Monalisa Andres

I took a deep breath before slowly opening my eyes. I was wearing a white gown that hugged my body, making me look even more beautiful. I glanced at the bouquet of white flowers in my hand and smiled before walking into the garden. I was amazed because the theme of our wedding was in my favorite color, and there were butterflies happily flying around. I was happy because the family of the man I had dreamed of accepted me. They wanted our wedding, even though it was sudden, and I was happy despite it being an arranged marriage in an unexpected situation. I thought this only happened to rich people, but I was wrong because it happened to me too. If only I could scream and shout that I am the luckiest woman in the world because the man I once dreamed of is now mine. "Love is a choice," he said, so I trusted him a lot, but he had one request for the right time. There was no problem because he was mature enough when it came to relationships, and we loved each other. But fate is truly deceptive because a time came when many "what if" questions flooded my mind. What if I couldn't fulfill his one request and dream? What if his former lover could give it to him instead? What if I saw him happy with her because of that dream? Can I stay with him even if he says he loves me but prioritizes her? What if fate tests us, and even though we love each other, he chooses her because that's what he's making me feel now? "I don't want to hurt you, but they are my family now," he said seriously, and I lowered my head and cried in front of him. I could still hold on, but I could feel that he didn't want to anymore. Should I still fight for him even though it hurts so much? I wondered. "Do you want me to leave?" I asked bravely, hoping he would say no, but I was wrong. "If that's what's best. Leave," he said for the last time and hurriedly turned his back on me. I couldn't do anything but cry and cry, so I made a decision. "For the sake of your dream, I'll do it," I said softly and started packing my things. I hope you'll be happy when the time comes that fate brings us together again. I'm Christian Rana Reyes. And he is Frank Lin Mondragon.

He had really prepared for this day; today, he would finally confess his love to her. "Sorry, Melvin, I don't want anything from you." I felt as if the ground had fallen away beneath me after he spoke. Immediately, we heard a scream in the distance. And I knew who it was-none other than Augusto Guillermo, the man who captivated all the girls at school. There wasn't a girl who didn't like him, while we boys were constantly overshadowed because of him. "Why is he here again? Isn't he rich? Why choose to study here?" "Tsk! There he goes again, your annoying hero!" said the guy next to me. "Oh, don't expect your Chelsea to respond to you! As long as that man is around, none of the girls here will like us," I muttered, left alone, glaring at Augusto. He should disappear from this school. He gets all the attention; besides being handsome, he's also smart and is likely to be the top student next semester. Suddenly, he had a thought, and from that moment, he knew he would regret it. He discovered that the man was ruthless, as he had seen him tormenting his classmates who had spoken ill of him earlier. What was even worse was catching him in a compromising position with someone, a girl who looked like the school president. That was the result of his surveillance and the trauma it caused him because of the sickening things he saw. He gathered evidence and spread it all over campus, causing a big commotion. What will happen when Augusto finds out that he was the one who spread the rumors? Will his quiet life end, or will everything remain a secret? Stay tuned.

"Ahhh! No! Don't kill me! Don't..." Sweat poured and Shu trembled due to the multitude of imaginations swirling in his mind at that moment. They had just finished the betrothal wedding and were currently gathered for dinner. While eating, he couldn't help but think of various things, especially knowing that he would be joining his husband after they finished eating. "Hays, erase! Erase! What am I thinking! He probably isn't that aggressive. Besides, I'm still a minor and this is just a pre-wedding. He probably won't force me to do anything with him tonight!" With that thought, his hands shook as he clutched his dress under the table, which was noticed by the man beside him who then smirked. He flinched slightly when the man suddenly leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Relax, I'm not your groom, Miss. Your groom couldn't attend today's wedding." Confusion replaced the fear and anxiety that had enveloped her when she heard what the man, who had exchanged rings with her earlier, said. "A-aren't you Mr. Griffin?" "No, Ma'am. I'm Lieutenant Carber, the General's right-hand man. I was instructed to represent him." "W-what?!" "You heard right, Ma'am. He was busy and couldn't attend. However, he did leave instructions regarding what you should do now that the wedding is over." "Huh! I can't believe it, he really might be the demon they say he is! I was wondering why this man seems kind and doesn't look like a demon, turns out he's not really the infamous demon general who will be my husband!" she blurted out in frustration. "Did you say something?" Lieutenant Carber asked as he finished talking to other people at the table. Shu smiled falsely and shook her head at the still serious lieutenant. "Hays, if my twin wasn't sick, I wouldn't have agreed to marry that general! So mysterious, he might be ugly and old like they say, and on top of that, he's supposedly Lucifer's nephew who lost two wives already! Omg wait! What if he's the reason for their deaths like they say? Grr, scary!" She hugged herself and whispered with her eyes closed in fear. "I-if that's the case, when will I ever see and meet him. Hays, that demon General!" Background of the Story Shu had been married for four years to a man she had never seen or heard speak. She wasn't supposed to be the one to marry him, but rather the only daughter of a wealthy family where her mother worked. It's a complicated story; all she knew was that she woke up married to a man she didn't know. All she knew was that he had a high status and was a General, protector of the only child of the country's first family. From what she heard, he was cruel, strict, and had a terrifying aura. Despite the fear she felt, she still awaited the day she would finally see and meet him.

