Mo Er

On my twenty-fifth birthday, I discovered my boyfriend of seven years and my best friend were having an affair. They gave me matching necklaces-a sea and a mountain-the very set I had picked out for him as a symbol of our love. It was their silent confession, a confirmation of the betrayal I had just witnessed. Later that night, my best friend was attacked. I rushed to her side, only to be met with my boyfriend's fury. He accused me of being selfish and late, then broke up with me, leaving me alone and bleeding in the snow after I coughed up blood from my terminal lung cancer. He didn't see the blood. He didn't know I was dying. He just saw me as an inconvenience. My world shattered. I had been hiding my illness to spare them pain, only to find they were building their happiness on my quiet suffering. I received his call from the hospital, not out of concern for me, but because he had just discovered the truth about my cancer. He was too late. I was already on a plane to Oregon, having sent my final message: "I love you both. Always. Find your happiness. I'll be okay." This was my last gift to them-their freedom, bought with my life.

For three years, I was Alpha Laurence's fated mate, a title he never honored. He was in love with another woman, Rosalie, and I was just an inconvenient placeholder he refused to mark. The night my father lay dying, I begged him for the life-saving medicine he had promised to deliver. He was with Rosalie. Through our mental link, I heard her laugh in the background before he cut me off. "Stop bothering me with trivial matters," he snarled. His lover then faked an illness, pulling every senior healer away from my father's side. He died while my mate was choosing a tuxedo with another woman. My father's life was a "trivial matter" to the man who was supposed to be my other half. In his obsession, he had become an accomplice to murder. But he had no idea what I had done. Days earlier, while he was distracted by a call from her, I slipped a single page into a thick stack of documents. He signed it without reading, and with a flick of his wrist, he severed his own soul. He had just signed the Ritual of Rejection.

Eight years of my life, my brilliance, my family inheritance-all poured into Mark' s biotech startup, GenLife. I was the unsung architect, coding his prototypes late into the night, nursing his dying mother, while my own career gathered dust. When GenLife finally soared, Mark was captivated by Cassandra, his self-proclaimed muse and my own biological parents' golden child. Then, gravely ill with pneumonia and desperate, I tried to reach him to pick up our son, Ben. Instead of my husband, I found an Instagram story: Mark, Ben, and the Winthrops-my birth parents-toasting Cassandra' s lavish 'surprise promotion.' The centerpiece? A cake featuring my revolutionary molecule design, dismissed by Mark years ago as "too theoretical," now proudly presented as her intellectual triumph. Standing right there, in front of everyone, our son called Cassandra "Mommy" while his father looked on, unbothered. The raw betrayal, the audacity of parading my stolen work and my own child' s shifted affection, was a physical shock that cut through my fever. How could the man I loved, the family I sacrificed everything for, erase my existence so thoroughly, so publicly? They believed they had broken me, reduced me to nothing. But as I walked out of that opulent restaurant, leaving their celebration behind, a quiet, icy clarity settled in: a phoenix doesn't rise from ashes without first burning down the old world. This was my turning point. This was the moment I chose to reclaim my name, my work, and my future, on my own terms.

My fiancé, Jacob, crashed another woman' s wedding. I found out from a viral video while preparing his favorite dessert to celebrate our upcoming IVF cycle. It was Kierra Gates, the "struggling artist" he always claimed to pity. This wasn't the first time. Three years ago, he beat a man bloody for her, a public scandal that nearly broke us. I stood by him then, swallowing the humiliation and my friends' warnings. I even forgave him for the miscarriage his violent outburst caused. He swore it was over, that our future, our family, was all that mattered. But as I watched the video of him snatching her from the altar, his promises echoed like a cruel joke. He' d abandoned me again, on the cusp of our dream, for the same woman. My love for him, a fifteen-year constant, finally ran dry. This wasn't just another betrayal; it was the end. I picked up the phone, my hand steady. "I'd like to cancel my IVF appointment," I told the clinic. "And schedule an abortion. As soon as possible."

