Jenn Curlin

Kelsi Owens stood in front of the mirror in a six-figure gown, ready to marry into the wealthy Harrington family. But her fiancé, Jeb, didn't even look at her. He abandoned her right in the middle of the fitting because his widowed sister-in-law, Seraphina, called crying. That same night, Kelsi collapsed on her apartment floor with a ruptured appendix. Sweating and in blinding agony, she called Jeb for help. Instead of concern, she heard Seraphina laughing and party music blaring in the background. Jeb just snapped at her. "Stop being dramatic. Seraphina is the guest of honor tonight. I can't leave." He hung up, leaving her to call her own ambulance. Kelsi woke up from emergency surgery completely alone, only to receive a cold text from Jeb calling her fragile. To make matters worse, her toxic adoptive family didn't care that she almost died. They demanded she crawl back and apologize to Jeb just so they could keep leeching off her connections and trust fund. Lying in that cold hospital bed, the illusion finally shattered. For three years, she had always been the one left waiting. She realized she meant absolutely nothing to the people she loved. Kelsi didn't cry, and she didn't beg. She calmly texted Jeb to call off the engagement, blocked his number, and cut ties with her greedy relatives forever. She was finally walking away. What she didn't know was that the city's most ruthless billionaire had been watching her, and he was already weaving a golden net to claim her for himself.

Seraphina's plan was simple and clinical: get pregnant with her absent billionaire husband's superior DNA, then finalize the divorce for a clean break. But after six months of a cold, empty marriage, Julian Sinclair suddenly returned. He didn't come back to sign the papers-he brought his pregnant mistress, Isabelle, with him. In a high-end boutique, Isabelle staged a dramatic fall, faking a miscarriage and pointing a trembling finger at Seraphina. "She pushed me, Julian! She tried to kill our baby!" Julian publicly sided with his mistress, looking at his wife with cold disgust before carrying Isabelle to the hospital. Yet, when Seraphina later offered to walk away and leave him to his freedom, his eyes turned into chips of ice. "Sinclairs don't get divorced," he whispered, caging her against the bedroom wall. "They become widowers." Seraphina was left trembling in pure terror and confusion. He clearly loved Isabelle and punished Seraphina like a disposable pawn, so why trap her in this loveless nightmare? Why hold onto her with such violent, suffocating possessiveness when he already had what he wanted? Pushed to the brink of despair, she got blackout drunk at a local lounge, loudly declaring she was going to steal his DNA and run. But before she could escape into the night with the help of another man, the heavy steel doors blew open. Julian stood there, a furious monster stepping out of the shadows to violently reclaim his wife, proving that her fight for freedom had only just ignited his darkest obsession.

For three years, April Potts played the perfect, docile wife to billionaire Eligah Madden to save her family from ruin. Then, he threw a divorce agreement onto the marble table. His fragile, long-lost true love, Kinley, had returned. He expected tears, questions, and pathetic begging. Instead, April calmly crossed out the ten-million-dollar settlement clause, signed her name, and left the penthouse with nothing but her old, battered suitcase. She chopped off her waist-length hair, dyed it a defiant blonde, and immediately landed a job as an executive assistant at Vanguard—Eligah's fiercest corporate rival. When Eligah made a grand public spectacle of welcoming Kinley back, he suddenly spotted April having a pleasant lunch with her charismatic new boss. Eligah's cold indifference instantly shattered into violent, possessive rage. He dragged her away, cornered her in his estate, and ripped her collar open to search for another man's marks. He even tried to blackmail her with millions to quit her job and come back to her cage. After three years of treating her like a ghost, why was he suddenly losing his mind over the wife he had just thrown away? April just laughed at his hypocrisy, threw the spare penthouse keys onto the cold floor, and looked him right in the eye. "Use all your infinite power to get our divorce finalized as quickly as possible." She turned and walked away, finally ready to reclaim her own life.

I married the billionaire CEO, Julian Harrison, thinking it was the start of a beautiful life. But on our wedding night, he threw an ironclad contract on the table, forcing me to stay in this fake marriage for three years. He believed I manipulated his sick grandmother to claw my way into high society, and threatened to ruin my parents if I refused. When his true love, Gena, returned, she deliberately threw herself down a flight of stairs and framed me. Julian held her bleeding body and looked at me with pure hatred. "You better pray she's okay." He didn't give me a chance to explain. He shut down my design studio, destroyed my career, and unleashed a massive internet hate campaign against me. My phone was flooded with death threats, my parents' address was exposed, and I became a public monster. Fleeing the cyberbullying in a taxi, the driver recognized me and drove recklessly, crashing us right into the path of a speeding semi-truck. As glass rained down and my blood pooled, the last thing I remembered was the tender look Julian gave Gena. I died a hated, pathetic placeholder, taking the blame for a crime I didn't commit. Opening my eyes again, the cold silk of the Vera Wang dress felt heavy against my skin. The heavy oak door clicked open. I was back on my wedding night.

