/1/101394/coverbig.jpg?v=9532f90e9932899ba343f7cb14147540)
For three years, I was Colton's hands and feet. I wiped the sweat from his brow and taught him to walk again after the accident that nearly killed him. He promised me a future. But the moment his ex-girlfriend, Charlie, returned from Paris, I became nothing. "She was just the crutch I needed to walk to you," I heard him tell her. At his recovery party, Charlie shattered his late father's cherished wooden puzzle box and blamed me. She shrieked that I had poisoned her soup out of jealousy. Colton didn't hesitate. He didn't check the security footage. He didn't ask for the truth. He gripped my jaw, his fingers digging into my cheeks, and forced the scalding broth down my throat. "Eat it! Prove you're not crazy!" He roared while I choked on blood and blisters, the hot liquid searing my skin. He chose the woman who abandoned him over the woman who saved his life. I took the severance check, deleted every photo, and vanished into the night. Six months later, I was accepting an award for my new rehabilitation clinic in Australia, wearing a diamond ring given to me by a man who treats my scars like gold. Colton stood in the back of the auditorium, looking like a ghost. He had finally discovered that Charlie was a fraud who faked her "spiritual journey" to get illegal plastic surgery. He came to beg for forgiveness. But when our eyes met, I didn't feel anger. I didn't feel love. I turned my back on him and walked into the light.
Contents
Chapter 1
For three years, I was Colton's hands and feet. I wiped the sweat from his brow and taught him to walk again after the accident that nearly killed him.
He promised me a future.
But the moment his ex-girlfriend, Charlie, returned from Paris, I became nothing.
"She was just the crutch I needed to walk to you," I heard him tell her.
At his recovery party, Charlie shattered his late father's cherished wooden puzzle box and blamed me. She shrieked that I had poisoned her soup out of jealousy.
Colton didn't hesitate. He didn't check the security footage. He didn't ask for the truth.
He gripped my jaw, his fingers digging into my cheeks, and forced the scalding broth down my throat.
"Eat it! Prove you're not crazy!"
He roared while I choked on blood and blisters, the hot liquid searing my skin. He chose the woman who abandoned him over the woman who saved his life.
I took the severance check, deleted every photo, and vanished into the night.
Six months later, I was accepting an award for my new rehabilitation clinic in Australia, wearing a diamond ring given to me by a man who treats my scars like gold.
Colton stood in the back of the auditorium, looking like a ghost. He had finally discovered that Charlie was a fraud who faked her "spiritual journey" to get illegal plastic surgery.
He came to beg for forgiveness.
But when our eyes met, I didn't feel anger. I didn't feel love.
I turned my back on him and walked into the light.
Chapter 1
Aminda POV
Three years of my life-one thousand and ninety-five days of devotion-evaporated in the span of a single sentence overheard through a crack in the mahogany door.
"She was just the crutch I needed to walk to you, Charlie."
I stood frozen in the hallway, a tray of Colton's favorite organic kale smoothies trembling violently in my hands.
Just an hour ago, I was the woman who had dabbed the feverish sweat from his brow, held him when he screamed from the white-hot agony of nerve regeneration, and declined a triple-salary offer from a prestigious clinic in Zurich just to see his rehabilitation through to the end.
I thought I was his savior.
I'd foolishly convinced myself I was his future.
Only yesterday, during a grueling session on the parallel bars, his legs had given out. I had caught him, my small frame buckling under his inert weight. We had sunk to the floor together, his heavy, ragged breathing mixing with mine. He had reached up, his calloused thumb brushing the tears from my under-eye.
"When you get me walking again, Aminda," he had whispered, his voice rough with a vulnerability he showed no one else, "I owe you a future."
That sentence had been the fuel that kept me burning the midnight oil, researching experimental nerve therapies until my vision blurred.
Now, standing outside his study, that fuel turned into acid in my veins.
"Don't be cruel, Colt," a male voice laughed. It was Jayden, his best friend. "Aminda gave up everything for you."
"I'm grateful," Colton's voice was crisp, devoid of the warmth that had enveloped me just yesterday. "But gratitude isn't love. Charlie is coming back. Tonight. At the recovery party. I'm going to announce it properly."
"You're bringing Charlie Mack? The woman who dumped you when you crashed the car?" Isaias asked, sounding incredulous. "And you're doing this in front of Aminda?"
