The Princess in the Kitchen

The Princess in the Kitchen

Agatha Christie · Completed · 9.0k Words

515
Hot
623
Views
21
Added
Add to Shelf
Start Reading
Share:facebooktwitterpinterestwhatsappreddit

Introduction

I spent twenty years being invisible. Twenty years making his favorite meals, raising his daughter, loving his family like my own.

On our anniversary, I baked a cake for six hours. He came home and ripped diamond earrings from my ears—they were for his mistress, not me.

My daughter rolled her eyes: "I wish Victoria was my mom."

My five-year-old grandson looked at me with disgust: "You're old and ugly. We want Victoria!"

So I filed for divorce, packed my bags, and called my father—the same father who stands on palace steps, waiting for his daughter to come home.

My ex-husband thought he married a nobody. He's about to discover he threw away a princess.

And when he finally figures out who I really am? It'll be far too late.

Chapter 1

I spent twenty years being invisible. Twenty years making his favorite meals, raising his daughter, loving his family like my own.

On our anniversary, I baked a cake for six hours. He came home and ripped diamond earrings from my ears—they were for his mistress, not me.

My daughter rolled her eyes: "I wish Victoria was my mom."

My five-year-old grandson looked at me with disgust: "You're old and ugly. We want Victoria!"

So I filed for divorce, packed my bags, and called my father—the same father who stands on palace steps, waiting for his daughter to come home.

My ex-husband thought he married a nobody. He's about to discover he threw away a princess.

And when he finally figures out who I really am? It'll be far too late.


Seraphina's POV

I woke at four in the morning.

Not because of an alarm—because of today. Our twentieth wedding anniversary.

I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could. Marcus was still snoring. The kitchen was quiet except for the refrigerator's hum. I flicked on the light and got to work.

Three-layer strawberry cream cake—Lily's favorite. I remembered when she was little, how she'd asked for it every single birthday. She was twenty-eight now, with kids of her own, but maybe this cake would remind her of those days. The days when she still called me "the best mom in the world."

Six hours later, the cake was perfect. Three layers of sponge, fresh strawberries and whipped cream, sugar roses on top. The dining table was loaded with roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese for the grandkids.

I picked up my phone and typed into the family group chat:

See you all at six! Dinner's ready, don't be late! ❤️

I stared at the screen. Waiting. One minute. Five minutes. Ten.

Finally, the dots started bouncing.

Marcus: Running late. Don't wait up.

Lily: Mom, seriously, we're swamped. Can you not do this right now?

The phone blurred in my hand. I set it down and took a breath.

It's fine. Maybe they really were busy. Maybe... maybe they just wanted to surprise me.

I clung to that thought even as my heart knew better. I'd gotten used to being overlooked these past few years. Especially since she showed up a year ago.

Victoria Smith. Marcus's "business partner."

She'd arrived like a spotlight, making me look dull by comparison. Suddenly Marcus had new energy—new clothes, new haircut, his phone buzzing constantly. And whenever her name lit up the screen, he'd get that look. That smile. I couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled at me like that.

And me? I was like the old furniture in this house—only noticed when something broke.

Something warm pressed against my palm. Buck. Our golden retriever was ten now, muzzle gray, but his eyes still gentle. He nuzzled my hand.

"Hey, old boy." I crouched down to scratch his ears, my throat tightening. "At least you remember me, huh?"

The doorbell rang.

Buck barked once. I straightened and went to answer it. A delivery guy stood there holding a small package.

"Seraphina Mitchell?"

"That's me."

I closed the door and stared at the box in my hands. Cream-colored wrapping paper. Silk ribbon tied in a bow. Elegant.

My heart started to race.

I walked to the kitchen and untied the ribbon, peeling back the paper. Inside was a velvet jewelry box. When I opened it, my breath caught.

Diamond earrings—delicate teardrops that caught the light and threw it back in brilliant sparks.

Underneath sat a small card: For someone truly special.

Oh my God... these are for me?

I gasped, hand flying to my mouth. My eyes burned.

Twenty years ago, we'd gotten married at city hall in thrift store clothes. Marcus had slipped a cheap silver ring on my finger—all we could afford. But he'd held my hand and looked at me with light in his eyes and said, "Someday, Sera. Someday I'll get you the real deal. I promise."

I'd believed him then.

Now, finally, he'd remembered. He'd kept his promise.

I rushed to the mirror and put the earrings on with shaking hands. The woman staring back looked... almost beautiful. Elegant. Worth something.

