Shattered Vows The Billionaire's Obsession

I picked up the Delgado heir on the streets of Eldoria when he had amnesia, and we fell in love for five years.

He promised to marry me. Then he turned around and got engaged to the Summers heiress.

Heartbroken, I wanted to leave.

But he pulled out secretly filmed intimate videos to threaten me.

I learned to behave. Even the sexy lingerie I found rummaging through his bagI could smile and smooth it over.

"Switching up your taste?"

"Don't worry, they're just for fun. You're my only true love."

He smiled, got out of the car, and right in front of me, linked arms with another woman and walked into the hotel.

Later, he cheated constantly. Brought women to sleep in my bed. Yet late at night he'd play devoted and whisper that he loved me.

Who says only men can cheat?

When Alex Delgado had stomach pain and was hospitalized, he called mebut I answered lying in his best friend's arms.

"Not free."

His best friend's kiss landed on my waist. I let out an ambiguous laugh.

On the other end, he lost it.

"Get your ass over here and take care of me."

I got dressed and shrugged.

I'd long since stopped loving him.

"Today's my birthday. Are you coming?" A WeChat message lit up my screen, complete with a cute sticker that said "Please."

I glanced at the contact name"Alex Delgado's Best Buddy C Alex Gilbert"and laughed under my breath.

"I'm talking to you. What are you staring at?" Alex snatched for my phone.

"Nothing. Your buddy's asking if you got home safe."

I locked the screen and watched his reaction.

He stiffened. Looked away. Didn't even try to check my phone anymore.

Just an hour ago, I was still Alex Delgado's fiancethe one he supposedly cherished above all else.

Now I'm his mistress.

And it was his best friend, Alex Gilbert, who told me the truth.

Tonight, Alex Delgado and Mia Summers were already engaged. Both families had met. They'd even nailed down the wedding timeline.

I closed my eyes, and all I could see were the photos Gilbert had sentAlex Delgado, eyes hazy with drink, kissing the woman across from him.

Last month, he told me he had something important to handle and rushed back home.

So the "important thing" was accompanying Mia Summers to the Delgado family gathering.

It was there he got blackout drunk and kissed her.

The laughable part? The day before he left, he'd proposed to me in a church. Said he wanted to marry me.

After he left, staying in Eldoria felt pointless. So I flew back too.

I wanted to surprise him. I even brought his favorite almond cookies.

Straight from the airport, I went to his luxury apartment.

The moment I pushed open the door, something felt wrong.

A woman's perfume hung in the airbut not the rose scent I wore.

I picked up the lace leopard-print nightgown draped over the sofa.

A chill shot through me.

I clenched my teeth until my jaw ached, fighting the urge to rip it to shreds.

"You know." Alex stopped the car and looked at me, calm as ever.

I didn't want to deal with him. I kept my eyes closed.

"I know you're not asleep. Her name is Mia Summers. She's my arranged marriage partner." He pushed my shoulder, irritated. "But the one I love most is still you. She's just a tool for my family."

My heart went cold. I opened my eyes and smiledsharp, mocking.

"Is that so?"

The night he flew back, I called him.

A woman answered. I heard heavy breathing in the background.

He must have changed my contact name, because she sounded confused: "It's so latewhy's the delivery guy calling?"

I hung up.

I laughed bitterly. So that's what I am to him. A delivery girl.

Alex walked me downstairs, then insisted on coming up to sit for a while.

"Vivienne, I miss you so much."

The moment he stepped inside, his arms wrapped around me from behind.

His lips found my neck. My stomach turned.

His kisses trailed lowerhe loved it when I was compliant.

I shoved him off hard. "You're disgusting."

He froze, then smiled like I was being cute. Throwing a tantrum.

He stroked my hair, gazing down at me. "Relax. Whatever I give you will be better than what Mia gets."

He pulled a red gift box from his bag.

A necklace. The limited-edition one I'd stumbled across online months ago.

I'd mentioned offhand that I loved it. He'd smiled and tapped my nose. "If my Vivienne wants it, I'll get it for her."

He set the box on the coffee table and reached for my clothes.

The kiss marks on my waist flashed through my mind. I twisted out of his grip.

Impatience flickered across his face. "What do you want from me?"

When I didn't answer, he tossed my shirt on the floor and headed for the bathroom.

"Never know what's good for you," he muttered.

I stared at the necklace and laughed bitterly.

In the photo Alex Gilbert had sent methe one of Mia and Alex togethershe'd been wearing this exact piece.

One of a kind. The only one in the world.

