Stripping For My Devil Ex Husband

Valerie hesitated for a fraction of a second, her wide, shaken eyes darting between Anastasia’s rigid defiance and her brother’s lethal stillness.

Realizing the air in the room had become genuinely toxic, she backed toward the hallway, slipping through the door without another word.

​Damian reached out, gripping the edge of the heavy door, and clicked it shut behind her.

​He turned slowly, his tall frame cutting through the light as he stalked toward her. Every line of his body radiated dangerous, barely suppressed fury.

​"You broke the rule, Anastasia," Damian said, his baritone dropping into a menacing whisper. "We had an explicit agreement. You swore that the terms of that marriage would never touch my family’s ears, yet you hand it to Valerie like a weapon."

​"I broke the rule?"

Ana shot back, her chin lifted high, refusing to shrink back as he closed the distance between them.

"I spent years playing the obedient, grateful bride while your mother and sister looked at me like dirt! I carried the burden of your father’s death, your family’s hatred, and your cold silence just to protect your precious Sterling pride! Why should I keep lying for you, Damian? You bought me like a piece of distressed property to settle an old score!"

​Damian halted mere inches from her, his towering presence blocking out the rest of the room. The veins in his neck were taut, his obsidian eyes burning with a dark, terrifying intensity.

​"You think I bought you to settle a score?" Damian’s voice cracked with a rare, savage edge, stripping away his polished corporate armor. "You think I tied myself to Vance out of petty revenge?"

​"What else was it?!" Ana shouted, tears finally stinging her eyes, though her voice remained razor-sharp. "You made a transaction! And demanded me as collateral!"

​"I took you because your father was hours away from selling you to monsters!"

​The roar tore from Damian’s chest, echoing violently off the high stone walls.

​Ana froze, the breath completely knocked out of her lungs. Her lips parted, but no sound came out as the words hung between them like live artillery.

​Damian leaned down, his face inches from hers, his chest heaving with jagged breaths.

​"Your pathetic father didn’t just mismanage Vance Enterprises, Anastasia," Damian said, every word hitting with the force of a sledgehammer. "He was drowning in off-the-books syndicate debt. He had already signed over the paperwork to hand you to a trafficking ring disguised as an offshore cartel syndicate. If you had set foot across that border, you wouldn’t have lasted three months. You wouldn’t be standing here hating me... you wouldn’t be breathing."

​Ana felt the floor vanish beneath her feet. Her heart slammed violently against her ribs as she stared into his dark, furious eyes, desperately searching for a lie, a trick, anything.

​"I bought every single cent of his debt at triple the value overnight," Damian continued, his voice dropping into a harsh, possessive growl that shook her to her core. "I liquidated accounts, I manipulated board votes, and I signed a marriage contract that bound you to my name because a Sterling ring was the only shield enough to keep you alive. I made you my wife so no one in this city, or any other, could ever lay a finger on you."

​He reached out, his large, trembling hand gripping her jaw with fierce intensity, forcing her to look directly into the raw, bleeding depths of his fury.

​"So go ahead and tell Valerie it was just a transaction," Damian rasped, his thumb digging into her cheek. "Tell the whole world I used you. But don’t you dare stand in front of me and pretend I didn’t burn half my empire to the ground just to keep your heart beating."

Anastasia’s chest heaved, her pulse hammering in her ears as the sheer weight of his words crashed over her.

​Then, she slapped his hand away.

​She shoved hard against Damian’s chest, stumbling back until her thighs hit the foot of the bed. A wild, bitter laugh tore from her throat.

​"You’re lying," Anastasia gasped, shaking her head violently as fury fought through the shock. "You’re a disgusting liar! You think you can rewrite history to make yourself look like some noble savior? Saving my life... is that the script you tell yourself to sleep at night?"

​Damian didn’t flinch, his obsidian eyes tracking every ragged breath she took. "Every single word is on the ledger, Anastasia. I have the cartel transfer documents in my vault."

​"No, you don’t!" She screamed, pointing a trembling finger at his chest. "Because it was Dante Sullivan who told me the truth! Dante told me he was the one who was going to take me from my family. And honestly, Damian? He is a far better man than you could ever dream of being!"

​The room dropped below freezing.