The acceptance letters for NYU, side-by-side on my desk, symbolized four years of high school effort and a shared dream with David: studying architecture in New York City. Our entire lives were perfectly planned. Then, I overheard David on the phone, his voice low and excited, revealing a horrifying truth: "California is going to be insane. No, she has no idea. I can't do it anymore. The clinginess... I need to be free." My world shattered. The boy I'd loved since childhood, who held our future, was crushing it without a thought. He admitted he was going to UCLA to study film, and when I asked about our plans, he flatly said, "I' m tired of you. I need space to be my own person." His words hit harder than any blow. I realized my devotion had been seen as a cage. All those years I' d put his needs first, sacrificing my own friendships and passions to support him, believing it was love. Now, I saw it was all to make him feel bigger while I made myself smaller. He' d left me feeling like the villain in our story. I couldn't understand. How could the boy who once declared, "Sarah's not a girl. She's Sarah," now call me clingy and dismiss me like trash? Why did he always pull me back with sweet gestures, only to lash out and abandon me when I tried to look out for him? But a tiny, hard kernel of anger began to form. He thought I couldn't survive without him. I would go to NYU, I would study architecture, and I would prove him wrong. Even if it killed me.

The day my tech startup sold for a cool eighty million dollars, I walked into my Silicon Valley mansion, ready to share the life-changing news with my fiancée, Chloe, and her mother, Brenda. Instead, I found myself accused. Brenda, her eyes narrowed with disapproval, asked, "Ethan, aren't you going to work today?" I made a joke, a test: "The company went under, Brenda. Actually, we're in a pretty significant amount of debt." Her reaction was immediate, explosive. "Ethan Miller, are you seriously telling me that you expect my daughter to marry you and help pay off your pre-marital debts?" Chloe, my fiancée, walked in, shaking her head. "I told you starting a business was a bad idea, but you never listen. Now look what happened. There goes the designer handbag I wanted." Brenda leaned in, her voice dripping with contempt. "A man needs dignity. My Chloe makes good money as an influencer, but she can't just support a freeloader forever." The mansion we stood in, the car and credit cards Chloe used, the very holiday they were enjoying - all mine. Yet, they saw me as the freeloader. The next few days became a twisted game of power, culminating in Brenda moving into my master bedroom, claiming it was her daughter' s house, and banishing me to the tiny, dark maid' s room. "You and Chloe are not married yet. You can't sleep in the same room!" she shrieked. Exasperated, I endured it. But that night, as I passed my former bedroom, I heard voices, low and chilling. Liam' s voice, angry: "When are you going to get rid of that bastard?" Chloe' s voice, calm and cold: "Not yet. If we get rid of him now, we won't get a single dime of his money." Then Liam, a horrifying whisper: "Is the stuff you're giving him even working? Why isn't he dead yet?" My blood ran cold. Chloe' s next words erased any doubt: "Don't you remember how Ethan's father died? Wasn't it from the exact same stuff you were giving him?" My father' s sudden death, the nosebleeds I'd had for weeks-it all clicked into a terrifying, murderous plot. Suddenly, Brenda' s loud, selfish drama, had accidentally saved my life. My family, the people I loved most, were systematically poisoning me, just as they had my father, to inherit my fortune. I knew then what I had to do. I wouldn' t just survive; I would make them pay.

The grand ballroom shimmered with the scent of ambition, a fitting stage for Mark Davis, the rising tech star I, Sarah Miller, had silently supported for five years. I designed his interfaces, polished his presentations, and poured my heart into his vision. Tonight, the launch of his "Aura" project, was meant to be our triumph, a celebration of what we built together. Then the spotlight found him on stage, proclaiming there was "one true genius" behind it all. My stomach tightened, anticipating a subtle nod, a shared glance. Instead, his gaze swept past me, landing on Emily Chen, my junior colleague, angelic in white, her eyes wide with feigned admiration. "That true genius," he boomed, "is Emily Chen!" A wave of gasps, then silence, as he dropped to one knee before her, pulling out a velvet box. "Emily, you are the future. Will you marry me?" The room erupted as he slid a massive diamond onto her finger. I was invisible, erased from my own story. My simple black dress suddenly felt like a shroud. I slipped away, my lungs burning, to a deserted corridor, where he found me, annoyed. "It's just business, Sarah," he said, flatly. "Emily has the connections. You're a great designer, but you're... a placeholder." He offered me a demeaning junior position under her or a "dead-end job" at a struggling startup run by "some nobody." The words, cold and sharp, cut deeper than any physical blow. His smug face expected me to break, to beg. But the humiliation burned away the shock, leaving a cold, hard clarity. My five years of love, loyalty, and hard work meant nothing to him. "I'll take the startup," I said, meeting his gaze, my voice steady.

