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No Longer Mrs. Cooley: The Architect's Return
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."Baby, you're absolutely incredible."
A sultry haze of lust and murmured intimacy clung to the living room air, heavy enough to make the space feel tainted.
From the doorway, Alicia Barton froze as she took in the sight of Michael Barton, her husband, tangled shamelessly with Kaelyn Gill—the Gill family's biological daughter and her so-called sister—right there on the sofa, a cold tremor crawling up her spine and sinking into her chest.
"Alicia?" Startled by her presence, Michael fumbled and yanked his pants into place, his movements rushed and clumsy.
Kaelyn looped her arms around his neck, teeth grazing his earlobe as she breathed out lazily, "Why bother with her? It's not like she can see us. Besides, it's not the first time we've done this right in front of her."
Though her whisper was low and indulgent, every word landed clearly in Alicia's ears, sharpened by her unnaturally keen hearing.
Never, not even in her darkest imaginings, had Alicia expected that the very day her sight returned would be the day she discovered her husband in Kaelyn's arms.
Alicia clamped her teeth into her lower lip, forcing herself not to cry as her voice quivered. "What… what are you doing?"
Kaelyn let out a flirtatious laugh, her tongue casually sweeping over her damp lips. "Relax, Alicia. My boyfriend and I were just having a little fun," she purred. "Want to join us?"
Michael was Kaelyn's boyfriend!?
A bone-deep chill rushed through Alicia, freezing her from the inside out.
If that was true… then who had she married?
Not long ago, she had lost her sight in a car accident while trying to save Kaelyn.
When she finally woke up, it was Michael—her childhood sweetheart—who had insisted on marrying her despite her blindness.
She had been overwhelmed with gratitude and emotion.
Yet after the wedding, an unease had quietly taken root—Michael's voice didn't sound the same as she remembered.
When she questioned it, Michael calmly explained that unbearable grief had torn his vocal cords, leaving his voice permanently altered.
It turned out they had been lying to her since the very start.
The thought of Kaelyn making out with Michael when she had been blind while she herself had stood there smiling like a fool and offering her blessings turned her stomach.
How could they bring themselves to do something so cruel to her?
A violent urge rose inside Alicia, a desperate need to rip that rotten couple apart and expose everything.
Still, reason forced her to rein it in. Letting them know she had regained her sight would ruin everything.
For now, she needed to stay quiet and uncover what those two were really plotting behind her back.
At that moment, a sharp doorbell chime cut through the room.
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My Billionaire In Disguise: Marrying A Poor Husband Who Owns The World
Alicia believed for years she was deeply in love with Michael, until she regained her sight and caught him and her sister boldly betraying her. The man who'd pretended to be her husband while she was blind turned out to be a beggar hired for the deception-her own parents complicit in the scheme t/0/97058/coverorgin.jpg?v=2d8c5a5d1d3f8aed379d9f46bd92fca6&imageMogr2/format/webp)
