The Wrong Bride (The Windsors, #1)

by Catharina Maura

“I know I’m selfish, but I can’t help myself. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, Raven, and I always will. I wish I could promise you the carefree life that I want to give you, but being with me won’t be easy. What I can promise you is that I’ll always put you first, and I will do everything in my power to ensure you’ll never regret choosing me. So choose me, Raven. Please come home to me.”

I nod as I sit down on the sofa, opposite her. “Yeah, we’re not doing that. Raven put a lot of love into our home, and it’s staying exactly the way it is.” She raises her brows. “I won’t let you see our daughter if the environment you’re taking her to isn’t safe for her. I already have reservations about leaving her around Raven. What if she stages some kind of accident and hurts our baby?” I glance down at her stomach. She’s started to show now, but despite being nearly six months along, it’s barely noticeable. “Is she? Is she mine? I’ve asked you this before, but I need the truth, Hannah.” She hesitates for a moment before pasting on a bright smile. “Of course she is. Is this Raven again? Did you speak to her recently?” I lean back and stare at her. “Keep my wife’s name out of your filthy mouth,” I say, smiling. “And explain this to me.”

“It’s a prenatal paternity test. Some of those blood tests the doctor did as soon you were taken off bed rest a few days ago? Yeah, they weren’t all regular tests. We conducted a fetal cell analysis, comparing the genetic profile of the fetal cells in your bloodstream to mine. It wasn’t a match. I’m not the father.” I run a hand through my hair. “But then again, you already knew that, didn’t you?”

She looks away and shakes her head. “I truly do love you, Ares.” I laugh. I can’t help it. “Hannah, you don’t love anyone but yourself. And me? I don’t think I ever truly loved you at all either.”

“Fine,” I tell her as I grab my phone, giving my team the okay to publish the materials we prepared. I smirk as her phone starts to buzz. Within seconds, every large media outlet starts to cover the rise of her career, and every single person she slept with on the way to the top. It took me a couple of days to prepare it all, but it was well worth it. “Did you think I didn’t know about the affairs? The men you’d cheat with on set?” I chuckle. “I knew. I just didn’t give a fuck.” I tip my head toward her phone. “I hope you enjoy the experience you gave your sister. Perhaps now, for once, you might understand what you put her through.” I turn to walk away. “Oh, and, Hannah? You will never work in the entertainment industry again. Anyone who so much as attempts to hire you is going to pay the price. I want you out of my wife’s sight—I don’t want her to see a single commercial, no video coverage, nothing. I’m pulling every movie I funded for you from every channel it’s streaming on. I don’t want her faced with even a single reminder of everything you put her through. You can disappear quietly, or I can make it happen forcibly. For the sake of the child you’re carrying, I suggest you think before you act.”

Mom nods slowly. “You made it through just fine, didn’t you? Since you were able to dispel the drama, you should be able to do the same for your sister.” I smile at her. “Why would I when it’s my husband who released this information?” “What?”