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Husband's soulmate claims my brother raped her
Novelix
Completed
My husband broke my brother's legs to please his first love. Seven months later, she birthed another man's bastard, my brother died screaming his innocence, and Sebastian choked me to death in my ninth month of pregnancy. Now I'm back—at the exact gala where it all began. They forgot one thing: before the Morettis went legitimate, we were the most feared Mafia family on the East Coast. My brother went soft. I didn't. This time, the mistress bleeds. The husband loses more than his empire. And every socialite who spat on my name will learn why you don't wake a sleeping wolf. The Morettis don't forgive. We collect.
Chapters (3)
第1章
At Sterling's 80th birthday gala, my husband's childhood sweetheart stumbled out half-naked, sobbing that my brother had raped her.
The ballroom buzzed. Manhattan's elite shot daggers at my family.
"That poor girl was about to marry into the Sterling family—and they ruined her!"
Mr Sterling, out of respect for our family's history, didn't press charges.
He ruled that my brother Luca should marry Elena.
A marriage to fix the mess.
But my husband, Dominic Ashford, stood up in front of everyone. He personally shattered both of my brother's legs.
Then he grabbed my hand, feigning reluctance.
"The Sterlings own this city, Vivian. If we don't let them have their pound of flesh, they'll come for the entire Moretti family next."
Seven and a half months later, Elena gave birth to an eight-pound baby boy.
Luca sat in his wheelchair, screaming until his voice broke. "I told you! I never touched her! Not even a finger!"
He'd said it a hundred times that night. No one believed him.
They mocked him. Called him a coward.
Said he could do the crime but couldn't own up to it.
He grabbed that baby from its crib. Said he was going to the press.
Going to expose the truth.
Dominic smashed something into the back of his skull. Luca dropped like a stone.
I opened my mouth to scream, Dominic's hands closing around my throat.
"If you two make a scene, what happens to Elena? To the child?"
His eyes were pure venom.
He knocked me out.
Then I opened my eyes.
And I was back—the night of the gala.
This time, I hog-tied my brother myself. Locked him in the storage room.
Three deadbolts.
But Elena still stumbled out, claiming someone had forced himself on her.
…
She stood there wrapped in nothing but Dominic's suit jacket.
Bare shoulders.Bare legs. Suspicious red marks everywhere.
She covered her face, wailing like the world was ending.
"I've failed Don Sterling's trust. I can't face anyone."
"Dom, don't stop me, just let me die!"
She lunged toward one of the marble pillars.
Several of the older women grabbed her, pulling her back.
They turned to look at me. Disgust.Fury.
"That Luca Moretti is out of control. God knows what habits he picked up overseas."
"Elena was supposed to marry the Sterling heir next month. It's all ruined now!"
I glanced at Dominic, standing behind Elena like her personal shield, glaring at me with murder in his eyes.
I swallowed the smirk threatening to break across my face.
I pushed through the crowd. Walked straight up to Elena.
"Miss Hart. Look carefully."
"The man who supposedly forced himself on you- are you sure it was my brother?"
Elena flinched. Cried harder.
"Mrs. Ashford, I know you love your brother, but something like this- why would I lie about it? I want to die!"
She threw herself toward the pillar again. The women scrambled to hold her back.
Dominic stormed over. Grabbed my wrist so hard the bones ground together.
Yanked me aside.
His face was black as thunder.
"Vivian. Your brother did something worse than an animal, and instead of dragging him here to apologize, you're interrogating the victim?"
"Your father spent his whole life building respectability, and you two have destroyed it in one night!"
第2章
His grip was iron. My wrist screamed.
But inside, I was laughing.
Half an hour ago, I tied Luca up with my own hands and locked him in that storage room. Three locks.
He couldn't have gotten out to force himself on anyone.
I lifted my chin. Looked Dominic dead in the eye without flinching.
"Dominic. Are you sure it was my brother?"
His jaw clenched. He hissed through his teeth.
"I saw that bastard with my own eyes, hands all over Elena. I knocked him out cold and pulled her free."
"You think I can't recognize my own brother-in-law?"
My stomach dropped.
The certainty in his voice made me uneasy. Had Luca actually gotten out of that room?
"Mrs. Ashford, how long are you going to bully this poor girl?"
An older woman turned on me.
"You're the wife of the Ashford heir! Instead of protecting your husband's family name, you're shielding your no-good brother?"
"You don't deserve to be an Ashford!"
"You want Dominic to look the other way while that thug brother of yours drives Miss Hart to suicide?"
Dominic shot me a vicious glare. "Vivian. Stop embarrassing yourself."
I scoffed. My gaze swept over these self-righteous vultures following the crowd.
"So whether Elena was actually assaulted tonight or not, the blame would still land on my brother. Is that it?"
"You…!"
Elena looked like I'd slapped her. Two perfect tears rolled down her cheeks.
The picture of fragile innocence.
She bit her lip, sobbing.
"I was decent. I had my pride. I never chased after anyone!"
"And now I'm being called shameless, some desperate woman throwing herself at men!"
"Fine. If the Morettis won't own up to it, I'll die."
"And none of this will matter anymore!"
She spun and hurled herself at the floor-to-ceiling window. The women grabbed her, holding her back.
"Miss Hart, don't! Don't do anything rash!"
"It's that Moretti animal's fault!"
"You've suffered so much, don't give him the satisfaction!"
They comforted Elena with one breath and spat at me with the next.
"Miss Hart was going to marry into the Sterling family."
"The Morettis run a mid-tier business, and they think they're old money? You really think Elena would trash her own name to frame your family?"
Dominic frowned, grabbed my wrist again, and put on that concerned-husband mask.