So Mia had worn it first. This was her castoff.

This was what he meant by "better."

He used to promise everything he gave me would be unique. That he'd never let me feel even a hint of neglect.

The bathroom door banged open. Alex stormed out clutching the razor, face twisted.

"Why is there a man's stuff in your bathroom?"

My pulse spiked, but I kept my voice steady. "I bought it for you."

He didn't buy it. He was paranoid like that.

"Bullshit. It's been used."

His voice dropped, dangerous. "I'm warning you. You belong to me. Only me."

He hurled the razor at the floor. It shattered, gouging a hole in the hardwood.

"You can't even afford rent without me, and you think you can find someone else? Who'd want you? Who'd take care of you like I do?"

He snatched my phone and scrolled through every app with practiced ease.

My chat histories were clean. He let it gofor now.

A vein throbbed at his temple. His fingers dug into my chin hard enough to bruise.

"Without me, you're nothing. So you'd better keep me happy."

"Otherwise, I have plenty of ways to teach you what happens when you disobey."

The door slammed behind him.

In the middle of the night, my phone buzzed.

A photo from Alex.

Clothes scattered across the floor. Two bodies tangled on a bed.

"You should learn from Mia how to keep a man. Stop being so ungrateful. Remember your place and stay where you belong."

I thought I'd gone numb. That he'd ground me down until nothing was left.

But my heart still ached in waves.

We'd met while I was studying abroad in Eldoria.

Dead of winter. He'd been scammed out of everythingno money, nowhere to go. I found him on the street in a thin coat, shaking from the cold.

I felt sorry for him. In a moment of weakness, I brought him back to my tiny rental.

He didn't remember anything then. Not his name. Not how to reach his family.

Besides supporting myself, I had to support him too.

My already tight finances stretched even thinner.

I thought about throwing him out more than once.

But every time I looked at those hollow eyes, that dazed, lost expressionmy resolve crumbled.

During that time, I worked nonstop. Classes in the morning, three jobs at night.

My phone rang in the middle of the night.

Alex Gilbert's drunk voice slurred through the speaker. "I'm wasted. Can you come get me?"

I hesitated. Righttoday was his birthday. But what did that have to do with me?

I was about to hang up when a waiter cut in. "Miss, could you pick him up? We're closing."

No choice. I dragged myself out of bed.

This wasn't the first time I'd done thisexcept back then, it was Alex Delgado.

We were still in Eldoria. He'd gotten drunk at some party.

I had a raging fever, but I forced myself to drive to the bar anyway.

The lights were hazy, the music deafening. I spotted him in a corner booth, a blonde draped across his lap, his hand wandering up her thigh.

I rushed over and grabbed his arm. He shoved me off.

"Stop annoying me."

The force sent me stumbling. My hand slammed into the table's edgeright onto a fruit knife.

Blood welled up instantly, dripping onto the carpet.

The wound burned. But it was nothing compared to the ache in my chest.

"Get lost!"

"I don't need you meddling!"

He threw back another gulp of liquor without so much as a glance my way.

I snapped back to the present. I'd already pulled up to the hotel. The moment I stepped out, I caught the staff whispering nearby.

"Stay clear of that drunk. Guy's been hugging a utility pole and sobbing for half the night."

"Vivienne I'm sorry."

I froze, keys in hand.

That was Alex Delgado's voice.

I followed the sound and found him clinging to a pole, crying like a wronged child.

"It's my fault. I made you sad."

"Why was there a men's razor at your place? Why'd you lie to me?"

His words came out broken, slurred.

"Why didn't you get mad when I sent you that photo with Mia? Don't you love me anymore?"

"How did you change so much in one month"

He clung to that pole like his life depended on it.

My chest tightened. My eyes stung.

I tilted my head back, trying to hold in the tears.

But Alex Gilbert appeared in front of me, gently wiping them away.

"You came. Thought you wouldn't." His voice softened. "Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing. Wind's strong tonightgot dust in my eyes."

I turned away from his touch.

He didn't call me out. Just smiled, patted my head, and draped his jacket over my shoulders.

"Is that so?"

His gaze drifted toward Alex Delgado, still sobbing and making a scene in the distance.

I pulled out my phone and texted Mia Summers: Alex Delgado's losing it on the street.

I found out later that Alex Gilbert had dragged him out of bed to drink together. He'd picked this hotel on purposethe one Alex Delgado and Mia frequented.

Mia arrived fast. She had nothing but a towel wrapped around her, irritation written all over her face.

