My Husband Tied Me Up at My Own Birthday Party—Then My Five Brothers Arrived

Two days after the collapse of the Cole empire, Adrian Cole stood alone in the grand ballroom of the deserted estate. The furniture was draped in white sheets, the electricity had been cut off due to unpaid bills, and the glittering chandelier overhead hung silent and dark.

He had lost everything. His money, his company, his mistress, and his status. Vanguard Capital had seized the mansion, and the bank foreclosure notice was nailed to the front doors.

Heavy footsteps echoed across the marble floor. Adrian didn’t turn around. He knew who it was.

Elena walked into the dim ballroom, wearing a dark trench coat, her boots clicking sharply against the stone. She stopped a few feet away from him, looking at the decorative ceiling beam where he had tied her up just nights before.

“They’re foreclosing tomorrow,” Adrian muttered, his voice hollow and broken. “The lawyers say there’s nothing left. Not a single cent. Vanessa took what she could and ratted me out to the feds before they even hauled her away.”

“Vanessa only cared about your money, Adrian,” Elena said calmly. “Just like you only cared about your status. You two deserved each other.”

Adrian turned, his eyes wide with a desperate, pathetic fury. “You planned this! You knew about the affair for three weeks! You let me bring Vanessa to our party! You let me… you let me humiliate you just so you could destroy me!”

“I gave you enough rope to hang yourself,” Elena corrected coldly. “You didn't have to tie me to that beam, Adrian. You chose cruelty because you thought there were no consequences. You thought my silence meant you were invincible.”

Adrian lunged forward, a final burst of blind rage driving him. “I built this life! You were nothing! A charity case from the wrong side of town!”

Before Adrian could take another step, two shadows detached themselves from the darkness near the doors. Matteo and Nico grabbed Adrian by the shoulders, slamming him against the marble pillar with enough force to knock the wind completely out of his lungs.

Adrian gasped, sliding down the pillar until he was on his knees, clutching his ribs.

Elena walked over, looking down at the man who had once sworn to protect her. She crouched down so her eyes were level with his.

“My brothers call me little bird,” Elena whispered softly into his ear. “They forgot that birds have wings. And when a cage opens, we don’t crawl out—we fly over the ashes.”