Married to My Nemesis
To save the tottering Summers Corp, Ava Summers is forced to slide a ring onto the hand of her nemesis—Victor Sterling, heir to NYC’s legendary Sterling family.Victor sits in a wheelchair, rumored to be “as good as finished,” yet he keeps the board steady amid neon and lies: a chance encounter at the Noir nightclub, an auction in Bay City, a power grab in Las Vegas. Step by step, Ava realizes—maybe the only thing paralyzed is his mercy; what’s truly unyielding is the heart that can flip Wall Street. After the wedding, Ava treats the arrangement as “contract + revenge,” playing it cool; Victor, with a tenderness bordering on obsessive, traps her in a very Sterling blend of safety and danger. When Mia Monroe brings a doctored security video, when the truth about the Northside crash surfaces, when both families’ ledgers are replaced with blanks—Ava finally understands: Victor never needed her pity. What he wants is for her to stand at his side and help set the world back on track. Once the enemy wears the ring, it becomes fate. Either Ava takes his hand and tears through every lie, or she lights the match herself and burns down her company—and her freedom.Chapter OneMy sworn enemy Victor Sterling was supposedly stuck in a wheelchair, and everyone treated him like the plague. I went and married him with a smile.He moved slowly, and I handled him like a pampered pet I could keep in line.When I felt sweet, I pulled him into my arms and fell asleep with him. When I didn’t, I squeezed his handsome cheeks until he flushed, and my mood lifted.After my family went bankrupt, I couldn’t afford to keep him. I lined up a fallback for him, left New York, and he hauled me right back.The tall man pinned me to the window and ground out, “Ava Summers, you think you can sleep with me and then run?”I stared at his legs, straight as steel, and blurted, “How are you standing?”A wet, gray morning hung over the Summers hillside villa. The room was dim. I used the pale light from the window to slip into Victor’s bed. He had been my enemy. Now he was my husband.He lay there and let me fuss with him, and the rush of it made my pulse quicken.When I wrapped him in my arms, his whole body went taut. After struggling a moment he muttered, “I don’t feel well tonight. Go sleep in your own room.”I bit his collarbone and mumbled, “No. You’re warm. I want to sleep with you.”His ears turned red. He searched for a comeback and found none.He shut his eyes as if he could ignore me. His lashes trembled, and he looked a little helpless.Smiling, I slid my cool fingers under the quilt and laced our hands together.He jolted and tried to pull back. I reeled his hand to my lips and nipped his fingertip.He had enough and snapped his eyes open, his face burning. “Ava Summers, I’m not your toy!”I met the pink at the corners of his eyes and said, “You’re not a toy. You’re my husband. This is me building intimacy.”His chest rose and fell hard, but with his lower body not working he could only lie there and take my teasing.The rain came down harder and thunder rolled. My eyelids grew heavy. I hugged his lean waist and tucked my face against his chest.When he stayed quiet, I lifted my head. “Why aren’t you scolding me?”“Some people only enjoy it more the more you scold them,” he said, worn out.I laughed low. “You mean me?”“If that’s what you think, then yes.”“What if I don’t?”“Facts don’t change because you argue.”My smile deepened. Holding him tighter was as fun as trading barbs.The scent of cedar wrapped around me. Sleep pulled me under, though I could still feel a hot gaze on me, like he might swallow me whole.I slept until afternoon. The sky stayed heavy and gray.At some point he fell asleep too. A strong arm banded my waist in a possessive hold.I snapped a photo of his sleeping face, then one of the way he held me. I set a solo shot as my phone wallpaper and liked my phone a lot more.Victor was still Victor. Even brought low, the charm didn’t fade.He had the look of a northern man, clean lines, deep-set features, a straight nose, and a thin mouth made for kissing.I didn’t dare push it. We had never gotten along. I stole deals from him, he tried to ruin me, and now that I had brought him home, I worried he might overreact.His breathing was steady in my ear. As he slept, his hair was tousled and his mouth a warm red, tempting enough to lose my head.I clenched my fists, got up, and drank two glasses of iced water in the living room, thinking maybe bringing him back had been a mistake. Chapter TwoI used to loathe Victor Sterling. To me he was repressed and holier-than-thou.Chin tipped high, he gave off a chill that kept everyone at arm’s length.At a corporate gala, he passed me without a flicker, as if I were invisible.At a bar, he’d glance over