Rafaela Kokkotou

I sat at a luxury restaurant, forced to listen to a man named Preston brag about his cars while my stepmother’s heel dug into my leg under the table. To the Montgomery family, I wasn't a daughter; I was just a mute doll being sold to a predator to settle their debts. When Preston’s damp hand landed on mine, I felt a surge of pure revulsion. I tried to bolt for the exit, but my father’s security team was already there, blocking the doors and sealing the perimeter to make sure I couldn't run. In a moment of total desperation, I saw Constantine Durham—the most dangerous man in Manhattan—walking toward the private rooms. I launched myself into his path, crashing into his chest and grabbing his lapels. "Help me." I mouthed the words, my voice locked by years of trauma. Constantine didn't push me away. Instead, he pulled me closer with a possessive grip and leaned into my ear. "Using me is expensive, Miss Montgomery." Within the hour, we were in a private hangar, signing a marriage certificate that turned me into a Durham. I thought the paper would be my shield, but when I got home, my father only laughed. He told me that if I didn't force my new husband to sign a massive funding deal, he would dig up my mother’s remains and toss them into a pauper's grave. I stared at the man who shared my DNA, feeling the last of my restraint snap. They thought my silence meant I was a victim, but they forgot I was the one who knew every dark secret hidden in their encrypted files. I opened my laptop to dismantle my father’s life, realizing as Constantine’s men stormed the estate that I hadn't just found a protector. I had jumped from a cage into a tiger's den, and the tiger was finally coming to collect his debt.

My husband, the Alpha, refused to mark me for three years, claiming he was waiting for the "perfect moment." Yet, he had no trouble claiming the "stray" rogue we took in. I found Alessandro in his study, mocking me as a cold "ice sculpture" while Aria sat in his lap. He didn't just give her his affection; he gave her my life. He cleared my sanctuary, the greenhouse, to plant cheap tulips for her. He drained the Pack's emergency funds to buy her a five-million-dollar necklace meant for a Luna. But the ultimate betrayal happened in the stables. My saddle snapped mid-jump. The fall shattered my leg, and the wound sizzled with liquid silver—sabotage meant to maim me permanently. When the evidence pointed to Aria, Alessandro didn't punish her. He ordered the evidence buried. He looked me in the eye and said a broken leg might finally teach me some humility. He destroyed my reputation to boost his own ego, protecting a woman who was actually sleeping with half his council behind his back. He thought I would break. He thought I would beg. Instead, I stood before the entire Pack, played the footage of his mistress's treason, and uttered the words that would destroy him. "I, Katarina De Luca, reject you."

At the auction, my husband raised his paddle and bid five million dollars on the only keepsake I had left of my dead mother. But he didn't buy the sapphire necklace for me. He handed the velvet box to his pregnant mistress, Mia, right in front of the entire New York underworld. When I reached for it, Mia faked a stumble. Dante moved with the speed of a predator. He shoved me hard to clear space for her. My body slammed into a marble pillar, shattering my hip, while he scooped her up and carried her out, stepping over my dress without a single glance. That was only the beginning. He forced me to drain my blood to save her during a false emergency. He exiled me to a freezing cabin with no heat, leaving me to be buried alive in an avalanche while he comforted her over a lie. Lying in the hospital bed after surviving the snow, I realized I no longer hated him. Hate is passion. Hate implies he still matters. I felt nothing but a cold, heavy silence. So when he finally left the house to hunt down the truth about Mia’s baby, I didn't wait for his apology. I left my wedding ring on the bathroom counter. I dropped my phone into a sewer grate. By the time the Dragon of New York realized his wife was gone, I was already in Seattle, painting a new life where monsters couldn't find me.

I was polishing a diamond engagement ring that cost more than a small island when I heard the truth. My fiancé, the ruthless Don Dante Moretti, was telling his mistress I was nothing more than a glorified bank account. But it wasn't until the accident that I understood the depth of his cruelty. While training in the estate gym, a support cable snapped. I fell twenty feet, shattering my leg on impact. Through the haze of blinding pain, I waited for Dante to save me. Instead, he rushed to his mistress, Livia—the woman who had cut the wire. He held her close, soothing her because the loud noise had "startled" her, while I lay broken and bleeding on the floor. "She won't die," I heard him whisper to her later. "Pain is a good teacher." My love for him turned to ice in that moment. He didn't just want my father's money; he was letting her plan my assassination to get it. They thought I was just a porcelain doll to be discarded once the wedding contracts were signed. They forgot that even a pawn can kill a king. I wiped the tears from my face and walked straight into the territory of the Valenti Syndicate—Dante's sworn enemy. "I don't want protection," I told the rival Don, placing the surveillance evidence on his table. "I want to burn his entire dynasty to the ground."

