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I never wanted a man that will be so wicked like him, but meeting him made me face something more harder, particularly my life was filled with immense doom and pain Until I met Damien, who I later fell in love with , and it turns out to change my bad life to a good remedy
When Elise Sinclair knocked on my door, I was sorting through baby clothes for my little one. It had been three years since I married Gavin Monroe, and I was pregnant for the first time. We both cared deeply about our child. I once asked Gavin whether he preferred a boy or a girl, and he simply replied that he would be happy as long as the baby took after me. At that moment, I felt so loved.
Even though I was only four months along, Gavin had already brought home piles of baby clothes for me to sift through at my leisure.
As I was going through the items, there was a knock at the door. Setting the photos aside, I gently placed a hand on my belly and got up to answer it. A woman stood there whom I didn't recognize, but there was something oddly familiar about her eyes.
"Hello, how can I help you?" I asked.
She raised an eyebrow and looked at me with a hint of disdain. "I'm Elise Sinclair. Don't you recognize me?"
I hesitated, unsure where I would have seen her before.
"I'm sorry, but I don't. Now that we've met, how can I assist you?"
A flash of surprise crossed her face, quickly replaced by anger. I felt a rush of anxiety and instinctively patted my belly, feeling more protective. I was not alone anymore-I had a child to consider.
"You really don't recognize me?" Elise scrutinized me, as if trying to provoke a reaction. But I was certain she was a stranger, even if there was something unsettlingly familiar about her.
I licked my lips, ready to ask what she wanted, when she interrupted, "A stand-in? Seriously? You don't have a clue who I am? Gavin never mentioned me?"
I was taken aback. "Stand-in?" My voice wavered, but I forced a polite smile. "No, he's never mentioned you. He told me about a former girlfriend and that they'd broken up..."
She smirked. "Ah, yes. That would be me."
I tried to remain composed. "If you two broke up, why are you here now?"
Her smirk remained. "Did he tell you how we ended things? We had a massive fight, and I left the country overnight."
I had no idea why she was sharing this, but I felt a faint ache in my belly. I rubbed my bump, striving to stay calm. This stranger was clearly here to create trouble.
"The very next day, Gavin booked a flight to follow me across the ocean. I told him I didn't love him anymore and took another flight to get away. He searched for me everywhere, like a madman."
My hand tightened over my belly. "What are you trying to say? You and Gavin broke up. We're married now, and I'm carrying our child. This is irrelevant."
Elise laughed, clearly amused by my words. "After a year of searching for me, he finally gave up and returned home. I heard he started dating some undergrad who was infatuated with him and, lucky for her, happened to look a bit like me."
I felt the blood drain from my face. That young student...that was me.
I was four years younger than Gavin, just starting college while he was finishing. I had heard the stories about him and seen a few paparazzi photos with his ex, but I had never met her. In those photos, she had looked beautiful and confident-just like the woman standing in front of me.
"He was angry with me, so within three months, he got a marriage certificate with her-no ceremony, nothing."
When I first entered college, everyone seemed to know about Gavin. He was handsome, came from a distinguished family, and always ranked at the top of his class. After graduation, he joined his family's business.
In my junior year, Gavin returned to campus as a guest speaker. Seeing him in person for the first time left me smitten.
My friends teased me about my crush, saying he was out of my league and still attached to someone. But somehow, Gavin and I ended up together.
Three months before graduation, Gavin suddenly stopped teaching. Nine months later, I ran into him outside a nightclub while picking up a friend.
He was sitting in a booth, visibly drunk. Summoning my courage, I approached him. "Mr. Monroe, you've had enough to drink. Do you need help getting home?"
He looked up at me, bleary-eyed, and said, "Is that you, Lily Rose?" Then he added with a half-smile, "Don't call me 'teacher'-we're practically the same age."
I was thrilled he remembered me.
"You like me, don't you?" he asked bluntly. I froze.
"I... I know you have a girlfriend. I won't bother you. I'll keep my distance."
As I stammered, he murmured to himself, "Quite similar." Then he asked, "Do you want to be with me?"
I was shocked. "But...don't you have a girlfriend?"
He shrugged. "We broke up."
I felt a wave of guilty relief. If she had let him go, then maybe there was a chance for me.
I became Gavin's girlfriend, but I told no one. I never expected our relationship to last. But three months later, he proposed, and we quietly married.
"So, what's the point of all this?" I asked, my anger bubbling. "No matter what happened, he's my husband now."
Elise tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, unbothered. "How long do you think I've been back?"
I stayed silent, even as the ache in my belly grew sharper.
"A year ago. Gavin was at the airport when I landed. He wanted to know where I'd been, why I hadn't called...how I was doing."
I suddenly recalled a year ago when Gavin had left me alone, saying he had work. Had he really been at the airport, meeting Elise?
Her voice was icy. "Since I came back, he's been around. Takes me to the old spots from college and brings me my favorite foods..."
