Burch Minow

On my tenth wedding anniversary, I found my celebrity therapist husband naked with our housekeeper. He called it "somatic therapy." I was pregnant with our miracle baby and secretly battling a brain tumor. But when his lover faked a fall and a miscarriage, framing me for it, he chose her. The fall caused me to lose my actual baby. As I lay bleeding on the floor, my husband scoffed, "Don't play games, Alexis," and rushed her to the hospital. He then had me committed to a psychiatric facility, publicly painting me as delusional to protect his reputation and his affair. He thought he had gotten rid of me forever. But he didn't know my sister would break me out. He didn't know I would fake my own death to escape. Now, I'm back. And I'm about to teach the good doctor a lesson in consequences.

Three years after being rejected for having "no wolf," I returned to my old pack's territory. I wasn't the pathetic human girl anymore; I was the Luna of the Supreme Alpha. But to test them, I wore plain grey clothes and blocked my scent. My ex-mate, August, took the bait instantly. He cornered me at the Alpha Summit, mocking my appearance. "We need a nanny to wash diapers," he sneered in front of the dignitaries. "Since you're a starving Rogue, I'll offer you the job. You can sleep in the servants' quarters." When I refused, he turned his venom on my three-year-old son, calling him a "bastard." My son bit him in defense. That was when August’s new mate grabbed a lethal silver knife and lunged at my child. I threw myself in front of the blade. It pierced my shoulder, the silver burning like acid. August laughed, thinking he had just rid the world of a weak human. He didn't know he had just drawn the blood of the legendary White Wolf. The entire hall fell silent as the ground began to shake. My husband, the Supreme Alpha, kicked open the doors, his eyes glowing with murderous intent. He didn't look at the trembling Council. He looked at the knife in my shoulder. "You drew Royal blood," he whispered, the sound terrifyingly low. "Close the doors. No one leaves alive."

After the crash that killed my parents and stole my voice, my childhood friend Josiah swore he would be my voice. For years, I believed him, my silent world revolving around the boy who pulled me from the wreckage. I was even relearning to speak, just for him. Then I overheard the truth. To his friends, I was just the "town tragedy girl," a burden he was tired of carrying. The cruelty didn't stop. He let his new girlfriend publicly humiliate me, and when she faked an injury, he forced me to my knees to apologize in front of everyone. The final betrayal came during a storm. He abandoned me in the woods, deaf without my hearing aids, leaving me to face the same terror that shattered my life years ago. He chose her. He broke his promise. He broke me. So I left. I found my own voice, my own strength. Three years later, I returned for my first art exhibition, and when I saw his face in the crowd, I knew he was about to hear everything he'd forced me to keep silent.

My seven-year marriage to Olivia Hayes, a powerful CEO, seemed perfect from the outside. But then, a single photo on social media shattered everything: my wife, laughing intimately with her much younger personal assistant, Liam Thorne, proudly wearing the platinum cufflink I designed for our fifth anniversary. When I confronted her, Olivia felt no shame, dismissively claiming it was "just a cufflink" and proposing an "open arrangement" where I could find someone else. The humiliation deepened when I went to Hayes Enterprises, the company I helped build, only to be ambushed by Liam. He taunted me, flaunting his new status and claiming my office, before having me assaulted by security while Olivia watched, choosing to protect her lover' s image over mine. My world crumbled as the video of the assault went viral, and Olivia, facing public backlash, demanded I sign over my company shares to Liam as an "apology" for my "unhinged behavior." The sheer audacity and betrayal left me hollow, but I refused to be manipulated. I tore up the share transfer agreement, signed the divorce papers, and walked away from everything, planning to start anew in New York. But Olivia, ever the master manipulator, convinced me to stay for a "truce," only to publicize her affair with Liam at a family gala, where he cruelly tricked me into stepping into hot coffee. The final straw came when Olivia fussed over Liam's fake injury, then dismissed my actual second-degree burn with a casual "Go home and put some toothpaste on it." I drove straight to LAX, bought a one-way ticket to New York, and left everything behind-my marriage, my company, and the toxic remnants of a life that was never truly mine. Little did I know, this agonizing end was just the beginning of reclaiming my true self and finding a love I never thought possible.

