Luo Chengfeng

The DNA test in my hands felt like a death sentence. 0% match. After three years of marriage to billionaire Joseph Villarreal, the truth was out: I wasn't the heiress everyone thought I was. My mother-in-law, Buna, marched into the study with a team of lawyers and threw the divorce papers at me. "You're a fraud, Giselle," she sneered. "The Woods family has cut you off. You are a parasite we are finally removing." I looked at Joseph, praying for a spark of the man I loved. But he just sat there, cold and immaculate, exhaling a plume of cigar smoke that felt like a wall between us. "Sign it," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "This marriage was a business transaction. The product I purchased was fraudulent." They didn't just take my home; they stripped me of my dignity. They forced me to hand over my anniversary necklace and yank the wedding ring off my finger, claiming the stone belonged to the "real" daughter, Clydie. Joseph watched with total indifference as I was kicked out into a torrential storm. I collapsed in the mud halfway down the driveway, clutching a broken suitcase, twenty-three years old and completely alone. I didn't understand how three years of devotion could be worth zero to him. He didn't even hate me; he just saw me as a depreciated asset. As I sobbed in the rain, I realized the man I had given my heart to never existed. But Joseph didn't know that the "fake" he threw away was actually the long-lost daughter of the Hines global empire. Six years later, I am no longer the girl crying in the mud. I am Dr. Mandy, the world's top neurosurgeon and a billionaire in my own right. When a little boy with Joseph’s espresso-colored eyes approached me in the hospital and begged me to save his father, I realized the man who ruined me was finally in my hands.

For three years, I scrubbed tables as a "wolfless runt," hiding my identity as the Lycan King's daughter. It was a test for my fiancé, Alpha Connor. I wanted to see if he loved the girl, or just the crown. He failed spectacularly tonight. His mistress, Jaden, deliberately knocked a tray of drinks onto me during the dinner rush. The liquid wasn't alcohol. It was concentrated silver. My flesh hissed and bubbled as the poison ate through my skin, blocking any ability to heal. I fell to the floor, clutching my melting hand, while Jaden faked tears and claimed I attacked her. When Connor finally answered the video call, he saw my mangled hand. He smelled the burning flesh. He knew it was silver. But he didn't help me. He looked at his watch, annoyed that I was interrupting his business meeting with investors. "Apologize to Jaden," he ordered, using his Alpha Command to crush me into submission. "On your knees. Now." The pain was blinding, but the betrayal cut deeper. He was forcing his Fated Mate to bow to the woman who tried to maim her. My knees bent under the pressure, but my Royal blood refused to break. I looked straight into the camera lens. "No," I whispered. I reached into my apron, bypassing the notepad, and pulled out a black satellite phone I hadn't touched in years. "Code Black," I said to the King on the other end. "Send the Guard." Connor thought he was disciplining a waitress. He didn't know he just declared war on the Royal Family.

On our third anniversary, my husband Marcus walked out on our dinner because his "best friend" Izzy had a crisis. That was the ninth time he chose her call over my presence. According to the sick bet I made with her years ago, it was game over. But the true end didn't come in a restaurant. It happened inside a plummeting elevator. When the cable snapped and the emergency brakes slammed us to a halt, I lay trapped under debris, my leg fractured and head bleeding. Izzy, terrified but scratched-free, screamed for help. Marcus didn't even look at me. He stepped over my broken body to scoop her up. "I've got you, Iz," he whispered, carrying her out to safety while I lay alone in the dust, gasping his name. He left me to die in that metal box. Later, when I confronted him, he called me "unstable" and "jealous." He claimed I was a burden, a placeholder he married just to pass the time until Izzy was ready for him. He even shoved me into a freezing lake to protect her from a confrontation she started. He thought I would always be there, the pathetic wife waiting in the shadows. He thought his love was a prize I would endure any torture to keep. He was wrong. I signed the divorce papers, threw my ring into the ocean, and vanished without a trace. Three years later, I returned to New York as a celebrated artist, with a man who treated me like a masterpiece, not a prop. Marcus, now ruined by Izzy’s lies and stripped of his fortune, found me. He knelt in the rain on the city street, weeping, begging for one more chance to fix us. I looked down at the husband who had let me drown. "There is no 'us', Marcus," I said calmly. Then I turned my back on him and walked into my future.