My fists clenched, but I maintained my composure. "I'm the one he married."
For a brief moment, Elise's smirk faltered. "Mistress? Hardly. I was with Gavin for six years. You're just the one he settled for when he thought I was gone. You're nothing but a stand-in."
My throat tightened, but she continued. "When he couldn't find me, he replaced me with you. A placeholder. Did you know he set off fireworks along the river for me? Confessed his love for hours, begging me to take him back?"
I remembered that night. Gavin had said he needed to work late. The next day, when I mentioned the fireworks, he claimed he hadn't noticed. I had never imagined he'd arranged them himself.
Elise's gaze lingered on my pale face, clearly relishing the moment. "Guess what he told me when I asked, 'What about your wife?'"
I had everything money could buy-designer clothes, luxury vacations, and a last name that made people step aside when I walked into a room. But none of it mattered when the people who were supposed to love me the most treated me like an afterthought. My mother and father were all too happy to get divorced and go their separate ways to care about me. Then came the accident. One moment, I was at my family's estate, the crisp air heavy with the scent of hay and soil. The next, I was gasping for breath in a body that wasn't mine, staring up at a ceiling that didn't belong to me. The mirror confirmed my worst fear-this wasn't just a bad dream. The face staring back at me was unfamiliar, the features softer, younger. The clothes were outdated, the room foreign. I had woken up in another time. The 1970s. As if being trapped in a strange life wasn't enough, my new family feared me. They whispered behind closed doors, their eyes filled with something between awe and terror.My strength, inhuman, strange was my shield against their hatred and schemes.And then there was my father. This version of him wasn't the distant, powerful businessman I had known. He was married to another woman, and her twins... there was something about them. The way they looked at him, the way he looked away. Secrets buried in the past. A legacy I didn't recognize. A power I couldn't explain. I had lost everything once before. But this time, I wasn't going down without a fight.
Unconsciously, Dorothy moved a little further away. Even though the female lead in the novel was depicted as warm-hearted and gentle like a little sun, who never harmed the original host (it was usually the original host who persecuted her), from her many years of reading experience, Dorothy knew that main characters posses an aura of plot armor. If an evil supporting character approached them too closely, something bad was bound to happen. If not for her leg injury, Dorothy would have even considered jumping out of the car and running away. Only after they had walked far into the clinic did Dorothy open her mouth and say, "My leg is injured, so I also want to go and see a doctor in the clinic." Of course, she knew it was a minor injury and it would heal in a few days. She just needed an excuse to go in. Caleb looked surprised: "Mrs Parker, why didn't you say so earlier? You could have just gone in with them. They even know some people there." Dorothy replied, "It's not severe. I just need the doctor to apply some medicine and re-bandage it." "Oh, alright. Let's go then," Caleb replied, leading her in. As Dorothy slowly walked into the clinic, she looked around, in the hopes of seeing some job advertisements or to inquire. But even if people knew about job openings, they wouldn't likely tell her. Job opportunities are precious commodities these days. But she recalled older family members saying that in the '70s, government-run institutions would post job vacancies and conduct public examinations and screenings. While some underground connections could be involved, they would still need to maintain appearances. "The doctor says I need to get some medicine, hope you don't mind?"After receiving the prescription, Dorothy sent Caleb off, intentionally stalling for time as she milled about the clinic. And lo and behold, she actually found something. At the corner of a bulletin board, Dorothy saw a job posting. The posting stated that the clinic currently needed a nurse. Requirements were a high school education, must be female, and must be in good health without any communicable diseases. Perhaps to avoid being discovered, the words were printed very small on purpose, extremely inconspicuous, and there was no mention of when to take the recruitment exam. Just then, a janitor came out of the bathroom. Dorothy stopped her and asked, "Miss, is this clinic hiring? Do you know when the registration for the exam is?" The woman barely glanced at Dorothy and responded curtly, "Who are you?" Dorothy reached into her pocket. The original owner of this body still had some money. She took out a coin and handed it to the woman, apologizing with a smile, "I studied nursing. I've been unemployed for half a year after graduation and failed to find a suitable job. My family is worried about me. I feel bad about just staying home waiting for meals. So, even with an injured leg, I didn't slack off in job hunting. Could you please tell me if you know anything?" Accepting the coin and seeing Dorothy leaning on a crutch, the woman's expression softened considerably. She pointed to a small door on the right and said, "Registration for the examination ends at five o'clock tomorrow afternoon. That is the registration place over there." "Thank you, miss." Gratefully, Dorothy quickly thanked her and hurried to the registration office. At the registration office, two middle-aged men in white coats were leisurely drinking Coffee. Dorothy knocked on the door, and one of them hailed, "Come in." Upon her entry, the other man took a close look and asked, "What can I do for you?" She smiled nervously, saying, "Hello, I am here to apply for the job of the nurse." The man responsible for registration was quite friendly, probably because she was pretty. He picked up a form, started to fill it out, and asked, "What's your name? How old are you? What's your educational background? Where do you live...?" Dorothy answered each question. However, when the other man heard that she was only eighteen years old and living in the military complex, he shook his head, saying, "I don't think this job is suitable for you, you're too young, no experience, and no certification. Nursing can be quite tiring. Plus, is your leg injured?" His gaze fell on the bandaged right leg of Dorothy. Dorothy hurriedly explained,"It's a minor injury. It will heal on its own in a couple of days." "I'm not afraid of hard work, you can let me try first." She thought to herself that she didn't intend to be a nurse. In her previous life, she was a respected chief physician. The man glanced at her and said, "Then let me test you. You should at least know the basic care knowledge; otherwise, getting registered would be a waste." "What type of respiration is used in infants due to their underdeveloped respiratory muscles and small range of chest movements?" Dorothy immediately responded, "Diaphragmatic breathing."
