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Ten Years Behind His Rise, One Day to Become Another Man’s Wife

NovelShort Completed

Billionaire Mafia CEO Hot

Chapters (4)

第1章

The Aldridge Family had been desperate for a blood heir, so when the Family doctor arranged a private fertility procedure, my fiancé, Adriel Aldridge, signed the papers himself. He had made one thing very clear. His blood was to be used for his female "brother." By the time the news reached me and I went to the Aldridge estate to confirm it, both Families were already gathered around the dining table, raising glasses to celebrate her pregnancy. Laughter filled the room. Then the woman at the center of it all seemed to remember me. She rested a hand over her still-flat stomach and looked at Adriel with a teasing smile. "Oh, right, Adriel. Have you figured out what you're going to tell Azalea Ashbourne?" "I don't care what she thinks, but you know how sensitive she is. Once she finds out I'm carrying your child, God knows what kind of scene she'll make." Her smile deepened. "If she gets angry enough to call off the marriage, don't blame me." Before Adriel could answer, his mother, Adelina Aldridge, cut in with a scoff. "She wouldn't dare." She lifted her wineglass, looking almost amused by the idea. "My son is about to be given a seat at the Ashbourne council table. Once that happens, half the Families in this city will have to show him respect." "For a woman in Azalea's position to marry my son is already more than she deserves. Since when does she get to make demands?" Adriel leaned back in his chair, slowly turning a silver lighter between his fingers. The smug curve of his mouth made my stomach turn. "My mother's right." He gave a careless laugh. "Besides, Azalea has been chasing me for ten years. She's followed me everywhere since we were teenagers. That woman is crazy about me." His eyes flicked toward the pregnant woman beside him. "Getting her to give up this marriage would be harder than getting her to put a bullet through her own heart." "So relax. Whatever happens, I'll handle it." The entire table burst into laughter. I stood outside the half-open door, listening to every word. For ten years, I had used the Ashbourne name to clear Adriel's path, believing that one day he would stand beside me as my husband. Apparently, they had mistaken my love for something they could humiliate without consequence. I lowered my eyes and smiled bitterly. Then I took out my phone and called my father. He answered almost immediately. "Azalea?" I looked through the doorway at Adriel, still celebrating the child he had chosen to have with another woman. "Dad, freeze Adriel Aldridge's appointment to the council." There was a brief silence on the other end. Then I added calmly, "And reopen the marriage negotiations." "I've decided to marry someone else." …… When I pushed open the door and walked in, Adriel had Amara Atkinson in his arms. They were looking at the ultrasound photo together, laughing about whose eyes the baby would inherit. The moment they saw me, the laughter stopped. Everyone's expression changed, as if I were the one who had intruded where I didn't belong. For a split second, panic crossed Adriel's face. He started to pull away from Amara, but she immediately linked her arm through his and brought him toward me. "Azalea, perfect timing. Let me explain before you start a scene and blame Adriel." She rested one hand lightly over her stomach. "You know I've never wanted marriage. But my parents are getting older, and all they've ever wanted is an heir to carry on the Atkinson bloodline. Adriel only agreed to father this child as a favor to my Family." "If you're angry, take it out on me. Don't make things difficult for him." Before I could answer, Adelina quickly stepped forward. "Exactly, Azalea. Both Families agreed to this." She took Amara's hand affectionately. "We've watched Amara grow up. She's always been one of the boys. She and Adriel grew up running around together like brothers. She would never do anything to threaten your marriage. You have nothing to worry about." "And the child already exists. What do you expect us to do now? Get rid of an Aldridge child just because you're jealous?" Her expression hardened. "You're a woman too. Surely you're not that cruel." I looked around the room. Minutes ago, these people had been laughing about how desperately I wanted to marry Adriel. Now they were pretending this was all some innocent arrangement I was too unreasonable to understand. It was almost funny. I slipped the engagement ring from my finger and tossed it at Adriel. "You're worrying over nothing, Mrs. Aldridge. I didn't come here to demand anything." The ring struck Adriel's chest before dropping onto the carpet. "I came to end the engagement." I looked directly at him. "Adriel, we're done." That familiar expression immediately appeared on his face. Here we go again. I couldn't exactly blame him. Ever since Amara returned to the city and rejoined the Aldridge circle, I had threatened to leave Adriel at least ten times. And every time, I had been the one to swallow my anger, calm myself down, and eventually go back to him. After ten years at his side, Adriel probably believed I no longer had the courage to walk away. He rubbed his forehead impatiently. "Do you really have to make a scene in front of both Families?" His voice turned cold. "Azalea, if I hadn't insisted on marrying you, my parents would never have accepted this alliance in the first place. Your branch of the Ashbourne Family barely had a seat at the table when we met." He glanced at Amara. "Besides, there's nothing between us. She's my closest friend. I'm giving her Family an heir. That's all." "What exactly are you so angry about?" I stared at him. "Because I don't want the man I'm supposed to marry fathering another woman's child." His jaw tightened. I gave a cold smile. "If it's really that harmless, then maybe I should choose another man from one of the Families and give him a child too." Adriel's face changed instantly. "Don't you dare!" The words came out sharp enough to silence the entire room. A few seconds later, he seemed to realize how angry he sounded. Adriel exhaled slowly, forcing his voice back into that familiar tone of exhausted patience, as though I were nothing more than a difficult woman he had indulged for far too long.