​Damian froze. The fury on his face drained away, replaced by shock... followed instantly by a lethal, predatory stillness.

​"What did you just say?" Damian’s baritone dropped so low it rattled the glass panes of the window.

​Anastasia’s breath caught. She pressed her lips together, cold dread suddenly cutting through her anger. She hadn’t meant to bring up Dante. In the heat of the fight, the venom had just spilled out of her mouth.

​Damian took one slow, deliberate step forward, his jaw locked so tight the muscle twitched violently.

​"That day in the café," Damian said, his voice terrifyingly calm, stripping the air right out of the room. "When I walked in and caught that bastard’s hands on you... when I caught him kissing you. That’s when he filled your head with this garbage?"

​Anastasia backed away, but Damian closed the distance in a single stride.

​He didn’t ask. He gripped her upper arms and yanked her flush against his chest, his hold unyielding as iron. He looked down into her wide eyes, his face twisted with unhinged, violent rage.

​"You listen to me, Anastasia," Damian snarled, his voice a low, vicious vibration against her skin. "Dante Sullivan is a butcher. He is one of the most dangerous, depraved animals walking this earth. He didn’t want to save you. If you ever go near him again, I will personally put a bullet through his skull."

​Anastasia stared right into the dark madness of his eyes, refusing to break, refusing to give him the submission he demanded.

​"And why the hell should I believe a single word you say?" Anastasia shot back, her voice shaking with raw, defiant hatred. "You isolated me. You controlled me. You lied to me throughout our marriage. Right now, Damian... the only monster standing in front of me is you."

Damian’s grip tightened on her arms.

​He didn’t shout. He didn’t roar.

​The violent rage on his face drained away, replaced by an absolute, terrifying calm... a silence far deadlier than any scream. His eyes bored down into hers, devoid of all mercy.

​"A monster," Damian murmured, his voice dropping into a dark whisper that sent a cold shudder down her spine. "If that’s what you need me to be, Anastasia, then I will gladly play the part."

​He leaned in closer, his breath searing against the side of her face.

​"Hate me all you want. Call me whatever you need to sleep at night. But as long as breath remains in my body, you belong to me, and you will stay alive. I don’t give a damn about your forgiveness."

​With a sudden, deliberate snap, Damian released her arms, letting her stumble back against the edge of the mattress.

​He didn’t spare her a second glance. Turning on his heel, he strode across the room, wrenched the heavy door open, and stepped into the corridor.

​The door slammed behind him with a deafening thud.

​Anastasia stood trembling in the middle of the dim suite, the suffocating silence crashing over her as the reality of her total isolation set in.

________________________

Across the city, tucked deep inside a secluded safehouse, soft jazz played against the glow of muted surveillance feeds.

​Two of Dante’s men stood near the corner monitors, typing rapidly into encrypted consoles, running city-wide street cameras and tracking vehicle logs in a futile attempt to locate Damian’s convoy.

​"They vanished past the county line," one of the men reported, looking back. "No radio pings, no active toll scans. Total blackout."

​Vivian Stark didn’t seem to care. She stood by the bar, raising a glass of expensive champagne into the dim light. Her face had grown sharper during her time as a wanted fugitive, but her dark eyes were alive with manic triumph.

​"Let them hide in the dark," Vivian scoffed, taking a slow sip. "Two of his guards are dead, his precious penthouse is a burned-out crime scene. We invaded his home, Dante. Damian Sterling is finally bleeding."

​Dante Sullivan sat across from her on the leather sofa, swirling whiskey in a heavy tumbler. A lazy, predatory smirk played on his lips as he gestured dismissively toward his men.

​"The physical breach was just the warm-up, Vivian," Dante murmured, his voice a low, gravelly purr.

​He leaned forward, setting his glass on the table with a soft clink.

​"Damian’s biggest weakness was never his security. It was his desperate need to control Anastasia. I planted the seeds in that café, and Damian’s suffocating pride will do the rest. We don’t just break into his house... we’re going to break the bond that holds them together."

​Vivian chuckled darkly, leaning over the sofa to clink her champagne flute against his glass.

​"To their destruction," she whispered.

​Dante’s smile widened, cold and lethal. "To the end of the Sterlings."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!