Hidden Interest

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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Brittany's POV

"Happy birthday, baby. And happy three years anniversary to us," my voice rang out excitedly through the phone.

"Thank you. Happy anniversary," my boyfriend of three years replied from the other end.

I blushed hard as I continued wrapping the gift I got him. We always had to celebrate his birthday and our anniversary together. Oh, how I always looked forward to this day. I never had enough but I always tried to get the best gift for him.

"Will you be home this evening? I want to come over," I said.

"You... You... Want to come over? No... No," he stuttered. "I thought you had an evening shift."

"Yes but I want to see you first." I was already done wrapping and packaging the gift in a gift bag.

"You don't have to. Let's meet tomorrow, okay? I don't want to stress you." He said.

"Alright then," I replied even though I had no plans to cancel meeting him this evening.It would be even better to make it a surprise. I disconnected the call then I took a quick last glance at the mirror, hoping that he would be satisfied with the surprise.

As I arrived at his place, I met cars parked outside and people standing at the doorway. I smiled at them and walked in confidently. So, apparently Chris hosted a party without my knowledge. I wonder if he also planned it as a surprise but I doubted because he already dismissed me for the evening.

The jamming of music and the chatter from the crowd made me very uncomfortable. I wasn't used to having a lot of people around me - the more reason why I didn't know any of his friends.

Dialing his number and sending multiple texts which was left unanswered, my mind wandered to the various places he could be that warranted him to ignore me.

"Ooh! The birthday boy is here," shouted a loud voice behind me. Everyone's attention turned to the door as they all started chanting a birthday song.

I tried to steal a view over the obstructing heads and when I finally did, I regretted instantly. Chris was in the middle of the crowd, smiling to the birthday song with his arm wrapped around a woman's waist.

It was just his arm wrapped around a woman's waist but she wasn't any woman. She was Debbie, his long-time crush from college.

I watched quietly, shaking off the thought that there was something else involved but I still felt uneasy. My suspicion was confirmed at the end of the birthday song when Chris, my own boyfriend I had broken all odds for made an announcement that shattered my thoughts.

"Thank you everyone for making it to my party. I haven't hosted a party for a very long time so I would use this opportunity to celebrate my birthday and my six months anniversary with Debbie."

What was happening? I couldn't believe my ears.

In the midst of my confusion, Chris gazed at Debbie with a kind of affection that I had never gotten from him. Finally, he grabbed her by the waist and kissed her deeply.

Squeals of delight, cheers and applause erupted from the crowd while I was left speechless. I couldn't believe this last minute betrayal by someone I had planned the future with.

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