第2章

"Since when have men and women played by the same rules? Stop making trouble over nothing." I had nothing left to say. I turned to leave, but Adriel reached out to stop me. Before he could touch me, Adam Aldridge slammed his palm against the table. "Let her go!" His voice thundered through the room. "A woman who's lived under my son's protection all these years suddenly thinks she has pride? Fine. Walk out that door. Just don't come crawling back when you realize no other Family wants you." This time, Adriel listened. He didn't follow me. The cold night wind struck my face as I stepped outside the Aldridge estate, sharp enough to remind me of the winter when I first met him. Back then, Adriel Aldridge was nothing more than the son of a declining Family. The Aldridges still had their name, but little else. My closest friend had warned me about him. "Adriel? The Aldridge boy who spends all his time trying to rebuild what his father lost?" "Half the daughters from the smaller Families have tried to get his attention. He doesn't even look at them. He says he doesn't have time for women when he's trying to keep his Family alive." "If you're planning to chase him, good luck." But I liked him anyway. So I hid the truth about who I was. Instead of telling him I was the Ashbourne heir, I introduced myself as a distant relative from an insignificant branch of the Family. Then I found every excuse I could to stay close to him. Behind his back, I quietly paid off some of the Aldridge Family's debts. I used my father's connections to introduce Adriel to powerful capos, secured invitations to private gatherings he never would have entered on his own, and made sure doors opened whenever he needed them to. I rejected every marriage alliance my father arranged for me and poured ten years of my life into Adriel. Eventually, believing I came from a background not much different from his own, Adriel accepted me. After we became engaged, my father's influence helped him gain a place inside the Ashbourne organization. I could have lived at one of the Ashbourne estates, surrounded by guards and servants. Instead, I chose a small villa near Aldridge territory because Adriel said he wanted to build his own future without relying on anyone. For a while, we were genuinely happy. On mornings when I refused to get out of bed, Adriel would pull me into his arms and laugh while trying to wake me. At night, we would buy groceries from the little Italian market a few blocks away and cook dinner together. Sometimes we spent hours on the couch, my head against his shoulder while he fed me slices of fruit from his plate. I once believed that was what the rest of my life would look like. Then Amara came back to the city. Everything changed. She became the center of Adriel's attention. The first car he bought after finally earning his own money had barely been in our garage for a week before the passenger seat became Amara's. Whenever I reached for the door, Adriel would stop me. "Amara gets carsick in the back. Our villa isn't far anyway. Walking will do you good." So I walked. Then one night, after leaving a Family-owned club alone, I realized a man had been following me for three blocks. I called Adriel with trembling hands. "Someone's following me. Come get me." There was a brief silence before he answered. "I can't." "Amara isn't feeling well. I'm heading to her place." My grip tightened around the phone. "Adriel, I'm telling you someone is following me." "And I'm telling you Amara needs me." His voice turned impatient. "Can you stop turning everything into a competition with her?" The call ended. Minutes later, the man came at me. I fought him in a dark alley, terrified and desperate. When his hand closed around my throat, I grabbed a loose brick from beside a dumpster and swung with everything I had. Blood splattered across my face. By the time Ashbourne men arrived, I was sitting against the wall with shaking hands, staring at the blood on my dress. Adriel never came. The next morning, after I finished giving my statement to the Family's attorney, I saw Amara's latest Instagram Story. Two first-class tickets lay beside a glass of champagne. The destination was the Maldives. Her caption read: [Was feeling awful, so my favorite brother decided I needed a vacation. Best brother in the world.] I stared at the photo for a long time. The Maldives. The place I had asked Adriel to take me countless times. Every time, he gave me the same answer. "We're getting married soon, Azalea. We should be saving money, not wasting it on vacations." Apparently, saving money only mattered when it came to me. For Amara, there were always exceptions. I closed my eyes and slowly wiped away the tears gathering at the corners. Then I remembered all those years of visiting the Aldridge estate. I had helped Adelina prepare dinners, chosen gifts for Adam, and done everything I could to make his Family accept me. Yet every time Amara visited, Adelina would take the old Aldridge sapphire bracelet from the safe and slip it onto her wrist. Then she would sigh. "If only you and Adriel had ended up together. You would have made such a perfect match." I had heard it more times than I could count. And every time, I told myself it didn't matter. As long as Adriel loved me, I could endure it. One insult. One humiliation. One disappointment after another. I thought loving someone meant learning how to compromise. But I couldn't do it anymore. If the Aldridges had never considered me one of their own, then there was no reason for me to keep sacrificing myself to become one. I had spent ten years choosing Adriel. From now on, I would choose myself. I returned to the villa we shared, intending to pack my belongings and leave that night. But when I entered the security code, the lock flashed red. Wrong code. I tried again. Still wrong. I frowned and entered the numbers a third time. Access denied. Just as I pulled out my phone to call Adriel, I heard footsteps on the other side. A second later, the lock clicked. The door opened from inside.

