Amelia Rivers

After ten years with my boyfriend, Brenton, I overheard him call me "ordinary" on my 28th birthday. He told his friend he'd regret marrying me because my middle-class background wasn't good enough for his wealthy family. The next day, he kicked me out of our home. His mother then paid me to cater a party, serving the very woman she' d always wanted for her son. Ten years of my life, erased. I was disposable, a placeholder they no longer needed. That night, heartbroken and homeless, I did something crazy. I opened a dating app, found a quiet, dependable Marine from high school, and sent him a message. His profile said: "Looking for a serious partner for marriage and family. No games." So I typed out the words that would change my life. "This might sound crazy, but if you're serious about getting married... would you consider marrying me?"

My husband, the Alpha, told me the pack needed an heir, and since I was "barren," he had found a solution. Her name was Aria. She smelled like artificial vanilla and rotting peaches. Alex claimed she was just a surrogate, a vessel to carry his bloodline. Yet, he moved her into the nursery I had prepared for our own children. He let her wear the Luna's silver gown to the Moon Festival, an honor reserved only for me. When she staged a fall and blamed me, Alex used his Alpha Command to force me to my knees, humiliating me in front of the entire pack. He even drained his own life-force to give her a blood transfusion for a fake illness, ignoring my warnings that it would weaken the pack. He looked at me with cold hatred, calling me a broken human, while he groomed her publicly like a mate. I realized then that he didn't just want a child. He wanted to replace me. So, when his father handed him a stack of "business documents" to sign, Alex didn't read the fine print. He thought he was protecting his assets for his new future. He didn't realize he had just signed our divorce papers. I cleaned my scent from the house, left my ring on the table, and boarded a jet to Paris. Alex thinks I'm visiting a sick cousin. He doesn't know I've left forever. And he certainly doesn't know that the moment I severed our bond, my "dormant" wolf finally woke up.

I went to the New York City Clerk's office to handle a simple administrative matter, but the woman behind the glass handed me a nightmare instead. It was a certified marriage license from Clark County, Nevada, filed exactly three months ago. My vision blurred as I read the name in the spouse field: Baxter Noel. I was legally married to the ruthless billionaire whose legal team was currently suing me for intellectual property theft and trying to destroy my career. I remembered the conference in Las Vegas and a drink that tasted far too sweet, followed by a twelve-hour black hole in my memory that I had chalked up to exhaustion. When I sought help at my family's estate, my stepmother and sister didn't offer comfort; they stole my passport, shredded my clothes, and framed me for academic plagiarism to strip away my university fellowship. Even Baxter himself looked me in the eye with cold indifference, claiming he didn't know me and promising to have me arrested for fraud if I ever showed him that document again. Within twenty-four hours, I was homeless, jobless, and being hunted by the most powerful man in the city. I couldn't understand why a man who "eats people for breakfast" would be caught in the same trap as a struggling scientist like me. The confusion turned to pure terror when I looked at the witness signature on the license: Gene Mcclain. My mother, who was supposed to have died in a car crash ten years ago, had signed that paper with a fresh, trembling hand only ninety days ago. "I am holding a grenade, and I have no idea when the pin was pulled." Standing in the biting November wind with nothing but a laptop and a marriage license, I realized I was just a pawn in a much deadlier game. I stopped running and began to fight back, determined to use my unwanted status as the billionaire's wife to uncover the truth about the mother who came back from the dead.

Adrian Carter was my husband. He was making out with his secretary in my car, leaving stains all over my son Ethan Bennett's seat. When I walked in on them, he didn't show the slightest remorse. Instead, he sneered at me, "What, can't take it? Our marriage was nothing but a contract!" It wasn't until I froze his billion-dollar deal, smashed his luxury watch, and threw the divorce papers at him in front of everyone that I finally said, "I, Grace Bennett, won't take anything that's been sullied!" He fell to his knees, begging for mercy. Too late. I took Ethan's hand and, without a backward glance, stepped into another man's car.

