesson. A fire ignited within me, burning off the sorrow. It was time to activate an old pact, one that would bring an unexpected woman into my life, and change everything the vultures thought they knew.

Continue Reading

Other books by Gavin

More
When Love Turns to Ash

When Love Turns to Ash

Short stories

4.4

My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.

The Contract Wife: Thorne's Redemption

The Contract Wife: Thorne's Redemption

Short stories

5.0

I lay in the sterile silence of the hospital, mourning the baby I never got to hold. Everyone called it a tragic accident. A slip and fall. But I knew the truth of my husband's shove. Mark finally came to visit. He didn't bring flowers; he brought a briefcase. Inside were divorce papers and a non-disclosure agreement. He calmly informed me that his mistress-my friend-was pregnant. They were his "real family" now, and they couldn't have any "unpleasantness." He threatened to use fabricated psychiatric reports to paint me as an unstable danger to myself. "Sign the papers, Clara," he warned, his voice void of emotion. "Or you'll be moved from this comfortable room to a more... secure facility. A long-term one." I looked at the man I had loved and saw a monster. This wasn't a tragedy; it was a corporate takeover of my life. He had been meeting with lawyers while I was losing our child. I wasn't his grieving wife; I was a liability being managed, a loose end to be tied. I was utterly and completely trapped. Just as despair consumed me, my parents' old lawyer appeared like a ghost from the past. She pressed a heavy, ornate key into my palm. "Your parents left you an escape route," she whispered, her eyes filled with resolve. "For a day like this." The key led to a forgotten contract, a pact made by our grandfathers decades ago. An ironclad marriage agreement, binding me to the one man my husband feared more than death itself: the ruthless, reclusive billionaire Julian Thorne.

A Five-Year Deception, A Lifetime of Payback

A Five-Year Deception, A Lifetime of Payback

Short stories

5.0

I was the long-lost Donovan heiress, finally brought home after a childhood in foster care. My parents adored me, my husband cherished me, and the woman who tried to ruin my life, Kiera Reese, was locked away in a mental facility. I was safe. I was loved. On my birthday, I decided to surprise my husband, Ivan, at his office. But he wasn't there. I found him at a private art gallery across town. He was with Kiera. She wasn't in a facility. She was radiant, laughing as she stood beside my husband and their five-year-old son. I watched through the glass as Ivan kissed her, a familiar, loving gesture he’d used with me just that morning. I crept closer and overheard them. My birthday wish to go to the amusement park had been denied because he’d already promised the entire park to their son—whose birthday was the same day as mine. "She’s so grateful to have a family, she’d believe anything we tell her," Ivan said, his voice laced with a cruelty that stole my breath. "It's almost sad." My entire reality—my loving parents who funded this secret life, my devoted husband—was a five-year lie. I was just the fool they kept on stage. My phone buzzed. It was a text from Ivan, sent while he stood with his real family. "Just got out of the meeting. So exhausting. I miss you." The casual lie was the final blow. They thought I was a pathetic, grateful orphan they could control. They were about to find out just how wrong they were.

You'll also like

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book