The Harley's Cost: A Life Forfeited

My husband, a powerful tech mogul, stole my sister' s posthumous research award. He gave it to his young protégé. The same woman who killed my sister. He didn't just steal her legacy. He threatened to destroy my lab and my life's work-the cure for the very cancer that took our family-if I didn't publicly endorse his mistress. When I confronted him, he let her destroy my irreplaceable samples. Then, he had my hands, the hands of a neuroscientist, systematically broken to ensure I could never work again. He imprisoned me, forcing me to sign away my entire career and publicly apologize for crimes I didn't commit. He called it "discipline," a lesson I needed to learn. How could the man who swore to protect me become my personal tormentor? But as I lay in a hospital bed, broken and alone, a text message lit up my screen: "Need help? I owe your family a debt." He thought he had erased me. He had only forged me into a weapon.

I stared at the two faint pink lines on the stick, the miracle I had bled for over three years. I was finally pregnant. Then, my phone buzzed with a video message from an unknown number. It was my husband, Marco. He wasn't at a business meeting. He was at a club, his hand up the skirt of a woman named Sienna. "She is barren. She is useless," Marco laughed on the screen, promising his mistress the world if she gave him a son. He was stealing millions from my company to fund her life, while I played the perfect, submissive wife. But the betrayal didn't stop at infidelity. At the family gala, his grandmother publicly humiliated me by pinning the family heirloom on Sienna's fake baby bump, crowning her the new matriarch. When I confronted them at the race track, Sienna pushed me down a flight of concrete stairs. As I lay on the asphalt, bleeding and losing the very child Marco had desperately prayed for, he didn't help me. He spat on me. "You crazy bitch," he snarled, checking on his mistress while his real son died inside me. He didn't know he had just killed his own heir. And he didn't know that the man stepping out of the shadows to pick me up wasn't a paramedic. It was Dante Moretti, the most dangerous Capo in New York and Marco's sworn enemy. I looked at Marco one last time. "Our marriage is dead." I took the enemy's hand. Marco wanted a war? I was about to burn his entire world to the ground.

My sister, Jayda, stumbled at a charity gala, splashing a drink near Diamond Hampton' s prized show dog. It was a simple mistake. The reaction was not. Diamond' s security guards, men built like refrigerators, brutally beat Jayda, leaving her crumpled on the polished floor. My husband, Alex Wade, Diamond' s head of security, blocked me from reaching her. "You need to be quiet, Erica," he said, his face an unreadable mask, as his men dragged my bleeding sister away. He dismissed her injuries, claiming she shouldn' t have startled the dog, and forbade me from calling the police or talking to the press. He even threatened Jayda' s life if I caused a problem for Ms. Hampton. Later, he forced me to play my cello for Diamond until my fingers bled, then smashed the instrument. He then demanded I undergo a hysterectomy to appease Diamond, who claimed she couldn' t have children because of him. I was screaming, "That' s not a debt, Alex. That' s a sacrifice. And you' re not sacrificing yourself. you' re sacrificing me!" He let his men drag me to a private clinic where Diamond, in a white coat, watched as a doctor performed the procedure without anesthetic.

The news broke on a Tuesday. Olivia Reynolds, a celebrated artist, found herself targeted by a major art blog accusing her of blatant plagiarism. Her acclaimed piece, "Urban Echo," was displayed side-by-side with similar works by an unknown European artist, igniting a war zone of online comments declaring her a "Fraud" and calling to "Cancel her." Her boyfriend, Ethan Miller, a respected art critic, didn't defend her. Instead, he confessed to orchestrating the whole thing to protect his protégé, Chloe Davis, claiming Chloe had made a "youthful mistake." He dismissed Olivia's pain as "dramatic" and a "performance," highlighting her struggle with depression as mere "attention." The betrayal only deepened when her gallery terminated its representation, cancelling all her shows. Chloe, feigning empathy, then explicitly told Olivia that Ethan had chosen her because her career was "more important," rubbing salt in the wound until Olivia shattered a glass in a fit of despair, cutting her hand. Ethan, without a glance at Olivia's injury, sided with Chloe, who accused Olivia of attacking her. Ethan and Chloe were seen making their official debut at a gala, dancing on Olivia's professional grave. A text message then arrived, "You should kill yourself, you thieving bitch," accompanied by a photo of her with a gun pointed at her head. Standing on her balcony, teetering on the edge, Olivia made one last desperate call to Ethan. "I'm on the ledge, Ethan," she whispered. But he laughed, dismissing her plea as a bid for "attention." The line went dead as Chloe's laughter echoed in the background. With nowhere else to turn, Olivia stepped into the void.

