Qing He

I was forty-eight hours into my shift, smelling of stale sweat and clutching a red-stamped bill for my mother's life support. As a scholarship intern, I was a ghost in the hospital, working myself to the bone just to keep her ventilator humming. Then Dr. Thorne shoved a metal clipboard into my chest and ordered me to perform a surgical prep on a VIP patient for a circumcision. But the moment the cold betadine touched the man's skin, he lunged at me like a predator, his hand crushing my wrist until the bone nearly snapped. "I'm here for a kidney stone. What kind of incompetent butcher shop is this?" He wasn't a patient; he was Conrad Marks, a lethal billionaire, and Thorne had intentionally set me up to assault him. Within minutes, a five-million-dollar lawsuit was filed, and the Dean ordered security to shred my license and throw me out of the building. My phone buzzed with a final notice: the facility was stopping my mother's meds at midnight because my payment had failed. I was a doctor who had just been framed and a daughter about to watch her mother die. I didn't understand why Thorne would ruin me so casually, but with my mother's life on the line, I had nothing left to lose. I slipped past the guards and back into the billionaire's suite with a set of silver needles and a desperate bargain. I stopped his agony in seconds, and when he looked at me with those cold, lethal eyes, I offered a trade: I would be the fake girlfriend his family demanded if he would save my mother and bury the lawsuit. "Deal," he said, his grip on my waist tightening with dark possession. I signed the contract, realizing I hadn't just saved my career-I had sold my soul to the most dangerous man in New York.

My Coming of Age ceremony was supposed to be a coronation. Instead, it was a funeral for my heart. I stood shivering as Catalina, the woman trying to steal my place, pushed me into the stone pool. My heavy silk dress pulled me down like an anchor. I waited for Jax, the Alpha Heir and my Fated Mate, to save me. He did dive in—but not for me. He scooped up Catalina, who was standing in waist-deep water, treating her like a porcelain doll while I choked on the water. His voice exploded in my head, not with concern, but with disgust. "Stop embarrassing me, Eliana. You look pathetic." Things only got worse. When I confronted them later, Catalina shoved me down the grand staircase. My knee—my dancer’s knee—snapped with a sickening sound. Jax didn't call a doctor. He used the Alpha Command to force me to drag my broken body out of the room so I wouldn't "upset" his mistress. I thought he was just blinded by love, until I overheard him laughing with his Beta. He admitted he didn't love Catalina. He was just using her to break my spirit, to "tame" me into a submissive pet before finally marking me. He thought I was weak. He thought I would stay in the mud forever. He was wrong. I took a silver knife and scraped our carved initials off the Sacred Oak until my skin sizzled. I packed my bags for New York, severing the pack link that bound us. "Sleep well, Jax. Because when I come back, I won't be the girl you broke. I will be the nightmare you created."

For my entire life, I was the secret architect of my stepbrother Hector' s perfect world. As the CEO of our family's empire, I funded his every whim, letting him play the prince while I quietly ran the kingdom. That all ended the night his girlfriend-a bar manager I once hired-had me beaten in the cellar of my own hotel. She called me a charity case, a pathetic leech trying to mooch off his money. Then she and her guards cracked three of my ribs and demanded half a million dollars to let me go. All while Hector, the brother I had sacrificed everything for, ignored my desperate calls. He was too busy partying in the penthouse I paid for. When he finally learned what happened, he took her side. He called me a bitter old hag, a monster trying to ruin his happiness. The physical pain was nothing compared to the chilling realization that the man I had protected for decades was a parasite. Lying on that cold concrete floor, I understood. I wasn't just going to cut him off. I was going to burn his entire world to the ground, starting with the thirty-year-old secret of his birth that I had sworn to protect.

The video that destroyed my career was leaked by the man I loved, Adrian Hoffman. He did it so his childhood sweetheart, Ashley, could steal the promotion I had earned. But the betrayal was far more twisted than I could have imagined. I discovered that for three years, the man in my bed wasn't Adrian. It was his identical twin brother, Dean, playing a sick, cruel game. Their plot didn't stop there. They framed me for plagiarism, then held me down on a surgical table to forcibly harvest my skin for Ashley after she disfigured herself to set me up. They even had me thrown in a military prison on false charges. My career, my body, my freedom-all sacrificed for another woman's ambition. I was nothing but a pawn. So I vanished. I cut off all contact and fled to a war zone in Syria, vowing to never return.