"Mr. Walter" I came back to my trance when sir called me, I just now noticed that they were all looking at me. "Huh?" I only said and put the ballpoint pen they were playing with on the table. "Any suggestions?" sir asked with raised eyebrows. "U-uh nothing" I sat down properly and adjusted myself. Gosh I'm spacing out. "Are you sure Mr.?" I turned to the speaker. I grinned when I saw who it was. "I'm sure Mr. Sunday" I said with a smile, as if our old man thought I didn't know him. He grinned at me and winked‚ meet Mr. Mon Sunday he is sir phayu's business partner and he is also one of the business tycoons‚ he is not just any business tycoon because he is one of the leaders of a gang called the DHS GANG‚ meaning. Dr*gs Hot S*x‚ this gang led by our old man is an illegal. you want to know why? they are the ones who transport the women, they kidnap the women and take them to other countries to be sold and made into wives by the mafia. And their gang is also the one that brings drugs into the Philippines. no one knows behind the mask that mr. Sunday‚ he has a good posture and he is also one of the people who look up to him as a good model‚ who knows? that all his stench is hidden behind that mask. "Goodbye‚ mr" said goodbye to mr. dominggo and patted my shoulder, our old grandson enjoyed hitting me..

On our third anniversary, my husband canceled our dinner, claiming a sudden work emergency. I tracked his phone to an exclusive French restaurant, only to find him tenderly fastening a blessed bracelet—one I had flown across the world to get for him—onto his college ex-girlfriend's wrist. The sheer shock triggered a violent placental abruption. Bleeding out in my car just across the street, I frantically called his number. Through the window, I watched him glance at his screen, frown in annoyance, and press decline to focus on his lover. While I was wheeled into a freezing operating room for an emergency C-section utterly alone, he took his mistress back to our marital bed. He didn't even bother to check if I was alive, completely oblivious that our premature daughter was fighting for her life in the NICU. I soon discovered our entire marriage was a sham. He had used my family's wealth to save his company, and now he was trading me to secure a massive business deal with his ex's father. The man I loved didn't exist; he only saw me as a disposable asset. "I'm going to make him wish he had never been born." After secretly securing my baby in a private retreat, I ordered a medical-grade silicone pregnancy belly to hide my flat stomach. I stepped back into our penthouse, ready to burn his precious empire to the ground.

I was an intern nurse working exhausting shifts, yet my mother constantly forced me into blind dates with wealthy, arrogant men to secure our family's social standing. During a terrifying hospital lockdown, an assassin disguised as a doctor held a scalpel to my throat. I was almost killed, but a high-ranking military colonel threw his own body down a flight of concrete stairs to shield me. I survived with cuts and bruises, but when I went home, my mother didn't care about my near-death experience. She was only furious that I had rushed out on my blind date with Preston, a rich financial analyst. She forced me to meet him to apologize. When Preston grabbed my arm, bruised me, and mocked my attack as a pathetic lie, my mother still took his side. "Men get angry," she told me coldly. "It's your job not to provoke them. You will beg for his forgiveness, or you are no longer welcome in this house." I had narrowly escaped an assassin, yet my own family was willing to feed me to a monster just for a fat paycheck and neighborhood gossip. My heart went completely dead. So, when the intimidating Colonel appeared, offering me maximum military protection through a sudden marriage, I didn't hesitate. I walked back into my parents' house and calmly slapped a crisp marriage certificate onto the coffee table. "I won't be apologizing to Preston. I got married today."