My husband, Mark, told me he was reborn. In the ruins of San Francisco, he promised me a safe harbor, built on the back of his miraculous "system." I, a scientist who dealt in facts, chose to believe in him, in us. That trust was my first mistake. A week later, our penthouse was breached. Mutated creatures swarmed. Trapped in my lab, being torn apart, I cried out the emergency phrase Mark had taught me: "Celeste' s Melody." A synthetic voice echoed in my head, asking, "Host, what did Luna ever do to you? How could you trade her to those sharks?" Then Mark' s voice, cold and flat, confirmed it all: "No choice. Celeste is fragile...Luna is my co-founder, I can' t do anything about it. Celeste has suffered enough. After this, my stock options will be enough, and I' ll find a way to compensate Luna." He had orchestrated my demise. My husband, the man I loved, sacrificed me to monsters to protect his manipulative protégée, Celeste. For "stock options." The pain of betrayal was worse than any wound. But it wasn' t just physical agony. As I lay dying, the system revealed Mark was watching, monitoring my forced torture for 72 hours. He had a timer on my agony. My life, my work, the cure I' d perfected-all disposable in his cruel game. And worst of all, I was pregnant. Our child, Lily, would never be born. I wouldn' t let them win. With my last breath, I found a flare gun and my audio recorder. I would ensure the truth survived, even if I didn' t.

A faint, shimmering gold mark pulsed on my inner wrist, a birthright that let me see glimpses of the future. It was also the reason I died. In my last life, my stepsister, Bethany Vance, with her gaudy gold bracelet, completely fooled our father, faking prophetic abilities that mimicked my own. He adored her, while I was nothing more than a bargaining chip, handed off to Ethan Blackwood' s estranged brother, Liam. I sacrificed everything for Liam, only for him to sneer, "A trick. All of it. Just to get power," moments before his fingers closed around my throat on our wedding night. Then, darkness. Now, I was back, in the same opulent ballroom, on the very day my father would announce the engagements. I watched Bethany preen as my father declared her engagement to Ethan, the Blackwood heir. Then came my turn. "And I am also pleased to announce the engagement of my other daughter, Ava, to Mr. Liam Blackwood." The applause was noticeably weaker. The familiar sting of being second-best, but this time, it was fuel. The grand doors burst open. Liam Blackwood stormed in, ignoring everyone but my father and Bethany. "I reject this arrangement. I' m not marrying Ava. I am here for Bethany." He offered a blank equity deed for her hand, dismissing me as he left. "You and I are finished. Bethany is the one with the true gift. She is the future of both our families. Not her." In my past life, I would have shattered. This time, a cold, simmering rage ignited. "Liam," I said, my voice low and steady. "You think you know what you want. But you are a fool." He hissed, "Bethany' s abilities are proven. What do you have? Nothing." I met his gaze, a cold smile touching my lips. "I have the truth." I turned my back on him. This time, I wouldn' t beg. This time, I would destroy him. And I would take everything he ever wanted for myself.

Kathryn was the true daughter, but Jolene stole her life and set her up for ruin. After a brutal kidnapping scheme, Kathryn's loyalty to her brothers and fiancé was met with cruel betrayal. Narrowly escaping, she chose to cut all ties and never forgive them. Then she shocked the world: the miracle doctor for the elite, a top-tier hacker, a financial mastermind, and now the untouchable star her family could only watch from afar. Her brothers begged, her parents pleaded, her ex wanted her back-Kathryn exposed them all. The world gasped as the richest man confessed his love for her.

For three years, Natalie gave everything to be the perfect wife and mother, believing her love and effort could finally earn her a place in their hearts. Yet her sacrifices were met with betrayal from her husband and cold rejection from her son. In their eyes, she was nothing but a manipulator, using vulnerability to get her way. Her husband turned his back, her son misunderstood her, and she never truly belonged. Heartbroken yet determined, Natalie left her old life behind. When her family finally begged for a second chance, she looked at them and said, "It's too late."

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?

In her previous life, Kimberly endured the betrayal of her husband, the cruel machinations of an evil woman, and the endless tyranny of her in-laws. It culminated in the bankruptcy of her family, and ultimately, her death. After being reborn, she resolved to seek retribution against those who had wronged her, and ensure her family's prosperity. To her shock, the most unattainable man from her past suddenly set his sights on her. "You may have overlooked me before, but I shall capture your heart this time around."

After hiding her true identity throughout her three-year marriage to Colton, Allison had committed wholeheartedly, only to find herself neglected and pushed toward divorce. Disheartened, she set out to rediscover her true self-a talented perfumer, the mastermind of a famous intelligence agency, and the heir to a secret hacker network. Realizing his mistakes, Colton expressed his regret. "I know I messed up. Please, give me another chance." Yet, Kellan, a once-disabled tycoon, stood up from his wheelchair, took Allison's hand, and scoffed dismissively, "You think she'll take you back? Dream on."

For three years, Deanna endured scorn in a one-sided marriage. When Connor forced her to choose between her career and a divorce, she didn't hesitate-she walked away. Determined to reclaim her birthright, Deanna returned as the brilliant heiress to a medical conglomerate. Her ex and his family begged for another chance, but it was too late. With a tycoon father, a legendary healer mother, a CEO brother who adored her, and a showbiz powerhouse sibling, Deanna's life overflowed with power. Even her arrogant rival, heir to billions, only ever had a soft spot for her.