The memory was seared into my brain. The stale air of the abandoned warehouse, the terrified breathing of the hostage, and the shrill, righteous voice of rookie Emily Davis. That was my first life, a life that ended in disgrace because of her. Emily insisted she could calm the kidnapper, disregarding my direct order to stay put. She broke formation, stepped into the open, and a single gunshot echoed. Chris Walker, a college kid with his whole life ahead of him, slumped to the floor. Then, Emily started to cry, loud, gut-wrenching wails, as if she were the biggest victim. Our colleagues rushed to her side, offering sympathy while I stared at the cooling body of Chris Walker. My rage, cold and hard, filled my chest. "You wanted to help? You got him killed. You broke every rule in the book." Emily looked up, her face a mask of tear-streaked innocence. "Why are you so mean, Sarah? I was just trying to save a life." She theatrically banged her head against the wall, whimpering, "It should have been me!" Lieutenant Miller, my superior, cradled her like a child, then turned his cold eyes on me. "Jenkins, what the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see she's suffering?" The department needed a scapegoat. The media was having a field day, and it was easier to blame the cold, no-nonsense veteran, Sarah Jenkins, than the sweet, innocent rookie who "just wanted to help." They threw me to the wolves. My career was ruined, my name was mud. I died with that weight on my soul. Until I opened my eyes. The same stale air. The same sense of dread. I was back in the warehouse, moments before everything went wrong. Emily Davis was repeating the exact same words, getting ready to make the same fatal mistake. But not this time.

My life with Mark was a fairy tale, or so I thought. We built a tech empire together, and he swore I was his destiny, strong enough to defy any pre-written fate. Then, one night, a fire broke out at our office. I was trapped, bleeding and broken, reaching out for him. He looked at me, his eyes met mine for a fleeting second, then he ran right past me. He scooped up Emily, our intern, who was barely in danger, and carried her to safety. He left me there, on the burning floor. I woke up in the hospital, my body shattered. Mark wasn't by my side. He was with Emily, in the VIP suite, making sure his "destined love" was comfortable. He sent his assistant to tell me I was being "dramatic" for even thinking of a divorce. Then Emily herself showed up, gloating, admitting she set the fire, and demanding my wedding ring. My heart didn't just break; it solidified into ice. How could the man who swore to protect me abandon me so completely? How could he believe such an obvious lie? And why did I let myself be fooled by a script I knew by heart? The pain was nothing compared to the rage that coursed through me. I looked at Jessica, my best friend, and told her to get my lawyer on the phone. I was done being the victim in their story. It was time to write my own ending, and it started with burning everything down.

The antiseptic smell stung my nose, and a dull ache pulsed behind my eyes as I woke up in a hospital bed. A sharp voice cut through the quiet: "She\'s awake. After all that drama, she finally decides to wake up." It was my adoptive mother, Helen, with my father, David, and then Liam, my husband, walked in. They weren\'t there for me; they were worried sick about Scarlett, my stepsister, who lay pale and fragile just a few rooms away. "You almost died trying to get Liam\'s attention again, " Helen sneered. "Are you happy now?" Liam, meanwhile, looked at me with chilling indifference before grabbing my arm and dragging me to donate blood for Scarlett. The nurses whispered about my supposed obsession, but their words meant nothing; the pain, the desperation, it was all gone. My amnesia had wiped the slate clean, and for the first time, I saw the truth: I was a burden, a wife Liam didn\'t want, an obligation they resented. And for the first time, I felt clarity, not sorrow. I picked up my phone, found a number, and then said, "I want a divorce. And I want to sever all ties with my adoptive parents, the Hayes family."

I woke to my mother' s voice, sharp with familiar anxiety, planning my twin sister Gabrielle' s future, a future she always expected to be hers. My phone confirmed an impossible truth: I was back. Back to the exact day it all went wrong. In my last life, this morning conversation led to a fight, my mother' s slap, and then a mysterious car crash that left me a ghost in a coma for years. While I lay dying, Gabrielle lived my life, taking my fellowship, marrying my intended, and becoming Congresswoman Johns. But this time, I wouldn't scream. I wouldn't beg for their love. Their casual betrayal, planning to steal my future right in front of me, solidified a cold resolve. Why did fate bring me back, only to relive this agonizing betrayal from my own family? What power could I possibly have against their ruthless ambition? I wouldn't let them steal my life again. The game had just begun, and this time, I was ready to play.