The air in the room was stale, thick with the smell of antiseptic and despair. They told me I was sick, that grief had broken my mind. My mother-in-law, Martha, would visit, her concern a chilling mask, whispering to doctors how I was hallucinating, a danger to myself and my son, Billy. "She doesn' t understand that David is gone," she' d insist, loud enough for me to hear. But the real horror wasn't my madness; it was the truth. Three days after my husband, David, a decorated police officer, was supposedly killed, I stood at his memorial, expected to mourn. The man in the casket wasn't David. It was Mark, his identical twin, missing the faded scar David always had. That night, I found David, not dead, but alive in our summer cabin, with his childhood sweetheart, Emily Peterson. He confessed it all with chilling indifference: Mark was killed in a shootout, and David seized the chance for a new life, free from me and Billy. "I never loved you," he said, as if explaining a simple math problem. "It was always Emily." I tried to tell everyone-his mother, his captain-but they looked at me with pity, already conditioned by Martha and David' s lies. They had me committed to a white room, and David married Emily. My four-year-old son, Billy, was left in their care, crying for me every night. Then came the unbearable news: Billy was dead, a "tragic accident" from an overdose of cough medicine. My world shattered. Desperate, I fashioned a noose, remembering Billy' s bright laugh, the life David had stolen. My only regret was that David would never face justice. I kicked the chair away. Darkness took me. Then, a blinding light, and I was back on my living room couch, the day David was supposedly killed. I wasn' t dead. I was back. Martha' s face, a mask of practiced sadness, now held a triumphant curl. I heard David' s voice from the hallway, "Is she stable?" "She' s fragile, but she bought it," Martha replied. "She' ll break, just like we planned. We' ll have her committed, and Billy will be ours." "Good," David said. "Make sure she doesn' t get near the body. Mark didn' t have my scar." This time, I was not the grieving widow. I was the executioner.

While struggling to get by, a call from an unknown New York number shattered my fragile sense of peace. It was Ethan Vance's assistant, inviting me to his foundation's gala-Ethan, my former guardian who had cruelly exiled me years ago, now pulling me back. Victoria, Ethan' s wife, immediately launched a campaign of humiliation, subtly branding me his "old ward" at the gala. She then systematically sabotaged my job search, slamming every door shut on my desperate attempts to rebuild my life. When I refused her massive bribe to disappear, a brutal fire tore through our apartment, leaving my daughter Lily in a hospital bed, gasping for air. Clutching my terrified Lily and battling my own PTSD flashbacks, I knew this wasn't an accident; the fire was no coincidence. This cold, calculated attack was all Victoria, who had effortlessly tried to destroy what little I had. How could a person be so merciless, deliberately endangering a child to eliminate me? I hugged Lily tight, promising, "Never. I will never let anything happen to you." Lying there, battered and bruised, my resolve hardened. I was through being a victim of his past or her present schemes. It was time to confront Ethan, expose his wife, and fight for the stable life Lily and I deserved.

My wedding day. Again. I stood there, a young woman forced into an arranged marriage, about to become Abigail Blackwood. In my previous life, a cold, brutal tyrant named Ethan, obsessed with a family vendetta, systematically destroyed everything and everyone I loved. I suffered silently with a terminal illness no one knew about, watching in agony as he engineered my beloved grandfather' s public humiliation and death, and as my sister Ellie endured a horrific abusive marriage that tragically cost her, and her unborn child, their lives. His cruelty knew no bounds: public shaming, forcing me to play piano until my fingers bled for his mistress's amusement, endless torment for every desperate plea. Overwhelmed by despair and humiliation, I chose to die by my own hand. But somehow, fate intervened. Here I am, back on our wedding day. And so is he. Ethan Blackwood remembers everything, just as I do. The monster who tormented me now acts kind, attentive, even regretful, desperately trying to atone. But my heart is a fortress of old wounds, my soul scarred by unimaginable pain. Can I ever trust him, or is this just another, more sophisticated game? This second chance is both a gift and a terrifying burden. I am determined to protect my family, to rewrite our tragic history, and to never again be the pawn in his brutal game. Can love truly blossom from such a foundation of hatred and despair?

Emily Callahan had finally done it. Full scholarship to the state university, a dream come true for her and a testament to her late father' s legacy, her mother Susan beaming with pride from their beloved Sunrise Cafe. But the aroma of coffee turned to the stench of fear when local crime boss Paddy O' Doyle, whose offers for the cafe were always refused, stormed in. What began as intimidation quickly became a brutal assault, leaving Susan battered and their cafe in ruins. This attack was no isolated incident; it was just the first domino. The police chief turned a blind eye, revealing a pervasive corruption that shielded the O' Doyles from justice. Emily' s scholarship was mysteriously revoked, her future snatched away. Then came the orchestrated smear campaign, turning the community against her, followed by a terrifying home invasion where her dog was brutally murdered and her father' s cherished Medal of Honor desecrated. Now, even her mother' s vital medical care was at risk. How could a hero' s family be so horribly betrayed and abandoned, their pleas for justice met with silence or outright hostility by the very system meant to protect them? The injustice burned, transforming her grief into a searing rage. With every official avenue blocked and nowhere left to turn, Emily clutched her father' s Medal of Honor, a symbol of everything good and true, and embarked on a desperate cross-country journey to seek out the only man who could possibly help: her father' s former commanding officer, a four-star General.