For five years, I was Julian Heath's dirty little secret. As the CEO of a tech empire, he was a king, but a rare neurotoxin made him a prisoner. My unique biochemistry was his only antidote, requiring hours of intimate contact to keep him alive. He was convinced I was the one who poisoned him—an obsessed stalker who had trapped him in a disgusting dependency. Tonight, he gave me the "attention" he said I always craved, live-streaming a video of our most private moments to a private auction. As the bids climbed, he introduced me to his new fiancée, Cassandra. She was his real savior, he announced. Her family had developed a permanent cure, derived from my own blood. After tonight, he would finally be free of me. He had it all wrong. I wasn't born with the antidote. I was a biochemist who spent a year in a hidden lab modifying my own genetic code, turning myself into a living cure to save the man I'd loved since childhood. He left me in that room with the live stream still playing, his laughter echoing down the hall. The love I had for him turned to ash. I walked out, found a payphone, and made a call to the only person who knew the truth. "I want you to help me fake my death."

I used to think I was the luckiest girl in the world, a high school dropout who' d somehow landed Liam Hayes, the kind of guy straight out of movies. For six months, I believed his sweet words, falling so hard that I couldn' t see anything but him. Then, at an exclusive club, with a positive pregnancy test stick tucked in my purse, ready to surprise him, I overheard Liam telling his friends I was just a "fun distraction." The dream shattered, leaving me heartbroken and humiliated as he coldly denied even knowing me when I bravely confronted him. Back in his luxurious apartment, Liam's possessiveness surfaced. He forced himself on me, then casually suggested an abortion when he found my prenatal vitamins. A flicker of hope ignited when a doctor told me my positive test was false, a "second chance" to escape his toxic world. However, his relentless pursuit and violent behavior revealed he wouldn't let go easily. During a brutal confrontation, Liam physically assaulted me, fueled by his rage and control. My world crumbled as I realized the cruel truth: he wasn't the man I loved but a monster. He had broken me, leaving me utterly alone. But in that moment of despair, something primal ignited within me. As he pinned me to the bed, threatening to keep me trapped, I found the strength to fight back. I lashed out, screaming that our twisted relationship was over, and from the floor, he could only watch in disbelief as I walked out, leaving his abusive grip forever behind.

The sterile white walls of Liam's penthouse, a gilded cage masquerading as my studio, stifled me. Every painting, every breath, belonged to him. Then, a cold, glowing message appeared in my vision: `[Muse System Activated. Main Task: Sever the parasitic relationship with Liam.]` My secret guide had arrived. Its first sub-quest: `[Facilitate the marriage between Liam and his childhood sweetheart, Scarlett.]` This was my way out. I became the perfect, pliant artist, orchestrating his reunion with the sophisticated art critic he truly desired. I endured her disdain, even painting her tributes to feed his obsession. The night of the Art Gala, I felt unwell, my head spinning from stress. As I steadied myself by an ice sculpture, Scarlett deliberately bumped me. I stumbled, and a piece of the sculpture crashed down, narrowly missing her. She screamed, accusing me of jealousy, of trying to hurt her. Liam, his rage burning, pulled her into his arms, completely ignoring me. `"Chloe! What the hell did you do?"` he snarled. The crowd's murmurs turned into accusations, judging me the crazy, jealous mistress. A familiar cramping seized my stomach, and I doubled over in searing pain. Blood trickled down my leg, a dark stain on my light dress. I was having a miscarriage, a life I didn't even know I carried. Liam dragged me to his car, ` "Can' t you go one night without making a scene?" ` he hissed, before abandoning me in the parking lot to return to Scarlett. The system confirmed my loss: `[Pregnancy terminated due to physical trauma.]` I realized then: this wasn't just neglect. It was calculated cruelty, a test from Scarlett to see how far he'd go for her. And he had passed. His utter indifference, his willingness to sacrifice me, ignited a cold fury. I would still get them together. But this time, it wouldn' t be for his happiness. It would be for my ultimate, painful freedom.