Lucia Balstone thought she had chosen the right man to spend the rest of her life with, but he was the one who ended her life. Their ten-year marriage seemed like a joke when her husband stabbed her with a dagger. Fortunately, God is never blind to people's tears. Lucia got a second chance. She was reborn at the age of 22, before all the terrible things had happened. This time, she was determined to avenge herself and let those who hurt her pay! She made an elaborate list of her goals, and the first thing on her list was to marry her ex-husband's enemy, Alonso Callen!
Charlee was left at the altar and became a laughingstock. She tried to keep her head high, but ultimately lost it when she received a sex tape of her fiance and her half-sister. Devastated, she ended up spending a wild night with a hot stranger. It was supposed to be one-time thing, but he kept popping up, helping her with projects and revenge, all while flirting with her constantly. Charlee soon realized that it was nice having him around, until her ex suddenly appeared at her door, begging for another chance. Her tycoon lover asked, “Who will you choose? Think carefully before you answer.”
Janice, the long-forgotten legitimate heiress, made her way back to her family, pouring her heart into winning their hearts. Yet, she had to relinquish her very identity, her academic credentials, and her creative works to her foster sister. In return for her sacrifices, she found no warmth, only deeper neglect. Resolute, Janice vowed to cut off all emotional bonds. Transformed, she now stood as a master of martial arts, adept in eight languages, an esteemed medical expert, and a celebrated designer. With newfound resolve, she declared, "From this day forward, no one in this family shall cross me."
Lyric had spent her life being hated. Bullied for her scarred face and hated by everyone-including her own mate-she was always told she was ugly. Her mate only kept her around to gain territory, and the moment he got what he wanted, he rejected her, leaving her broken and alone. Then, she met him. The first man to call her beautiful. The first man to show her what it felt like to be loved. It was only one night, but it changed everything. For Lyric, he was a saint, a savior. For him, she was the only woman that had ever made him cum in bed-a problem he had been battling for years. Lyric thought her life would finally be different, but like everyone else in her life, he lied. And when she found out who he really was, she realized he wasn't just dangerous-he was the kind of man you don't escape from. Lyric wanted to run. She wanted freedom. But she desired to navigate her way and take back her respect, to rise above the ashes. Eventually, she was forced into a dark world she didn't wish to get involved with.
"Ahh!" She was in a moaning mess. She did not want to feel anything for this man. She hated him. His hands began to move all over her body. She gasped when he pulled down the back chain of her dress. The chain stopped at her lower waist, so when he zipped it off, her upper back and waist were exposed. "D-Don't touch m-ummm!" His fingers rolled around her bare back, and she pressed her head against the pillow. His touches were giving her goosebumps all over her body. With a deep angry voice, he whispered in her ear, "I am going to make you forget his touches, kisses, and everything. Every time you touch another man, you will only think of me." - - - Ava Adler was a nerdy omega. People bullied her because they thought she was ugly and unattractive. But Ava secretly loved the bad boy, Ian Dawson. He was the future Alpha of the Mystic Shadow Pack. However, he doesn't give a damn about rules and laws, as he only likes to play around with girls. Ava was unaware of Ian's arrogance until her fate intertwined with his. He neglected her and hurt her deeply. What would happen when Ava turned out to be a beautiful girl who could win over any boy, and Ian looked back and regretted his decisions? What if she had a secret identity that she had yet to discover? What if the tables turned and Ian begged her not to leave him?
Belinda thought after divorce, they would part ways for good - he could live his life on his own terms, while she could indulge in the rest of hers. However, fate had other plans in store. "My darling, I was wrong. Would you please come back to me?" The man, whom she once loved deeply, lowered his once proud head humbly. "I beg you to return to me." Belinda coldly pushed away the bouquet of flowers he had offered her and coolly replied, "It's too late. The bridge has been burned, and the ashes have long since scattered to the wind!"