Pampered By The Enemy Of My Ex

I served the Dunlap family for six years, managing their dark accounts and raising children that weren't mine, all while waiting for my husband to truly love me.

But when the "real" mistress returned, my devotion was rewarded with a death sentence. My husband, Gavyn, didn't just ask for a divorce; he dragged me to a cliff edge.

He stood next to Iliana, the woman who stole my life, and looked at me with cold indifference. He called me a thief. He called me an "incubator"-a temporary vessel used to hold his place until his princess came back.

Then, he ordered his hitman to finish it.

I managed to bribe the hitman and jumped into the freezing ocean, but the fall cost me the only thing that mattered. Alone on a desolate beach, shivering and broken, I miscarried Gavyn's child-the baby he didn't even know existed.

I lay in the sand, hollowed out by grief. I couldn't understand how the man I worshipped could discard me like trash. He didn't just break my heart; he tried to erase my existence.

But fate wasn't done with me.

On that same beach, I found a wounded young man hiding in the woods. He wasn't just a stranger; he was the lost heir to the Sosa crime family-Gavyn's mortal enemies.

When the Don, Daniel Sosa, came to claim his nephew, he offered me a hand.

Now, the world thinks Alex Dunlap is dead.

But tonight, I am walking into the Grand Gala on the arm of the most dangerous man in the city.

And I'm going to burn Gavyn's empire to the ground.

Chapter 1

Alex POV

The biting wind whipping across the tarmac didn't sting as hard as the freezing realization settling in my gut: I was about to die.

Rough hands dragged me down the metal steps of the private jet. My knees slammed into the gravel, scraping skin raw through my torn stockings.

The roar of the jet engines died down, leaving only the howling mountain wind and the ragged sound of my own breathing.

Rico loomed over me.

He was a mountain of a man, Iliana's personal cleaner-the kind of professional who didn't lose sleep over bloodstains. He checked the magazine of his pistol with a detached boredom that terrified me more than blind rage ever could.

"Get up," he said, his voice flat and devoid of humanity. "Iliana wants this done clean. No mess. No body found."

I stared at the cliff edge, barely ten yards away. Below it, the ocean churned violently against jagged rocks. It was a long way down.

I forced myself to stand. My legs shook, not just from terror, but from the sheer, crushing exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours.

My husband had discarded me. My stepchildren had framed me. And now, the woman who stole my life wanted to erase my existence entirely.

Tears pricked my eyes, hot and stinging, but I swallowed them back. Crying wouldn't save me. Gavyn wasn't here to play the hero. I was alone.

"Wait," I choked out. My voice cracked, but I forced the words through my dry throat.

Rico raised the gun, leveling it at my chest. "Don't make this hard, Mrs. Dunlap. Or... ex-Mrs. Dunlap."

"Money," I blurted out.

Rico paused. The barrel of the gun lowered-just a fraction of an inch.

"I have money," I said, the words tumbling out faster now. "More than Iliana is paying you. Much more."

He scoffed, a harsh sound in the wind. "Iliana is a princess. Her pockets are deep."

"She is a figurehead," I countered, stepping closer despite the weapon pointed at my heart. "I managed the Dunlap household accounts for six years. I know where the bodies are buried, and I know where the money is hidden. But more importantly, I have my own."

I reached into my pocket with trembling fingers. Rico flinched, his finger tightening reflexively on the trigger.

"Slowly," he warned.

I pulled out the encrypted phone I had hidden earlier. I tapped the screen, bringing up the offshore account I had set up the moment I suspected Gavyn was lying to me. I turned the screen toward him.

The cold blue light illuminated his face, reflecting in his widening eyes. The number on the screen was seven figures long.

"Iliana gives you a salary," I said, my voice gaining a desperate strength. "I am giving you freedom."

Rico looked at the phone, then back at me. He licked his lips, calculating.

"If I let you go, Iliana will skin me alive."

"She won't know," I pressed. "You tell her I'm dead. You tell her I fell. You take the money and you disappear. Or... you kill me, take her scraps, and stay a servant for the rest of your life."

The wind whipped my hair across my face, blinding me for a second. I held my breath. This was it. The only leverage I had left in a world that had stripped me of everything else.

Rico lowered the gun completely.

"Transfer it," he growled. "Now."

My fingers flew across the screen. I authorized the transfer. The ping of confirmation sounded like a gunshot in the quiet air.

Rico checked his own phone. A slow, dark smile spread across his face.

"You're smarter than you look, Alex."

Before I could exhale, the thumping rhythm of helicopter blades sliced through the air, drowning out the wind.

Rico's head snapped up. He cursed under his breath.

"It's Gavyn," he shouted over the rising noise.

My heart stopped. Gavyn.

He came for me.

A tiny, pathetic spark of hope flared in my chest. Maybe he found out the truth. Maybe he came to save me.

The helicopter descended, kicking up a blinding cloud of dust and gravel. It landed heavily a few yards away, and the door slid open.

Gavyn stepped out.

He looked impeccable in his charcoal suit, his face a mask of cold fury.

But then, a second figure emerged.

Iliana.

She clung to his arm, her face twisted in a triumphant smirk. She whispered something in his ear, gesturing sharply at me and Rico.

My hope died a violent death.

Gavyn marched toward us. He didn't look at me with love. He didn't look at me with relief. He looked at me like I was a stain on his perfect reputation-something to be scrubbed away.

Rico stepped back, instantly playing the part. "I caught her trying to run, Boss."

Gavyn stopped in front of me. His gaze raked over my torn dress, my bleeding knees, with zero empathy.

"Is it true?" he asked. His voice was ice. "Did you try to steal the family jewels? Did you hurt the children?"

I stared at him, paralyzed.

Six years. Six years of devotion. And he believed the lies of a woman who had been gone for all of them.

"I didn't steal anything," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I loved them. I loved you."

Iliana stepped up beside him. She placed a possessive hand on his chest, her nails digging into the expensive fabric of his suit.

"She's lying, darling," she purred, her voice dripping with poison. "Look at her. She's desperate. She knows she's just a placeholder. An incubator."

The word hit me like a physical blow.

Incubator.

Gavyn didn't deny it. He didn't even flinch.

He looked at me, and for a second, I saw a flicker of something in his eyes. Guilt? Regret?

It didn't matter. Because then he looked at Iliana. He looked at her royal blood, her connection to power, her ability to give him the legitimacy he craved.

"Finish it," Gavyn said.

He turned his back on me.

I couldn't breathe. The betrayal was absolute. It wasn't just a lack of love; it was an active disposal. I was garbage to be taken out.

Rico raised his gun again. He looked at me, and I saw the slightest, almost imperceptible nod. A signal.

"Jump," he mouthed silently.

He fired into the air.

The sound was deafening.

I didn't think. I turned and sprinted toward the cliff edge.

Behind me, I heard Iliana scream in delight.

I threw myself into the void.

The wind rushed past my ears, screaming like a banshee. The dark water rushed up to meet me.

I hit the surface with a bone-shattering impact, and then the cold swallowed me whole.