The first gunshot in the library deafened me to everything but my brother Ethan' s jolt and the dark red staining his white t-shirt. He looked at me, mouth open, no sound. He slumped. My body moved before my brain could. I turned and ran. I didn' t help him, didn' t scream his name. I just ran, leaving him there. Because I had done this before. In my last life, I' d called our neurosurgeon mother, Olivia. "Mom, Ethan's been shot!" I' d sobbed. Her reply, cold: "Stop being so dramatic, Chloe. I' m busy getting my nails done with Ashley." Ashley, our adopted sister, was her perfect princess. Ethan and I were afterthoughts. She hung up. Ethan bled out waiting for a mother who thought he was a lie. At the hospital, she arrived, nails perfectly pink. When he was pronounced dead, her world shattered. She lunged at me, screaming. "You did this! You just watched him die! You were jealous!" She shoved me down the hospital staircase. My head hit the marble floor. I died there, just like Ethan. But then I was back, in the library, the nightmare starting again. This time, I knew. Trying to save Ethan would only lead to my own death, blamed, hated, destroyed by a family that was never truly mine. My parents were incapable of love for their biological children, consumed by Ashley. So, for the first time, I chose me. I ran, leaving them and that broken life behind. Let them live with their choices. I wouldn't be their scapegoat. This time, I' d be a spectator. But when they called, crying about Ethan, I knew what I had to do. Not for them, but to reveal their monstrous truth. Heading to the hospital, I wasn't a grieving sister. I was an executioner, ready to make sure everyone saw the final act.

The sound of shattering glass at a party wasn' t just an accident; it was a premonition. My prized, rare bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle, lay in ruins on the floor. My wife, Nicole, then still my wife, defended the smug culprit, Caleb, her childhood friend, acting as if I was the one making a scene. I banished Caleb to a remote Alaskan fishery, thinking it was a just consequence for his destructive arrogance. But Nicole' s furious promise, "You will regret this," was not an idle threat. Years later, my world crumbled when my father suffered a heart attack, the stress brought on by a hostile corporate takeover of our family' s legacy, Hughes Distillery. It was Nicole's doing, orchestrating a calculated, systematic destruction of everything I held dear. She, now a political strategist, watched impassively as our family, our history, bled out. At the Bourbon Baron's Ball, an auction for the world' s rarest spirits, I returned, a ghost of my former self, "The Palate," hoping to save us. But Nicole was there, with Caleb, radiant and triumphant, publicly announcing she'd outbid me on anything, and then, with a twisted smirk, confirming she'd stolen all my funds, leaving me humiliated and financially crippled. How could she harbor such cold, calculating hatred for a destroyed bottle? How could someone I once loved become this relentless force of vengeance? With my family's legacy teetering on the brink, I had no choice but to fight back, leveraging my last, priceless heirloom to re-enter a game I had to win.

I was Sarah Miller, a decorated SWAT captain who took a bullet for my partner, Mark, leaving me paralyzed. He swore to protect me, to cherish me. I believed him, even as I fought to recover in a rehab center. Then, flames erupted. Trapped in my room, I called Mark, expecting salvation. But his voice was different, cold. "Stop the drama, Sarah. Get yourself out," he said, before I heard her, Chloe, my physical therapist, pleading in the background. My husband chose his mistress over me, leaving me to burn. As black smoke consumed me, I watched, now a ghost, as Chloe immediately spun a web of lies, accusing me of starting the fire out of recklessness, even faking my escape. Mark, the man I saved, the man I married, stood by, silently endorsing her vile accusations, painting me as a fugitive arsonist. My reputation, my legacy, shattered. How could the man I loved, the partner whose life I saved, betray me so completely? The injustice seared deeper than the fire. To die a horrific death, then be slandered by the very people who abandoned you – it was a hell beyond imagination. But unseen, unheard, I watched as my former partner, Detective Maria Rodriguez, refused to believe their lies. She knew the true Sarah Miller. And now, she's digging, poised to unearth the truth from the ashes, and demand a reckoning.

