He Made Her Queen, Then Took Her Crown

Chapter 1: 'Dead Weight'

THE smell of burnt rubber still hung in the air when Rowan Kane stepped outside. It wasn’t the smell that made him pause—it was the car. Low-slung. Pearl white. Chrome accents gleaming like a fresh cut. It hadn’t been there this morning. His breath hitched as he eyed the logo: Asterion V9. A luxury model, only five of which existed in the country. Only five! And one was parked in his driveway. His driveway. How? Inside the house, laughter floated out from the hallway—her laugh. Lena Aston. His wife. The woman he’d bled himself dry to support through every late-night pitch, every dead-end meeting, every ugly corporate rejection. He pushed the door open, the hinges groaning like they were as tired as he was. The air hit him first—new leather, expensive perfume, a whiff of something citrusy that didn’t belong in their cramped two-room world. Lena stood in the middle of the lounge, twirling a set of keys around her finger, definitely the key to the car parked outside. But again,