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch-a titan of industry and my best friend's father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

As I lay on the floor of our manor, bleeding out from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, I used my last ounce of strength to call my husband, Cole. I begged him for help, my vision blurring. But the only thing I heard was the clinking of champagne glasses and his mistress's giggle in the background. "Stop the drama, June," Cole snapped, his voice cold. "We're about to go on stage. Don't call again." He hung up, leaving me to die alone on the Persian rug while he accepted an award with another woman on his arm. I woke up in the hospital days later. My baby was gone. They had removed my fallopian tube. Cole finally arrived, smelling of expensive scotch and his mistress's perfume. He didn't hug me. He didn't cry. Instead, he leaned over my hospital bed, pressing his knee into the mattress until my fresh stitches tore open and bled. "You embarrassed me by calling an ambulance," he hissed. "My mistress, Alycia, says you're faking it. Clean yourself up." He left me bleeding again to go announce a $10 million donation to Alycia's "groundbreaking" medical research. I stared at the TV screen, numb. The research Alycia was taking credit for? It was mine. I wrote that patent years ago under a pseudonym. They thought I was just a poor, orphan housewife who needed Cole's money to survive. They had no idea I was actually a billionaire scientist hiding my identity. I pulled the IV needle out of my arm. A drop of blood fell onto the divorce papers I had been hiding. I didn't wipe it off. I signed my name right over it. Then I walked into the bank, reactivated my dormant account with $128 million, and bought the penthouse directly overlooking Cole's house. The mourning widow is dead. The avenger is born.

For three years, Cali Sullivan abandoned her brilliant tech career to be the quiet, accommodating wife of billionaire Halsey Donovan. But on her thirtieth birthday, she returned to their London mansion only to find it empty. The housekeeper, looking at her with deep pity, revealed that Halsey had taken his female friend, Brittaney, out shopping to celebrate her birthday instead. He had even taken their young daughter, Lily, with them. When Cali called him, Halsey coldly dismissed her, his attention entirely on Brittaney's bright laughter in the background. The crushing blow came the next morning when Cali stood outside Lily's bedroom and overheard her own daughter's innocent wish. "I wish Auntie Brittaney could be my new mommy. I think Daddy would like that, too." Later that afternoon, Cali saw them through the window of a private club. Halsey was wiping a smudge from Lily's face with a tender focus he never showed his wife, while Brittaney casually fed him cake. They looked like the perfect, happy family. All of Cali's desperate love and sacrifices felt like a cruel joke. She had been entirely erased from her own family. In that moment, the agonizing pain just stopped, replaced by a cold, absolute clarity. Cali drafted a divorce agreement waiving every cent of his wealth, left her platinum wedding rings on the nightstand, and booked a one-way flight back to New York. She was no longer Mrs. Donovan; it was time to get her real name back.

I woke up on silk sheets that smelled of expensive cedar and cold sandalwood, a world away from my cramped apartment in Brooklyn. Beside me lay Ezra Gardner-my boss, the billionaire CEO of Gardner Holdings, and the man who could end my career with a snap of his fingers. He didn't offer an apology for the night before; instead, he looked at me with terrifying clarity and proposed a cold, calculated business arrangement. "Marriage. It stabilizes the board and solves the PR crisis before it begins." He dressed me in archival Chanel and sent me home in his Maybach, but my life was already falling apart. My boyfriend, Irving, claimed he had passed out early, yet his location data placed him at my best friend's apartment until three in the morning. When I tried to run, I realized Ezra was already ten steps ahead, tracking my movements and uncovering the secret I'd spent twenty years hiding: my connection to the powerful Senator Grimes. I was trapped between a CEO who treated me like a line item on a quarterly report and a boyfriend who had been using me while sleeping with my closest friend. I felt like a pawn in a game I didn't understand, wondering why a man like Ezra would walk up forty flights of stairs on a broken leg just to make sure I was safe. "Showtime, Mrs. Gardner." Standing on the red carpet in a gown that cost more than my life, I watched my cheating ex-boyfriend's face turn pale as Ezra claimed me in front of the world. I wasn't just an assistant anymore; I was a weapon, and it was time to burn their world down.

