MAINUMBY

The night my high school sweetheart was supposed to propose, a future version of him appeared and ordered him to choose another girl. He claimed our love would bring ruin. And Joshua, the boy who promised me forever, believed him. He began choosing her over me, again and again. He chose her fake panic attacks over my real terror, hanging up on me as I begged for help while being cornered in a dark alley. He left me there, alone and defenseless. The final betrayal came when he agreed to let thugs give me a "warning" to stay away. While he was at the hospital comforting her, I was being brutally beaten in a locked room, my bones broken on his command. The boy I loved, my protector since childhood, had let them destroy me. I sent him the photos of my battered body with a final message: "We're done." Then I booked a one-way flight to another country and vanished, erasing every trace of the girl he once knew.

I gave up a prestigious scholarship to Zurich to become the architect of the Obsidian Pack, believing Alpha Emilio was my Fated Mate. I spent four years building his walls, his training grounds, and his legacy, waiting for the Mark that never came. On the night I planned to tell him I was pregnant with his heir, he stood on the dais and publicly gave my custom-designed Luna bracelet to his mistress's son. Desperate and heartbroken, I stepped forward to reveal the truth about our baby. Emilio didn't offer comfort. Instead, he used the Alpha Command. "Sit down, Elana." The force of his voice was a physical blow. It threw me off the stage and slammed me onto the stone floor. The impact didn't just break my body; it severed the life of our unborn pup. As I lay bleeding out, Emilio didn't look at me with regret. He shielded his mistress, Hayden, from the sight of my pain. "Get her out of here," he told the guards coldly. "If she dies as a Rogue in the woods, it’s just nature." He thought he was discarding a broken tool. He thought I would die in the river. He didn't know that I would wash up on the shores of the Silver Alps. He didn't know that their Alpha, the most powerful wolf in Europe, had been admiring my designs—and me—from afar for years. Three months later, I returned to the Obsidian Pack. I didn't come back to build his walls. I came back to tear them down.

For years, I secretly bankrolled my father's extravagant lifestyle. I was the silent founder of King Ventures, the source of his immense wealth, but I preferred to live in the shadows. But at the opening of a gallery I owned, his fiancée, Kesha, publicly accused me of being a gold-digger trying to crash the party. She had me brutally beaten by guards and locked in a dark storage room. I called my father for help, but my calls went straight to voicemail. He was at the event, living off my generosity, and he chose to ignore me. He sided with her, later telling her I was a "deranged stalker" and that he had no daughter. He had chosen his new life over his own blood. The man whose entire world I had built, whose reputation I had protected, had just thrown me to the wolves. The love I had for him shattered into a million pieces. Standing bruised and bloodied in the penthouse I paid for, I interrupted his party and made a single call in front of everyone. "Initiate Project Phoenix. Seize all assets. Leave him with nothing."

My husband of three years, tech mogul Harrison Lang, has severe face blindness. So I became a brand, not a wife, wearing only blue and Chanel No. 5 so he could recognize me. But at a party in Cannes, I watched him walk through a crowd of hundreds and embrace his mistress, Kassie, with a look of pure joy. He saw her instantly. Later that night, I was mistakenly arrested. I screamed his name for help. He looked right at me and told the police, "I don't know her." He left me to rot in a French jail cell, claiming he didn't recognize me without my "uniform." But how could he see her in a gold dress, yet not his own wife being dragged away? It wasn't his illness; it was his heart. It had learned her face, but never bothered with mine. Now, years later, he' s had me arrested again at my own art show. But as the cuffs click shut, an old fire captain steps forward. "I was at the wildfire that caused his condition," he tells the police, looking at Harrison. "And I know the girl who saved his life." Then, he points directly at me-at the star-shaped scar on my wrist.