Essie sold herself to ruthless billionaire Kieran Cortez on a six-year contract just to pay for her paralyzed brother's staggering medical bills. But the morning Kieran’s face was plastered on the front page announcing his engagement to a wealthy heiress, he violently refused to let Essie go. When she quietly asked if their contract was over, he trapped her against the marble counter. "You don't have the right to call this off. It would be a shame if Charles lost his spot in the medical trial." Trapped, Essie endured his brutal, punishing kisses in hidden corners, terrified of being discovered by his new fiancée, who worked as a doctor at her hospital. But the ultimate betrayal came from home. When her brother saw the dark, violent bruises Kieran had deliberately left on her neck, he didn't care about her sacrifices. He threw scalding coffee on her burned hand. "You disgusting whore! I would rather die than use the dirty money you make spreading your legs!" Even Kieran's fiancée investigated her finances, cornering her to smugly warn her to know her place as a lowly sugar baby. Essie had sacrificed her dignity, her body, and her soul to keep her brother alive, only to be treated like disposable trash by the man who owned her and despised by the family she saved. Why did her endless sacrifices only buy her a suffocating, inescapable hell? Staring at the phone screen flashing with Kieran’s demand to be at his penthouse by eight, a dead calmness finally washed over her. She held down the power button until the screen went black. Even if his wrath destroyed her tomorrow, tonight, she was taking her life back.

As the eldest daughter of the Sharp family, I was treated worse than a stray dog, while my younger sister Seraphina was their precious princess. When the family needed someone to marry a dying billionaire heir, they naturally chose me to take her place. To force my consent, my brothers held a peanut butter sandwich to my face—knowing it was a lethal allergy—while dangling my EpiPen just out of reach. On speakerphone, my own mother sighed in annoyance. "Let her die. It might be for the best." I choked out an agreement just as my throat closed up. But the forced engagement broke my sacred mystical vow, causing me to violently cough up my own lifeblood. Seeing the blood, Seraphina dramatically fainted. My brothers instantly carried her to the hospital, stepping over my dying body and leaving me to bleed out on the cold marble floor. I had to use a forbidden blood rune, draining my last ounce of strength, just to survive the night. Even the mystical Order I served offered no comfort, calling only to demand I secure ten billion dollars for them or forfeit my soul for eternity. Abandoned by my blood family and my spiritual master, I was completely alone, left with nothing but a broken body and a ticking clock. But they made one fatal mistake: they let me live. I turned to the dying heir they forced me to marry, a man plagued by a dark curse only I could cure. "I will be your wife, and I will save your life," I told him. In exchange, I would use his unimaginable wealth and power to make everyone who threw me away pay the ultimate price.

Kallie, a mute who had been ignored by her husband for five years since their wedding, also suffered the loss of her pregnancy due to her cruel mother-in-law. After the divorce, she learned that her ex-husband had quickly gotten engaged to the woman he truly loved. Holding her slightly rounded belly, she realized that he had never really cared for her. Determined, she left him behind, treating him as a stranger. Yet, after she left, he scoured the globe in search of her. When their paths crossed once more, Kallie had already found new happiness. For the first time, he pleaded humbly, "Please don't leave me..."  But Kallie's response was firm and dismissive, cutting through any lingering ties. "Get lost!"

To help her husband build his business empire, Veyra worked two jobs, skipped meals, and sacrificed everything she had. When her mother desperately needed life-saving treatment, she couldn't even scrape together the money. Then, on a New Year's Eve flight, fate seated her beside her husband's mistress. That's when she discovered the cruel truth. Her husband had secretly amassed millions long ago. The wedding ring that belonged to Veyra now glittered on another woman's finger. The $500,000 that could have saved her mother's life had been spent instead on luxury gifts and pocket money for his lover. She lost her baby. She lost her mother. And finally, she lost every illusion about the man she'd loved for years. After leaving the airport, Veyra walked into a bar, kissed the most dangerous-looking stranger she could find, and spent one reckless night in his arms. By sunrise, she disappeared without leaving so much as her name. She thought it was nothing more than a farewell to her broken past. She was wrong. The stranger was Dorian-the most powerful, mysterious billionaire in the business world. Meanwhile, her cheating husband finally realized what he had thrown away. He begged on his knees, signed a postnuptial agreement worth billions, and swore he would give up everything if she would come back. But just as Veyra began plotting to reclaim everything that had been stolen from her, a mysterious car accident brought Dorian back into her life. Only then did she learn the truth. He wasn't a stranger at all. He was her ex-husband's older stepbrother. Now two powerful men are fighting for the same woman-one consumed by regret, the other determined to make her his. Sorry, cheating ex... I choose your brother.

