When the Roses Burned Away

Heiress bankrolls husband's rise, uncovers staged rescue, divorces him.

Cassandra Rossano defies her father and surrenders her heiress status to save Gavin after his family collapses, pouring personal wealth and hidden connections into his seven-year climb to New York's business elite. He repays her by taking flower shop owner Maeve as a mistress and mocking Cassandra's devotion as desperation. When she overhears the insult, she obtains his signature on divorce papers while he attends Maeve's grand opening. Reconciling with her father, Cassandra learns Gavin secretly spent her grandfather's private funds on Maeve and that a public kneeling and confinement at Rose Estate — where security was bribed to deliver nine hundred ninety-nine roses instead of nine — were staged deceptions. She empties the marital home, returns to Miami, and finalizes the divorce through counsel. Only after she leaves does Gavin grasp how much of his success depended on her quiet support, but she refuses forgiveness.

• romance
• revenge
• drama

1. Cassandra funds Gavin's seven-year rise
2. Gavin betrays her with flower shop owner Maeve
3. Staged rescue and confinement at Rose Estate

Anyone who wants a wealthy heroine who walks away after funding a spouse's ascent and exposing a fabricated kidnapping.