The first sign I was going to die wasn't the blizzard. It wasn't the bone-deep cold. It was the look in my fiancé's eyes when he told me he had given my life's work-our only guarantee of survival-to another woman. "Kelsi was freezing," he said, as if I were being unreasonable. "You're the expert, you can handle it." He then took my satellite phone, shoved me into a hastily dug snow pit, and left me to die. His new girlfriend, Kelsi, appeared, wrapped snugly in my shimmering smart blanket. She smiled as she used my own ice axe to slash my suit, my last layer of protection against the storm. "Stop being so dramatic," he told me, his voice full of contempt as I lay there freezing to death. They thought they had taken everything. They thought they had won. But they didn't know about the secret emergency beacon I had stitched into my sleeve. And with my last ounce of strength, I activated it.

It was supposed to be my vow renewal, a key PR event for my husband Angel's mayoral campaign. But when I woke up from a drug-induced haze, I found him at the altar with his mistress. She was wearing my wedding dress. I watched from a hidden balcony as he slid the ring he’d given me onto her finger in front of the entire city's elite. When I confronted him, he told me his mistress was pregnant and that he’d drugged me because she was “unwell” and needed the ceremony. He called me a useless housewife, then laughed and suggested we could raise his and Faith's baby together. Seven years of my life, my strategies, and my sacrifices had built his empire, and he tried to erase me with a single glass of champagne. But when I met him at the courthouse to finalize our divorce, he showed up feigning amnesia from a car accident, crying and begging me not to leave him on our “wedding day.” He wanted to play games. I decided to write the rules.

The phone call came on the hottest day of the year. My son, Leo, was locked in a scorching car by my husband' s stepsister, Casey, while my husband, Coleman, stood by, more concerned about his vintage Mustang than our barely conscious child. When I shattered the window to save Leo, Coleman forced me to apologize to Casey, recording my humiliation for public display. I soon discovered his chilling secret: he married me only to make Casey jealous, seeing me as nothing more than a tool in his twisted game. Heartbroken, I filed for divorce, but their torment escalated. They stole my company, kidnapped Leo, and even orchestrated a venomous snake bite, leaving me for dead. Why did they hate me so much? What kind of man would use his own son as a pawn, and his wife as a weapon, in such a cruel charade? But their cruelty ignited a cold fury within me. I would not break. I would fight back, and I would make them pay.

My brother, Kevin, just got the bizarre diagnosis. He had a fully functional uterus. I, a bio-ethicist, saw it as a severe medical condition, but Kevin, fueled by delusion, declared himself the "next step in human evolution." My mother, Eleanor, encouraged his madness, seeing it as a shortcut to our family's inheritance. When I tried to intervene, to warn them of the dangers, Kevin sneered, "You' re just jealous. You' re a woman, so you can' t stand that a man can do your one job better than you. You' re obsolete." My mother agreed, validating his cruel words. I pushed back, trying to get the hospital's ethics committee involved, arguing Kevin wasn't psychologically fit. They found out. I walked into our family home that rainy night, and Kevin, encouraged by my mother, attacked me with a heavy glass trophy. The last thing I saw was the trophy swinging down towards my face. Then, darkness. And then… light. I gasped, jolting awake in my own bed, my body whole. My phone buzzed. The date confirmed it: three years before my murder. Three years before Kevin's "miracle." A slow, cold smile spread across my face. They had killed me once for being an inconvenience. This time, I would be the architect of their destruction.

The air in the bank was cold, a stark contrast to the warm spring day outside. I shifted, the familiar ache in my leg a dull reminder of my past, as the teller tapped at her keyboard. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hayes," she said, "I can't seem to find a joint account under that name for you." I frowned, "That's not possible. It's a joint savings, with my wife, Sarah Hayes. We've had it for years." "I see a Sarah Hayes," the teller replied slowly, "but the account lists her as Sarah Miller. And you are not listed as a signatory." Miller. The name hit me like a physical blow. My former commanding officer. The man whose orders had sent my team into an ambush, ending my career and leaving me with a leg full of metal. My world tilted as I stumbled out of the bank, clutching a phone that shook in my hand. Then, I heard her voice, bright and cheerful. "Liam! Honey, is everything okay?" "I heard your voicemail, Sarah." My voice was eerily flat. Silence. Then, a choked sound. "Liam... I can explain..." "No," I cut her off. "There's nothing to explain. I just called to say... congratulations." I hung up, the emptiness inside me starting to fill with a purpose I hadn't felt since I wore the uniform. They thought I was a broken man, a harmless relic. They were about to find out how wrong they were.