"Keep this up and I'm breaking off the engagement."

Alex Gilbert smirked. "What a show."

Only then did it clickhe'd called me over this late just to watch this little show.

He handed me a cup; the chocolate cocoa warmed my hands.

Funny. Back then, discovering Alex was cheating also started with a drink.

The first time I caught him cheating was on my college graduation day.

I'd spent hours preparing all his favorite dishes, waiting for him to come home so we could celebrate together.

But unlike usual, he came back late. Very late.

Everything I'd made had gone cold.

He pushed open the front door, saw the decorations, and froze for a secondonly then remembering what day it was.

He rubbed the back of his head and awkwardly handed me a cup of milk tea.

Matcha cocoa.

He'd forgotten I'm allergic to matcha.

A woman's intuition is sharp. My heart sank instantly.

Alex rushed into the bathroom, completely ignoring my mood.

That night, while he slept, I quietly unbuttoned his shirt.

Phone flashlight on. His waist, his neckcovered in kiss marks. Some fresh, some fading.

I felt like I'd fallen into an ice cave.

It was the middle of summer, yet I couldn't stop shaking.

I shook him awake, furious, demanding to know who left those marks.

Before he could even make an excuse, his phone lit up. An intimate message popped up: "Bro, last night was so much fun~"

I smashed his phone to pieces.

I cried, screaming at himwhy? Why was he doing this to me? Why cheat?

I was hysterical, a madwoman smashing everything in sight. Pathetic as a clown.

He knelt at my feet, sobbing, swearing it would never happen again.

Over and over, he kowtowed, saying he was wrong.

I thought he would change.

After that, I became paranoid.

If he came home even a little late, I couldn't help but interrogate him.

And he grew more impatient. He came home less and less, always carrying the scent of unfamiliar perfume.

I didn't know how many lovers he had. Those women never showed their faces.

Until I saw it with my own eyeshim making out with a blonde in a bar.

I told him I wanted to break up.

He looked down at me, sneered. "Break up? I don't agree. You think you can just leave because you want to?"

He stroked my cheek gently, then roughly dragged me onto the bed.

His voice was demonic, breath hot against my ear. "You think you can leave?"

He pulled a USB drive from his bag and waved it in front of my face.

"Be a good girl and stay my lover. I promise you're the one I love mostthe others won't affect your position."

"Otherwise... this is full of our intimate videos. Want them leaked?"

He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew all the smoke directly into my face.

I choked, coughing violently.

His gaze was ice. "In this life, don't even think about leaving me. You have no other choice. You can only choose me."

"If you still want your reputation, endure it. Otherwise..."

He shook the USB drive.

To punish me for mentioning a breakup, he locked me in the house for a month.

I lived without daylight in that room.

My heart hurt until it split open. My tears ran dry.

I didn't know when he'd filmed those videos.

Every intimate moment between usturned into leverage to threaten me.

During that month, I couldn't eat. Sometimes just thinking about what was in those videos made me so sick I wanted to throw up.

My hair was falling out in handfuls. In the kitchen, staring at the cleaver, I actually thought about ending it right there.

That month locked inside, Alex would come by occasionally. Every time, I hoped a bottle of sleeping pills would mean I'd never have to see him again.

Days bled into nights. I couldn't tell them apart anymore.

When he found me lying on the bed, barely conscious, Alex slapped me awake.

"You'd better stay alive. Anything happens to you, your dad's next."

My father was critically ill. The treatment costs were astronomical. I'd just graduatednot a penny to my name. Alex had paid for everything. The best doctors. The best care.

He flung the medical bills in my face.

"Without me, could your dad afford any of this?"

That slap woke me up in more ways than one.

I hadn't wronged anyone. Why was I the one suffering?

If Alex could have countless lovers, why couldn't I?

He demanded I be his. He never demanded I be his alone.

Once I understood that, I accepted his terms gladly.

That was when Alex Gilbert entered my life.

I took a lover tooAlex Delgado's closest friend.

The next morning, Alex was blocking my doorway.

Face dark. Hair a mess.

"I texted you last night. Why didn't you answer?"

I was carrying out the trash. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

That sentence lit him on fire. He lunged forward, grabbed my chin, and bit down hard on my lips.

Blood flooded my mouth.

I shoved him back.

"This is what you call loving me? Wanting to marry me?"

"You went back to the States and slept with someone else."

"And now you're standing at my door."

"You're disgusting."

I said it word by word, staring straight into his eyes.

The rage in them nearly combusted. He slammed his fist into the wall.