For just this moment, I felt happy again.

The front door slammed open.

"Seraphina!" Marcus stormed in. "What the HELL are you doing?!"

I turned with a smile, ready to thank him. His face twisted with rage. He strode toward me, reaching for my ear.

"Take those OFF! NOW!"

"Marcus, what—"

Pain exploded in my earlobe. He yanked hard. I screamed as something tore, then felt warmth trickling down my neck.

"Have you lost your MIND?!"

My fingers fumbled with the clasp, slippery with blood. The earring finally came free and he snatched it away, holding it up to inspect it.

"I thought..." My voice shook. "I thought they were for me."

"For YOU?" He stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "Why would you think that?"

The front door opened again. Lily walked in, her twins behind her. They froze—the blood on my neck, the earrings in Marcus's hand.

"Jesus, Mom." Lily's voice was ice. "Did you seriously just STEAL Dad's gift for Victoria?"

The name slapped me across the face.

"Look, Victoria just landed Dad the Henderson deal—worth MILLIONS," Lily continued, dropping her bag on the table with a thud. "Those earrings were a thank-you gift. She's coming to dinner tonight, and now look—they're covered in BLOOD."

"I need to buy new ones." Marcus was already on his phone. "Jewelry store should still be open."

I pressed my hand against my still-bleeding ear, humiliation washing over me. "What about... what about MY gift?"

They all looked at me.

"Your what?" Marcus didn't even glance up.

"My anniversary gift." I could barely get the words out. "It's our twentieth anniversary today, Marcus."

He finally looked up. Something flickered in his eyes—guilt, maybe—then vanished, replaced by irritation.

"We showed up for dinner, didn't we? What else do you want?"

Buck whimpered from the kitchen doorway.

Twenty years. Twenty years of cooking his meals, ironing his shirts, raising his child. Twenty years of shrinking until I disappeared.

"What do I WANT?" A bitter laugh escaped me. "You PROMISED me, Marcus. You looked me dead in the eye on our wedding day and said you'd give me everything. You SWORE it wasn't going to be cheap rings and city hall forever. You said you'd make it right—"

Last Chapters

You Might Like 😍

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

Taste of Fate: The Vampire King's Human Mate

8.8k Views · Ongoing · Miranda Carr
I never knew my blood could kill a king—until I met one. Sebastian, the ruthless and immortal King, rules with precision. For centuries, he's ruled with ruthless precision, his heart as cold as the stone throne beneath him. One moment, I'm nothing. The next, I'm his obsession. His touch burns like ice fire. His stare follows me through shadows. And when he feeds from me—God help me—it feels like drowning in darkness and craving more. He tells me my blood is unlike any he's tasted, that my scent drives him to the edge of madness.


He reached for the back of my head and pulled me up just enough to reach my neck. When his fangs slid into me, the pain was instant, electric. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. My hands found his shoulders, clawing for something to hold. My legs kicked. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

He moaned against my throat as he drank, and the sound was devastating.
Bella and Her Beast

Bella and Her Beast

21.8k Views · Completed · Sheridan Hartin
For all the little girls who grew up wondering what happens after the prince kisses the girl—this is the story they never told you.
.
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."
The Rejected White Luna

The Rejected White Luna

11.4k Views · Completed · Elle Writes
"I, Kael Trevor Dominus, Alpha of Nightfang Pack, reject you, Aria Magnus, as my mate."
"No... You can't do that."
Those words shattered Aria's world in front of the entire pack.
As the daughter of the Alpha of Silver Moon Pack, Aria was born with a powerful legacy. But with a weak wolf that could never shift, she became a disappointment in the eyes of her own people. She was mocked, ignored, and treated as a weakness instead of the future Luna she was meant to be.
She believed finding her fated mate would finally change everything.
Until Kael rejected her publicly and chose another.
"Because a mate who cannot shift is no mate at all. She's a weakness. And weakness spreads."
Broken but refusing to surrender, Aria leaves the only home she has ever known. But fate has a different plan waiting for her.
When she crosses paths with another powerful pack, Aria discovers a shocking truth: she has been given a second chance mate. The only problem? She never expected him to be someone who could change her entire destiny.
With a new bond awakening hidden powers within her, Aria is no longer the weak wolf everyone looked down on.
Now she has the chance to make those who hurt her pay.
But when Kael realizes the woman he rejected has become the one person he cannot lose, he wants her back.
Will Aria choose revenge, or will she find a love greater than the betrayal that destroyed her?
The Rejected Luna’s Rise

The Rejected Luna’s Rise

4.5k Views · Ongoing · Blessing Imafidon
They were already married for three years when Alpha Damian Zeus’s long-lost first love, Lily, returned bringing along a five-year-old pup.

