Sweet Revenge: Taming The Amnesiac Billionaire CEO

Aurora Morgan pushed the divorce papers across the desk.

The pristine white stack slid over the polished mahogany, coming to a stop next to a black leather-bound journal. It lay open, exposing the crisp, masculine handwriting within.

Her finger tapped the page, right on the sentence that had shattered her world.

"Julian," she said, her voice steady and cold, "'If I could go back, I would never let her go.'"

She recited the words from memory, each one a shard of glass in her throat.

"This 'her'... it isn't me, is it?"

Julian Carlisle, her husband of three years, had just loosened his tie. His movements paused. His ice-blue eyes, usually deep and unreadable, sharpened like daggers, pinning her in place.

He didn't even glance at the journal.

A cold, dismissive laugh escaped his lips. "So, this is your new drama? Using some nonsensical diary to end our marriage?"

Aurora's fingers turned white from the pressure she exerted on the desk. She forced herself to meet his oppressive gaze. "I'm not acting, Julian. I'm serious."

Because she was a famous actress, he often dismissed her genuine emotions as nothing more than an act.

He moved around the desk. His tall frame cast a long, heavy shadow, completely enveloping her. He leaned over, planting his hands on the arms of her chair, trapping her.

He picked up the papers, prepared by one of New York's top divorce attorneys. Without reading a single word, he began to tear them, slowly, deliberately, right in front of her face.

The shreds drifted down like bitter snowflakes onto the expensive Persian rug.

Julian's voice was a low. "Divorce? Aurora, have you forgotten your last name is Carlisle? This doesn't happen unless I agree to it."

Her heart pounded against her ribs at his proximity, stirring that familiar, infuriating mix of fear and unwanted attraction. But the humiliation burned hotter. She shot to her feet, desperate to escape the suffocating cage of his presence.

"You don't have the right to decide my life!"

He caught her wrist in an iron grip. She winced. "No right? You're my wife," he whispered, his lips brushing her ear. "Your body, your career, everything about you is under my control."

His words coiled around her heart like a snake, suffocating her, reminding her of the gilded cage their marriage had become. Her eyes burned, but she refused to cry.

"Control? Is that what you call love? Using me as a stand-in for another woman?"

His face instantly darkened. His fingers tightened on her jaw. "What stand-in? What the hell are you talking about?"

She searched his expression for any sign of guilt, any flicker of deceit. There was nothing. Only pure, unadulterated rage and confusion.

"Let me go!" She struggled, her nails digging into the back of his hand, drawing a thin red line.

He hissed in pain but pulled her closer, their chests pressed together, their breaths mingling. "Something is wrong with you tonight," he scrutinized her. "Did your first love, Ethan Hayes, contact you again?"

The audacity of it stole her breath. He was the one who cheated, yet he dared to accuse her. A bitter laugh escaped her. "You're the one with a secret love, and now you're trying to blame me?"

Julian's patience snapped.

He shoved her away. She stumbled backward, hitting the bookshelf with a dull thud.

"I don't do explanations," he said, smoothing the wrinkled cuff of his shirt, the motion a practiced gesture to regain his composure. He was once again the cold, untouchable CEO of Apex Entertainment. "But if you want to play this pathetic game, I'll play."

He turned, strode to the liquor cabinet, and poured a heavy measure of whiskey. He downed it in one go.

Leaning against the bookshelf, Aurora watched his back, the last bit of warmth in her heart extinguishing.

She pulled out her phone, her thumb hovering over her lawyer's number. She would call, right here, right now, and show him she wasn't bluffing.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, his voice cut through the tense silence just before she could press the button.

"Do you want this to become a public spectacle? Do you want Apex Entertainment's stock to plummet tomorrow because of its CEO's messy divorce scandal?"

Her thumb froze. He knew her weakness. She was a public figure. A nasty divorce would destroy her carefully crafted image.

He saw her hesitation. A cold, triumphant smile touched his lips.

He crossed the room in three long strides, snatched the phone from her hand, and tossed it onto the sofa. "Stay home, Aurora," he said, his tone almost gentle as he delivered the cruelest words. "And don't do anything else that displeases me."

A chill went through her. This wasn't love. It was a prison sentence.

She suddenly remembered the journal. She scrambled to pick it up, clutching it to her chest.

Julian watched her, his eyes growing even darker. "It seems you really care about that little 'story'."

"It's the truth!" she shot back.

"The truth?" He took a step closer, the ice in his eyes churning with a storm of anger and an unreadable, fleeting shadow. "The truth is, you'd rather believe a broken diary than your own husband!"

His voice rose, cracking with a raw edge. "Tell me, Aurora, have you wanted to leave me for a long time? Is there someone else?"