
The Inheritance Bride
McKenzie Shinabery · Ongoing · 71.8k Words
Introduction
As the fierce founder and CEO of Kane Publishing, she’s poured every ounce of herself into building an empire from the ground up. Years of relentless hustle, sleepless nights, and sacrifices have left no room for distractions, no space for heartbreak. Love, to her, has always been a luxury she couldn’t afford.
But now, with her father’s health fading fast, everything changes. His final, desperate wish pierces her steel heart: he wants to see her married before he dies.
The problem?
Valentina doesn’t have a fiancé.
Hell, she doesn’t even have a boyfriend.
Panic claws at her chest, and in a reckless act of desperation, her loyal assistant takes matters into their own hands, secretly posting an advertisement searching for a husband.
Then comes the last person Valentina ever expects to answer.
Jace Walker.
Feared CEO of Walker Foundation Construction Group. America’s most eligible bachelor. The man every woman dreams of, and the man who couldn’t care less about being wanted.
Jace has his own demons, his own battles, and maybe, just maybe, they both need something more than what either of them dared to admit.
Chapter 1
Valentina
The steady beep of the heart monitor had become the soundtrack of my life, an unyielding rhythm marking every fragile moment left with my father.
Three weeks ago, that sound might have grated on my nerves.
Now, I dreaded every pause between the beeps, the hesitation that reminded me how quickly time was slipping away.
I sat beside his hospital bed, my fingers curled gently around his frail hand. The late afternoon sun streamed through the window, casting a soft golden glow that tried to breathe warmth into the sterile room. But it was a lie. Everything in this sterile, quiet place was fading. Dying. Including him.
The thought squeezed my chest so tightly I nearly couldn’t breathe.
The doctors no longer sugarcoated the truth.
Stage four.
Metastatic.
Aggressive.
Terminal.
Those words had become etched in my nightmares.
Three weeks.
Maybe four, if luck or miracles dared visit.
I wasn’t foolish enough to believe in miracles anymore.
Dad’s hand gave mine a weak squeeze. “Tina.”
The nickname was rough when it came from him now, his voice once filled boardrooms, auditoriums, libraries, even the corners of my childhood. Now it barely rose above a whisper.
I forced a smile. “Hey.”
His tired eyes searched mine, the same warm brown eyes I’d inherited, the same eyes that had always looked at me like I was the center of his universe.
“You look exhausted.”
I chuckled softly, despite the ache in my gut. “Says the man living in a hospital bed.”
His lips twitched in what might have been a smile. For a brief moment, I saw the father I’d always known.
Then cancer stole that too.
Silence settled between us like a thick fog. Neither of us wanted to speak the truth looming over the room.
Finally, he broke the stillness. “Tina.”
“Dad.”
“You know what I want.”
I closed my eyes, already weary of this conversation.
For a week now, he’d brought it up every single day... not confusion, not forgetfulness, but relentless determination.
“I know.”
“I want to walk you down the aisle.”
There it was.
His final wish. Not a bucket list adventure. Not a last fishing trip. Not a grand farewell.
Just that. A wedding. My wedding.
I looked down at our entwined hands. “Dad—”
“No.” His voice was gentle but unyielding.
The same tone he used when I was ten and begged to quit piano lessons.
The same tone he used when I was seventeen and convinced I’d never make it through college.
The same tone when I was twenty-four, terrified to launch Kane Publishing.
“No excuses.”
I laughed, though a lump formed in my throat. “Excuses? Dad, I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
“Get one.”
I stared at him, disbelief flashing in my eyes.
He met my gaze, deadly serious.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“You make it sound like I can just order one online.”
A slow smile curved his cracked lips. “You order everything else online.”
I groaned.
He chuckled weakly, then coughed... a harsh, ragged sound that tore through me.
I waited until it passed before speaking again. “I don’t want a relationship.”
His expression softened, full of understanding. “I know.”
“You know why.”
“I know.”
I swallowed hard.
Of course he knew.
He’d been there through it all, the broken promises, the betrayals, the lies.
The revolving door of men my mother let in and out of her life.
Men who left, who hurt her, who took pieces of her heart with them.
I had spent years watching love destroy people I loved.
I didn’t want to be part of that.
I had my company. My books. My authors. My life.
That was enough.
More than enough.
“I’ve never wanted marriage.”
His eyes shimmered with quiet sadness. “Tina.”
“Dad, seriously.... I’ve never even had a relationship. Sex doesn’t count.” I choked on the words.
He laughed, a sound that shook the room but lifted my heart. “You know what I mean. Please stop avoiding this.”
I dropped my head into my free hand.
He was impossible. Even now. Especially now.
After a long pause, his voice softened. “I just want to know someone will be there.”
My chest tightened. “Dad…”
“When I’m gone.”
Those words shattered something deep inside me.
I looked away.
Because if I looked at him, I’d break.
And if I broke, he’d see exactly how terrified I was.
“I’ll be fine.”
“No.” His answer was immediate, certain. “You’ll survive.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“It means surviving isn’t the same as living.”
Silence fell again, thick and heavy.
My throat burned with unshed tears.
