For three years, I lived a lie as Ava Cole, wife to Ethan, whose devotion was reserved not for me, but his college sweetheart, Chloe Vance. I meticulously tracked his escalating betrayals in my secret "Breaking Point Ledger," knowing 100 points meant freedom. The ledger filled quickly, fueled by his unapologetic neglect and public displays of obsession. Then, disaster struck: caught in a violent car crash, I lay bleeding, my world shattering around me. Doctors, grim-faced, revealed I was eight weeks pregnant, desperately needing help. But when the hospital reached Ethan, his urgent command echoed chillingly: prioritize Chloe, who had a mere allergic reaction. My baby, our baby, was lost. "We couldn't save the baby," the nurse later confirmed, her voice laced with a silent fury that mirrored my own. The ledger, once a quiet tally, now screamed past its limit, leaving a brutal, undeniable score of his final, ultimate betrayal. There was no going back; only forward. With a soul-deep resolve, I signed my divorce papers, reclaiming Ava Miller and leaving behind the shattered remnants of a life that was never truly mine. My bags were already packed for Austin, ready for a new chapter where I would rebuild, reclaim, and rise from the ashes.
For three years, I lived a lie as Ava Cole, wife to Ethan, whose devotion was reserved not for me, but his college sweetheart, Chloe Vance.
I meticulously tracked his escalating betrayals in my secret "Breaking Point Ledger," knowing 100 points meant freedom.
The ledger filled quickly, fueled by his unapologetic neglect and public displays of obsession.
Then, disaster struck: caught in a violent car crash, I lay bleeding, my world shattering around me.
Doctors, grim-faced, revealed I was eight weeks pregnant, desperately needing help.
But when the hospital reached Ethan, his urgent command echoed chillingly: prioritize Chloe, who had a mere allergic reaction.
My baby, our baby, was lost.
"We couldn't save the baby," the nurse later confirmed, her voice laced with a silent fury that mirrored my own.
The ledger, once a quiet tally, now screamed past its limit, leaving a brutal, undeniable score of his final, ultimate betrayal.
There was no going back; only forward.
With a soul-deep resolve, I signed my divorce papers, reclaiming Ava Miller and leaving behind the shattered remnants of a life that was never truly mine.
My bags were already packed for Austin, ready for a new chapter where I would rebuild, reclaim, and rise from the ashes.
Chapter 1
Three years.
Three years I'd been Ava Miller, no, Ava Cole.
Married to Ethan Cole.
It felt like a role I was playing, and I was forgetting my lines.
I sat at my laptop. A new document glowed on the screen.
I typed: "Breaking Point Ledger."
Simple rules. Ethan starts at zero.
Every time he chose Chloe Vance, his college sweetheart, over me, his wife, he got demerit points.
One hundred points. That was the magic number.
One hundred points, and I'd call a lawyer.
No more fights. No more pleading. Just a clean, cold number.
My fingers found the keys.
"Flew to LA to console Chloe on my birthday after her 'devastating' audition rejection. -5 points."
The memory was still sharp. My ruined dinner reservations. His quick, unapologetic exit.
"Left me stranded on the LIE after a fender bender because Chloe had a 'meltdown' at JFK. -10 points."
I remembered sitting in the cold car, the tow truck driver looking at me with pity.
"Lost his wedding ring helping Chloe 'redecorate' her SoHo loft. -10 points."
He'd shrugged it off. "It's just a thing, Ava."
My ring felt heavy on my finger.
Total: -25 points.
A quarter of the way there. Or maybe, a quarter of the way to freedom.
I was sketching designs for a small community center, a project I'd been dreaming about, in the home office.
Our home office.
His home office, really.
It was filled with Ethan's things. His law books, his awards.
And Chloe's things.
A framed photo of Ethan and Chloe, laughing, from their college days, sat on his desk.
A bright, abstract painting Chloe had made for him hung on the wall. He said it "inspired" him.