"Vivian. Enough."
"Make Luca marry Elena and apologize publicly."
"If this goes to court, a sexual assault charge alone would put Luca away for ten years minimum."
"Moretti Group stock will tank. What are you going to tell the board?"
"In my past life, I thought Luca had really lost control—that he was drunk.
I handed Moretti Group's biggest contracts to the Harts out of guilt. Treated Elena like royalty.
Then she popped out a baby at seven and a half months—except it came out looking full-term.
Nausea churned in my gut.
I ripped my arm free from his grip.
"If you think I'm letting my family take in Elena Hart without proof, you're dreaming."
Every trace of warmth drained from Dominic's face. His eyes went cold.
Dangerous.
Before he could explode…
Elena's father burst through the doors. Face like granite.
Without a word, he backhanded Elena across the face.
The crack echoed. She hit the floor.
Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.
"Making a scene at a place like this!"
"Get up. You're getting on a plane tonight."
"Go die overseas for all I care—just stop humiliating this family!"
Two bodyguards stepped forward to drag her out.
Elena grabbed a fruit knife off the nearest table and slashed it across her own wrist without hesitation.
The room erupted.
Screams. People lunging to stop her.
Someone grabbed my arm.
"Mrs. Ashford! You're just going to stand there?"
"If your brother hadn't done what he did, would she be trying to kill herself?"
"Does your family have no conscience?"
I watched the show in silence.
Elena's eyes flashed with something dark. Her hand tightened on the knife.
One sharp motion. The blade bit into flesh.
Blood poured.
The women shrieked.
"Dear God! The Morettis have driven this girl to death!"
第3章
Dominic's face went white. He lunged forward and ripped the knife from Elena's hand.
"Doctor! Get the family doctor, now!"
He yanked off his tie, wrapped it tight around her bleeding wrist.
Elena lay surrounded by a flock of concerned women, blinking weakly.
Her eyes slid toward me. No death wish in them at all.
Just a flicker of triumph.
Once they'd settled Elena on a chaise in the resting area, Dominic came for me.
He crossed the room in three strides. Eyes like a predator's.
"Vivian!"
His hand cracked across my face before I could blink.
The sound rang through the ballroom like a gunshot.
The force sent me stumbling. I hit the ground.
My forehead caught the marble edge of a side table—skin split, blood instant.
My left cheek burned white-hot. My ear rang.
Dominic stood over me. Pointed down at me like I was trash.
"You heartless bitch. You'd rather watch a woman die than admit the truth?"
"I don't want a wife this vicious. We're done."
"We're divorcing, tonight."
The crowd piled on immediately. Some didn't even bother hiding their glee.
"Good for you, Mr. Ashford! A wife like that is nothing but a curse!"
"If her brother's a thug, what does that make her? God knows what she was doing before the marriage—probably had half the city wrapped around her finger!"
"The Ashfords and Miss Hart got dealt the worst hand, running into these two criminals!"
Venom. Pouring from every direction.
They looked at me like I was the devil incarnate—one step away from throwing rotten eggs.
Pushed myself off the floor, inch by inch, until I was standing. Looked them all in the face.
"Caught in the act means caught in the act. Where's the proof?"
"Which one of you actually saw my brother force himself on Elena?"
Silence. They all glanced at each other.
Dominic let out a cold laugh.
You won't believe it until you see the proof, will you?
He turned. Strode toward the far, dim corner of the ballroom.
Two bodyguards stood there, flanking a bulging black sack tied shut with rope.
Dominic crouched. Yanked the rope loose.
Reached inside, fishing around.
He pulled out a custom-made lapel pin. Engraved with a tiny letter M, for Moretti.
He held it high, turning to face the room.
"Everyone, take a good look! This is a one-of-a-kind piece, custom-made for Luca Moretti's twenty-first birthday."
"There is no duplicate anywhere in the world!"
"No one else owns this. Only him."
He hurled it at my feet.
"Vivian. What do you have to say now?"
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Cold sweat broke down my spine.
That pin. Luca was wearing it tonight.
I saw it on him before I tied him up.
Had someone gone to the storage room after I left? Let him out?
No. No way.
I posted guards. Told them not to leave for a second.
Mr. Hart spat at my feet.
"The evidence is right there. Still going to lie?"
I clenched my jaw. Stared Dominic down.
Let out a laugh dripping with contempt.
"Funny, isn't it?"
"Luca and I haven't been back in the country long. We don't do these society events often."
"We keep our heads down."
"But tonight—the one night I specifically asked Luca to stay by your side—this happens?"
"Who was really with Elena tonight? Who's framing my brother to make my family take the fall?"
"Bullshit!"
Dominic exploded. But behind the fury, I caught a flash of panic.
His rich-boy friends rushed in, grabbing his arms, holding him back.
The crowd shook their heads at me, disapproval written all over their faces.
"Vivian! Have you lost your mind?"
"Accusing your own husband to protect that animal?"
"She'd burn down the Ashford name just to save her brother's skin!"
"The Ashfords really drew the short straw by marrying into that family!"
A few well-meaning older women pulled at my arm.
"Vivian, honey, stop this. Just apologize to Dominic."
"There's still a way to smooth this over."
I shook them off. Smiled cold as ice.
"Apologize? I've done nothing wrong."
Someone muttered under their breath.
"Dominic and Elena are childhood sweethearts. If something were really going on between them, they'd have gotten married ages ago."
"Why would she need to lie?"
That little comment landed like a needle in everyone's ear.
The room's energy shifted. Just slightly.
People glanced at Dominic. At Elena.
Something curious flickered in their eyes.