The air in the penthouse reeked of sex and lies; I, Chloe Davis, a tech prodigy, was tangled in the sheets of Ethan Hayes, the venture capitalist titan. But the soft hiss of his shower was soon drowned out by a chilling message on his laptop: "Ethan, can you come keep me company for a bit...? - Liam." Liam-the "first love" I' d recently watched Ethan escort into a hotel with tender care, the same Liam whose face filled the secret shrine in Ethan's study, a shrine I'd discovered while waiting alone on Ethan' s birthday, clutching an engagement ring. That night, news alerts screamed of #TechMogul\'sSecretLove, confirming my worst fears of being nothing but a call-on-demand lover, a temporary diversion while his true obsession was away. Now, as he dismissively left me for his "office" – Liam – a cold dread turned into a furious resolve. I ordered a ride-share, following him to the hotel, my heart hammering as I watched him link arms with Liam, a picture of perfect affection. They looked like a family, something I' d never known. When my own father, eager to marry me off for fifty billion, presented Liam as his mistress' s son, my new stepbrother, the betrayal hardened into a diamond-sharp edge. I bought couture gowns I' d never wear, jewelry I' d never put on, emptying his accounts. Then, walking through a dark alley after my credit card was cut off, I was cornered by two menacing men. Just as they grabbed me, a black car screeched to a halt, and Ethan's assistant, Mark, stepped out, followed by Ethan himself, his face a mask of cold fury. He pulled me into his Maybach, demanding answers. My response was simple: "Away from you. Away from my father. Away from everything." This wasn't just about escape; it was about reclaiming myself.

The aroma of roasted rosemary filled her home, a warm promise Ava Green had meticulously crafted for her anniversary. The candles flickered, jazz hummed, and the dining table was set for two. Everything was perfect, yet building intimacy with her own husband felt impossible. Then, the key turned in the lock, and Mark walked in, his eyes sliding past the romantic scene. "Happy anniversary," she whispered, only to be met with his weary sigh, "I' m exhausted. Can we not do this tonight?" He ignored her, leaving her standing amidst the dying romance of her own creation. Later, unable to sleep, Ava wandered downstairs, only to hear Mark' s voice from the patio, laced with an intimacy he never used with her. "It was so suffocating," he laughed, speaking of the dinner. Then came another voice, sickeningly familiar: Chloe. Her best friend since childhood, mocking Ava' s desperation. The air left Ava' s lungs. Her world shattered. She felt invisible, a punch to the gut of all her failed attempts. How could the two people she trusted most betray her so completely, so cruelly? But as Mark stormed out, labeling her "paranoid" and "hysterical," a cold, sharp clarity cut through her pain. No more tears. No more self-blame. They had played her for a fool, but tonight, the game changed.

For three excruciating years, I was Olivia Prescott, the dutiful, silent wife in a cold, pre-arranged marriage, foolishly loving a man who only saw his college sweetheart, Chloe. My unspoken devotion and tireless efforts to manage his life and our opulent home were met with blatant neglect and emotional indifference. The breaking point arrived not with a bang, but a searing lash and a crumpled heirloom: my grandmother' s cherished cashmere shawl, deliberately ruined by Chloe, then callously dismissed by Ethan as "just a piece of cloth." He publicly humiliated me, forcing a humiliating apology for an "accident" that was anything but. That same night, his formidable mother Eleanor, enraged by my perceived defiance, wielded a riding crop, physically assaulting me. While she beat me, her son laughed softly on the phone with his beloved, utterly oblivious to the cruelty unfolding just feet away. How could I have been so blind, so foolishly hopeful, to believe love could blossom in such a barren wasteland of contempt and betrayal? My heart, once foolishly hopeful, turned to stone, burning with a quiet fury that day. With divorce papers signed and a decade of unrequited love finally extinguished, I walked out of the Prescott mansion. I left behind the ghost of a docile wife and stepped into the unknown, determined to rise from the ashes of my shattered life and show them precisely what a disposable woman could achieve.