My sister, Molly, and I stood on the choosing day, a second chance after our parents died and we were thrown into a strange Appalachian community. I' d lived this before; Molly, consumed by envy, had murdered my ten Beta children and then pushed me off a cliff. But now, I was back, the phantom pain a cruel reminder, only to see her clinging to the arm of Ryan Fowler-the man who had made me a matriarch in my first life. Molly' s eyes gleamed with triumphant recognition; she remembered too, thinking she' d stolen my destiny. Her twisted game escalated when, before I could even make my choice, she orchestrated a public accusation against me. She framed me for adultery, twisting a secret from her own past into a brutal lie that ended with my fur torn from my skin. Disgraced and denounced as a "slut," I was banished to the unforgiving wilderness, sent to what everyone believed would be my death. The wolf-kin, once a powerful choice, turned his back, leaving me to face a world filled with feral, exiled kin far more dangerous than any political rival. How could my own sister, reborn with me, be so intent on my utter destruction? Why did she not learn from her own miserable fate in our last life? Did she truly believe her wicked schemes would bring her power, even at the cost of my very life? Cast out, alone, and heartbroken, I still carried the chilling secret of Ryan' s true nature and the curse Molly had unwittingly invited into her life. But this time, I wouldn' t just survive; I would make sure she regretted every single move she' d ever made against me.

My wedding rehearsal dinner was supposed to be the perfect start to my future with Ethan. But then, a text from my sister Chloe, "Surprise! Got an earlier flight!" and just like that, my entire family, including my fiancé, walked out on me. They left me alone, humiliated, to pay for the abandoned dinner. It worsened. That night, despite my shellfish allergy, I was forced to cook Chloe her favorite risotto, my hands blistering, while they celebrated her. Then, when Chloe had a severe allergic reaction to nuts I' d unintentionally left out, my mother slapped me accusingly. My own family, and Ethan, branded me a jealous monster, willing to harm my sister. But the final blow came when I overheard them. My marriage to Ethan? Just a "strategic move" to keep him, Chloe' s long-time crush, trapped in our family' s orbit. I was bait. My entire life, a calculated chess move. The love I craved, the respect I yearned for, was a lie. That night, something inside me broke, and then rebuilt. I quietly submitted my application for a federal clerkship in D.C. Then, I packed my bag, left a life of lies, and never looked back.

I had my life meticulously planned: top grades, intense training, a clear path to the U.S. Service Academy. My future was a beacon, a reward for years of unwavering dedication. But then came the devastating twist: Mark, my childhood best friend, and his conniving girlfriend, Tiffany, decided my ambition was a threat to their own twisted narrative. They systematically sabotaged my critical fitness test and derailed my SATs, watching my dreams shatter with chilling indifference. My carefully constructed world collapsed in an instant. I was plunged into years of soul-crushing dead-end jobs, a life of grinding poverty, and the bitter taste of shattered potential. The final, brutal act of their cruelty came during a chance reunion: cold fury from Tiffany, an almost apologetic glance from Mark, then the hired thugs, the balcony, and the irreversible fall. I lay dying, haunted by the crushing weight of their malice. How could the people I once trusted engineer such a complete and utter destruction of a life? The raw injustice burned hotter than any pain, leaving me with a desperate, unanswered question: Why them, why me? But instead of oblivion, I was hurled back. The familiar scent of lavender, the drone of a lawnmower, the calendar screaming August 10th. Three months before my future was stolen. Seventeen again, with the searing clarity of what was to come. And then I saw them. Mark' s cold, assessing eyes told me he knew. This wasn't a do-over; it was war.