"Just wait." He spat the words and stormed off.

My heart was pounding out of my chest.

He didn't know that right now, Alex Gilbert was still lying naked in my bed.

I didn't take the threat seriously. Usually he'd just sleep with some other girl for a night to spite me.

I didn't expect this.

Soon after, Alex sent me a photo from the hospital.

My father was in the background, unconscious on the bed.

Then a video. In it, he pointed at the oxygen tank, smiling, asking what I thought would happen if he pulled it out.

I shook so hard I could barely walk.

I grabbed a cab and burst into the ward like a madwoman.

What I saw made me bite through my lip.

My father lay still, unconscious.

And there was Alex in the chair beside him. Nurse Tanya was curled naked in his lap, arms draped around his neck.

In my father's hospital room.

The nurse looked at me, smug, shifting her body against him.

My vision went red.

"How can you be this shameless?"

Alex shoved her off and stood, smirking.

"This is what happens when you don't listen to me."

As he spoke, he walked to my father's bedside.

He looked at me smugly and reached for the oxygen mask.

"Don't!"

Rage ignited every nerve. I lunged, grabbed his hair, clawed his face, and swung my handbag straight into his skull.

Tanya tackled me to the floor.

I twisted, snatched the phone from the ground, and cracked it against her head.

Alex shoved me off. My lower back slammed into the bed frame. I tried to standonce, twicebut the pain pinned me down.

He pulled out a coil of rope from somewhere.

Before I could react, he'd clamped my wrists together and lashed my hands and feet to the hospital bed rails.

"I've spoiled you too much."

"That's why you've forgotten your place."

I bit down hard, refusing to let a single tear fall.

But cold dread was already pooling in my chest.

Tied up. Immobilized. Helpless. I was terrified of what he'd do next.

He shoved me into the adjacent room.

All the blood drained from my face.

"What are you doing?" My voice cracked.

"I offered you the chance to be my canary. You didn't appreciate it."

"Women would kill for this opportunity. With Delgado money behind them? They'd cling to this family in a heartbeat."

He gripped my chin, forcing my gaze to his.

"I don't even have to lift a finger. They throw themselves at me."

His eyes flicked to the doorway. Tanya stood there, face arranged in worship.

"So here's what's going to happen. I'll sit right here while you reflect. The moment you admit you were wrong, I'll untie you."

He dropped into the chair across from me and let out a low, certain laugh.

Terror crashed over me. Every hair on my body stood on end.

Because I'd been tied up exactly like this before. In Eldoria. By kidnappers.

My body began to shake uncontrollably. Silently, desperately, I prayed someone would come.

When I first found Alex, I had no idea he was the Delgado heir.

He'd been hit by a carthat's why he'd lost his memory. A vagrant had stolen whatever cash he had.

I was dirt poor back then. We lived together in a cramped, run-down house in the suburbs.

One day after school, the moment I stepped out the gate, masked men dragged me into a van.

They kept saying something about "the Delgado family," "Mr. Delgado."

I didn't understand a word. I was certain I'd die in a foreign country.

Then they realized their mistake.

They'd meant to kidnap the Delgado heirAlexbut grabbed me instead.

They tied me to a bed. Wrists and ankles bound to the frame.

Furious at their own incompetence, they decided to take it out on me.

"Wrong girl? Doesn't matter. She's pretty enough."

"Been a while since we had any fun. Might as well enjoy ourselves. Then dump her in the snow."

They rubbed their hands together. Their eyes crawled over me like I was meat on a plate.

Just when I thought it was over, Alex burst in with patrol officers and pulled me out.

He knew that memory was my nightmare. And he was using it against me anyway.

Nausea surged. I retched miserably against the mattress.

I was waiting for Alex Gilbert. He was my only hope.

Before I came, I'd told him: if I didn't message within half an hour, come to the hospital immediately.

Alex's ice-cold hand slid down my neck.

He undid the first button of my blouse.

I shuddered.

"What are you trying to do?"

I tried to kick him, but my feet were bound tight.

He looked at me with displeasure, his palm pressing down on my ankle.

"You're mine. I can do whatever I want."

Those disgusting memories surged up again.

A tear slid from the corner of my eye. Finally, I steeled myself. "Alex Delgado, I have a lover."

"Guess who it is?" I stared at him, venom in my eyes.

The smugness on his face froze instantly.

"Who?" Veins bulged on his forehead, his hand clenching into a fist.

"Your good buddy. Alex Gilbert." I pitched my voice sickly-sweet and smiled, each word a knife twisting into his chest.