Ethan walked in. He needed his work laptop for a conference call.
He glanced at my screen. "Breaking Point Ledger."
His eyebrow went up. He leaned over, clicked it open.
He skimmed the few lines.
A small, dismissive smile played on his lips.
"Ava, this is... melodrama, even for you."
He closed the file.
"And my work devices are for work. Client privilege, sensitive data. Your... things... shouldn't be on here."
My heart squeezed. My ledger, my pain, reduced to "things."
Less important than his files, less important than Chloe's smiling face on his desk.
That night, we were at a client dinner. Crucial for Ethan's partnership track at the firm.
He was charming, attentive to Mr. Henderson, the CEO.
I played the supportive wife, smiling until my face ached.
Then Ethan's phone buzzed. He glanced at it.
His face changed. The charm vanished. Replaced by raw panic.
It was Mark, one of his college buddies.
Ethan stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped over.
"Excuse me, Mr. Henderson. A family emergency. I have to go."
He didn't look at me. He was already moving.
He grabbed his coat.
"Ava, I have to go. It's Chloe. Her loft... there's a fire."
Then he was gone, leaving me with the stunned clients and the bill.
Mr. Henderson looked confused. "Everything alright, Mrs. Cole?"
"Yes, just a... a small crisis with a... a dear friend," I managed.
The lie tasted bitter.
I made more excuses. Apologized. Said Ethan would call.
I couldn't stay there. The pity in their eyes was too much.
I got a cab.
"SoHo, please," I told the driver. Chloe's address.
Why was I going? Morbid curiosity. A need to see.
To see what was more important than his career, than me.
Red and blue lights flashed ahead. Smoke curled into the night sky.
Fire trucks. An ambulance.
My stomach twisted.
I saw him. Ethan.
He was arguing with a firefighter at the police line.
"She's in there! Chloe Vance! Apartment 4B!" His voice was hoarse.
"Sir, we can't let you in. It's not safe. My men are checking," the firefighter said, firm but calm.
Ethan wasn't listening. He looked wild.
He ducked under the tape.
The firefighter yelled.
I heard Ethan shout, clear and desperate, as he ran towards the smoky entrance.
"My career can go to hell, as long as Chloe is safe!"
The words hit me. Harder than any physical blow.
Mark and David, Ethan's friends, rushed up to the scene.
They saw me standing there, by the cab, watching.
They looked guilty. Awkward.
"Ava," Mark started, "Ethan, he just... he gets like this about Chloe. Always has."
David nodded, too quickly. "Yeah, ever since college. She's... well, she's Chloe."
They were trying to smooth it over. They were making it worse.
Confirming everything I already knew.
His intense, unwavering obsession.
Then, movement at the building's entrance.
Firefighters emerged, supporting a coughing Chloe.
Her face was smudged with soot, her trendy clothes singed, but she was walking.
She looked dramatic, leaning heavily on a firefighter.
A moment later, Ethan stumbled out.
He was covered in soot, his hair singed, coughing violently.
He rushed to Chloe's side, ignoring the paramedics trying to check him.
"Chloe! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He held her arms, his voice full of anguish.
She clung to him, burying her face in his chest. "Oh, Ethan! You saved me!"
He swayed, clearly exhausted, but held her tight.
He looked like he was about to collapse.
I watched them. The hero and his damsel.
My mind flashed back. Professor Miller, my father. NYU Law.
Ethan Cole, his prize student. Brilliant. Ambitious.
I'd met him at a moot court competition. He was dazzling. I was smitten.
Then Dad got sick. Terminal cancer.
His dying wish, whispered to Ethan at his bedside.
"Look after Ava. Please, Ethan. Look after my girl."
Ethan proposed a week after the funeral.
"It's not just obligation, Ava," he'd said, holding my hands. "I care about you. Deeply."
I'd wanted to believe him. I needed to believe him.
The poker night. Six months after our wedding.
Ethan's friends, drunk, loud. I was in the kitchen, getting drinks.
