Contract Marriage With That Ruthless CEO

Contract Marriage With That Ruthless CEO

Gavin

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My life was a perfectly curated dream. Three years with Ethan, a diamond on my finger, and a wedding just a week away-timed perfectly with my family's groundbreaking AI launch that he was a key part of. I, Ava Riley, the brilliant architect, had given him everything-my heart, my connections, my family' s influence. Then, he walked into our penthouse, his face grim, and shattered it all. "It' s Chloe," he said, his ex-girlfriend. "Her mother is dying. Her last wish is to see Chloe get married. To me." My fiancé was going to marry his ex-girlfriend days before our wedding, and he told me with clinical detachment, as if discussing a logistical minor issue. He said it was "filial piety," just "a ceremony, a piece of paper." He expected me to accept this monstrous betrayal, to be "reasonable." My heart didn' t just break, it congealed into ice. I was not his partner; I was a business asset, a temporary stepping stone in his grand design. The humiliation thickened when he had the audacity to suggest using our pre-paid waterfront wedding venue for his impromptu ceremony with Chloe. And then, his true colors emerged. As I refused, his charm vanished, replaced by ugly entitlement, culminating in his fingers digging into my arm. "You have until Saturday to come to your senses," he snarled. "You can either accept this with grace, or you can fight it and lose everything." That physical threat, the raw intimidation, was the final severance. The man I loved was gone, if he ever existed. Only a calculating, abusive stranger remained. I wouldn' t be his victim, nor a footnote in his story. No, I would not cry. I would not scream. I calmly called my brother, Liam. "The wedding is still on for next Saturday," I stated. "Find me a different groom." There was only one man who could make a statement, someone Ethan feared, someone who held a grudge as deep as mine: Lucas Thorne, my family's fiercest rival, a ruthless tech mogul. My brother had one simple question: "Are you sure? He's ruthless." My answer was already forming: "So am I, now." I would play his game, but I would win.

Introduction

My life was a perfectly curated dream.

Three years with Ethan, a diamond on my finger, and a wedding just a week away-timed perfectly with my family's groundbreaking AI launch that he was a key part of.

I, Ava Riley, the brilliant architect, had given him everything-my heart, my connections, my family' s influence.

Then, he walked into our penthouse, his face grim, and shattered it all.

"It' s Chloe," he said, his ex-girlfriend. "Her mother is dying. Her last wish is to see Chloe get married. To me."

My fiancé was going to marry his ex-girlfriend days before our wedding, and he told me with clinical detachment, as if discussing a logistical minor issue.

He said it was "filial piety," just "a ceremony, a piece of paper."

He expected me to accept this monstrous betrayal, to be "reasonable."

My heart didn' t just break, it congealed into ice. I was not his partner; I was a business asset, a temporary stepping stone in his grand design.

The humiliation thickened when he had the audacity to suggest using our pre-paid waterfront wedding venue for his impromptu ceremony with Chloe.

And then, his true colors emerged. As I refused, his charm vanished, replaced by ugly entitlement, culminating in his fingers digging into my arm.

"You have until Saturday to come to your senses," he snarled. "You can either accept this with grace, or you can fight it and lose everything."

That physical threat, the raw intimidation, was the final severance.

The man I loved was gone, if he ever existed. Only a calculating, abusive stranger remained.

I wouldn' t be his victim, nor a footnote in his story.

No, I would not cry. I would not scream.

I calmly called my brother, Liam. "The wedding is still on for next Saturday," I stated.

"Find me a different groom."

There was only one man who could make a statement, someone Ethan feared, someone who held a grudge as deep as mine: Lucas Thorne, my family's fiercest rival, a ruthless tech mogul.

My brother had one simple question: "Are you sure? He's ruthless."

My answer was already forming: "So am I, now."

I would play his game, but I would win.

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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.

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