"Aminda is a professional," Colton said. The dismissal in his tone was sharper than a scalpel, cutting me to the bone. "She knows her place. She's a therapist. Charlie is... Charlie is the only woman I've ever seen in my future. Tonight is about reclaiming my life. My real life."
My grip failed.
The tray slipped from my fingers.
It didn't crash to the floor. I managed to catch it against my hip in a clumsy reflex, but the smoothie splashed over my pristine white uniform, staining it a grotesque green.
My ears rang-a high-pitched, deafening whine that drowned out the world.
He didn't love me. He didn't even see me.
I was just the mechanic fixing the car so he could drive it to another woman's house.
I turned and ran.
I didn't care about the stain. I didn't care about the party starting in three hours.
I sprinted down the long, marble corridor of the estate that had been my home for three years. My breath hitched in my throat, jagged and painful, like swallowing glass.
I burst out the side door into the garden, blinded by hot tears.
The toe of my sneaker caught on a loose paving stone.
I went down hard. My knees slammed into the gravel, the skin tearing instantly.
I sat there, gasping for air, staring at the blood welling up through the fabric of my torn leggings. The sting in my knees was grounding, a sharp physical counterpoint to the hollowed-out ruin of my chest.
A flash of memory hit me. The first time I massaged his atrophied calves. He had looked at me with such intense self-hatred, and I had smiled, promising him he would run again. I fell in love with his brokenness because I thought I was the one healing it.
What a joke.
I dragged myself up, forcing my trembling legs to move, and limped to the guest cottage where I stayed.
Inside, I went straight to the drawer I hadn't opened in months. There, buried under a stack of medical journals, was a check. Five million dollars. Signed by Esther Carlton, Colton's mother.
"Take it and leave when he's better," she had said, her voice cold and transactional. "He won't marry help."
I had been so insulted then. Now, I just felt numb.
I picked up the check.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand. A text from Colton.
Party starts at 7. Make sure you're dressed. Charlie is arriving at 7:15. I want you to ensure her seating is comfortable.
He was asking me to serve the woman he was replacing me with.
I looked at the mirror. My face was pale, eyes red-rimmed. I looked like a ghost haunting my own life.
On the dresser sat a cheap plastic hair clip. It was the only thing he had ever given me-a dollar-store trinket he bought from a street vendor during our first wheelchair outing because the wind was blowing my hair in his face. I had treated it like a diamond.
I picked it up.
I squeezed my hand. Harder.
The plastic snapped with a sharp, violent crack.
Shards dug into my palm. I didn't let go. I squeezed until a drop of blood welled up and dripped onto the pristine wooden floor.
Outside, the sound of the orchestra tuning up for the party drifted through the window. Laughter. Champagne corks popping.
He was celebrating his future.
I looked at the broken plastic in my bloody hand.
I would go to the party. But not to serve Charlie Mack.
I would go to say goodbye to the last three years of my stupidity.
View More Comments on App
Other books by Gavin
More/0/91560/coverbig.jpg?v=72de5c3d18fcb0abb43cb70fe08e857b)
The 100-Point Divorce Plan
RomanceFor three years, I documented the slow death of my marriage in a black journal. It was my 100-point divorce plan: for every time my husband, Blake, chose his first love, Ariana, over me, I deducted points. When the score hit zero, I would leave. The final points vanished the night he left me bleeding out from a car crash. I was eight weeks pregnant with the child we had prayed for. In the ER, the nurses frantically called him-the star surgeon of the very hospital I was dying in. "Dr. Santos, we have a Jane Doe, O-negative, bleeding out. She's pregnant, and we're about to lose them both. We need you to authorize an emergency blood transfer." His voice came over the speaker, cold and impatient. "I can't. My priority is Miss Whitfield. Do what you can for the patient, but I can't divert anything right now." He hung up. He condemned his own child to death to ensure his ex-girlfriend had resources on standby after a minor procedure.