I was living the dream, pregnant with our first child. My husband, Ethan, a successful music executive, was my world. Our apartment was a nest of shared hopes, ready for our baby’s first check-up. Then, just before the appointment, Ethan blew me off for his "childhood friend," a faded pop star, calling her 'emergency' paramount. Hours later, alone on a grimy city street after a fall, I miscarried. My desperate calls to him went unanswered. I woke up in a hospital bed, our baby gone. A notification confirmed my nightmare: Tiffany, glowing, intimately posed with Ethan, who’d dropped $500k on her song—a song built on my stolen melody. Their affair openly continued. Ethan demeaned me, locked me in dark rooms, even shoving me towards a snarling dog to protect her. He remained oblivious to the miscarriage, dismissing my every hurt as "hormonal drama" or "jealousy." How could the man who swore a lifetime of love destroy me so utterly, protecting his "muse" over his wife, over our lost child? My very being screamed for answers. When he demanded I promote Tiffany's stolen work, something snapped. I left the hospital, delivered the miscarriage report, and vanished. Tiffany won that round, but she ignited a fire. Nashville awaited, and with it, a plan. She had no idea the fury she’d unleashed, or the true power of a lullaby.

Elliana, the unfavored "ugly duckling" of her family, was humiliated by her stepsister, Paige, who everyone admired. Paige, engaged to the CEO Cole, was the perfect woman-until Cole married Elliana on the day of the wedding. Shocked, everyone wondered why he chose the "ugly" woman. As they waited for her to be cast aside, Elliana stunned everyone by revealing her true identity: a miracle healer, financial mogul, appraisal prodigy, and AI genius. When her mistreatment became known, Cole revealed Elliana's stunning, makeup-free photo, sending shockwaves through the media. "My wife doesn't need anyone's approval."

For three quiet, patient years, Christina kept house, only to be coldly discarded by the man she once trusted. Instead, he paraded a new lover, making her the punchline of every town joke. Liberated, she honed her long-ignored gifts, astonishing the town with triumph after gleaming triumph. Upon discovering she'd been a treasure all along, her ex-husband's regret drove him to pursue her. "Honey, let's get back together!" With a cold smirk, Christina spat, "Fuck off." A silken-suited mogul slipped an arm around her waist. "She's married to me now. Guards, get him the hell out of here!"

"Stella once savored Marc's devotion, yet his covert cruelty cut deep. She torched their wedding portrait at his feet while he sent flirty messages to his mistress. With her chest tight and eyes blazing, Stella delivered a sharp slap. Then she deleted her identity, signed onto a classified research mission, vanished without a trace, and left him a hidden bombshell. On launch day she vanished; that same dawn Marc's empire crumbled. All he unearthed was her death certificate, and he shattered. When they met again, a gala spotlighted Stella beside a tycoon. Marc begged. With a smirk, she said, ""Out of your league, darling."

Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."

Sunlit hours found their affection glimmering, while moonlit nights ignited reckless desire. But when Brandon learned his beloved might last only half a year, he coolly handed Millie divorce papers, murmuring, "This is all for appearances; we'll get married again once she's calmed down." Millie, spine straight and cheeks dry, felt her pulse go hollow. The sham split grew permanent; she quietly ended their unborn child and stepped into a new beginning. Brandon unraveled, his car tearing down the street, unwilling to let go of the woman he'd discarded, pleading for her to look back just once.

After five years of playing the perfect daughter, Rylie was exposed as a stand-in. Her fiancé bolted, friends scattered, and her adoptive brothers shoved her out, telling her to grovel back to her real family. Done with humiliation, she swore to claw back what was hers. Shock followed: her birth family ruled the town's wealth. Overnight, she became their precious girl. The boardroom brother canceled meetings, the genius brother ditched his lab, the musician brother postponed a tour. As those who spurned her begged forgiveness, Admiral Brad Morgan calmly declared, "She's already taken."