I overheard David. "Poor Ava. She has no idea."
Mark slurred, "No idea about what?"
"That Ethan only married her because Chloe ran off and married that European tech billionaire. He was a wreck. Couldn't get out of bed for weeks."
Chloe. Always Chloe.
She was divorced now, back in New York. Back in Ethan's orbit.
His coldness, his distance, his constant attention to Chloe's needs. It all made a horrible kind of sense.
I wasn't his choice. I was his consolation prize.
That overheard conversation was the real start of the ledger.
The little notebook I'd bought the next day.
The digital file was just its latest form.
It wasn't just about his current neglect.
It was about the lie our whole marriage was built on.
The ledger was my silent scream. My countdown.
My way of taking back some control.
Chloe's return to New York had accelerated everything.
More calls. More "emergencies." More drama.
More points in the ledger.
The -25 felt like it had accumulated in a flash.
Each new entry was a step closer to the door.
Paramedics were insisting Ethan go to the hospital. Smoke inhalation.
He kept waving them off, fussing over Chloe.
"I'm fine. Just make sure Chloe is okay."
Chloe was milking it, a few coughs, a hand to her forehead.
"Oh, Ethan, you were so brave. I was so scared."
He looked at her with such tenderness.
A look he never gave me.
Mark and David hovered near me.
"He'll be alright, Ava," Mark said, trying for reassuring. "The Coles have connections. Best doctors in the city."
David added, "Yeah, money's no object for them."
As if that fixed a heart shattered by neglect.
As if that erased the image of him running into a burning building for another woman.
I didn't go to the hospital with them.
Chloe needed Ethan. Ethan needed Chloe.
There was no space for Ava.
I went home to our cold, empty apartment.
I opened my laptop. The "Breaking Point Ledger" glowed.
My fingers typed.
"Abandoned crucial client dinner for Chloe's fire. -5 points."
"Rushed into burning building for Chloe, risked his life declaring his career meant nothing next to her safety. -15 points."
New total: -45 points.
Almost halfway there.
A cold dread, mixed with a strange sense of anticipation, settled in my stomach.
It was happening. The end was coming.
"Ethan, this is unethical. It's criminal. She hasn't consented." Those chilling words, whispered in the sterile hum of an operating room, were the first thing I heard as consciousness flickered back. My heart pounded, cold dread snaking through my veins. Dr. Ben Carter, Ethan's old friend, was arguing with him. "She's my girlfriend, Ben. Practically my wife," Ethan scoffed, his voice laced with a terrifying casualness. "Chloe needs this kidney. Ava is a perfect match." Kidney. Chloe. My blood ran cold. The beautiful, fragile Chloe Vahn, who had always haunted our relationship, was now taking a piece of me, quite literally. I tried to scream, to move, but my body felt like lead, my throat raw. I felt a sharp tug, a searing line of fire on my side-the scalpel. Ten years of love, of sacrifice, building Ethan Reed and his company back from nothing, all for this. To be carved up like an animal for the woman he truly loved. When I finally regained full awareness, Ethan was by my bedside, a practiced look of concern on his face, spinning a lie about a ruptured ovarian cyst. But then, the overheard nurse's whispered conversation confirmed my nightmare: "Chloe's kidney transplant... he barely left her side." The pieces slammed into place. My despair solidified into a cold, hard resolve. No more. I grabbed my phone, scrolling to one contact I hadn't dared to call. Noah Hayes, Ethan's rival, a man of integrity. My finger trembled as I typed. "Noah," I managed, my voice raspy. "Are you still looking for a COO who knows Reed Innovate's strategies... and perhaps, a wife?" The silence stretched, then his voice, calm and serious, cut through the noise of my crumbling world. "My jet, seven days. LaGuardia."
