His Unseen Heir, Her Escape

Author: Gavin

Genre: Short stories

Word Count: 6071

4.7

Download Book

Chapter 1

My husband stood me up on the biggest night of my career-my first solo art exhibition.

I found him on the news, shielding another woman from a storm of cameras while the entire gallery watched my world collapse.

His text was a final, cold slap in the face: "Kacie needs me. You'll be fine."

For years, he'd called my art a "hobby," forgetting it was the foundation of his billion-dollar company. He had made me invisible.

So I called my lawyer with a plan to use his arrogance against him.

"Make the divorce papers look like a boring IP release form," I told her. "He'll sign anything to get me out of his office."

Chapter 1

Aryana's POV:

Tonight was supposed to be my night. My first solo gallery opening in downtown San Francisco. Not a small show in a coffee shop, but a real, career-making exhibition.

For four years, I'd been hiding in my studio, pouring my soul into charcoal and ink. For four years, I'd been the quiet, artistic wife of tech billionaire Cameron Oneill. Tonight, that was supposed to change. Tonight, I was finally going to be Aryana Mason.

But as I stood in the bright, crowded gallery, I felt the familiar chill of his absence. He wasn't here.

Then I saw it. A news alert, flashing on a stranger's phone.

My husband's face.

He was at a press conference, his powerful frame a fortress around another woman. Kacie Chavez. She looked fragile and artfully distressed. He looked like her protector.

The headline beneath the photo was a punch to the gut. A reporter was quoting him live. I couldn't hear the words, but I saw them in the gallery's hushed whispers and pitying glances. Everyone was watching my public humiliation in real time.

My own phone buzzed. A text from him, sent an hour ago.

Something came up. Kacie needs me. You'll be fine. Congrats.

I think that's when my heart finally gave up. It wasn't a dramatic shatter. It was more like a quiet click, the sound of a lock turning for the last time.

Brenton, the gallery owner, appeared at my side. He didn't have to ask. The evidence was glowing on a dozen screens around us. "I'm sorry, Aryana," he said, his voice a low growl of anger on my behalf. "He's a fool."

"He's busy," I heard myself say. The lie was automatic, a reflex honed from years of practice.

"Come on," Brenton said, gently steering me toward a man in a tailored suit. "The New York Times critic is here. This is still your night."

I spent the next hour on autopilot. I smiled. I shook hands. I talked about my work.

Standing in front of a series of my earliest sketches, I felt a bitter irony. These were the whimsical, intricate designs that had become the soul of "Aether," the app that made Cameron his first billion dollars. My art was literally the foundation of his empire.

He'd loved my art then. Or, at least, he'd loved what it could do for him. Now, he called it my hobby.

He hadn't just forgotten me tonight. He had erased me from his own story.

That was his biggest mistake.

"I need to make a phone call," I told Brenton, my voice impossibly steady. It's amazing how calm you can feel when you have absolutely nothing left to lose.

I walked to the back office, my heels clicking a final, sharp rhythm on the concrete floor.

I didn't call my husband. I called my lawyer.

"Sarah? It's Aryana Mason."

"Aryana! How's the opening?"

"Clarifying," I said, my voice cold and unfamiliar even to me. "Draw up the divorce papers. The ones we talked about."

There was a pause. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," I said. "And I need something else. The signature page. It needs to look exactly like an intellectual property release form. I'll tell him the gallery needs it for the digital catalog, since the early Aether concept art is in the show."

The lie was perfect. It was business. It was the only language he understood.

"That's risky, Aryana," she said after a long silence.

"He won't read it," I said. It wasn't a guess. It was a fact. "He never does. Especially when it's about my work."

For four years, he had made me feel invisible. Now, I was going to use his blindness as my weapon.

"I'll have them for you by morning," she said finally.

"Thank you." I hung up.

I walked back into the bright lights of my gallery. The polite smile was gone from my face. In its place was something new.

Something sharp. Something free.

You might like

Lustful Desires (Erotic Shorts)

Short stories Edlyn Blessing

⚠️ Mature Content Warning (18+) This collection contains explicit sexual scenes, strong language, and adult themes. It is strictly intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised. Five stories. Five desires. One unforgettable experience. From secret affairs that blur the line between love and lust to encounters that test the limits of surrender and control, these tales explore the raw, unfiltered side of passion. Each story peels back a different layer of longing: forbidden, tender, dangerous, or wild, reminding you that pleasure can be as thrilling as it is unpredictable. Dare to read with an open heart... and an even more open imagination.