My father, a respected ethics professor, looked peaceful in the mortuary. But then, a chilling detail: a fresh, surgical scar beneath his collar. They said car accident, but his heart was gone. The truth shattered me: his heart, transplanted. To my best friend, Chloe, who was pregnant. And the consent signed by Ethan, my fiancé. When I confronted him, Ethan just shrugged, called it "practical." He even suggested my father's death was a "fortunate coincidence," and I should just get over it. He had the audacity to propose I become the baby's nanny. Then he locked me in a dark room, calling me "hysterical." My father' s heart, stolen and beating in my best friend' s chest. Carrying my fiancé' s child, conceived in betrayal. The cold I felt in the mortuary was nothing compared to the ice forming around my own heart. Did they really think I would accept this, quietly become their hired help? They had awakened something buried deep. My "normal" life was over. I escaped, found a burner phone, and dialed a number I swore I' d never call again. "Marc," I whispered, "I need your help." My past was about to become their nightmare.

Maria Rodriguez, a Marine widow, lived a quiet life, scrubbing floors to support her artistic teenage daughter, Sofia. Every penny, every sacrifice, was for Sofia. But in a town run by the wealthy, Sofia's very existence was a target, constantly shadowed by Maria's quiet fear. Then the phone call came from Mercy Hospital, tearing Maria's world apart. Sofia had been brutally beaten, her face a pulped mask, bandages covering half her small body. Through choked sobs, Sofia whispered the name that confirmed Maria's deepest dread: "Chad Henderson." Chad's father, Mr. Henderson—the man who "owned this town" with his private security force—showed up at the hospital, not with apologies, but with a sneer and a check, trying to buy Maria's silence. He dismissed Sofia's assault as "boys will be boys," his cronies, including the town's police chief, enabling him. Sofia, terrified, begged Maria to "just let it go." But it was too late. Sofia died days later, her vibrant spirit extinguished. The world tried to erase Sofia's murder. The police called it an "accident," Henderson's lawyer offered more blood money, even suggesting "other children." Maria's pleas for justice were met with shrugs, scorn, and terrifying intimidation by Henderson's goons. Miguel, her hero Marine, had died for his country, yet his widow and daughter were denied the most basic justice in their own backyard. The silence was deafening, the injustice infuriating. But as Maria clutched Miguel's Navy Cross and Sofia's innocent photo, a desperate, terrifying resolve hardened within her. Memorial Day was next week, a public event where Henderson would undoubtedly be polishing his image. This time, Maria wouldn't just clean floors. She would expose the truth, even if it meant shattering her last fragile peace.

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.

She spent ten years chasing after the right brother, only to fall for the wrong one in one weekend. ~~~ Sloane Mercer has been hopelessly in love with her best friend, Finn Hartley, since college. For ten long years, she's stood by him, stitching him back together every time Delilah Crestfield-his toxic on-and-off girlfriend-shattered his heart. But when Delilah gets engaged to another man, Sloane thinks this might finally be her chance to have Finn for herself. She couldn't be more wrong. Heartbroken and desperate, Finn decides to crash Delilah's wedding and fight for her one last time. And he wants Sloane by his side. Reluctantly, Sloane follows him to Asheville, hoping that being close to Finn will somehow make him see her the way she's always seen him. Everything changes when she meets Knox Hartley, Finn's older brother-a man who couldn't be more different from Finn. He's dangerously magnetic. Knox sees right through Sloane and makes it his mission to pull her into his world. What starts as a game-a twisted bet between them-soon turns into something deeper. Sloane is trapped between two brothers: one who's always broken her heart and another who seems hell-bent on claiming it... no matter the cost. CONTENT WARNING: This story is strongly 18+. It delves into dark romance themes such as obsession and lust with morally complex characters. While this is a love story, reader discretion is advised.  