Rain hammered against the asphalt as my sedan spun violently into the guardrail on the I-95. Blood trickled down my temple, stinging my eyes, while the rhythmic slap of the windshield wipers mocked my panic. Trembling, I dialed my husband, Clive. His executive assistant answered instead, his voice professional and utterly cold. "Mr. Wilson says to stop the theatrics. He said, and I quote, 'Hang up. Tell her I don’t have time for her emotional blackmail tonight.'" The line went dead while I was still trapped in the wreckage. At the hospital, I watched the news footage of Clive wrapping his jacket around his "fragile" ex-girlfriend, Angelena, shielding her from the storm I was currently bleeding in. When I returned to our penthouse, I found a prenatal ultrasound in his suit pocket, dated the day he claimed to be on a business trip. Instead of an apology, Clive met me with a sneer. He told me I was nothing but an "expensive decoration" his father bought to make him look stable. He froze my bank accounts and cut off my cards, waiting for the hunger to drive me back to his feet. I stared at the man I had loved for four years, realizing he didn't just want a wife; he wanted a prop he could switch off. He thought he could starve me into submission while he played father to another woman's child. But Clive forgot one thing. Before I was his trophy wife, I was Starfall—the legendary voice actress who vanished at the height of her fame. "I'm not jealous, Clive. I'm done." I grabbed my old microphone and walked out. I’m not just leaving him; I’m taking the lead role in the biggest saga in Hollywood—the one Angelena is desperate for. This time, the "decoration" is going to burn his world down.

Maia grew up a pampered heiress-until the real daughter returned and framed her, sending Maia to prison with help from her fiancé and family. Four years later, free and married to Chris, a notorious outcast, everyone assumed Maia was finished. They soon discovered she was secretly a famed jeweler, elite hacker, celebrity chef, and top game designer. As her former family begged for help, Chris smiled calmly. "Honey, let's go home." Only then did Maia realize her "useless" husband was a legendary tycoon who'd adored her from the start.

Today is October 14th, my birthday. I returned to New York after months away, dragging my suitcase through the biting wind, but the VIP pickup zone where my husband’s Maybach usually idled was empty. When I finally let myself into our Upper East Side penthouse, I didn’t find a cake or a "welcome home" banner. Instead, I found my husband, Caden, kneeling on the floor, helping our five-year-old daughter wrap a massive gift for my half-sister, Adalynn. Caden didn’t even look up when I walked in; he was too busy laughing with the girl who had already stolen my father’s legacy and was now moving in on my family. "Auntie Addie is a million times better than Mommy," my daughter Elara chirped, clutching a plush toy Caden had once forbidden me from buying for her. "Mommy is mean," she whispered loudly, while Caden just smirked, calling me a "drill sergeant" before whisking her off to Adalynn’s party without a second glance. Later that night, I saw a video Adalynn posted online where my husband and child laughed while mocking my "sensitive" nature, treating me like an inconvenient ghost in my own home. I had spent five years researching nutrition for Elara’s health and managing every detail of Caden’s empire, only to be discarded the moment I wasn't in the room. How could the man who set his safe combination to my birthday completely forget I even existed? The realization didn't break me; it turned me into ice. I didn't scream or beg for an explanation. I simply walked into the study, pulled out the divorce papers I’d drafted months ago, and took a black marker to the terms. I crossed out the alimony, the mansion, and even the custody clause—if they wanted a life without me, I would give them exactly what they asked for. I left my four-carat diamond ring on the console table and walked out into the rain with nothing but a heavily encrypted hard drive. The submissive Mrs. Holloway was gone, and "Ghost," the most lethal architect in the tech world, was finally back online to take back everything they thought I’d forgotten.

Sophie stepped in for her sister and married a man known for his disfigured looks and reckless past. On their wedding day, his family turned their backs on him, and the town laughed behind their hands, certain the marriage would collapse. But Sophie's career soared, and their love only deepened. Later, during a high-profile event, the CEO of some conglomerate took off his mask, revealing Sophie's husband to be a global sensation. *** Adrian had no interest in his arranged wife and had disguised himself in hopes she would bail. But when Sophie tried to walk away, Adrian broke down and whispered, "Please, Sophie, don't go. One kiss, and I'll give you the world."