The memory was a ghost that never left me, a film of a life I had already lived and lost. In that other life, the end was cold and dark: my son, Tom, gave up, worn down by his father Mark' s betrayal and the world turning its back on us. Mark, my husband, the man I' d sacrificed everything for, watched as his wealthy new lover, Jessica, and her son, Kevin, systematically destroyed Tom' s future, stealing his scholarship and publicly humiliating him. When Tom tragically left me alone in a world that had turned its back, Mark was at a gala, accepting an award, uncaring. I drowned in despair, until I woke up, not dead, not grieving, but back. Back to the hospital breakroom, the cold coffee, the smell of cafeteria chili. The day it all started to unravel. This was my chance, a chance I didn' t ask for but would not waste. I tore off my badge, left my hospital shift, and ran ten blocks, the rage fueling my every step. I burst into the high school, just as Mark, the socialite, and her smug son stood there, my Tom nowhere in sight. "Where is my son?" I demanded, my voice raw, ready to set their perfect world on fire. Mark denied everything, calling me "unwell," making me look like the crazy ex-wife. Then, Kevin pushed Tom, and Mark, in front of everyone, coddled Kevin, while my boy bled. He even tried to send us away, telling me to pack our things and disappear. But the final straw was Kevin, burning Tom' s precious family quilt, and Mark, instead of punishing him, blamed me. My son, seeing his father' s utter disregard, declared, "You' re not my father!" And Mark, in a fit of rage, raised his hand to strike Tom. I threw myself in front of my son, taking the brutal slap that echoed the pain of a lifetime of betrayal. I wouldn' t let my son get tired. I would fight. The next morning, I took Tom' s hand, and we marched directly into the lion' s den-General Miller' s office at Fort Connolly Army Base. I knelt, a humiliated-yet-determined mother, begging for help. "My husband is destroying our lives, and we have nowhere else to turn. Please, just give us five minutes of your time." This time, justice would not be denied.

The scent of charcoal and happy laughter perfectly painted our Saturday afternoon, a beacon of the quiet life I' d built for my daughter, Lily, after everything we' d been through. Suddenly, a black sports car screeched into our driveway, and my wife' s brother, Leo, stormed into our backyard, followed by two thuggish friends. He sneered, mocking my life, calling me a "freeloader" and a "parasite," even striking me. My wife, Sarah, appeared, but instead of defending our terrified Lily, she sided with her brother, calling me a "failure" and demanding I leave. Lily, hyperventilating from fear, whimpered, "Mommy... please... make them stop," but Sarah dismissed it, her eyes fixed on Leo. How could the woman I' d sacrificed everything for, the mother of my child, choose this violence, this betrayal, this cruelty? In that shattering moment, as Sarah chose her vile brother over our trembling daughter, I knew I had to unleash the man I' d buried for ten years.

The fluorescent hum of the deserted office was my constant companion, a symphony to my late-night grind as an architect, building dreams one blueprint at a time. Then, out of nowhere, text shimmered in the air, a chilling heads-up display only I could see: "[Target acquired: The Architect. She' s working late again. Perfect.]" My blood ran cold as more lines appeared, taunting me with plans for a "Chivalry Challenge" at a $5,700 prize. It finally clicked-Mark Johnson, that slimy social media influencer who' d turn women' s fear into profit, had found me. He came, smooth as ever, with a drugged coffee, mocking me while I fought through a fogged mind, my desperate calls for help swallowed by his practiced lies to the security guard. My brothers came back for me, their faces illuminated by flashing lights, my last-ditch effort to crash his car paying off just as I succumbed to the drug. But the nightmare wasn' t over; Mark walked free, his lawyer spinning tales of my "manic episodes," leaving my brother Chris to face assault charges for defending me. The injustice burned, fueling a rage that cleared the haze: he wouldn't win, not if I could help it. "This isn't over," I declared, my voice steady, eyes fixed on my brothers, ready to dismantle his empire. Then Michael sent me the link-Mark' s new video, painting me as the aggressor, a "crazy" woman. Scrolling through the venomous comments, one caught my eye: "DesignDiva88," my colleague Lisa Chen, claiming she' d told him to "back off." She was complicit, a willing accessory, and with that, I knew exactly how to begin.