On our third wedding anniversary, I came home expecting celebration, not devastation. I found my husband, Anthony, in our bed with another woman, his young intern, Tiffany. He didn' t flinch, didn't apologize, but mocked me, offering an "open marriage" as if adultery was a new trend. As I walked away, their laughter followed, hammering nails into the coffin of my foolish dreams. But that was just the beginning of the nightmare; outside my family home, I overheard my father. He conspired with my stepmother, admitting he had "sold" me to Anthony, using my innocent high school diary entries to manipulate me into the marriage for his own financial gain. Then, my mother's precious heirlooms, pawned to pay my father's medical bills, were lost forever when the shop mysteriously burned down, a fire orchestrated by Anthony himself. When I nearly died from an allergic reaction, deliberately triggered by Tiffany, Anthony, witnessing my collapse, simply wrapped his arm around her and walked away. My world shattered, piece by agonizing piece, leaving me with nothing but betrayal and ashes. How could the man I loved, and my own father, be so utterly devoid of humanity? This wasn't just a breakup; it was a reckoning. And I was about to turn my brokenness into an unstoppable force.

He was my Liam, my childhood sweetheart, the one who knew every detail about me, including my life-threatening nut allergy. We were the town' s golden couple, our future an unspoken fact. Then Chloe arrived, his "new girl," and he threw her a lavish party at his family's lake house. The heavy scent of roasted almonds and pecan pie filled the air-a deliberate choice, it seemed, from the caterer specializing in nut-based dishes. When I started to feel sick, he was too busy showing off his new obsession. Later, as I fumbled for my EpiPen, collapsing from a severe allergic reaction triggered by a pistachio macaron Chloe "innocently" offered, Liam chose to prioritize her comfort over my life, sending Chloe home first while I was rushed to the emergency room. I woke up to my grandmother's furious whisper: "He left you for her." Sixteen years of an unspoken promise, shattered by blatant negligence and utter disregard. So when my grandmother, with steel in her voice, proposed a marriage of convenience to Julian Vance, a man I barely knew, I saw only one path forward. "Okay," I heard myself say. "Set it up." This time, I' d choose my own destiny.

I woke up to sunlight, a normal morning, but my heart hammered. Today was the day my little brother Sam died on the football field. I' d lived through this nightmare once before, watched my family crumble, and been blamed for everything. Then, the crack of impact, Sam falling, not getting up. Just like before. This time, instead of running to his side, I turned and walked away. A wave of nausea hit me, but also a desperate hope: I wouldn' t be the scapegoat again. The blame started instantly. My mother, Dr. Eleanor Vance, chief of surgery, was furious. Not because Sam was dying, but because I hadn't called her immediately. Her priority? A Napa wine tasting with Chloe, who, as always, was whispering poison in her ear. While Sam fought for his life, Mom and Chloe sent photos of clinking wine glasses and luxury shopping. How could a mother choose a spa day over her dying son? How could Chloe, the "hero" whose parents supposedly died saving Sam, be so cruel? This wasn't just neglect; something was deeply, horribly wrong. Sam died. And this time, my father saw it all. He pointed at my mother, his voice raw with agony and rage: "You killed our son." With that truth laid bare, the lies of my family began to unravel. I had to expose the dark secrets behind Sam's death, no matter who stood in my way.