Read Now

PLEASE DADDY : A Sinner's Diary

Short stories Blue-Orchid

WARNING: This book is rated 18+ and will contain explicit sexual contents. He's off-limits. But tonight, I'm done pretending. Bell thinks I'm his sweet little girlfriend. But it's his stepdad who sees the real me- wet, needy, and aching to be ruined. One look. One whisper. One filthy promise. And just like that... I'm on the kitchen counter, legs wide, moaning "Daddy." This isn't just sex This is sin And it feels so damn good to be a sinner. Welcome to the diary of a sinner-where shame is foreplay and obedience tastes like lust. Where pleasure is punishment-and sin feels holy. This is a collection of raw, filthy, indulgent one-shots where no desire is too dark to explore, no boundary too sacred to cross. Each story is a confessional soaked in pleasure, punishment, and the bittersweet afterglow of release. And you're going to love every one of them, especially if you're looking for a book filled with wild sexual fantasies. Join the ride, if you can control the heat.

Read Now

Impermissible Desires!

Short stories Queen Muliana's Pen

This is a compilation of several spicy, steamy tales of outlawed feelings and seggs. Kitten has always loved her stepbrother, but helplessly had to hide it for fear of the consequences. She didn't want him to see her as some freak. However, an accident led to the blossoming of their intense and passionate love tale. Andrienne always liked her stepdad, but did her best to hide it. However, being caught trying to retrieve the phone her mom had seized led to a series of passionate moments. Of course, it was best to make the bed creak at night helplessly, especially since Mommy wasn't around! Isabelle was heartbroken after her mother fell in love with her new stepfather. No, she didn't have a crush on him. She had long crushed on his son, who was now her stepbrother. What would she do now that they were family? Would she be able to bottle up her feelings forever? Be sure to dive in and quench that thirst! A rollercoaster ride awaits you.

Read Now

Naughty Little Secrets: an erotica collection

Short stories Jennygold

Step into a world where desire wears many faces and no fantasy is off-limits. This collection of standalone tales plunges you into the heat of forbidden encounters, from tender passion to raw, unapologetic lust. Within these pages, you'll find lovers who break rules, sinners who crave punishment, and strangers whose touch ignites obsession. From the sweetness of first temptations to the shadowed depths of BDSM, from fiery same-sex seductions to taboo liaisons dripping with danger, every story is a journey into pleasure's most dangerous edges. There will be love. There will be lust. There will be lines crossed-some you'll wish you could forget, others you'll beg to relive. Not every ending is happy. Not every kiss is gentle. But every page will leave you breathless. Warning: Contains explicit sexual content, graphic violence, and mature themes. For adult readers only.

Read Now

The Billionaire Widow's Redemption

Short stories Gavin

For three years, my husband Carter Hancock had erectile dysfunction. Or so he told me. I was the one who pulled him from a fiery car crash, and this marriage was his promise to cherish the hands that saved him. But tonight, I overheard him with my sister-in-law, Jodie. He confessed his condition was a lie to avoid touching me, and that he' d always loved her. Our marriage was just a sham to appease his grandfather. The betrayals kept coming. He claimed she was the one who saved him. He abandoned me during a landslide to rescue her. When I woke up in the hospital with broken ribs, he asked me to donate skin from my leg to fix a scratch on her face. He wanted to mutilate my body for the woman who stole my life, the woman carrying his secret child. My love was a burden, my sacrifice a joke they laughed about behind closed doors. Then I found the final, soul-crushing truth: our marriage certificate was a fake. I was never his wife, just a placeholder. That night, I picked up my phone and called the one person he' d warned me away from. "Alex," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I need to leave. Can you meet me in Europe?"

Read Now

The Nanny Affair

Short stories hellen_happiness

She thought she could leave the past behind... But when Elena Rivera accepts a job as a live-in nanny, the last thing she expects is to come face-to-face with the man from that unforgettable masked night. Even through the disguise, she had felt the hardness of his face, the heat that appeared in his eyes when he was hitting it on the bed and the way his touch set her on fire. Four years later, that same feeling rushes back the moment she sees him again but only colder this time. He doesn't recognize her.....But when his deep, commanding voice demands she pay for the broken frame, Elena finds herself trembling just the same. She tells herself to keep the secret. To stay silent. Because if he ever remembers that night... she's not sure what would break first, her heart or her carefully built life. Can she keep her secret or will their past finally catch up with them both?

Read Now