/0/97678/coverbig.jpg?v=a2818bd0947870296067ac8c551ded7c)
The Ninety-Ninth Goodbye
Young AdultThe ninety-ninth time Jax Little broke my heart was the last time. We were the golden couple of Northgate High, our future perfectly mapped out for UCLA. But in our senior year, he fell for a new girl, Catalina, and our love story became a sick, exhausting dance of his betrayals and my empty threats to leave. At a graduation party, Catalina "accidentally" pulled me into the pool with her. Jax dove in without a second's hesitation. He swam right past me as I struggled, wrapped his arms around Catalina, and pulled her to safety. As he helped her out to the cheers of his friends, he glanced back at me, my body shivering and my mascara running in black rivers. "Your life isn't my problem anymore," he said, his voice as cold as the water I was drowning in. That night, something inside me finally shattered. I went home, opened my laptop, and clicked the button that confirmed my admission. Not to UCLA with him, but to NYU, an entire country away.
/0/98086/coverbig.jpg?v=a47041151a1959d121ead6d63f911679)
The Family iPad's Hidden Secret
ModernA suggestive iMessage on the family iPad was the first crack in my perfect life. I thought my teenage son was in trouble, but anonymous Reddit users pointed out the chilling truth. The message wasn't for him. It was for my husband of twenty years, Anthony. The betrayal became a conspiracy when I overheard them talking. They were laughing about his affair with my son's "cool" school counselor. "She's just so... boring, Dad," my son said. "Why don't you just leave Mom and be with her?" My son didn't just know; he was rooting for my replacement. My perfect family was a lie, and I was the punchline. Then, a message from a lawyer on Reddit lit a fire in the wreckage of my heart. "Gather proof. Then burn his entire world to the ground." My fingers were steady as I typed back. "Tell me how."
/0/81266/coverbig.jpg?v=0db1c7c8f8a19b04bdc562ca1e003e13)
When Love Turns to Ash
RomanceMy world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend. From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down." That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny. But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded. I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said." Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off." My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers. I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal. Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing. As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury. In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho." How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me? Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault? Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred? I would not be his victim. Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done. I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties. This was not an escape; this was my rebirth. Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.
/0/94137/coverbig.jpg?v=cc40c24a0f1d89b5a4b1e363530e2296)
Jilted Pet Becomes The Mafia Queen
MafiaWhen I was eight, Dante Moretti pulled me from the fire that killed my family. For ten years, the powerful crime boss was my protector and my god. Then, he announced his engagement to another woman to unite two criminal empires. He brought her home and named her the future mistress of the Moretti family. In front of everyone, his fiancée forced a cheap metal collar around my neck, calling me their pet. Dante knew I was allergic. He just watched, his eyes cold, and ordered me to take it. That night, I listened through the walls as he took her to his bed. I finally understood the promise he’d made me as a child was a lie. I wasn't his family. I was his property. After a decade of devotion, my love for him finally turned to ash. So on his birthday, the day he celebrated his new future, I walked out of his gilded cage for good. A private jet was waiting to take me to my real father—his greatest enemy.
/0/99234/coverbig.jpg?v=d4d85591c244d81b1eaa6fe4e928cfec)
He Betrayed Me, Now He Begs
MafiaFor seven years, I was the architect of my fiancé's criminal empire and the strategist behind his every move. I was Dante Gallo’s unofficial Consigliere, his partner in everything but name. Tomorrow, I was finally supposed to marry him and take my place as the queen to his throne. But on the eve of our wedding, a single text message sent by mistake detonated my life. It was a photo from Dante, showing a platinum wedding band on his hand. The message read: “Married this morning. She’s safe now.” My gaze fell to the engagement ring on my own finger. It was the identical band, just smaller. The engraved initials ‘D.I.’ didn’t stand for Dante and I. They stood for Dante and Isabella—his childhood sweetheart. My entire relationship was a lie; I was just a shield to protect his one true love. He dismissed my discovery as a "tantrum." Then, his new bride began taunting me, sending a picture of them tangled in bedsheets with the caption: "Loser." They expected me to break. They thought I would shatter. They were about to find out just how wrong they were. I forwarded the picture to Isabella’s fiancé, a man far more dangerous than Dante. "Your fiancée is in Suite 8808 at the Grand Hyatt," I told him. "I'll meet you downstairs. We're going to crash their party."