The air in the Miller family living room was thick and heavy, like quicksand under my worn-out sneakers. My adoptive brother, Brandon, looked at me with feigned pain, gesturing to expertly forged documents accusing me of selling company secrets. "This is a mistake," I croaked, the first words I' d said in ten minutes. My adoptive father, Richard, rumbled about betrayal and corporate espionage. Sarah, my ex-fiancée, ripped off the ring I'd saved two years for, calling me a "traitor" and a "common thief." Then Chloe, my adoptive sister, held up her phone, live-streaming my humiliation to millions. It was a perfectly orchestrated execution. Brandon whispered, "You were always in the way," before shoving me down, my wrist screaming as I fell. My adopted mother, Eleanor, looked at me with pure revulsion, demanding I be removed. Richard declared me disowned, my shares forfeited. They sentenced me to a "wellness retreat" indefinitely, a "death sentence" they called it. But I smiled. A strange, serene smile. "A wellness retreat?" I asked, my voice steady. "Away from all of this? No work? No family obligations?" I looked Richard straight in the eye. "Thank you," I said, my smile widening. "Honestly. Thank you." The silence in the room was sharp, crackling with their disbelief. "This isn' t a vacation, Alex," he snapped, his composure slipping. "I know," I said. "It' s better. It' s freedom." They thought they were sending me to prison, but they just handed me the key. They thought they were punishing me, but they had no idea they' d just given me the greatest gift of all.

I thought I had New York exactly where I wanted it. As the hidden power behind my half-brother, Caleb, the city's new Don, I pulled all the strings from my penthouse, careful to avoid the chaos that once consumed it. But Caleb' s obsessive love, a sickness I'd nurtured for years, exploded, transforming my gilded cage into a literal one. He kidnapped me, locking me in a lavish fortress to keep me to himself, his madness threatening to burn down the empire I built. Then, a ghost from my past reappeared. Ethan Scott, the man I once loved, returned claiming his rightful place, and with it, me. He orchestrated Caleb's downfall, seizing power under the guise of rescuing me, marrying me to consolidate his reign. Everyone saw a love story, a hero claiming his bride. But kings and heroes were just pawns in my game. What happens when the queen refuses to be a prize? With my wedding gown stained by the blood of the two men who dared to control me, a hidden empire stirred. The city will awaken to a new dawn, under a ruler they never saw coming. Because sometimes, the silent architect is the only one left standing.

I built Liam Carter's political career from nothing, forging him into a powerful Senate candidate. Our engagement gala, a critical fundraiser, was set to crown us as D.C.'s ultimate power couple. But on that perfect night, the doorbell rang. It wasn't the catering staff; it was Brianna, a junior aide, clutches her very pregnant stomach. "It's Liam's," she whispered. Liam burst in, canceling the gala to manage the "crisis," his eyes colder than ice. He ordered me to stay silent, to protect his career, then swiftly blacklisted me from every connection I had built. Even my own parents sided with him, more concerned with appearances than my broken heart, dismissing his betrayal as a "man's needs." Isolated and professionally ruined, I watched my carefully constructed life unravel. The final blow: Brianna flaunted my hand-knitted scarf, a symbol of our struggles, now a dog bed for her new puppy. That scarf wasn't just fabric; it was a piece of my soul. Seeing it desecrated ignited a rage so pure and hot, it shattered any remaining pretense of civility. This wasn't just politics or business anymore; this was about my life, my history, everything I held sacred. I called Liam. "I want you to lose," I told him. " I want you to feel what it's like to have everything you've ever worked for turn to ash." With a new alliance by my side, I walked out, ready to reclaim my name, my power, and rewrite my future, no matter the cost.