One lab error. Two betrayals. And a billionaire who doesn't believe in accidents. Emily Vance thought she was carrying a miracle. After her fiancé, Julian, ended up in a coma following a horrific car crash, she underwent IVF to keep his legacy alive. It was supposed to be her anchor. Instead, a clinical mix-up reveals that the child in her womb isn't Julian's at all. It belongs to Alistair Wolfe, a man whose name is synonymous with ruthless power and a heart made of ice. The nightmare doesn't stop at the doctor's office. When Julian finally wakes up, he doesn't call for Emily. He calls for her stepsister, Chloe, revealing a secret affair that turns Emily's years of loyalty into a joke. Backed into a corner by a family ready to sell her to a predatory debt collector to save their failing business, Emily is left with a devastating choice. Her doctors warn her that this is her last chance at motherhood. To keep her baby and escape her family's reach, she has to make a deal with the wolf at the door. Alistair Wolfe wants his heir. Emily wants protection. No love. No strings. Just a temporary union until the child is born. But as Emily moves into Alistair's world, she quickly learns that playing the wife of a man like Alistair is a high-stakes game where the heart is the first thing you lose.

To revenge herself on her unfaithful fiancé Kevin, Isidora hides her striking beauty behind a plain disguise, and targets his uncle - the most formidable man Kevin fears. After one reckless night, Isidora leaves cash as payment and says lightly, "You were good last night." She tries to leave quietly, but is pulled into his arms. "You think you can walk away after this?" he says, his tone low and possessive. Cedrick is a feared, untouchable titan on Wall Street - elegant, aloof, and completely uninterested in women. Not even the most beautiful socialites in the city can catch his eye. When gossip spreads that he was seen pressing a woman against a wall and kissing her fiercely, no one believes it. When the rumors name Isidora, the crowd scoffs. He rejects even the most beautiful women, so why would he notice a plain girl like her? All doubt disappears when they see the dignified Cedrick drop to one knee to help Isidora with her shoe, pleading softly for just one kiss. When Kevin finally sees Isidora's true beauty and begs for forgiveness. But Cedrick kicks him out at once, slams a marriage certificate on the table, and says sharply. "Call her Aunt."

For seven years, Rose Bennett was Ryan Knight's secret wife. While all of New York believed Samantha Hikk would become Mrs. Knight, Rose silently endured a cold marriage to a man who never loved her. Until one night, Samantha is rushed into Rose's emergency room pregnant. and Ryan is the one protecting her. That is the night Rose stops loving him. What Ryan never knew was that Rose had already given birth to his daughter years ago after he rejected both mother and child without hesitation. So Rose walks away-with only two suitcases, a hidden daughter, and the shattered remains of seven years. But the woman Ryan abandoned is no ordinary wife. Rose is the hidden genius behind Aetheris Medical AI, the revolutionary system about to change the entire medical world. As Rose rises to the top, becoming untouchable, powerful, and impossible to replace, Ryan finally realizes the devastating truth- He didn't lose a woman who loved him. He lost the only woman he would ever love. And by then, even their daughter no longer calls him father.

Amelia sat alone at the City Marriage Bureau, watching the clock tick down to closing time. Fifteen minutes before the doors shut, a phone call shattered her last flicker of hope. Her fiancé, Kayson, wasn't coming. He had abandoned their wedding registration because Kamila-her stepsister-had twisted her ankle. It was his ninth broken promise. When Amelia returned home, there was no comfort. Her biological mother sneered at her humiliation, shielding the stepsister while ordering Amelia to apologize to Kayson. "Who would she marry without Kayson?" her mother mocked. "Let's see how long she survives out there without his money." Meanwhile, Kayson arrogantly dismissed her absence. Finding out she had vanished, he just laughed it off with his assistant. "It's just a tantrum to force my hand," Kayson smirked. "She still can't live without me." After nine years of absolute devotion, she was nothing but a convenient placeholder to the man she loved, and a worthless joke to her own family. The suffocating weight of their betrayal finally snapped something inside her. She packed a single suitcase, threw away nine years of anniversary gifts, and permanently blocked Kayson's number. Standing in the freezing wind, she pulled out her phone and dialed the private number of Kayson's biggest, most ruthless rival. "Mr. Thornton, what you said seven months ago... does the offer to marry me still stand?" Ten minutes later, a sleek black Maybach pulled up to the curb.