I used to think my biggest challenge was building life support systems for astronauts, but then I came home. My quiet Ohio hometown, the one I' d escaped with an MIT scholarship and a secret burning desire for a bigger life, felt smaller than ever. I was back for a high school reunion, reluctantly, to face Matthew Scott, the boy who' d relentlessly bullied me and now owned half the town. He thought I was still "just Gabby," a wash-up struggling with a boring data entry job, a lie I carefully maintained to protect my parents and my classified work at NASA. The reunion quickly devolved into the public humiliation I expected, with Matthew and his sycophants cornering me, pouring wine on me, and trying to extort money. But then, he crossed a line far more dangerous than he could ever comprehend. He snatching my phone, oblivious that it held top-secret national security data, and used it to call his corrupt sheriff buddy, thinking he had finally trapped me. He thought he was calling in local backup to finish off his high school rival, but in reality, he had just triggered a security alert that would bring the full force of the federal government crashing down on his little kingdom. He had no idea that in his arrogant attempt to destroy my life, he had just detonated his own, and mine was about to get a surprising new chapter.

The sky exploded with Fourth of July fireworks, painting red and gold, but all I tasted was sulfur and betrayal. My hand instinctively went to the fresh, tender scar on my side, a chilling reminder of what they' d stolen. My family, the people who were supposed to love me, held me down for a doctor to take my kidney for my 'perfect' adoptive sister, Savannah. Chase, my boyfriend and duet partner, celebrated with Savannah, his secret lover, after calling me his "hero." It was all a meticulously planned conspiracy: nurture my career, use my body, then discard me. I, Ava Monroe, country music sensation, was nothing but a spare part, an orphan adopted for good PR, now reduced to a literal organ donor. With nothing left-no family, no love, no reason-I stood on a cold bridge, the canyon a black mouth waiting to swallow my despair. A kind stranger, Liam, tried to pull me back, speaking of bad breakups, oblivious to the monstrous truth. They didn' t just break my heart; they cut me open and took a piece of me, leaving me utterly shattered. As the finality of my decision set in, a gut-wrenching twist of fate occurred: Liam, the only person who cared, jumped with me to save my life. But instead of darkness, I awoke, healthy and whole, in my dressing room, one month earlier, before the betrayal. I wasn't just given a second chance to save myself; I was given a chance to save him, the hero who sacrificed everything for me. My mission became crystal clear: First, I would live. Second, I would make them pay. And third, I would find Liam Sullivan and keep him safe, no matter what it took.

For seven long years, I'd been trapped in a rigged game, playing an ER nurse in Chicago. My mission was simple: get the hospital's wealthy benefactor, Julian Vance, to romantically reject me 100 times. The prize? My real life back in Montana, a massive payout, and a unique gift. I was so close, just two rejections away. For rejection ninety-nine, I pitched the ultimate absurd proposal: marriage, but only if I survived a risky medical mission. He always said no. But this time, Julian Vance, Mr. Emotionally Unavailable, looked me dead in the eye and said, "Alright. Seriously." My carefully constructed world imploded. My "game" was utterly derailed. Every desperate attempt to provoke a rejection only made him agree, sometimes even openly. Then the Vance Tower collapsed. I was trapped, severely injured, calling for help amidst the chaos. My comm crackled, Julian finally picking up. Relief flooded me until I heard his voice, sharp and impatient: "Ava, I'm dealing with Chloe's trauma right now. This isn't the time for your dramatics." He hung up, prioritizing his ex-fiancée's fake injuries over my life. The universe twisted. That dismissive click became my one hundredth rejection. My mission was complete. I died in that crumbling building, only to reawaken in Montana, rich and gifted. But the question remained: had I truly won, or merely traded one prison for another, haunted by the man I' d been forced to break?

Sarah, a dedicated support for her university esports team, Alpha Squad, poured her heart into winning alongside her star-fragger boyfriend, Ethan, dreaming of a championship title together. Late one night, her world shattered when she accidentally overheard Ethan on Discord, cold-heartedly plotting with Tiffy, a rival streamer. He revealed he was merely using Sarah's skills to secure a championship spot, intending to publicly sideline, then cruelly dump her after their win. The man she loved, her captain, saw her as nothing more than a temporary, disposable tool, mocking her loyalty. When she confronted him, he dismissed her pain, gaslighting her by claiming she was "crazy" and "jealous," Tiffy smirking beside him. Every sacrifice, every moment of unwavering loyalty, felt like a cruel joke. How could someone she fully trusted betray her so profoundly, reducing her dreams to a manipulative ploy? The burning injustice morphed into cold resolve. "I'm done," she declared, walking away from Alpha Squad and their toxic relationship, dismissing Ethan's arrogant threats that she was "nothing without him." But an unexpected call soon followed: Alex Chen, legendary captain of rival Omega Ghosts, had seen her true, suppressed talent. He wanted her as their primary fragger, offering Sarah a chance not just for revenge, but for a whole new destiny.