Luna Ariana Volkstane slid the formal rejection request across the table. "Let's end this bond. It's better for you, me, and your first love."

He just smirked. "You want me to reject you? You think you can break our bond that easily?"

So she did. Ariana cut ties with him completely, poured herself into her career, and rose to global fame as a legendary healer, her knowledge of rare herbs, wolf anatomy, and ancient magic sought after across continents.

The powerful suitors lined up. The Alpha of an overseas empire whispered, "Ariana, hurry up and perform the severing ritual. I can't wait to claim you." A powerful pack leader vowed, "I'll be there with you the day you break the bond." A legendary wolf attorney promised, "I'll handle your rejection case with the pack council myself."

Ariana just rubbed her temples. It's not that she didn't want the split, she wanted it more than anything, it's just that the Alpha she was mated to refused to let go.

Finally, she announced, "Whoever can officially get me rejected, I'll put you at the head table of my bond-breaking celebration."

Not long after, Alpha Damian was served the official rejection request right in the middle of an emergency pack council meeting. That same afternoon, he was attacked by rogues at the gates of his own territory.

When Ariana showed up at the pack infirmary with healing herbs, she repeated calmly, "Let's sever the mate bond. It's better for you, me, and everyone else."

But the cold, untouchable Alpha pulled her into his arms, his eyes blood-red with fury. "You want me to reject you? Over my dead body."
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother

2.9m Views · Ongoing · Harper Rivers
Falling for my boyfriend's Navy brother.

"What is wrong with me?

Why does being near him make my skin feel too tight, like I’m wearing a sweater two sizes too small?

It’s just newness, I tell myself firmly.

He’s my boyfirend’s brother.

This is Tyler’s family.

I’m not going to let one cold stare undo that.

**

As a ballet dancer, My life looks perfect—scholarship, starring role, sweet boyfriend Tyler. Until Tyler shows his true colors and his older brother, Asher, comes home.

Asher is a Navy veteran with battle scars and zero patience. He calls me "princess" like it's an insult. I can't stand him.

When My ankle injury forces her to recover at the family lake house, I‘m stuck with both brothers. What starts as mutual hatred slowly turns into something forbidden.

I'm falling for my boyfriend's brother.

**

I hate girls like her.

Entitled.

Delicate.

And still—

Still.

The image of her standing in the doorway, clutching her cardigan tighter around her narrow shoulders, trying to smile through the awkwardness, won’t leave me.

Neither does the memory of Tyler. Leaving her here without a second thought.

I shouldn’t care.

I don’t care.

It’s not my problem if Tyler’s an idiot.

It’s not my business if some spoiled little princess has to walk home in the dark.

I’m not here to rescue anyone.

Especially not her.

Especially not someone like her.

She’s not my problem.

And I’ll make damn sure she never becomes one.

But when my eyes fell on her lips, I wanted her to be mine.
“Burn those who burned me!”

“Burn those who burned me!”

194.9k Views · Completed · Toddria Holiday
Follow several different stories of betrayal and revenge as the main characters finally seek justice and payback of those who betrayed them!

Burn those who burned me is an anthology book circulated on truth; justice; and REVENGE!

Story #1 The Ballad of Rabena Price.
Story #2 The rebirth of Clara Granger
Story #3 The violin of Graceland Teague
Story #4 The list for Josie Taylor

Story #5 COMING SOON!
Fated to the Lycan

Fated to the Lycan

3.2k Views · Ongoing · Mhina Zhaq
He wants her only for her body until he fell for her soul.

Ashlyn Ambrosia, the daughter of Khalid Ambrosia is a weak hybrid vampire that doesn't act like one. Unable to draw blood from a living soul and unable to kill. She's been mocked for this by her own family too. Her world comes crashing down when she's taken away by her Clutch most hated adversary.....

Lucifer Saunron is a ruthless lycan male alpha of the Nightwing pack known for his bravery, skills in war and an unquenchable taste for women. In the long feud between the lycans and the vampires and the battle that ensued, to his greatest displeasure he's fated to the daughter of the Vampire king.
He takes her in as his mistress opposing what the moon goddess proposes.....