You'll also like
/0/80349/coverbig.jpg?v=1891923504b623d754480e07988ceb48)
Reclaiming Her Crown, One Step At A Time
Elia O'loughlinNoelle was the long-lost daughter everyone had been searched for, yet the family brushed her off and fawned over her stand-in. Tired of scorn, she walked away and married a man whose influence could shake the country. Dance phenom, street-race champ, virtuoso composer, master restorer-each secret triumph hit the headlines, and her family's smug smiles cracked. Father charged back from abroad, mother wept for a hug, and five brothers knelt in the rain begging. Beneath the jeweled night sky, her husband pulled her close, his voice a velvet promise. "They're not worth it. Come on, let's just go home."
/0/61795/coverbig.jpg?v=b30cbfd63b4a13c548a5c05cf867c133)
Who Dares Claim The Heart Of My Wonderful Queen
AftermathAfter three loveless years, Neil's betrayal deeply wounded Katelyn. She wasted no time in getting rid of that scoundrel! After the divorce, she devoted herself to career pursuits. Rising to prominence as a top designer, skilled doctor, and brilliant hacker, she became a revered icon. Neil, realizing his grave mistake, tried in vain to win her back, only to witness her magnificent wedding to another. As their vows were broadcast on the world's largest billboard, Vincent slid a ring onto Katelyn's finger and declared, "Katelyn is now my wife, a priceless treasure. Let all who covet her beware!"
/0/69834/coverbig.jpg?v=fcc364f58e98a2ca005385db2508a9f0)
The Jilted Heiress' Return To The High Life
Earvin GarnerCorinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town's richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. "Way to go, honey!"
/0/98478/coverbig.jpg?v=f4a548f9cd6a616bfe7b5afbd89d7891)
The Bride He Cast Away on Their Wedding Night
PageProfit StudioIn the glittering world of high society and cutthroat ambition, a single sentence shatters a marriage: "Let's get a divorce." For three years, Claire Thompson has lived in exile, her marriage to the powerful Nelson Cooper a hollow shell existing only on paper. Shipped abroad on her wedding day and utterly forgotten, she returns only to be handed divorce papers. But Claire is no longer the timid, heartbroken girl she once was. Behind her quiet facade lies a woman transformed, secretly rejoicing at her newfound freedom. However, freedom comes with a price. As Claire signs the papers with relief, a chilling phone call reveals a dark truth: the threats she faced overseas were no accident, and the trail leads shockingly close to home-to the family that raised her and the husband who discarded her. Just as she prepares to sever all ties, a twist of fate pulls her back into the gilded cage. Nelson, for reasons unknown, suddenly stalls the divorce. Meanwhile, the family that disowned her and the fragile, manipulative sister who stole her life are determined to ruin her reputation and drive her out for good. But Claire is playing a different game now. With a mysterious new identity, powerful allies, and secrets of her own, she is no one's pawn. As hidden truths unravel and loyalties are tested, a stunning question emerges: In this high-stakes battle of love, betrayal, and revenge, who is truly trapping whom?
/0/88956/coverbig.jpg?v=35f2908bf921166e6fed8bd685e74784)
Hell In His Eyes, Heaven In His Kiss
Obie PrattGabriela learned her boyfriend had been two-timing her and writing her off as a brainless bimbo, so she drowned her heartache in reckless adventure. One sultry blackout night she tumbled into bed with a stranger, then slunk away at dawn, convinced she'd succumbed to a notorious playboy. She prayed she'd never see him again. Yet the man beneath those sheets was actually Wesley, the decisive, ice-cool, unshakeable CEO who signed her paychecks. Assuming her heart was elsewhere, Wesley returned to the office cloaked in calm, but every polite smile masked a dark surge of possessive jealousy.
/0/65237/coverbig.jpg?v=e87f4c09444237b6798a00b1df411030)
Celestial Queen: Revenge Is Sweet When You're A Zillionaire Heiress
Jori HaysAfter being kicked out of her home, Harlee learned she wasn't the biological daughter of her family. Rumors had it that her impoverished biological family favored sons and planned to profit from her return. Unexpectedly, her real father was a zillionaire, catapulting her into immense wealth and making her the most cherished member of the family. While they anticipated her disgrace, Harlee secretly held design patents worth billions. Celebrated for her brilliance, she was invited to mentor in a national astronomy group, drew interest from wealthy suitors, and caught the eye of a mysterious figure, ascending to legendary status.
© 2018-now CHANGDU (HK) TECHNOLOGY LIMITED
6/F MANULIFE PLACE 348 KWUN TONG ROAD KL
Referrals
TOP
APP STORE
GOOGLE PLAY