The day Raina gave birth should have been the happiest of her life. Instead, it became her worst nightmare. Moments after delivering their twins, Alexander shattered her heart-divorcing her and forcing her to sign away custody of their son, Liam. With nothing but betrayal and heartbreak to her name, Raina disappeared, raising their daughter, Ava, on her own.Years later, fate comes knocking when Liam falls gravely ill. Desperate to save his son, Alexander is forced to seek out the one person he once cast aside. Alexander finds himself face to face with the woman he underestimated, pleading for a second chance-not just for himself, but for their son. But Raina is no longer the same broken woman who once loved him.No longer the woman he left behind. She has carved out a new life-one built on strength, wealth, and a long-buried legacy she expected to uncover.Raina has spent years learning to live without him.The question is... Will she risk reopening old wounds to save the son she never got to love? or has Alexander lost her forever?

Camille Lewis was the forgotten daughter, the unloved wife, the woman discarded like yesterday's news. Betrayed by her husband, cast aside by her own family, and left for dead by the sister who stole everything, she vanished without a trace. But the weak, naive Camille died the night her car was forced off that bridge. A year later, she returns as Camille Kane, richer, colder, and more powerful than anyone could have imagined. Armed with wealth, intelligence, and a hunger for vengeance, she is no longer the woman they once trampled on. She is the storm that will tear their world apart. Her ex-husband begs for forgiveness. Her sister's perfect life crumbles. Her parents regret the daughter they cast aside. But Camille didn't come back for apologies, she came back to watch them burn. But as her enemies fall at her feet, one question remains: when the revenge is over, what's left? A mysterious trillionaire Alexander Pierce steps into her path, offering something she thought she lost forever, a future. But can a woman built on ashes learn to love again? She rose from the fire to destroy those who betrayed her. Now, she must decide if she'll rule alone... or let someone melt the ice in her heart.

I sat on the cold tile floor of our Upper East Side penthouse, staring at the two pink lines until my vision blurred. After ten years of loving Julian Sterling and three years of a hollow marriage, I finally had the one thing that could bridge the distance between us. I was pregnant. But Julian didn't come home with flowers for our anniversary. He tossed a thick manila envelope onto the marble coffee table with a heavy thud. Fiona, the woman he'd truly loved for years, was back in New York, and he told me our "business deal" was officially over. "Sign it," He said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. He looked at me with the cold detachment of a man selling a piece of unwanted furniture. When I hesitated, he told me to add a zero to the alimony if the money wasn't enough. I realized in that moment that if he knew about the baby, he wouldn't love me; he would simply take my child and give it to Fiona to raise. I shoved the pregnancy test into my pocket, signed the papers with a shaking hand, and lied through my teeth. When my morning sickness hit, I slumped to the floor to hide the truth. "It's just cramps," I gasped, watching him recoil as if I were contagious. To make him stay away, I invented a man named Jack-a fake boyfriend who supposedly gave me the kindness Julian never could. Suddenly, the man who wanted me gone became a monster of possessiveness. He threatened to "bury" a man who didn't exist while leaving me humiliated at his family's dinner to rush to Fiona's side. I was so broken that I even ate a cake I was deathly allergic to, then had to refuse life-saving steroids at the hospital because they would harm the fetus. Julian thinks he's stalling the divorce for two months to protect the family's reputation for his father's Jubilee. He thinks he's keeping his "property" on a short leash until the press dies down. He has no idea I'm using those sixty days to build a fortress for my child. By the time he realizes the truth, I'll be gone, and the Sterling heir will be far beyond his reach.

