STIGMA

Married To My Ex-Fiancé's Silent Uncle

Ming Yue

Twenty minutes before the "Wedding of the Century" at The Plaza, I stood outside the Presidential Suite in a fifty-thousand-dollar Vera Wang gown. I was the girl from a West Virginia trailer park about to marry Hugh Maxwell, the golden heir to a billion-dollar defense empire. I pushed the door open only to find Hugh pinned against the bed with my own stepsister, Floy. She was wearing my bridal diamond necklace, and the sounds of their laughter scraped against my eardrums like sandpaper. I didn't scream; I listened as Hugh grunted that once the wedding was over and the trust fund unlocked, he'd dump "that hillbilly trash" on a bus back to the mountains. They weren't just cheating; they were planning to steal my family's land deeds and leave me with nothing. When I set off the sprinklers and exposed their naked bodies to the paparazzi, the Maxwell family didn't apologize. They called me a "greedy peasant" and threatened to ruin my life unless I signed a new deal to save their crashing stock. I realized then that I was never a bride to them. I was a transaction, a rounding error in a ledger to be used and discarded. They thought my poverty made me weak and my silence made me a victim. "If we don't have a marriage certificate by midnight, the bank freezes thirty percent of our liquidity," their lawyer warned. So, I gave them exactly what they wanted. I used a loophole in their hundred-year-old family covenant and married the only other direct heir available. I didn't marry Hugh. I walked into the ICU and married his uncle, Fleet Maxwell-the legendary war hero who had been in a vegetative state for months. Now, I am the matriarch of the Maxwell dynasty. I've suspended Hugh's executive powers, exiled my mother-in-law to the Swiss Alps, and taken control of the family vault. They think I'm just a gold-digger waiting for a "corpse" to die so I can collect a fifty-million-dollar widow's payout. But last night, as I lay beside my comatose husband, the man they called a vegetable gripped my hand back.

Modern Scheming Contract marriage Billionaires CEO Flash Marriage Revenge Age Gap

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"According to the exclusive report of the Weekly News, Leon Lu, the heir of the Lu family, spent forty-eight hours in a hotel room with the famous actress, Candida Ye. Our reliable source confirmed that the actress has a slight bulge. Many believe that she is pregnant now."

It was still early in the morning, but the gossip about Leon Lu and Candida Ye had already spread all over the country, breaking the hearts of countless people.

Leon Lu was the CEO of the Lu Group. He was the heir of the nouveau-riche Lu family and a parvenu in the real estate industry. Currently, he was the youngest businessman in the city, known for being handsome, romantic, and affectionate. He was every woman's fantasy.

The media followed his love life all the time, broadcasting every woman he had associated with.

In the Lu family's villa

Daryl Ye sat quietly at the table with eyes staring unblinkingly at the TV screen. The news was all about Leon Lu and Candida Ye.

Her rough and slender hands grasped her thighs tightly. But still, she couldn't stop her body from trembling.

She couldn't believe that Leon Lu's mistress was Candida Ye, her parents' adopted daughter.

For a long time, Daryl Ye had doted on Candida Ye like her own sister.

"You're so stupid! Why did you put so much vinegar in the soup? Do you want to kill me?" Katrina Su, Daryl Ye's mother-in-law, who was sitting elegantly at the table, suddenly poured the bowl of hot chicken soup onto Daryl Ye.

With a darkened expression, Daryl Ye put down her chopsticks. She endured the burning sensation and knelt down to clean up the mess. "I'm so sorry, Mom. I'll cook for you again."

She tried to restrain her tears from falling, but they just streamed down her face like raindrops.

"You can't do anything right, but cry!" Katrina Su tweaked her left ear and pushed her away impatiently. "You're such a jinx. I don't know what's wrong with Leon that he chose to marry you. Even if you can bear everything, I can't stand you anymore."

"Mom, what do you mean?" Daryl Ye raised her head and looked at her mother-in-law in panic. She had a bad feeling with her words.

Her knees started to feel numb from kneeling, but she didn't complain.

"Are you really dumb? You can't even give birth to a child. And yet, you still want to be the hostess of the Lu family. Candida is pregnant with Leon's child now, so I will let her move in here tomorrow. A jinx like you should start packing now and get out of here."

"Mom, it's not that I can't have a child. Back then..." Daryl Ye was not able to finish her words as she choked with sobs.

The night wind that blew through the window made her body shiver more. She felt cold all over.

In the past five years, Katrina Su had abused her and treated her as a servant. But she endured it all for the sake of her marriage. But this time, Katrina Su's words made her heart break into a thousand pieces.

"Don't mention the past. If you hadn't set Leon up and got pregnant, he wouldn't have been forced to marry you." Katrina Su stood up and stared at Daryl Ye. "But what did you do? You didn't take care of my grandson. You lost him. It's been five years. I'm too tired to put up with you anymore. Get out of here! Make sure that I won't be able to see your face tomorrow morning."

Katrina Su then stomped off with a cold face.

Her words were like a knife that cut Daryl Ye's heart into pieces.

It was true that Leon Lu was forced to marry Daryl Ye because she was pregnant. But she didn't intentionally lose her child.

At this moment, her phone rang. She took it out from her pocket and saw Leon Lu's name on the screen.

She felt excited and nervous at the same time.

This was the first time that he had called her since they got married. But she was also afraid that he would only say something cruel to her.

As soon as she answered, she said, "Leon, mom said..."

"Where are you?" Leon Lu interrupted her coldly.

Daryl Ye felt more nervous. "I'm home."

"Come to Room 1818 of Cloud Hotel in half an hour."

Leon Lu then hung up before Daryl Ye could even say something.

Daryl Ye simply thought that Leon Lu just wanted a quiet place to explain his relationship with Candida Ye, so he told her to go to the hotel.