“I don’t want you to be alone.”
I blinked, once, twice, three times, desperate to hold myself together.
But my father always saw through me.
Even now.
Even like this.
“I’ll think about it.”
A lie.
A terrible one.
We both knew it.
But he smiled anyway.
Because it was the closest thing to hope I could give him.
And right now…
Hope was all either of us had left.
A soft knock broke the heavy silence.
The door creaked open, and a nurse stepped in, carrying a tablet. Her smile was gentle, the kind worn by those who had weathered years of grief and heartbreak, yet still managed to offer a quiet kindness.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she said softly.
Dad squeezed my hand one last time before letting go.
“You’re not interrupting anything,” I whispered, though it was a lie neither of us wanted to admit.
The nurse glanced between us, her eyes flickering with a practiced empathy. “They’re ready for your CT scan.”
My stomach twisted into knots. Another test. Another scan. Another reminder that nothing was getting better. That time was slipping away.
Dad sighed, the sound heavy with exhaustion and frustration. “See? They’re always poking me.”
I rolled my eyes, forcing a smile I couldn’t quite summon. “You complain more than anyone in this hospital.”
“Damn right I do.”
The nurse laughed softly, stepping back into the hallway. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
The door closed behind her, and the silence returned, settling over us like a thick, suffocating blanket.
The comfortable kind of silence.
The painful kind.
The kind that exists when neither person wants to say goodbye, even if it’s only for a few hours.
I rose slowly from my chair, my knees protesting every movement. I’d grown too accustomed to these stiff limbs, too many nights spent sleeping upright in cold hospital chairs.
Dad’s tired eyes tracked me. “You should go home.”
I snorted, bitter. “I have work.”
“That’s not better.”
“I suppose it’s slightly better.”
“Tina.”
I wagged a finger at him. “Don’t.”
His lips twitched, almost a smile.
I bent down, carefully tucking the blanket around his shoulders, a ritual I’d repeated a thousand times in these endless weeks. The small things were all I could do for him now. Cancer had taken everything else.
My throat tightened, a lump forming that refused to move.
I pressed a kiss to the top of his thinning hair.
For a long second, neither of us moved.
Neither of us spoke.
Because deep down, that terrifying thought hovered in the air...
What if this is the last time?
It haunted every goodbye, every visit, every hug, every whispered phone call.
I hated it.
“I love you, Dad.”
His hand found mine one last time, warm and fragile. “I love you too, Tina.” And then he smiled.
That same warm smile I’d seen my entire life... the one that made me feel like I was six years old again, safe and small in his arms.
“Think about what I said.”
I groaned, exhaustion and frustration bubbling up. “Unbelievable.”
“I’m serious.”
“Dad.”
“One wedding.”
I laughed through the ache. “Rest.”
“One wedding.”
“Goodbye.”
“One husband.”
“Dad!”
His laughter echoed down the hallway, fragile and fading.
And somehow, that hurt more than anything.
Last Chapters
#65 Chapter 65 My first
Last Updated: 8/23/2026#64 Chapter 64 You lied
Last Updated: 8/22/2026#63 Chapter 63 Getting to know each other
Last Updated: 8/22/2026#62 Chapter 62 Poker
Last Updated: 8/22/2026#61 Chapter 61 A Storm Is Rolling In
Last Updated: 8/21/2026#60 Chapter 60 Photoshoot
Last Updated: 8/20/2026#59 Chapter 59 Enjoy the Show
Last Updated: 8/19/2026#58 Chapter 58 Dinner Talk
Last Updated: 8/18/2026#57 Chapter 57 Sunset
Last Updated: 8/17/2026#56 Chapter 56 Memories
Last Updated: 8/15/2026
You Might Like 😍
The mafia princess return
Let Them Kneel
Cast out by her pack. Forgotten by the Lycans.
She lived among humans—quiet, invisible, tucked away in a town no one looked at twice.
But when her first heat comes without warning, everything changes.
Her body ignites. Her instincts scream. And something primal stirs beneath her skin—
summoning a big, bad Alpha who knows exactly how to quench her fire.
When he claims her, it’s ecstasy and ruin.
For the first time, she believes she’s been accepted.
Seen.
Chosen.
Until he leaves her the next morning—
like a secret never to be spoken.
But Kaelani is not what they thought.
Not wolfless. Not weak.
There is something ancient inside her. Something powerful. And it’s waking.
And when it does—
they’ll all remember the girl they tried to erase.
Especially him.
She’ll be the dream he keeps chasing… the one thing that ever made him feel alive.
Because secrets never stay buried.
And neither do dreams.
King of the Underworld
However, one fateful day, the King of the Underworld appeared before me and rescued me from the clutches of the most powerful Mafia boss's son. With his deep blue eyes fixed on mine, he spoke softly: "Sephie... short for Persephone... Queen of the Underworld. At last, I have found you." Confused by his words, I stammered out a question, “P..pardon? What does that mean?”
But he simply smiled at me and brushed my hair away from my face with gentle fingers: "You are safe now.”
Sephie, named for the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, she's quickly finding out how she's destined to fulfill her namesake's role. Adrik is the King of the Underworld, the boss of all bosses in the city he runs.