Ava had been married to Wall Street titan Damian Carlisle for three years, an orphan chosen by his late grandmother solely to provide an heir. But at the matriarch's funeral, Damian stood intimately before the flashing cameras with his childhood sweetheart, Isabelle. The entire elite family deliberately excluded Ava, leaving her standing alone in the shadows. The guests whispered about how perfect Damian and Isabelle looked together, completely ignoring the actual wife standing right there. To Damian, Ava was nothing more than a piece of inherited furniture he didn't know where to place. Realizing she was just a discarded placeholder, Ava quietly left the estate and sent him divorce papers. But Isabelle secretly intercepted the legal documents to keep Damian in the dark. Enraged when he finally discovered her escape, Damian tracked Ava down to her shabby Brooklyn rental. He smashed through her door, physically dragged her out in the middle of the night, and forced her back to the sprawling estate. He installed new locks on the reinforced windows, pinned her to the bed, and coldly commanded her to fulfill her biological duty. "You owe this family, Ava. You were given everything, and this is how you will repay that debt." Trapped in the dark, a chilling despair washed over her as she realized a piece of paper could never free her. Against his absolute wealth and power, her rights and her tears meant absolutely nothing. But as her gaze fell on the corporate financial reports she had been secretly analyzing, her fear vanished. If the law couldn't beat him, she would use the only language he understood. She would accept the executive position at his rival's firm, dismantle his empire piece by piece, and personally ruin him.

I woke up from a coma in the hospital, universally condemned as the vicious daughter who pushed the beloved fake heiress, Georgina, down the stairs. My ruthless billionaire brother, Angelo, stood over my bed with cold eyes, ready to destroy me for hurting his precious sister. But as I looked at him, a terrifying prophecy from my coma flooded my brain. Our entire family was doomed. In the original timeline, Georgina would team up with corporate rivals to bankrupt the company, frame Angelo, and send him to federal prison, while our parents would abandon me to die miserably. Lying there, I didn't dare speak. I just desperately cursed my idiot brother in my head. "This stupid brother is still yelling at me for that fake heiress. He doesn't even know he's going to be framed and sent to prison next month!" I just wanted to stay quiet, let them ruin themselves, and run away from this toxic family. But strangely, Angelo didn't strangle me. Instead, his attitude took a shocking turn. He abruptly fired the driver plotting to kill him, destroyed the abusive fiancé of a family ally, and publicly humiliated Georgina at a high-society gala. He even shielded me from our abusive parents, declaring to the world that I was the only sister he would ever protect. I was completely terrified and confused. Why was the tyrant brother suddenly acting like a protective beast? It wasn't until he flawlessly crushed a massive corporate attack using the exact financial secrets I had just complained about in my mind that a horrifying realization hit me. He could hear my inner thoughts!

On the night before her wedding, Navia Harrison discovers her fiancé in bed with her step-sister-and worse, the two of them are already planning how to get rid of her after the marriage. Humiliated and consumed by hatred, Navia exposes their affair during the wedding ceremony itself, destroying both families' reputations in a single move. Then, she meets him. Leonel Crawford - the cold and dangerously powerful head of the Crawford family. Untouchable. Ruthless. A man no woman has ever been able to keep close. He's also her ex-fiancé's uncle. One impulsive proposal changes everything. "If you need a wife... marry me instead." "Honestly... we'd make a pretty good match."

Elaine woke up with a splitting hangover after a wild one-night stand, desperate to just sneak out and forget it ever happened. But when the man beside her shifted in his sleep, her blood ran cold. It was Alaric Caldwell—the notoriously ruthless billionaire, her best friend's terrifying uncle, and the very man who had caught their respective fiancés cheating together six months ago. Panic-stricken, Elaine fled the hotel and anonymously couriered him $5,000 to buy his silence, only to discover her controlling father had just frozen her entire trust fund. Things spiraled out of control when she arrived at her office to find that Alaric had just taken over as the new CEO. He immediately summoned her to his top-floor office, trapping her against the wall. Slowly unbuttoning his shirt, he revealed the deep, angry scratch marks she had left on his back the night before. "Does this look like a mistake, Elaine?" He threatened to fire her and ruin her career if she dared to walk out the door. Elaine was trembling with sheer terror and confusion. She had insulted a ruthless tycoon by paying him off like a cheap gigolo. Why was he cornering a junior employee? Why didn't he just bury this scandal like he always did? Instead of handing her a termination letter, Alaric locked his cold, calculating eyes on hers and dropped a demand that shattered her reality. "Marry me."