For 18 years, I quietly raised my twin sons, Alex and Ben, believing their father Mark and his mistress Brenda were dead. Now, with their Stanford acceptance, I planned a celebratory dinner, a culmination of my secret pride. But as the party peaked, the 'dead' burst in—Mark Thompson and Brenda Sullivan, arrogantly alive. Mark accused me of lies, Brenda feigned heartbreak, and he demanded I sign away my sons, seizing what he claimed was his. My bewildered sons watched their world crumble as Mark's family rallied behind him. With a steady hand, I signed the papers, feeling my boys' pain and disbelief. "Mom, no! How can you?" Alex cried. Everyone assumed I was broken, defeated. They saw a mother abandoning her children, a woman succumbing to the pressure. "You're just... giving us up?" Ben whispered, his eyes clouded with betrayal. The room buzzed with judgment. They had no idea this was just the first act of a meticulously planned retribution. "The party isn't over," I stated, a chilling smile on my face. As two young men, one dependent on a wheelchair, entered, I revealed their truth. "Mark, Brenda, meet Cody and Tyler Thompson. Your actual biological sons." My 18-year revenge was finally set into motion.

It was my 30th birthday, and I was patiently dining alone at a Michelin-star restaurant, waiting for my finance titan husband, Julian, to arrive. Suddenly, my phone screen flickered to life, displaying a TMZ headline that stopped my breath: "Julian Vance Spotted with Returning Socialite Chloe Sinclair – Old Flames Rekindled?" A video showed Julian, my husband, shielding Chloe from the rain and cameras, his arm protectively around her. Shock, cold and sharp, spread through me, as the bitter taste of betrayal filled my mouth. This wasn’t just a business meeting; it was a public declaration of his true affections. The table was set for two, but the untouched food grew cold as countless minutes ticked by, each one deepening the suffocating loneliness I felt. Five years. Five years I had spent waiting; five years I had been a placeholder for the woman he truly loved, the one he married me to forget. Then, a text from Julian cemented my despair: "Raincheck on birthday. Next year." There would be no next year for us. My quiet endurance finally gave way to a hardened resolve. I signaled the maître d', trading the lavish, uneaten meal for a sturdy umbrella. I walked out into the Manhattan rain, a clear decision forming in my mind: this was the end. But for me, it was also a new beginning.

It's been half a month since autumn started, and I've ordered milk tea seven times, all of which were stolen! I installed a doorbell camera and found out it was the girl from upstairs who casually took it. I mentioned it in the homeowners' group, and her parents immediately started cursing: "What kind of man drinks milk tea?! Ridiculous! You have no evidence and are just throwing around accusations. If you like the girl, just say it outright; your dirty mind is really disgusting!" I was furious, so I immediately bought another cup, drank it, filled it with cat litter mixed with water, and hung it back on the door.

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.

I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires. Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world. My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets. I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her. The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money. I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table. "Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead."

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.

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.

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?

"I will marry you. Wait for me!" Mabel woke up. She had that dream again. In her dream, a man said he would marry her. Just a dream. Five years ago, she was set up by her stepsister and became pregnant out of wedlock. She lost everything, including her baby. Five years later, she was forced to marry her stepsister's fiance, Jayden, who was sick and going to pass away. Having no choice, Mabel decided to marry Jayden, not expecting that Jayden was the man...

"Let's get married," Mia declares, her voice trembling despite her defiant gaze into Stefan's guarded brown eyes. She needs this, even if he seems untouchable. Stefan raises a skeptical brow. "And why would I do that?" His voice was low, like a warning, and it made her shiver even though she tried not to show it. "We both have one thing in common," Mia continues, her gaze unwavering. "Shitty fathers. They want to take what's ours and give it to who they think deserves it." A pointed pause hangs in the air. "The only difference between us is that you're an illegitimate child, and I'm not." Stefan studies her, the heiress in her designer armor, the fire in her eyes that matches the burn of his own rage. "That's your solution? A wedding band as a weapon?" He said ignoring the part where she just referred to him as an illegitimate child. "The only weapon they won't see coming." She steps closer, close enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume, gunpowder and jasmine. "Our fathers stole our birthrights. The sole reason they betrayed us. We join forces, create our own empire that'll bring down theirs." A beat of silence. Then, Stefan's mouth curves into something sharp. "One condition," he murmurs, closing the distance. "No divorces. No surrenders. If we're doing this, it's for life" "Deal" Mia said without missing a beat. Her father wants to destroy her life. She wouldn't give him the pleasure, she would destroy her life as she seems fit. ................ Two shattered heirs. One deadly vow. A marriage built on revenge. Mia Meyers was born to rule her father's empire (so she thought), until he named his bastard son heir instead. Stefan Sterling knows the sting of betrayal too. His father discarded him like trash. Now the rivals' disgraced children have a poisonous proposal: Marry for vengeance. Crush their fathers' legacies. Never speak of divorce. Whoever cracks first loses everything. Can these two rivals, united by their vengeful hearts, pull off a marriage of convenience to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs? Or will their fathers' animosity, and their own complicated pasts tear their fragile alliance apart?

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 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.