SEVEN DAYS BEFORE MY WEDDING, I walked into our bedroom and found my neurosurgeon fiancé plowing my cousin on our bed. Six months later, Oliver and Vanessa are married, my humiliation is office coffee-break gossip, and I've done everything possible to disappear off the face of the earth. Then I find out my grandmother is dying. This birthday might be her last, and I refuse to let my ex take that from me too. Problem is, going means facing my own personal nightmare head-on: Oliver and Vanessa, happy and married, right in front of me, while the rest of my family looks at me like I'm a walking tragedy. That's when Simon Hart-my billionaire boss, arrogant as hell, and the only man who can irritate me, make me laugh, and dismantle every single one of my defenses in the same conversation-makes me an absolutely ridiculous proposal. "Just think about it." He spreads his hands. " You're tired of everyone pitying you. I'm rich as fuck, handsome as hell, and charming as fuck. Who's going to feel sorry for you when you show up with Simon Hart on your arm?" The problem is, he's right. I need a boyfriend to survive my grandmother's birthday weekend without turning back into the official family disaster. And Simon needs a serious girlfriend to prove to all of New York that the city's most eligible bachelor has finally settled down. It was supposed to be simple. Fake dating. Two events. Some convincing touching. Absolutely zero feelings. Until we added new terms to the agreement. No-strings sex. No jealousy. No expectations. Just sex. And it worked perfectly. Right up until everything went completely off the rails.

Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé. Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now-billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn't mind. I'd crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one? Wrong. One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That's when it hit me-he didn't love me. He didn't even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn't even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup. So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster-my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise. Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol. Enter him. Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I'd met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes. It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised. But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life. And, as it turned out, the best decision I'd ever made. Because my one-night stand isn't just some random guy. He's richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with. And now, he's not letting me go.

"Wasn't I good in bed? Didn't I spoil you enough? What the hell did those fuckers give you that I couldn't?" My husband, Dean, yells at me for the very first time, gripping my hand and when I look into his eyes, I see how much he's hurting, how much he believed all the lies, how much he's not willing to listen. "I'd never do that to you, Dean. I love you, please believe me," tears streamed down my face as I pleaded with him. "You're meant for the streets Bella, and that's where you'd always be," And just like that my once perfect marriage hits the rock edge in a twinkle of an eye. A stripper, an exotic dancer but none of that mattered to Dean, he promised to love me and he kept to his words, not until this day. And even worse, he used my past against me, something he swore never to do.. ***** Ethan Fernandez, is a notorious casanova and unlike his friend, he never commits to any woman until his path crosses with Ivy, the formidable lawyer and the last person that gives a fuck about men and their shenanigans. Now, the player becomes the played as his life takes an unexpected turn with the walking temptation that lurks in the form of Ivy Reynolds.

I carried a thermos of homemade chicken soup to the VIP lounge to surprise my husband after his ice time. But through the unlatched door, I caught him tangled naked on the sofa with Kyleigh—the "grieving sister" of a fallen teammate he claimed desperately needed our family's charity. I froze in the hallway, pressing my back against the cold concrete, only to hear something even more chilling. "What if she finds out the Nevada marriage certificate you gave her is completely fake?" Kyleigh purred. My husband scoffed, calling me a cold, arrogant idiot. He bragged that once he finished draining my family's century-old hockey trust funds into his agency's account, he would discard me. Even worse, I realized the four-year-old orphan he had begged me to sponsor was actually their biological child. Three years of my complete devotion and financial support, all built on a forged piece of paper and a calculated lie. He really thought I was just a sheltered heiress he could bleed dry and toss aside. I didn't kick the door open, and I didn't scream. Instead, I pulled out my phone, calmly recorded their naked betrayal, and dumped the three-hour soup into the trash bin. Since I was legally a single woman, I immediately called my Wall Street counsel to freeze all my offshore assets. He thought he was a mastermind, but he had no idea who he had just provoked.

I was a "Dragonless" commoner, forced into a marriage with Lord Kraig Harris to break an ancient curse. But when I gave birth to his twins, he left me bleeding on the freezing stones of a charity cellar. While I fought for my life, he was at a royal feast, wining and dining Lady Karissa-the noble prodigy who had stolen my life. His aide threw fifty silver coins at my bruised legs. "Pay the midwife and stay out of sight. Do not bring shame upon the Lord." He thought casting me and my "useless" children out was a victory. Looking at my shivering babies in a wooden trough, the last ember of my love turned to ash. I had endured three years of his cold glares and public humiliation, but I would never let my children crawl through the mud as despised bastards. I didn't understand why I had to suffer so much just for lacking magic in my veins. But when the Royal Healer arrived and tested my blood, the needle didn't draw the dull gray of a commoner. It glowed with pure, blinding gold. I wasn't a Dragonless stray. I was the lost Princess of the First House of Dawncrest. With my real family-the most terrifying dragon lords in the realm-tearing the clouds apart to bring me home, I calmly summoned him for the Parting Ritual. Kraig Harris wanted to throw me away, so I decided to let him dig his own grave.