She was a seemingly normal girl, with a normal job until it all changed one night when he walked through the front door and her life changed abruptly. Now, she finds herself on the wrong side of powerful men, but under the protection of the most powerful among them.
The Dark Witch & The Alpha Book 2
The vampire queen (Ambrosia) and Pythia will become close and discover the true origins of their pasts. They rely on each other when their mates are not around. New family is discovered and it is time they all come together to face one of the toughest moments in the dark witches history.
The Alpha & The Vampire Queen
Whips crack against her skin, blood pooling on the cold stone floor, while her mother's pleas fade into silence, abandoning her to the monster's wrath. Xander's protective cries turn to accusations under Penny's dark spells, fracturing their sibling bond into shards of mistrust and isolation.
Pregnant by My Husband's Rival Alpha
Those words should have destroyed me, but the truth was worse: I'd been used as a broodmare by the man who swore to love me, set up in a hotel room with a stranger because My husband Alexander Cross couldn't father children himself, and now I carried the secret babies of Damon Lester—the most powerful and dangerous Alpha in San Loris—while my own family replaced me with the daughter they'd always wanted. But when that same stranger's doctor appeared at my door, when twenty million dollars exchanged hands over a fake perfume bearing my secret identity, and when Damon's gray eyes locked onto mine with recognition I couldn't afford, I realized my carefully hidden life as the legendary perfumer Vera was colliding with a pregnancy that could cost me everything.
Could I protect my babies from the husband plotting my death, hide my true identity from the Alpha who's been hunting me for years, and reclaim the freedom I'd buried along with my dreams—even if it means standing alone against the wolves who see me as nothing more than a womb to be used and discarded?
Mated To My Ruin: A Dragon's Debt
But the prince lied. The dragon she touched bound itself to her soul and now she is trapped in the vampire kingdom with a king who has waited centuries for her return. King Caelan remembers everything. The love she destroyed and the great war she started. The lives she burned to ash with the very dragon now living inside her.
She remembers nothing.
He wants her to suffer for crimes she cannot recall. She wants to survive long enough to save her sister. But the bond between them refuses to stay buried and the dragon has its own plans. When she turns twenty and her fae powers awaken, Nyx discovers the truth is far more twisted than centuries of hatred.
The prince who sent her was the one who destroyed her family. The king who hates her saved the only person she loves. And the past life she cannot remember might be the key to stopping another war.
This time she will not run. This time she will burn the world herself if that is what it takes.
The Princess's Revenge
Alpha Logan is an illegitimate son whose mother disappeared when he was 10 years old. He grew up suffering from humiliation and lacking maternal love.
Alpha Logan saves Valencia at Marcus's funeral, which seems to be destined by fate—part of the Moon Goddess's grand plan.
As Valencia accidentally discovers prophecies in Logan's mother's diary that seem to be related to her, the truth gradually surfaces. Valencia appears to be merely a tool in a princess's revenge plot. How will Logan and Valencia navigate their path amid the national war and pack politics?
BROKEN TRUST
Neither of them knew she was carrying his child.
Emily’s affair didn’t just end her marriage—it erased the life she thought was guaranteed. Ryan left without looking back, carrying his anger like armor and leaving Emily alone with regret she would never outrun. Three years later, fate drags them back into each other’s world, along with a little girl who has Ryan’s eyes and a truth that shatters everything he thought he knew.
Old wounds reopen, grief masquerades as rage, and love refuses to stay buried. As parenthood binds them together and the past demands accountability, Emily and Ryan must face the question neither of them is ready to answer: is broken trust the end of their story… or the beginning of a love forged through loss, forgiveness, and brutal honesty?
Tango with the Alpha's Heart
“He met her at the Alpha training camp,” he said. “She is a perfect suitor for him. It snowed last night, indicating that his wolf is happy with his choice.”
My heart sank, and tears made their way down my cheeks.
Alexander took my innocence last night, and now he is taking that thing in his office as his Luna.
Emily became the laughingstock of the pack on her 18th birthday and never expected the Alpha's son to be her mate.
After a night of passionate love, Emily finds out that her mate has taken a chosen mate. Heartbroken and humiliated, she disappears from the pack.
Now, five years later, Emily is a respected high-ranking warrior in King Alpha’s army.
When her best friend invites her to a night of music and laughter, she never expects to run into her mate.
Will her mate figure out it is her?
Will he chase after her, and most of all, will Emily be able to keep her secrets safe?
Bella and Her Beast
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?
.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."
Goddess Of The Underworld
When the veil between the Divine, the Living, and the Dead begins to crack, Envy is thrust beneath with a job she can’t drop: keep the worlds from bleeding together, shepherd the lost, and make ordinary into armour, breakfasts, bedtime, battle plans. Peace lasts exactly one lullaby. This is the story of an orphan pup who became a goddess by choosing her family; of four imperfect alphas learning how to be better. Steamy, fierce, and full of heart, Goddess of the Underworld is a reverse harem, found-family paranormal romance where love writes the rules and keeps three realms from falling apart.