With a life that is filled with secrets and mysteries that Ashlyn would discover, would she be able to withstand his hell as he battles with his inner demon despite his cruelty?
My Perverse: You're mine, you son of a bitch

My Perverse: You're mine, you son of a bitch

2.7k Views · Completed · Williane Kassia
AN AGE GAP, FORCED PROXIMITY, BLACK FLAG ROMANCE

Vincenzo Valentini is a man who sees the world as a business counter and human beings as merchandise.

The owner of an empire built upon corpses and submission, he is the reflection of pure perversity.

When fate places Andrew Thompson, the son of his greatest rival, into his hands, the plan was simple: use him, break him, and discard him like a toy that has lost its appeal.

What Vincenzo did not expect was that, beneath the youthful skin and the appearance of innocence, Andrew hid the same abyss as he did.

Vincenzo never wanted redemption. He never wanted someone to save him from his own darkness. He was seeking a mirror. And in Andrew, he found the partner who, upon seeing his blood-stained hands, does not recoil in terror, but trembles with desire.

In this perverse game, the "little toy" proves to be the perfect executioner. The mafia leader found someone who not only accepts his cruel side but cultivates it, feeding the monster Vincenzo has always been.

Where there should have been fear, lust emerged. Where there should have been hatred, a perverse loyalty was born. Andrew Thompson is the dark reflection of Vincenzo, the soldier the underworld did not see coming, and the man who proved that, for some, paradise only makes sense if it is in the middle of chaos.

Vincenzo opened the doors to his empire, but Andrew was the only one capable of invading his heart.

They are not heroes. They are hell on earth.
Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix

Iron And Glamour Just Don't Mix

5.6k Views · Ongoing · Kit Bryan
Have you ever seen a screaming toddler and thought, wow, they just can’t be the same good-natured kid who was eating cereal ten minutes ago?
Well… Sometimes you just might turn out to be right.
It turns out, the fae stole my little brother. In his place? A pixie with boundary issues and a talent for home repairs.
I’ve spent my life taking care of everyone else. So when my baby brother is taken, I don’t hesitate. I walk straight into a faerie mansion and make a bargain with its infuriatingly charming master.
Kie is everything you’d expect from a dangerous fae, beautiful, political, and entirely too amused by me. Power wrapped in a smirk. Sensual, mischievous, and far too aware of the effect he has on people. He agrees to help me find my brother.
For a price.
Now I’m bound by a faerie bargain and navigating a world of glamour, manipulation, and ancient rules I definitely should have learned sooner, enchanted forests, political games, magical contracts, and a fae lord who treats seduction like a perfectly reasonable negotiation tactic.
Iron is how I keep people out.
Glamour is how he draws them in.
And apparently, they just don’t mix.
The mafia princess return

The mafia princess return

970.5k Views · Completed · Tonje Unosen
Talia have been living with her mother, stepsister and Stepfather for years. One day she finally get away from them. Suddenly she learn she have more family out there and she have many people that actually love her, something she have never felt before! At least not as she can remember. She have to learn to trust others, get her new brothers to accept her for who she is!
The millionaire's ugly secretary

The millionaire's ugly secretary

1.9k Views · Completed · Naulis Machado
Demetrio Laureti is the most sought-after millionaire in town. An arrogant, domineering and extremely handsome man, he is used to taking all the women he wants into his bed. When his secretary is fired, he immediately sends for a new one. Confident that they have hired the most beautiful of them all, he decides to make a bet with his best friend and conquer Evangelina Anderson, a woman of grotesque appearance, which is not at all to the taste of the Italian, but, however, manages to drive all his senses crazy.

Will Demetrio be able to conquer his ugly secretary? Will Eva be able to forgive Demetrio after this bet?
Real Heiress, Hidden Boss​

Real Heiress, Hidden Boss​

18.2k Views · Completed · Aria Woods
They wanted a real daughter, so they traded me for her.
On the engagement day, my fiancé slipped a ring on her finger. My parents handed me a train ticket to oblivion.
They celebrated their victory while I disappeared.
What they didn't realize was that letting me go was the worst mistake of their lives.
I am the surgical prodigy saving lives that science deems hopeless. I am the muse of the art world. I am the true heir to a dynasty they couldn't even dream of.
Now, I am back.
Not as the girl they abandoned, but as the storm they prayed would never come.
My ex-fiancé kneels in regret. My fake sister chokes on her jealousy. And the CEO who once looked through me? He is now crawling, desperate to taste the success he once threw away.
The joke isn't on me.
It's on them.