The Wife He Never Loved

“"I don't bargain with strangers, Xavier." Throwing the signed divorce papers and an untouched titanium black card onto his hospital bed, Elena ended five years of thankless sacrifice with a single, chilling glance. Five years ago, her glamorous elder sister Vivienne fled on her wedding day to chase foreign stardom, and Elena was forced to step in as the sacrificial replacement bride. For half a decade, she lived as Xavier Kingsley's invisible, unloved shadow-nursing his failing liver, enduring his cold contempt, and watching him pine for the runaway bride who abandoned him at the altar. Now, Vivienne is back to reclaim what she threw away. And when Xavier awakens from near-fatal liver failure only to sneer that Elena crawled back for his billions, the last shred of her patience shatters. She walks away with nothing. No alimony. No property. Not a single penny of his empire. Then, right as Vivienne rushes into the hospital room to take her place, Elena turns on her heel, strides back to the bed, and tangles her fingers in Xavier's hair-capturing his lips in a fierce, breathless, consuming kiss right before the horrified eyes of the woman who ran. Pulling back with a lethal smirk, Elena wipes his lips with her thumb. "Five years ago, you stole my first kiss as a stand-in bride. Now that we're divorced, I'm taking it back." Leaving Vivienne burning in humiliation and Xavier frozen in disbelief, she vanishes into the rain. Five years later, Xavier rules a media conglomerate, desperate to salvage a $200-million international blockbuster that could make or break his legacy. To secure global distribution, Kingsley Entertainment is forced to beg the world's most elite, untouchable performing-arts conglomerate: The Vega Royal Empire. He is ready to offer hundreds of millions just to meet the elusive billionaire chairwoman who commands the global stage. He has no idea the powerhouse holding his entire future in the palm of her hand is the very replacement bride he discarded. And this time, she isn't bowing to anyone.”