My annual ski trip to Aspen, a much-anticipated escape with my CEO wife, Sophia, was perfectly planned. Then her voice, tight and unfamiliar, claimed a critical server had fried, grounding her to save our flagship game, 'Odyssey,' demanding my understanding and sacrifice. But a shaky Instagram video from Caleb, our eager intern, instantly shattered her fabricated crisis: Sophia, ridiculous in a VR headset, was actually flailing joyfully in Montana, her "work crisis" a lie to promote his personal outreach project. My sarcastic online comment about her "professional" immersive experience ignited instant chaos in the studio Slack, culminating in Sophia’s furious call and a scathing lecture about my "privilege" and "embarrassing" her "initiative-taking" intern from a "poor family." As her parents later openly admired the smug Caleb, who brazenly flaunted my cherished Porsche – a symbol of *my* hard-won success she’d gifted *him* – a profound, chilling realization settled: I had been the oblivious architect of a life built entirely on her deceit, a convenient pawn in her meticulously crafted public image. Every belittling remark, every false praise, every personal sacrifice I made for "our" company now twisted into a bitter, humiliating mockery, fueling a quiet, venomous rage. How could she so easily abandon our shared dreams, manipulate my trust so callously, and replace me with such an unqualified, arrogant charlatan, while demanding *I* clean up *his* mess? With a final, defiant "No" echoing in the tense silence, I severed the call, blocked her number, and decided that the abandoned Thanksgiving turkey could rot for all I cared: it was time to ignite a new chapter, free from her destructive shadow.

Cecilia contracted with Shaw, the arrogant CEO, to earn the money her mother’s operation needed. She was asked to do nothing but be his girlfriend in the public. However, he wanted her to be his real beloved, in every aspect. In front of her rival in love and stepmother, he officially introduced her as his honey. To be with her, he changed his domineering and indifferent temperament. As long as she was with him, she would always feel at ease. He spoiled her like a treasure and loved her to the bone.

Today is October 14th, my birthday. I returned to New York after months away, dragging my suitcase through the biting wind, but the VIP pickup zone where my husband’s Maybach usually idled was empty. When I finally let myself into our Upper East Side penthouse, I didn’t find a cake or a "welcome home" banner. Instead, I found my husband, Caden, kneeling on the floor, helping our five-year-old daughter wrap a massive gift for my half-sister, Adalynn. Caden didn’t even look up when I walked in; he was too busy laughing with the girl who had already stolen my father’s legacy and was now moving in on my family. "Auntie Addie is a million times better than Mommy," my daughter Elara chirped, clutching a plush toy Caden had once forbidden me from buying for her. "Mommy is mean," she whispered loudly, while Caden just smirked, calling me a "drill sergeant" before whisking her off to Adalynn’s party without a second glance. Later that night, I saw a video Adalynn posted online where my husband and child laughed while mocking my "sensitive" nature, treating me like an inconvenient ghost in my own home. I had spent five years researching nutrition for Elara’s health and managing every detail of Caden’s empire, only to be discarded the moment I wasn't in the room. How could the man who set his safe combination to my birthday completely forget I even existed? The realization didn't break me; it turned me into ice. I didn't scream or beg for an explanation. I simply walked into the study, pulled out the divorce papers I’d drafted months ago, and took a black marker to the terms. I crossed out the alimony, the mansion, and even the custody clause—if they wanted a life without me, I would give them exactly what they asked for. I left my four-carat diamond ring on the console table and walked out into the rain with nothing but a heavily encrypted hard drive. The submissive Mrs. Holloway was gone, and "Ghost," the most lethal architect in the tech world, was finally back online to take back everything they thought I’d forgotten.

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."

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."

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."

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."

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.

Sophie stepped in for her sister and married a man known for his disfigured looks and reckless past. On their wedding day, his family turned their backs on him, and the town laughed behind their hands, certain the marriage would collapse. But Sophie's career soared, and their love only deepened. Later, during a high-profile event, the CEO of some conglomerate took off his mask, revealing Sophie's husband to be a global sensation. *** Adrian had no interest in his arranged wife and had disguised himself in hopes she would bail. But when Sophie tried to walk away, Adrian broke down and whispered, "Please, Sophie, don't go. One kiss, and I'll give you the world."

Two years of marriage left Brinley questioning everything, her supposed happiness revealed as nothing but sham. Abandoning her past for Colin, she discovered only betrayal and a counterfeit wedding. Accepting his heart would stay frozen, she called her estranged father, agreeing to the match he proposed. Laughter followed her, with whispers of Colin's power to toss her aside. Yet, she reinvented herself-legendary racer, casino mastermind, and acclaimed designer. When Colin tried to reclaim her, another man pulled Brinley close. "She's already carrying my child. You can't move on?"