I secretly loved my best friend's older brother, Alex, for years. My clumsy text message accidentally sent to him unexpectedly pulled me back into his orbit. But our reunion was overshadowed by his ex, Jess, who years ago had cunningly ruined my chance with Alex, forcing me to leave town in shame. At a recent coffee shop encounter, she publicly accused me of stalking him again, forcing a humiliating scene where Alex overheard my desperate attempts to deny my feelings. That was just the beginning. Jess then launched a vicious online smear campaign, twisting every interaction into proof of me being an unstable, obsessed stalker. My reputation was destroyed, job interviews evaporated, and I found myself an outcast, drowning in a public narrative of lies. How could one person inflict such targeted malice? Would Alex ever see past her manipulations? The injustice of her lies felt suffocating, threatening to erase who I was. Just when I thought I couldn't take any more, when the shame and despair were overwhelming, Alex, the man who once coldly rejected me, decided to take a stand in the most public way imaginable, risking everything to reclaim my name and prove his love.

The last thing I saw was Thunder’s bloodied jaws, closing in on me. My daughter, Sophia, lay broken a few feet away, already gone. Pain, then darkness. Then, with a gasp, I bolted upright, my heart hammering like a drum. I was back on the same rough porch, facing the same smug smirk of Old John. At the end of his chain was Thunder, the Australian Cattle Dog who had butchered my child and me. “Heard you were back in town, Isabella,” Old John rasped, his voice a cruel mockery of a welcome. “Brought you a little housewarming gift,” he added, pulling the chain as Thunder whined, straining to reach me, just like that first time. The memory crashed over me: Thunder’s lunge, the searing agony as his teeth tore my thigh, the hot gush of blood, and then, Sophia’s petrified screams followed by chilling silence as he turned to her. Old John had known my paralyzing fear of dogs, yet he had specifically brought this hulking beast to torment me. He had laughed when I pleaded, ignoring the danger, using the dog as his personal weapon. Every horrifying detail, every agonizing moment of Sophia’s brutal death and my own demise, flooded my mind with chilling clarity. But this time, as Thunder lunged forward once more, I forced my trembling legs to stop. No. Not again. This time, things would be different.

She thought all he wanted for her was to give birth to his child. In order to get the mansion that held all of her cherished memories, Yolande would have to get married within the next three days according to her grandfather’s will. However, she found out that her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend. The only other choice she had left now was Baron, the man she had a one-night stand with when she got trapped. Gritting her teeth, she married him, albeit reluctantly. And before she even realized it, she had already fallen into his love trick.

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."

In their previous lives, Gracie married Theo. Outwardly, they were the perfect academic couple, but privately, she became nothing more than a stepping stone for his ambition, and met a tragic end. Her younger sister Ellie wed Brayden, only to be abandoned for his true love, left alone and disgraced. This time, both sisters were reborn. Ellie rushed to marry Theo, chasing the success Gracie once had-unaware she was repeating the same heartbreak. Gracie instead entered a contract marriage with Brayden. But when danger struck, he defended her fiercely. Could fate finally rewrite their tragic endings?

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.

Kathryn was the true daughter, but Jolene stole her life and set her up for ruin. After a brutal kidnapping scheme, Kathryn's loyalty to her brothers and fiancé was met with cruel betrayal. Narrowly escaping, she chose to cut all ties and never forgive them. Then she shocked the world: the miracle doctor for the elite, a top-tier hacker, a financial mastermind, and now the untouchable star her family could only watch from afar. Her brothers begged, her parents pleaded, her ex wanted her back-Kathryn exposed them all. The world gasped as the richest man confessed his love for her.

For three years, Deanna endured scorn in a one-sided marriage. When Connor forced her to choose between her career and a divorce, she didn't hesitate-she walked away. Determined to reclaim her birthright, Deanna returned as the brilliant heiress to a medical conglomerate. Her ex and his family begged for another chance, but it was too late. With a tycoon father, a legendary healer mother, a CEO brother who adored her, and a showbiz powerhouse sibling, Deanna's life overflowed with power. Even her arrogant rival, heir to billions, only ever had a soft spot for her.