第3章

Amara stood in the doorway wearing my pajamas, her arms folded across her chest. The sight of her in my clothes made my stomach turn. "What are you doing here?" she asked impatiently. Before I could answer, Adriel returned. The moment he saw us facing each other, he strode over and instinctively pulled Amara behind him. "Azalea, don't start imagining things. Amara hasn't been sleeping well since she got pregnant, so I told her she could stay at the villa." He spoke as if the decision had nothing to do with me. "The apartment near Ashbourne territory is still available. You can stay there for now. Once the baby is born and we're married, you can move back." I stared at him in disbelief. "I paid for half of this villa. What gives you the right to move another woman into our home without asking me?" My voice tightened. "And what makes you think you get to decide when I'm allowed to live here?" What Adriel didn't know was that the villa had cost far more than he believed. My father had refused to let me struggle just to protect my false identity. He had quietly covered eighty percent of the purchase price through one of the Ashbourne Family's holding companies. On paper, Adriel and I had each contributed half. At least, that was what I had always believed. Adriel avoided my eyes. Before he could answer, Amara stepped forward with a smug smile. "Maybe because the deed has my name and Adriel's on it." She lifted her chin. "The only reason I haven't called security and had you thrown off the property is because my brother still cares about you." I froze. My eyes snapped toward Adriel. Only then did he speak, clearly reluctant to explain himself. "Amara grew up with me. She's Family." His tone made it sound perfectly reasonable. "She doesn't plan on marrying, and now she'll have a child to raise. I'm the baby's father. I have a responsibility to make sure they're protected." I could barely believe what I was hearing. "So you put her name on our home?" Adriel frowned. "Why are you making this into something bigger than it is?" He sighed impatiently. "You and I are getting married eventually. I've never said I was leaving you. Does a name on a deed really matter more than ten years together?" I looked at the man in front of me and almost didn't recognize him. I had spent years convincing myself that maybe Adriel simply didn't love me as deeply as I loved him. Only now did I realize that whatever love he had once felt for me had long since been replaced by calculation. I had hidden my identity for him. Used Ashbourne money and connections to build his future. Even this villa had been bought mostly with my Family's money. And somehow, Amara had become its legal owner. Was this really the man I had spent ten years loving? What a waste. My eyes burned. Adriel seemed uncomfortable under my stare. Out of habit, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Then he remembered Amara was pregnant. He immediately stepped away and crushed it out. The small gesture almost made me laugh. Even now, his first thought was her. The moment Adriel turned away, Amara walked up to me and jabbed a finger hard into my shoulder. "I'm so sick of women like you. Always jealous. Always complaining." She shoved her finger against me again. "My brother wants to take care of me. What does that have to do with you?" Her lips curled. "If you have any dignity left, get out." I raised my hand to knock hers away. Before I could touch her, Amara suddenly planted both hands against my chest and shoved. I stumbled backward. There was nothing behind me but the ornamental lake. My body hit the water hard. The cold stole my breath instantly. Adriel spun around at the splash and rushed toward us. Amara immediately lifted both hands. "I didn't touch her." Adriel's steps slowed. He looked from Amara to me, his expression cooling. "Enough, Azalea." I struggled to keep my head above water. "She pushed me!" His jaw tightened. "Amara isn't the kind of person who plays these pathetic games." The water soaked through my clothes, dragging me down. "Stop trying to get sympathy with tricks like this. Get out yourself." I tried. But the moment I kicked toward the edge, pain tore through my calf. My leg cramped. I sank beneath the surface. Water rushed into my mouth. Panic exploded through me as I clawed my way back up. "It was her!" I coughed violently, barely managing to breathe. "Adriel... help me!" Something in my voice finally made his expression change. Adriel seemed to realize I wasn't pretending. Panic flashed across his face. He rushed to the edge of the lake and reached for me.

