The CEO's Rejected Wife And Secret Heir novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – The Wedding Betrayal

Aria pov

The champagne bubbles mocked me.

I stood alone in the corner of the Blackwood Estate ballroom, watching two hundred guests celebrate a marriage that felt like a funeral. My wedding dress custom Vera Wang, paid for by my new husband’s assistant, felt like a beautiful cage.

Damien Blackwood hadn’t looked at me once during the ceremony.

Not when I walked down the aisle. Not when he slid the five-carat diamond onto my finger, not when I signed a business contract. Not even when the officiant pronounced us husband and wife and Damien’s lips barely grazed my cheek in what the guests generously called a kiss.

I pressed my hand against my stomach. The secret I carried made everything worse.

Mrs. Chen, one of my mother’s society friends, appeared with a champagne flute. "Aria, darling, you look positively radiant."

She smiled brightly. "Where’s your handsome groom?"

I forced a smile back. "Taking a business call."

She patted my arm. "Men and their work. You’ll get used to it."

I wouldn’t get used to it, In fact I couldn’t.

My chest tightened as I scanned the ballroom again. Damien was nowhere. Neither was Vivian—I hadn’t seen my sister in at least twenty minutes as the knot in my stomach twisted tighter.

This was supposed to be our wedding day. Contract or not, couldn’t he at least pretend for a few hours?

A few months ago, when my father Charles had first proposed this arrangement, I’d been horrified. Marry Damien Blackwood, the city’s most notorious bachelor CEO, to save our failing family business.

But then the engagement began, and something shifted.

Those late nights when he’d come home exhausted from board meetings. The way his ice-blue eyes would find me across his penthouse. The first time he’d kissed me desperate and hungry, like he was drowning and I was air.

The last time was a month ago. He’d been gentle, almost tender. He’d asked me to stay in his bed.

Then he’d disappeared on a "business trip" and avoided me until today.

I approached a passing server. "Have you seen my sister?"

He shook his head. "No, ma’am."

The sick feeling crawled up my throat.

I moved through the crowd, my heels clicking against marble floors. Past curious guests who whispered behind champagne flutes. Past my parents who were too busy networking to notice their daughter’s distress. Past the elaborate flower arrangements.

The estate was massive. I checked the library first and it was empty. Then his study was locked. A horrible instinct pulled me toward the east wing.

Guest rooms lined both sides of the hallway. Most doors were closed. But at the end of the corridor, one stood slightly ajar. Light spilled through the gap.

I heard her laugh first. Vivian’s laugh.

My hand trembled as I pushed the door open.

They were on the bed. Damien’s suit jacket was on the floor. Vivian’s bridesmaid dress was bunched around her waist. His hands were in her blonde hair.

The room spun around me as my world tilted.

Vivian’s eyes met mine over Damien’s shoulder. "Aria"

Her voice dripped with false surprise.

Damien turned. For the first time all day, he looked directly at me. His ice-blue eyes—the same eyes that had watched me with something like tenderness months ago—showed nothing but cold annoyance.

Vivian slid off the bed, smoothing her dress. "This isn’t what it looks like."

But it was exactly what it looked like.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. My wedding dress suddenly weighed a thousand pounds.

My voice came out whisper-thin. "How long?"

Damien stood, adjusting his shirt with infuriating calm. "Aria, we need to talk."

The words felt hollow as I screamed out. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING WITH MY SISTER?"

Vivian laughed but the sound felt so sharp and cruel. "Oh, honey."

She examined her nails. "Did you really think you were special?"

The cruelty in her voice snapped something inside me.

My voice broke. "We’re at our wedding reception." I gestured wildly. "Our wedding"

Damien buttoned his cuffs. " It is a business arrangement." His tone was flat, almost bored. "Nothing more."

My hands clenched into fists. "You’re lying." I stepped toward him. "The engagement, those nights"

He cut me off, his tone ice-cold. "Meant nothing."

My throat burned. "You asked me to stay." Tears threatened to fall out. "The last time, you asked me"

He reached for his jacket. "A moment of weakness." He shrugged it on. "Don’t romanticize a contractual obligation."

Vivian stepped closer to me as she tilted her head. "God, you’re pathetic. Did you actually think he wanted you?"

The words felt like a stab to her chest.

Damien said nothing to deny it. He simply stood there, straightening his tie with a bored expression.

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