with that cold sweep of his eyes, then shoot an even colder look at the male model I’d ordered for company.Crowds never stopped the bold ones from sidling up to him. “Hey, you alone?” “Want company tonight? I’ll even pay.” His security always removed them. He sat like carved ice, drinking in silence, shutting the world out.Mia Monroe once asked, “Is Victor… just not into anyone? He hates men and women alike. Who’d even dare make a move?”Then she looked at me and lit up. “Ava, you’ve got the touch. Maybe you’re his kryptonite.”I rolled my eyes. “I’m into puppy-dog types, not cacti. Even if every other man on earth vanished, I still wouldn’t spare him a glance.”To prove it, I told every blind date and every model agency that anyone named Sterling was a hard pass.New York’s business circle was small though. We kept running into each other and kept ignoring each other, like we had an unspoken pact.Then Sterling Group hit turmoil. Victor was in a crash. His younger half brother, Tristan, took over and pushed him out of the core team. When their father learned Victor couldn’t use his legs, he wrote him off and let him sink or swim.The golden boy fell from grace, and people loved the spectacle.My family started pressing for marriage. I had a thought and set my sights on Victor.Marrying him would help him out of a bind and shut my family up. It wouldn’t stop me from having fun, and with his brains I could scale Summers Corp. A win on all counts.I said I wanted to marry. He sat in his chair, profile pale and unsmiling, and he actually said yes.After the wedding something clicked. I gave him my full attention and poked at him whenever I felt like it.If I was happy, I curled up with him to sleep. If I wasn’t, I pinched his perfect cheeks. Watching him burn with embarrassment soothed old grudges I’d held against him.He embarrassed easily. When I leaned close he gripped the blanket hard. “Ava Summers, I’m a cripple now. You think this is fun?”I was thinking while I made a light lunch in the kitchen. This wasn’t torment. This was spoiling him.Remembering how close I’d come to losing control over his looks, I tapped my forehead in annoyance, then saw the clothes and sheets drying on the balcony. Victor was a neat freak. He changed outfits constantly. Lately he’d had the sheets washed every day. Too much. I shouldn’t indulge him.I set the plates on the table. Victor rolled out of the bedroom.His hair was combed. Two buttons on the pajama top were undone, and a bite mark bloomed on his collarbone like a red flower on white paper.He sat in the chair, his legs slack, his expression stubborn, all fragility and steel in one picture.I braced my hands on the table and looked at him. “Eat.”“I’m not hungry. I have work tonight.” He watched me, checking if I heard what he wasn’t saying.“I heard you,” I said, a little sharp. “I’ve got plans too. I’ll be out of your hair.”His face eased. He rolled to the counter for water. The tendons on the back of his hand stood out around the glass. His throat bobbed when he swallowed, and my mouth went dry.I called myself a creep, and the front door opened.Mia breezed in. “Ava, can you move it? Noir has a fresh batch of absolute stunners. We need to go or we’ll miss them.”My spirits shot up. She looked again and widened her eyes. “Why are you nosebleeding?”I hurried to the sink and rinsed off. “Too much internal heat lately.”She nodded like a doctor, cut Victor a sideways look, and murmured, “Checks out. It really does.”When I came back, she spotted the five-finger print on my cheek. She bristled. “Did Victor hit you?” She shoved up her sleeves, ready to go for his hair.I grabbed her. “Not him. I swear.”“You’re made of cotton, Ava. Why are you still covering for him?” She pointed at the mark. “That’s a perfect slap. If he didn’t do it, did you? I’m delivering justice today. Let the righteous light shine on your tile floor.”I blinked. She’d definitely been binging web novels.She was strong. I couldn’t hold her, and she charged Victor.I squeezed my eyes shut as her pale hand reached for him.Victor’s voice came, cool and flat. “Why stop?”I opened my eyes. Her gaze had dropped to his neck and collarbone. She took in the marks, then swung her stare back to me, full of understanding.“I was quoting a lyric,” I said quickly. “You know that meme song? ‘Let the righteous light shine on the land.’”While I babbled, I buttoned his shirt. My fingers grazed his skin and the tips of his ears turned red.The more I explained, the worse it got. Mia had enough, grabbed my hand, and bolted. “I’m taking you to Noir to spread justice somewhere it’ll be appreciated.”She hauled me toward the door. As it shut behind us, Victor’s angry voice snapped from inside, “You’re not going.”
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