My parents died when I was seventeen, leaving me heartbroken and orphaned. Mr. Julian Vance, my father's charismatic former mentee and a Silicon Valley titan, unexpectedly stepped in as my guardian. He moved me into his lavish Atherton mansion, offering a bewildering new life of privilege. Confused by teenage feelings, I tragically developed a crush on him, confessing my yearning in a clumsy letter. Julian found it, and his kind facade shattered into a mask of pure fury. He denounced me as an "ungrateful, perverse child" and promptly sent me away to ClearPath Academy, a mysterious institution that promised to "fix" me. ClearPath was a nightmare. I endured forced medication, sleep deprivation, and brutal re-education, emerging months later a broken shell of my former self. Upon my return, Julian introduced his icy fiancée, Eleanor, who immediately launched a campaign of insidious manipulation and abuse against me. Julian, inexplicably blind to Eleanor's malice, repeatedly believed her lies over my pleas, dismissing my visible ClearPath scars as theatrics and ultimately abandoning me to violent thugs. Why was the man who once seemed to care so willing to believe such falsehoods and inflict such profound pain? How could he be so utterly deceived? The crushing weight of betrayal and abandonment pushed me to one final, desperate act beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. My shattered death finally tore away Julian's blinders. Consumed by agonizing guilt, he now confronts the horrifying truth about ClearPath and Eleanor's monstrous deception. He vows bloody retribution and embarks on a chilling penance, willing to endure my every torment in a desperate, last-ditch effort to redeem his tormented soul and reclaim my spirit.
My life with Liam Goldstein was a fairytale, a perfect love story plastered across every magazine and TV screen in Manhattan. He'd even unveiled the "Maya's Horizon" necklace, a multi-million-dollar cascade of sapphires, celebrating our perfect devotion. But fairytales are just that – tales. Then came the burner phone, the hushed calls, the screenshots, and hotel receipts that screamed 'affair'. I watched him live-stream gifts to his young mistress, Ava Sinclair, calling her his "queen," only to later find her visibly pregnant in a hospital, flaunting our engagement necklace and talking about a "situation" with me. His friends, the same ones who toasted our "perfect love," smirked as he publicly kissed Ava and joked about his "side action," assuring her I'd "never find out." Every grand gesture he'd made, from donating a kidney to cultivating a white rose garden, flashed before my eyes, revealing themselves as calculated performances. How could the man who saved my life, the one I vowed to, betray me with such grotesque audacity, in front of the world and his complicit inner circle? It felt like a sick cosmic joke, a public humiliation disguised as love. But I had given him a warning on our wedding day: "If you ever lie to me, truly lie, I will vanish from your life as if I never existed." Now, it was time to activate the Phoenix Initiative, erase Maya Goldstein, and leave Liam with nothing but ghost of a promise he had shattered.
My life revolved around Ethan, the secret husband I loved fiercely, despite the feud between our families. Then, Chloe Vance, his ex-girlfriend and now stepmother, cornered me in a powder room with a cruel bet: ten chances to make Ethan publicly claim me, or I'd sign divorce papers and disappear. Each attempt to win his affection ended in public humiliation. He remained cold, his attention always on Chloe, who openly delighted in my torment. He looked at me with disgust when I tried to bridge the distance, abandoned me in a fire, and watched me suffer an acid attack – his only concern for her. Despite my agony, he later tried to make me take the fall for her sordid scandals. How could the man I loved treat me with such brutal indifference, repeatedly choosing his ex-girlfriend while I withered? Was I merely a convenient shield, a secret to be hidden, while his true devotion remained with another woman? The casual cruelty, the dismissive betrayal, chipped away at everything I believed. Watching him side with her after that horrific attack, something inside me irrevocably shattered. My foolish, stubborn love for Ethan Gold finally, completely died. I decided then that I wouldn't just leave; I would reclaim my life and dignity, severing every last tie to the man who never truly saw me. And he would finally understand what he had lost.
