hapter 1
Chapter 1
Maya Sterling married her best friend’s uncle, Camden Harrington.
She thought it was a love story where both hearts ran toward each other, until she found a box hidden in the corner of his study.
That’s when she finally discovered that Camden was deeply in love with his adopted NIECE–her best friend, Lily Harrington.
And she? She was nothing more than a shield to deflect his family’s pressure to marry.
Maya clutched the box in her hands, filled with Lily’s old belongings–hair clips, movie ticket stubs, unsent love letters. Each item was meticulously dated, creating a timeline that stretched from before she’d even met Camden, and horrifyingly, continued well into their marriage.
There was also a card inside that made her blood run cold.
[Lily, wait for me! Once Maya has the baby, I’ll divorce her and we can finally be together, screw what everyone else thinks.]
Maya felt the room spin and had to grip the edge of the desk to steady herself.
Her mind raced back to that first meeting with Camden.
Lily had said someone wanted to take them to the movies and basically dragged her along.
Camden had been such a gentleman that night–thoughtful, charming. She’d felt butterflies, sure, but that’s all it was
supposed to be.
What she never saw coming was Camden actually pursuing her afterward.
They’d dated, gotten engaged, married. The whole nine yards.
Camden was usually pretty distant with people, but after they tied the knot? He’d been amazing to her.
And he’d been totally obsessed with having kids together.
She’d always thought he wanted a baby because he loved her–that he wanted to create something beautiful with her.
Turns out, the bastard just needed an heir.
Maya didn’t stick around to process it all. She bolted from the study and headed downstairs.
04:31
1 Ghosted Him and He Lost Everything Looking for Me
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Chapter 1
She had to confront Lily, get some answers. Maybe there was some explanation, she tried to convince herself.
But seriously, what kind of “misunderstanding” involves a guy hoarding ten years‘ worth of sketchy messages with his niece?
She was halfway down the stairs when voices from the living room made her freeze.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you so much, Lily.”
Camden’s voice was low and rough–familiar, but dripping with a hunger she’d never heard before.
“Shh, keep it down, Uncle Cam. Maya’s still here.”
Lily’s voice was completely different too–breathy and sultry, nothing like her usual sweet act.
“Chill, she’s out cold upstairs. And even if she walked in right now? She trusts me so fucking much, she believes whatever I tell her.”
Maya held her breath as the scene in front of her made her stomach drop.
Lily and Camden were all over each other on the couch, with Lily straddling him. Both were half–dressed and completely lost in each other.
“Okay, okay, stop being such a horndog.” Lily giggled, pushing Camden away playfully.
“Just hang tight a little longer, Uncle Cam. Once Maya squeezes out that baby and you guys are done, we can finally stop this whole sneaking around bullshit. But real talk–you sure she’ll actually sign those papers?”
Camden’s voice went ice cold. “Oh, she’ll sign. Trust me, I’ve got ways to make that happen. Girl’s so fucking naive, thinks everyone’s hearts and rainbows like she is.”
Maya gripped the banister until her knuckles went white.
“I’m still tripping over how you even got her to marry you. I just wanted you to, like, get close to her or whatever. Didn’t think you’d actually wife her up.”
Camden let out a cold laugh. “Dude, it was easier than stealing candy from a baby. She’d just graduated, doing that whole art restoration thing at the museum. Total innocent little lamb. I took her to a couple gallery openings, bought her some fancy old books, and boom–she was practically crying happy tears. Gotta give you props though, babe. If you hadn’t hooked us up, where the hell would I have found such a perfect little baby factory?”
Lily melted against him with a satisfied smile. “Well, you are my favorite uncle. Since our psycho family would literally disown us if they knew, we had to get creative, right?”
Then Lily leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper that somehow still carried perfectly to Maya’s ears.
“So… how is she in bed? Like, compared to me?”
04:31
I Ghosted Him and He Lost Everything Looking for Me
Chapter 1
“Don’t even fucking ask. Nobody–and I mean nobody–comes close to you, baby. If it wasn’t for needing that kid, I wouldn’t even pretend to touch her.”
Maya couldn’t handle another second. She crept back upstairs and quietly shut the bedroom door behind her.
She collapsed on the floor as tears started pouring down her face, but she kept completely silent.
How fucking twisted was this? She’d thought Lily was her ride–or–die bestie. She’d been so grateful that Lily had introduced her to Camden, like it was some kind of fairy tale meet–cute.
The whole damn thing was just an elaborate scam from the very beginning.
She stared at the photo on her dresser–the three of them in Miami last summer.
In the picture, Lily had her arm wrapped around Maya’s waist, beaming like they were sisters.
Now everything clicked. That trip where Camden kept “messing up” the hotel reservations, so she and Lily ended up sharing a room while he got his own.
How many nights had she thought Lily was just taking those long evening walks on the beach, when really she was sneaking off to fuck her uncle?
Maya wiped her face and grabbed her phone, scrolling to a contact she rarely used.
“Hi, Attorney Rodriguez? This is Maya Sterling. I need to talk about divorce papers, and I need them fast.”
After hanging up, she opened her laptop and looked at the job offer from the British Museum’s conservation department that she had received last week, and replied with an email expressing her acceptance.
She’d been torn about it because she didn’t want to be too far away from Camden. What a fucking joke that seemed
now.
This time, she was going to rebuild her life the same way she restored priceless artifacts.
As for all the trash she couldn’t take with her? Let it all burn in the dumpster fire where it belonged.
04:31
