STIGMA

THREE-YEARS CONTRACT MARRIAGE WITH THE HOT BILLIONAIRE

Ashley Ray

"Sign the contract, or lose everything." I stared at the papers that would seal my fate-a three-year marriage to Julian Blackwood, the ruthless billionaire they call the Ice King. My family didn't ask. They demanded. My father's company was drowning, my stepsister's engagement had exploded, and I was the replacement bride they could sacrifice. Just another transaction. Julian made it clear on our wedding day: "Don't expect affection. Don't expect companionship. Certainly don't expect love." He refused to kiss me at the altar. He gave me a bedroom down the hall and told me to stay out of his way. I was Mrs. Blackwood in name only-a contract, a convenience, a means to an end. I accepted it. I had survived twelve years of abuse in my own home. I could survive three years of indifference in his. But then Nate, Julian's best friend, showed me kindness, and suddenly my cold husband became possessive. When my sister attacked me, he became protective. Now the man who promised me nothing is fighting his own father to keep me. The marriage that was supposed to be fake is becoming terrifyingly real and the secrets about my mother's death are threatening to destroy everything. They said Julian Blackwood destroys everything he touches. What they didn't tell me... is that sometimes destruction is exactly what you need to be reborn. With a pregnancy involved, how was I going to end this three-year marriage peacefully?

Romance Family Modern Forced love CEO Contract marriage Twist Enemies to Lovers Female-Centered

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For seven years, I was the architect of my fiancé's criminal empire and the strategist behind his every move. I was Dante Gallo’s unofficial Consigliere, his partner in everything but name. Tomorrow, I was finally supposed to marry him and take my place as the queen to his throne.

But on the eve of our wedding, a single text message sent by mistake detonated my life. It was a photo from Dante, showing a platinum wedding band on his hand. The message read: “Married this morning. She’s safe now.”

My gaze fell to the engagement ring on my own finger. It was the identical band, just smaller. The engraved initials ‘D.I.’ didn’t stand for Dante and I. They stood for Dante and Isabella—his childhood sweetheart. My entire relationship was a lie; I was just a shield to protect his one true love.

He dismissed my discovery as a "tantrum." Then, his new bride began taunting me, sending a picture of them tangled in bedsheets with the caption: "Loser." They expected me to break. They thought I would shatter.

They were about to find out just how wrong they were. I forwarded the picture to Isabella’s fiancé, a man far more dangerous than Dante. "Your fiancée is in Suite 8808 at the Grand Hyatt," I told him. "I'll meet you downstairs. We're going to crash their party."

Chapter 1

Serafina's POV:

The phone in my hand felt colder than the engagement ring on my finger. It harbored an infuriating truth: my seven-year love story was a lie, and the man I was supposed to marry tomorrow already belonged to someone else.

For seven years, I had been the shadow behind Dante Gallo's throne.

He wasn't just the godfather of the Gallo family; he was more like a phantom haunting the city's underworld, a figure whose name was synonymous with both violence and absolute power.

His empire was built on blood and laundered through the legitimate front of Gallo Imports-an achievement that belonged just as much to me as it did to him.

I was the mastermind behind his legitimate success, the strategist behind his every move, and the unofficial consigliere who knew his inner workings better than he knew himself.

We were inseparable in everything but name.

Last month, he finally proposed.

The proposal was abrupt, feeling less like a romantic gesture and more like an afterthought, with the ceremony set for the Feast of the Assumption. I foolishly mistook it for a promise of our future. What a fool I had been.

That encrypted message was never meant for me.

Yet there it sat in my inbox, a digital bomb that obliterated the life I had so carefully constructed.

"Getting married tomorrow morning. She's safe now."

Attached was a photo. It showed a man's hand, unmistakably Dante's. I recognized the ring. Engraved on the inside were the letters: DI

My gaze fell to my own hand, to the engagement ring he had slipped onto my finger. It was exactly the same as the one in the photo, just a smaller size. The same platinum, the same diamonds, the same engraving.

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