My marriage to Ethan Cole, a man revered as a titan of industry, felt less like a partnership and more like a never-ending siege. After years of fighting for even a sliver of his attention, I found him on the floor of his study, fixated on a small, wooden box. Inside, nestled on velvet, were forbidden relics: a child's drawing, a pressed flower, and a faded photo of Olivia Vance, the girl he'd been raised with. The raw, yearning expression on his face, a look he had never once given me, confirmed the crushing truth: his emotional unavailability was solely reserved for her. Our sterile, business-transaction marriage was a smokescreen for his lifelong obsession, culminating in him abandoning me in a skyscraper fire as he pulled Olivia to safety. He then brushed off my concussion from Olivia's attack, prioritized her minor burn for a top surgeon, and offered obscene diamonds to buy my silence, while she moved into our home to subtly torture me. His blindness to Olivia's manipulation, his monumental arrogance, and his consistent disregard for my pain made me realize the devastating reality: he didn't just not feel for me, he chose to torment me instead. But as I saved myself from those flames, a cold, hard resolve replaced the agony. My love for him, long dead, was now replaced by a fierce determination: I would reclaim my life, expose his deceit, and make him truly understand the cost of his choices.
My life with Mark was perfect, a picture of happy marriage. He and his identical twin, David, ran a thriving brewery, and together with my sister Jess, we were an unbreakable foursome. Then, a shattering phone call. David, always so full of life, had collapsed and died. Weeks of agonizing grief followed, but the true nightmare began at a solemn family dinner. Mark's mother, Brenda, demanded the unthinkable: I was to carry David's child for my sister, a vessel for the "Thompson legacy." My own mother, always favoring Jess, twisted the knife, urging me to "be understanding." I stood paralyzed, while Mark, my supposed anchor, vehemently defended me. But that defense was a cruel facade. One night, I found him in my guest room, not comforting my grieving sister Jess, but kissing her. And then I heard it: "I want your baby, Mark. Openly. Not... not David's ghost." Jess was pregnant with his child. The man who swore to protect me was betraying me with my own sister, all while their desperate family tried to force me into a truly monstrous act. Every loving gesture, every word of trust, twisted into a grotesque lie. Was I truly so blind? So easily manipulated? Why me? Why this profound and sickening betrayal? That night, the naive wife died. A cold, hard rage ignited. I demanded a divorce, packed my bags, and moved halfway across the country. But Mark, Jess, and their twisted family thought they could sweep me aside. They were wrong. I wasn't running; I was retreating to draw the battle lines. This wasn't just about escape anymore. It was about meticulously crafting the perfect retribution, a revenge so complete, they'd wish they never crossed me.
Rejected by her mate, who had been her long-time crush, Jasmine felt utterly humiliated. Seeking solace, she headed to a party to drown her sorrows. But things took a turn for the worse when her friends issued a cruel dare: kiss a stranger or beg her mate for forgiveness. With no other choice, Jasmine approached a stranger and kissed him, thinking that would be the end of it. However, the stranger unexpectedly wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear, "You're mine!" He growled, his words sending shivers down her spine. And then, he offered her a solution that would change everything...
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?
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."
As a simple assistant, messaging the CEO in the dead of night to request shares of adult films was a bold move. Bethany, unsurprisingly, didn't receive any films. However, the CEO responded that, while he had no films to share, he could offer a live demonstration. After a night filled with passion, Bethany was certain she'd lose her job. But instead, her boss proposed, "Marry me. Please consider it." "Mr. Bates, you're kidding me, right?"
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!"
Elena, once a pampered heiress, suddenly lost everything when the real daughter framed her, her fiancé ridiculed her, and her adoptive parents threw her out. They all wanted to see her fall. But Elena unveiled her true identity: the heiress of a massive fortune, famed hacker, top jewelry designer, secret author, and gifted doctor. Horrified by her glorious comeback, her adoptive parents demanded half her newfound wealth. Elena exposed their cruelty and refused. Her ex pleaded for a second chance, but she scoffed, “Do you think you deserve it?” Then a powerful magnate gently proposed, “Marry me?”