Surrendering to the Billionaire's Lust
Автор
Jhenny Pink
Прочтений
1,0M
Глав
64
Rue’s world cracks in a single, brutal moment, and then goes blessedly quiet. She wakes in a mansion that feels too grand to be kind, with no memory of who she was or what she lost. The man watching over her is magnetic, powerful, and very clear about one thing—she belongs here. He offers comfort wrapped in control, safety laced with desire, and answers only when he chooses. As Rue adjusts to her glittering new reality, flashes of emotion surface without explanation. Is she finally cherished, or simply claimed? Either way, the pull between them is impossible to ignore.
1
RUE
I forced a bittersweet smile as the man who had been my entire world—my boyfriend of two years—walked down the aisle with my sister, Daisy. The applause from everyone around me couldn’t drown out the sound of my heart breaking into a million pieces.
I tried so hard to keep it together, to breathe normally so no one would see how much this was destroying me. But honestly, who was I kidding? Everyone in this room knew about David and me. They all knew we’d been together for years.
When David’s eyes met mine as he walked past, I saw it—the regret. He was holding my sister’s hand, but his eyes were telling me a completely different story.
My mom nudged me hard in the ribs, giving me that look while keeping her fake smile plastered on her face. “Put a smile on your damn face and don’t you dare make a scene,” she hissed under her breath.
I did what she said because I always did what she said. But it didn’t matter—everyone here knew about David and me anyway. How could they not? We’d been inseparable for two years.
I couldn’t help but overhear my stepdad whispering to my mom during the ceremony. “I told you we should’ve seated her in the back or just left her at home.”
My mom’s response felt like a knife to my chest. “I’m beginning to think you were right. She’s nothing like our precious Daisy. Just a brat that needs to be put in her place.”
Wow. Hearing your own mother talk about you like that right to your face never got easier. The worst part? My mom had basically pushed David into marrying my sister, and Daisy had been more than happy to go along with it.
We’d always been broke, but David’s family had money. He used to promise me he’d be my way out of this toxic mess of a family. But somehow, my sister figured out my plans and swooped right in to steal him away.
Just a month ago, Daisy came home with the bombshell of all bombshells—she was pregnant, and she claimed David was the father. She said they’d been secretly in love and had been sleeping together behind my back.
David, being the honorable guy I thought I knew, proposed to her immediately. He said he had to do the right thing. I was left standing there like an idiot, knowing in my gut that something wasn’t right about any of this.
I tried to tell David what I suspected—that my family was up to something. You’d think after two years together, he’d trust me enough to at least listen. Every single day, I begged him to see what my family was really like, to understand that they were capable of anything.
But he wouldn’t hear it. He went ahead with the wedding plans anyway. I even asked him to run away with me, to just leave all this drama behind, but he refused.
It was like he just cut me out of his life completely. No more visits, no more caring about me—all because my sister and mom told him to. David had been the one constant in my life, the only person who’d ever made me feel like I mattered. He was my first love, and I loved him with everything I had.
As the days went by, I started to wonder if maybe David’s love for me hadn’t been as real as I thought. Watching him hold my sister’s hand was like watching my heart get ripped out of my chest over and over again.
David had been everything to me—my prince charming, my way out, my future. And now he was slipping away into my sister’s perfectly manicured hands.
Sure, I might be average height with brown hair and hazel eyes, and yeah, my bank account is basically nonexistent. But at least I’m not a tall, hazel-eyed brunette bimbo like my sister who sleeps around with everyone and has the body of a model. Trifling bitch.
God, listen to me. Talking about my own sister like this. She’s only twenty while I’m twenty-two, and here I am calling her names like we’re still kids fighting over toys.
I had to sit through their entire wedding, watching my sister’s smug little smile like she’d just won the lottery. When the ceremony finally ended, everyone started heading to the reception hall.
All the friends and family went to celebrate with the happy couple, leaving me stuck with my parents and this mess of emotions I couldn’t escape. You might wonder why I didn’t just leave, but where was I supposed to go? I didn’t have a dime to my name, and our neighborhood wasn’t exactly the kind of place you wanted to be wandering around alone at night.
My mother, relentless in her pursuit of my obedience, cornered me. “Listen here, you bitch!” she snapped, her voice seething with anger. “You’re going to put a damn smile on your stupid face for your sister. She managed to achieve what you couldn’t. Get over it and stop being such a whiny pig.”
Her rage escalated, and she raised her hand, poised to strike me. It was only my stepfather’s intervention, his hand gently but firmly grasping hers, that spared me from the impending blow.
“Now is not the time, even though she deserves it. We wouldn’t want her showing up at the reception with a visible handprint on her face, would we?” my stepfather remarked with a sly grin before walking away, pulling my mother along with him. “We all know the wedding would be far more enjoyable without her.”
“You’re absolutely right,” my mom replied, her tone a mix of bitterness and determination. “But we’ll deal with her differently. We’ll make sure she gets the message at home instead.”
My mother had once been deeply in love with my father, but he shattered her heart when he decided to run off with another woman. It was during this terrible period that she discovered she was pregnant with me, and I unknowingly became the embodiment of her resentment. Sometimes, I wondered why she hadn’t chosen the path of abortion, considering how much she despised my existence.
As the years passed, her animosity toward me only grew. It was about a year later when my mother crossed paths with Mr. Cocaine Head—which is my stepfather, Peter Dickerson. He too harbored a profound dislike for me, without giving it a second thought.
At least Daisy, my sister, proved to be a glimmer of hope in the beginning. In fact, she was rather sweet, but I guess she was just a baby then who knew nothing at the time. Little did I know that, after years of being manipulated by her father and mother, who both despised my existence, Daisy would eventually transform into one of my biggest bullies.
As I wiped away the tears, I steeled myself before heading to the dining hall. I took the seat at the far back of the room, my name labeled on it like a stark reminder of my isolation. It was a lonely existence, seated far away from my horrible family, my mother and stepfather, who sat proudly at the forefront of the room.
The stark contrast between their positions and my own was a constant, painful reminder of my place in this family. “As the wife of the groom, I’d like to make the first toast,” my sister chimed, her voice filled with happiness, and she gently knocked her glass filled with wine.
My gaze lingered on her dress, a striking reminder of how identical it was to the one that I had sketched. I couldn’t help but think she had borrowed the idea from me. As I glanced at David, he seemed a little too pleased, gazing up at his now-wife with admiration, and it was in that moment that I couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy and regret.
“So, for those of you who might not know, I’m pregnant!” Daisy beamed, her announcement met with a chorus of congratulations from the guests.
Hearing the news once more nearly brought me to tears. My chest constricted with pain, and I couldn’t help but wonder how they could all be so blind to the situation.
Daisy continued, “To express my deep love and gratitude to my wonderful sister for making this all possible, David and I have decided to name our baby Ruella, as a tribute to her.” As her words washed over me, I felt like the ground was slipping away beneath my feet, and I nearly fainted as everyone seemed shocked.
Mind you, my mother had given me the name Rue Bamford, and Rue essentially meant to regret or something that was ruined.
As I gazed at my sister, I could see the triumphant smirk on her face, and the applause from the others filled the room.
Betrayal and pain swirled within me, creating a turbulent mix of emotions that overwhelmed my senses. The room felt as if it was closing in, and darkness threatened to consume me.
“How could they?” I managed to whisper, my voice trembling with disbelief and hurt.