In the glittering world of high society and cutthroat ambition, a single sentence shatters a marriage: "Let's get a divorce." For three years, Claire Thompson has lived in exile, her marriage to the powerful Nelson Cooper a hollow shell existing only on paper. Shipped abroad on her wedding day and utterly forgotten, she returns only to be handed divorce papers. But Claire is no longer the timid, heartbroken girl she once was. Behind her quiet facade lies a woman transformed, secretly rejoicing at her newfound freedom. However, freedom comes with a price. As Claire signs the papers with relief, a chilling phone call reveals a dark truth: the threats she faced overseas were no accident, and the trail leads shockingly close to home-to the family that raised her and the husband who discarded her. Just as she prepares to sever all ties, a twist of fate pulls her back into the gilded cage. Nelson, for reasons unknown, suddenly stalls the divorce. Meanwhile, the family that disowned her and the fragile, manipulative sister who stole her life are determined to ruin her reputation and drive her out for good. But Claire is playing a different game now. With a mysterious new identity, powerful allies, and secrets of her own, she is no one's pawn. As hidden truths unravel and loyalties are tested, a stunning question emerges: In this high-stakes battle of love, betrayal, and revenge, who is truly trapping whom?

After the divorce, she became the dream woman everyone longed for. James Ferguson saved Zelda Liamson and always did whatever she asked, making sure she had everything she could ever want. Zelda thought it was true love. After five years of marriage, she realized she was nothing more than his favourite pet, while he was her whole world. Then, the woman James truly loved came back, and Zelda demanded a divorce. James mocked her, saying, " You can't survive without me. What will you do without the Ferguson's name? " But Zelda did run away and never looked back, receiving marriage proposals every day. James lost his mind and returned, begging Zelda, "Please, come back to me. Give me another chance." His eyes were full of love and desperation.

I was at my own engagement party at the Sterling estate when the world started tilting. Victoria Sterling, my future mother-in-law, smiled coldly as she watched me struggle with a cup of tea that had been drugged to ruin me. Before I could find my fiancé, Ryan, a waiter dragged me into the forbidden West Wing and locked me in a room with Julian Sterling, the family’s "fallen titan" who had been confined to a wheelchair for years. The door burst open to a frenzy of camera flashes and theatrical screams. Victoria framed me as a seductress caught in the act, and Ryan didn't even try to listen to my pleas, calling me "cheap leftovers" before walking away with his pregnant mistress. When I turned to my own family for help, my father signed a document severing our relationship for a five-million-dollar payout from Julian. They traded me like a commodity without a second thought. I didn't understand why my own parents were so eager to sell me, or how Ryan could look at me with such disgust after promising me forever. I was a sacrifice, a pawn used to protect the family's offshore accounts, and I couldn't fathom how every person I loved had a price tag for my destruction. With nowhere left to go, I married Julian in a bleak ceremony at City Hall. He slid a heavy diamond onto my finger and whispered, "We have a war to start." That night, inside his secret penthouse, I watched the paralyzed man stand up from his wheelchair and activate a screen filled with the Sterling family's darkest secrets. The execution had officially begun.

I just got my billionaire husband to sign our divorce papers. He thinks it's another business document. Our marriage was a business transaction. I was his secretary by day, his invisible wife by night. He got a CEO title and a rebellion against his mother; I got the money to save mine. The only rule? Don't fall in love. I broke it. He didn't. So I'm cashing out. Thirty days from now, I'm gone. But now he's noticing me. Touching me. Claiming me. The same man who flaunts his mistresses is suddenly burning down a nightclub because another man insulted me. He says he'll never let me go. But he has no idea I'm already halfway out the door. How far will a billionaire go to keep a wife he never wanted until she tried to leave?

"I heard you're going to marry Marcelo. Is this perhaps your revenge against me? It's very laughable, Renee. That man can barely function." Her foster family, her cheating ex, everyone thought Renee was going to live in pure hell after getting married to a disabled and cruel man. She didn't know if anything good would ever come out of it after all, she had always thought it would be hard for anyone to love her but this cruel man with dark secrets is never going to grant her a divorce because she makes him forget how to breathe.