“That child is mine. And so are you,” he commanded, his viper-green eyes pinning her in place.

Grace couldn’t believe that he—Carlos Benjamin, her new CEO and eight years her junior—was the father of her unborn baby.

“You can go back to that deadbeat you call a husband, or you can come with me and have everything.”

=====

For the last five years of her marriage, Grace Preston, 32, believed she was broken. She couldn’t have a child, and her deadbeat husband, Charles, never let her forget it, calling her useless while she worked tirelessly to fund his failed acting career. He didn’t just break her spirit; he shattered her trust by cheating on her with her own sister.

Heartbroken, Grace fled to her office late one night, seeking solace at the bottom of a bottle. She wasn’t alone. A beautiful, blond-haired man was there, nursing his own wounds.

He never told her his name, but he offered her a night of oblivion. Fueled by whiskey and a desperate need for revenge, she gave in to her darkest desires, pulling the willing stranger into her web.

In her drunken haze, she thought, “If my husband can have his fun, then so can I.”

She never worried about protection, convinced she was barren. Until a month later, when a positive pregnancy test trembled in her hands. Grace Preston, the ‘barren’ wife, was pregnant.

In a single night, the stranger gave her what Charles couldn’t in five years.
Now Carlos has made his claim, pulling her into a world of immense power and lethal secrets. Will Grace escape her toxic marriage only to be trapped in this captivating young billionaire’s golden cage? Or is trading one prison for another a mistake that will cost her more than just her heart?


I drew in a sharp breath as I slammed my apartment door shut. My mind was still reeling, struggling to make sense of what had just unfolded.


Rage consumed me—not just at the situation, but at myself. Despite everything that bastard had done, despite all his betrayals, I couldn't deny the truth burning in my chest: I still loved Charles. Beyond my mother's fragile heart that couldn't handle devastating news, it was this stubborn love that had kept me trapped for so long with such a worthless man.


All I'd ever craved was a beautiful life with Charles because he'd been my everything. My first love, my first kiss, the first and only man I'd surrendered myself to—at least until last night. In my memories, he'd once been perfect, the man I'd envisioned spending my life with.


I'd foolishly believed one night could erase Charles from my system, but those years we'd shared—the dating, the marriage—ran too deep to simply wash away.


Chapter 18 - Chapter 18 Etched In My Heart