The Tyrant's Contract Bride

"Ah...Alex! Please be gentle! Oh, God!!"

A seductive, feminine moan shattered the silence, causing Serena's world to grind to a crashing halt.

She stood frozen, unable to process the tangled, passionate embrace unfolding before her very eyes.

It was as if someone had pressed the pause button on reality. All she could do was watch in numb shock as her entire life shattered into jagged shards around her.

She saw the rapturous expression on Alex's face, the way he held the other woman with such achingly familiar yet utterly foreign intimacy.

It felt like an out-of-body experience, like she was watching some horrible scene in a movie she couldn't turn off or fast-forward through.

All she wanted was to escape, to run away from this fresh hell, but her body simply refused to obey her mental commands.

"Oh, Alex! I can't imagine you this intimate with that loser," the woman gasped between breathy moans, her words mingling obscenely with the sounds of frantically writhing bodies and the creaking of the bed frame.

"Diana..." Alex grunted, his voice a low rumble of pleasure. "Leave Serena out of this for now! You're the one I love and want to spend my life with."

Those words detonated like a grenade at Serena's feet, the shrapnel of their impact shredding what little remained of her heart.

Hot tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched the man she loved wrapped up in another woman's arms, utterly oblivious to her presence.

She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing every ounce of her willpower on calming her ragged breaths and the tremors wracking her body. Slowly, through sheer force of will, she regained a tentative hold on her whirlwind of emotions.

That's when the final, devastating piece clicked into place.

Diana?

Was Alex really having an affair...with her supposed best friend? Her trusted confidante and sister in all but blood?

A fresh wave of nausea and dizzying vertigo slammed into Serena as the full, horrific reality crashed over her like a tsunami.

Her heart raced, her head spun, and she struggled just to remain upright as she processed this ultimate betrayal.

She couldn't believe that this was the same girl she had loved like family, the one person outside of Alex that she trusted above all others.

How could Diana do this to her? How could someone she held so dear violate that bond in such a cruel, unconscionable way?

At that moment, Serena simply didn't know how to react. She was numb, paralyzed by the all-consuming storm of hurt, anger, and disbelief raging within her.

Clap...clap...clap.

The mocking sound of Serena's slow, deliberate applause shattered the lurid tableau, finally alerting the oblivious lovers to her presence.

They froze in comically stunned poses, like erotic statues.

Alex snapped his head around to face her, disbelief and naked panic written across his features.

His expression was a sickening mixture of shock and like he'd just been caught red-handed in the most despicable of crimes. His face drained of color, his eyes widening in abject horror as his mouth worked uselessly.

How the hell was she here?

"Serena!" he finally managed to croak out. "It's not what you think. I can explain!"

The flimsy lie was almost enough to break through Serena's numb haze and ignite her fury anew.

She could no longer contain her anger, her hurt, her disgust at this bald-faced hypocrisy.

She dashed forward, putting every ounce of her weight behind a vicious slap that caught Alex square across the cheek.

The sharp crack of impact echoed through the bedroom like a gunshot, the explosive sound shockingly loud in the stillness that followed. Alex stumbled backward, clutching his face in stunned agony, his eyes filled with a very different kind of pain now.

Serena could see the angry red welt already blooming across his skin, a visceral reminder of her fury and his ultimate betrayal.

She stood there, chest heaving with exertion and emotion, her palm still stinging from the force of the slap.

She couldn't believe what she had just done...what he had driven her to do with his reprehensible actions.

The tears she had been fighting so hard to hold back finally broke through in a torrent, cascading down her cheeks in an unstoppable deluge.

"After everything we've been through?" she choked out, her voice trembling with the force of her hurt and anger. How could he do this to her, to them?

Serena turned her burning gaze to Diana then, unable to even look at Alex any longer. The other woman stared back, completely devoid of remorse or guilt. In fact, she looked...proud? Smug, even, as if she had won some grand prize rather than betraying her closest friend in the most vile way imaginable.

"And you..." Serena's words caught in her constricted throat as a fresh wave of anguish slammed into her. "Diana...how could you?"

"Serena, please stop. This isn't new anymore," Diana said calmly as if she didn't grasp the gravity of the situation. "Alex and I love each other. It's not my fault you were too blind to see it."

Serena laughed bitterly at the irony of it all. A whirlwind of thoughts and emotions raced through her head as she tried to process the magnitude of this betrayal by her husband and so-called best friend.

What kind of punishment could possibly fit such a heinous act?

She clenched her fists, trying to contain the fury boiling up from deep within.

Serena had never been good at controlling her temper, and this unthinkable situation was pushing her to the absolute limit.

She could feel the rage simmering just beneath the surface, begging for release.

"Don't you dare bring up mirrors," Diana scoffed with a smug look plastered across her face. "You're pathetic—"

Before the cruel taunt could fully leave Diana's lips, Serena's open palm connected with her cheek in a powerful slap that echoed like a gunshot throughout the modern bedroom.

The sharp crack reverberated in the stunned silence that followed.

Shock registered on Diana's face while she brought a hand up to her stinging, reddened cheek. "Did you just slap me?" she asked incredulously as if she couldn't quite believe Serena had dared retaliate.

"I'll do it again, you wh*r*," Serena spat, fury blazing in her eyes as she readied herself for another blistering strike if needed.

She refused to let anyone disrespect her in such a vile way, especially not this two-faced snake who had violated the sanctity of her marriage vows.