My name is Sarah Miller. I aced the SATs, my ticket to Stanford and a full scholarship – it should have been the greatest triumph of my life, a hard-earned escape from a mother who despised me and a twin sister who envied my every success. But my mother, Karen, decided it was Jessie' s turn to shine. With a sneer, Jessie snatched my acceptance package, revealing their sinister plot: they' d forged documents, stealing my future and handing it to her. When I tried to fight back, they launched a vicious counter-attack. Faked photos of "me" at wild parties, half-naked and drunk, flooded the internet, all blurred just enough to frame me. My best friend, Ashley, then publicly testified to my "insanity" and "promiscuity" for a bribe. The school believed them. Stanford revoked my scholarship, citing "moral turpitude." I became a pariah, whispered about, pointed at, branded the "psycho slut." The injustice was a suffocating weight. How could my own family do this? How could everyone fall for their lies? The world collapsed, and I fell into the dark, cold river. But instead of an ending, I woke up. Back in my bed, on SAT exam day. My alarm clock blared 6:00 AM. I had a second chance. And this time, they wouldn't win.

The Hayes estate was a gilded cage, ruled by Eleanor’s barbaric decree: the first to conceive would be the next Mrs. Hayes. I was Sarah Walker, once a daughter of privilege, now just one of Ethan Hayes’s many diversions. Last time, I was the one who got pregnant first, and Tiffany, his supposed true love, faked her suicide. The day my son was born, Ethan dragged me from the hospital bed, forcing me to kneel at her elaborate, empty grave. He screamed that I’d stolen her place, driven her to despair, and destroyed everything my parents left me. He knew about my blood disorder, yet he carved into me, watching the life drain out. This life, I wouldn’t play their sick game. This time, I switched my urine sample with Tiffany’s, and her pregnancy was announced. Ethan’s face lit up with manic joy, and he demanded the biggest wedding for Tiffany. Everyone shot me pitying glances, but a small, polite smile played on my lips. I thought I was finally free. But I was pregnant. And my hidden child would trigger a new, terrifying nightmare that would force me to confront his monstrous cruelty.

After three years of marriage, she finally got pregnant. She thought she could live happily with him, but her husband wanted to divorce her and marry the murderer, who killed her parents. She was unwilling to divorce. However, her husband knocked her out, signed the divorce agreement, and married her enemy. She was disheartened and agreed to marry another man. Endless pain, but warmth lurked in it. She had planned to begin a new life, but a conspiracy was coming.

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."

"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."

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!"

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."

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.

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."

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.

The whispers said that out of bitter jealousy, Hadley shoved Eric's beloved down the stairs, robbing the unborn child of life. To avenge, Eric forced Hadley abroad and completely cut her off. Years later, she reemerged, and they felt like strangers. When they met again, she was the nightclub's star, with men ready to pay fortunes just to glimpse her elusive performance. Unable to contain himself, Eric blocked her path, asking, "Is this truly how you earn a living now? Why not come back to me?" Hadley's lips curved faintly. "If you’re eager to see me, you’d better join the queue, darling."

Blinded in a crash, Cary was rejected by every socialite—except Evelina, who married him without hesitation. Three years later, he regained his sight and ended their marriage. "We’ve already lost so many years. I won’t let her waste another one on me." Evelina signed the divorce papers without a word. Everyone mocked her fall—until they discovered that the miracle doctor, jewelry mogul, stock genius, top hacker, and the President's true daughter… were all her. When Cary came crawling back, a ruthless tycoon had him kicked out. "She's my wife now. Get lost."