第4章

But before Adriel could reach me, Amara suddenly clutched her stomach. "Adriel, my stomach hurts!" Her face twisted as she cried out. "Something's wrong with the baby!" Adriel froze. Only for a second. Then he turned away from me, swept Amara into his arms, and carried her toward the villa. The heavy door slammed shut behind them. The sound felt like the last door to survival closing in my face. I didn't know how long I struggled in the water. My strength slowly disappeared. Just as everything around me began to blur, a pair of strong hands grabbed me and dragged me onto the bank. I collapsed onto the ground, coughing violently. When I finally opened my eyes, I found myself staring into a face that was both familiar and strangely distant. Arden Aguirre. "Azalea Ashbourne." He looked me over, one eyebrow raised. "How did you manage to make yourself look this pathetic?" Arden shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around me. His movements were careful, but that irritating amusement in his eyes hadn't changed at all. He was still the same man who had spent half our childhood arguing with me. I coughed up another mouthful of water. "What are you doing here?" "Your father told mine that your engagement to Aldridge was finished." Arden crouched beside me. "So naturally, I came back to see whether the great Azalea Ashbourne had finally been dumped." His mouth curved. "I couldn't miss something that entertaining." He started to stand. I suddenly grabbed the edge of his coat. Arden looked down at my hand. "Since you've already enjoyed the show..." I met his eyes. "Do you want to marry me?" His expression went completely still. For once, Arden Aguirre had nothing to say. Several seconds passed. I released his coat. "If you don't want to, forget it. There are plenty of other Families my father can negotiate with." Before I could move away, Arden caught my wrist. "Who said I don't want to?" The teasing expression disappeared from his face. He looked directly at me. "But Azalea, understand one thing before you say yes." His fingers tightened slightly around my wrist. "If you marry into the Aguirre Family, I'm not letting you walk away later." Two hours later, Arden drove me straight to the county clerk's office. By the time we walked out, the marriage was legal. I was Azalea Aguirre. Arden took me to one of the Aguirre hotels afterward so I could shower and change out of my soaked clothes. I sat in front of the mirror while he stood behind me, awkwardly running a towel through my wet hair. For someone who could negotiate with armed men without blinking, he looked strangely serious about drying my hair. My phone suddenly vibrated. A message from Amara. Then another. The last one contained a private video link. [Azalea, there's something I should probably tell you.] [That story about Adriel simply helping me have an heir? It wasn't exactly true.] [There was never some cold, clinical arrangement between us.] My fingers stiffened. Another message appeared. [And ever since I got pregnant, he hasn't been able to stay away from me.] I stared at the screen for several seconds before opening the link. The video had been recorded inside the villa. My villa. My bedroom. Adriel and Amara were tangled together beneath the sheets, kissing as if nothing else in the world existed. Then I heard Amara laugh softly. "Tell me something, Adriel." She looked up at him. "Her or me?" Adriel frowned. "Why are you bringing Azalea up now?" "Just answer me." There was a brief silence. Then Adriel laughed. "Fine. After ten years with Azalea, things got predictable." He pulled Amara closer. "But you..." His voice lowered. "I never expected this side of you." Amara smiled triumphantly. "So you like it?" "More than I should." I kept watching. Not because I wanted to torture myself. I simply wanted to remember exactly what kind of man I had wasted ten years loving. By the time I closed the video, my fingers were ice cold. But strangely, my mind had never been clearer. There was no pain left. Only disgust. I found the number of the Ashbourne attorney who had handled the villa purchase and called him. "Uncle, stop the remaining payment on the Aldridge villa." He sounded surprised. "Azalea?" "The property has nothing to do with me anymore." My father had already transferred nearly ten million dollars toward the purchase through one of our holding companies. Another payment was still pending before the property would be fully settled. I looked at Amara's messages again. "Since Adriel put the deed in his and Amara's names, they can pay the rest themselves." I ended the call. Then I opened my handbag and took out the marriage certificate Arden and I had received less than an hour ago. I placed it on the table. Took a picture. And sent it directly into the Aldridge Family group chat. Then I tagged Amara. [Since you want my trash so badly, he's yours.] [I've already married someone else.] [From now on, I won't stand in the way of the Aldridge and Atkinson Families becoming one big happy family.] I pressed send.