But Diana's overinflated pride wouldn't allow her to back down from the confrontation. She lurched forward with an unintelligible cry of wrath, lifting her hand to slap Serena in return.

In one quick, instinctive move, Serena grabbed Diana's wrist and held it in an iron grip, stopping the attempted blow before it could connect. "What? Can't handle the truth?" she hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes blazing with unbridled anger.

Alex could feel the first twinges of a pounding headache coming on as he watched the two furious women bicker and trade insults.

He quickly gathered his scattered clothes from the floor, throwing them on haphazardly as he prepared to extricate himself from this rapidly deteriorating situation as soon as possible.

"You have no right to call me names," Diana seethed, her face flushed an ugly red as her rage built. "You're just another spoiled plaything of your father's, living off his fortune while your family falls apart around you. You can't even uncover the truth about your own mother's death."

Serena recoiled as if she'd been physically struck. Diana's harsh words cut her deeper than any slap could. But before she could formulate a biting retort, Alex attempted to interject and bring the volatile situation under some semblance of control.

"Enough," he said firmly, his deep voice laced with frustration and annoyance. "This has gone too far. We need to talk this out calmly."

Serena was well past the point of listening to reason, especially from the man who had so grievously betrayed her trust.

She gritted her teeth, the mention of her late mother's mysterious death like a match lighting the fuse of her already incendiary rage.

Ignoring Alex completely, Serena tossed her designer handbag unceremoniously to the floor and flexed her muscles with a look of feral intensity contorting her beautiful features. "I'm going to show you the side of me you've never met before," she growled in a low, dangerous tone.

Diana's face was clearly written in confusion as she took a few hasty steps backward, suddenly afraid of Serena's frightening transformation. "Wh-what do you mean?" she stammered, her bravado faltering.

Diana's words trailed off into silence as the raging Serena pounced without warning, her weight driving them both to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs and furious screeches.

The two women engaged in a fierce, no-holds-barred brawl, with Serena straddling Diana's body as she rained down a series of punishing blows. Nails raked across flesh, leaving long crimson streaks, and tangled hair was pulled mercilessly.

"Enough!" Alex bellowed, quickly moving to pull Serena away by her slender waist before she could do Diana any permanent damage.

"Let go of me, you sick b*st*rd!" Serena shrieked, struggling against his restraining hold with every ounce of her wiry strength. "I'm going to deal with her once and for all today!"

"Do you want to kill her?" Alex demanded with anger and disbelief at the vicious depths Serena had sunk to.

Serena halted briefly, her chest heaving with exertion and fury. Then her hand lashed out, colliding with Alex's cheek in a ringing slap that whipped his head to the side. "Don't you dare touch me with those filthy hands!" she raged. "I don't care, but I'm going to murder this snake today!"

Serena resumed pounding at his hard chest with her tiny fists while her feet lashed out in brutal kicks aimed at the prone, whimpering Diana.

She fought with every ounce of her wiry strength until Alex finally released her, allowing her to tumble gracelessly to the floor.

Serena didn't care if her spiked heels pierced Diana's flesh and drew blood. She didn't care if the other woman died from the vicious beating. The world would be better off with one less heartless, treacherous being to pollute it with her lies and betrayal.

Alex rushed to Diana's side and gathered her limp form into his arms to frantically for a pulse. He lifted his head, eyes wide with shock and fear as he locked gazes with the equally stunned Serena.

"W-what's wrong with her?" Serena's voice was laced with dread, her heart sinking like a leaden weight at the look on Alex's face.

"What have you done, Serena?" he yelled accusingly, cradling Diana's motionless body against his chest. "You've killed her!"

Serena flinched as if struck, recoiling from the naked fury and recrimination in his voice. She had never seen him so furious in all their three years of marriage.

"What do you mean?" she retorted, trying to project more bravado than she felt. "I'm in no mood for this pretense!"

She shrugged, feigning indifference despite the knot of dread coiling in her stomach. How dare he yell at her because of that two-timing wh*r*? Who cared if the b*tch was dead?

Serena could feel hot tears of shame and anger welling up, but she blinked them back furiously as she snatched up her discarded handbag from the floor.

Her hands trembled with a toxic mix of emotions while she straightened her rumpled clothing.

"We're done!" she spat, glaring at Alex with hurt and hatred. "I'm divorcing your cheating *ss!"

With that parting shot, Serena turned on her heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind her hard enough to rattle the walls.

She hurried away, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the sordid scene as possible before the dam finally broke and the tears came.

The chauffeur, a gentleman of advanced years, turned slightly in his seat to address the distraught woman occupying the back of the plush vehicle. "Where shall I take you, young, Miss?" His voice was soft like a lullaby attempting to soothe a crying child.

Serena hastily smeared away her tears with the heel of her hand and sniffed loudly. Her voice wavered as she commanded in a broken whisper, "Take me to the nearest bar."

The chauffeur's lips parted as if he intended to protest but then sealed themselves shut again.

He paused for several heartbeats before gathering enough courage to voice his concerns. "Miss Serena," he began cautiously, "I fear that going to a bar in your current state might not be advisable. His Excellency would surely disapprove if he were to discover this... And we are unaccompanied by guards. Plus, there's always the risk of unsavory characters taking advantage of your vulnerability."

"I don't care! Just drive!" Serena snapped back fier