I worked double shifts, saving every penny, convinced our family was barely making ends meet. My husband, Mark, managed a struggling car dealership, but for Thanksgiving, he booked a table at The Grand Steer. I arrived, envisioning a rare, happy family meal with Emily and him. Instead, Mark was there with our seven-year-old daughter, Emily, and his visibly pregnant high school sweetheart, Jessica. My heart froze as I overheard him casually explain he'd "taken care of" our beloved dog, Buster, because Jessica found him an inconvenience. When I confronted him, Emily, my daughter, shockingly screamed, "I wish Jessica was my mom! You always cared more about that stupid dog than me!" Utterly decimated by their betrayal, I filed for divorce and, in a moment of raw despair, told Mark to take full custody of Emily. Weeks later, a frantic call: Emily was in a severe car accident, needing a critical A-negative blood transfusion. But I'm O-negative, and Mark always claimed O-positive. The doctor's next words chilled me: "O-type parents cannot have an A-type child." The horrifying truth crashed down. My entire motherhood, the difficult IVF, Mark's secret files calling Emily "their legacy"-it was all a lie. She wasn't my child, but Jessica's, a cruel deception orchestrated through an embryo switch. My world exploded, but from the ashes, a cold, unyielding fire of revenge ignited.

Thanksgiving. The smell of roast turkey usually fills me with warmth, but not this year. My seven-year-old daughter, Lily, wasn't at the table. She was supposedly at my sister-in-law Jess' s mother' s house for a spontaneous sleepover with Jess' s son, Kyle - a plan that immediately set my maternal alarms ringing. My husband, Mark, dismissed my concerns, utterly captivated by the pumpkin pie Jess brought. My unease festered, especially after Mark' s tender whisper in his sleep: "Jess… oh, Jess…" The affair was real. Days blurred into anxious searching and growing fear, until a casual phone call Mark took on our landline - a line we barely used anymore - jolted me. He scoffed, "Telemarketers. Trying to sell cemetery plots by saying our kid' s ashes are lost. Sickos." "Ashes." The word hit me like a physical blow. My mother' s intuition roared. I sped to the only crematorium in town. There, I learned the horrifying truth: Lily was brought in by Jess, already dead, cremated. All that remained was her friendship bracelet, a tiny testament to a life brutally cut short. The shock gave way to pure, unadulterated horror when Detective Reynolds came. Brenda, Jess's mother, had confessed. Lily' s ashes were mixed into the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. We had eaten our daughter. The police, swayed by Mark who called my pleas a "domestic dispute," provided no immediate help, deepening my furious despair. But this unspeakable act ignited a fire within me. Justice, if not served by the law, would be found. I would unravel every thread of Jess' s monstrous plot, including the fate of her son, Kyle. This was no longer just about grief; it was about a mother' s relentless pursuit of truth and vengeance, no matter the cost, to expose the pure evil that had consumed my family.

My life was simple, if not exactly thrilling. An ex-Army Ranger, now a mechanic, living with my CEO wife, Cassie, in a world miles from my own. Then the call came, shattering everything: my mother, an intrepid investigative journalist, brutally murdered, dismembered, her eyes gouged out, her tongue cut. The police couldn't find a lead until security footage revealed the custom-engraved hunting knife – and then, I saw it, advertised for auction by my own wife's company. My wife, Cassie, bought the very weapon for her charismatic executive assistant, Marcus Vance – the man my mother had been investigating. He taunted me with vivid details of her torture, laughing as he had me beaten, then imprisoned in our home' s steel-reinforced panic room, my own wife convinced I was simply 'unstable.' Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, Marcus brought in an urn. My mother' s ashes, he casually explained, would make a 'strong, durable, permanent' foundation for our driveway. The ultimate desecration, a final, horrifying insult that crushed me. How could my life, my family, have fallen to such depravity? But in that moment of absolute despair, something shifted. A Ranger doesn' t break. I escaped, battered and bleeding, making a desperate pilgrimage to Washington D.C. There, at the steps of the Department of Justice, I collapsed, but not before leaving my father' s Medal of Honor and a bloody handprint – a silent, defiant cry for justice against the monsters in my own home.

My Thanksgiving engagement party was supposed to be the start of my perfect life. My fiancé, Ethan, beamed, arm around me, announcing our future to millions of live-stream followers. He presented a shimmering "10-carat" diamond and a suitcase supposedly stuffed with $250,000 cash, a dream come true. But days later, that dream shattered. I walked into our new apartment and found him with Chloe, my best friend, my maid of honor. They weren' t even sorry. The "engagement gift" cash? Mostly prop money, "FOR MOTION PICTURE USE ONLY" stamped on the bills. Then they flipped the script. They screamed I was the thief, that I' d swapped the money. Their brutal social media campaign painted me as a gold digger, a liar. Legal fees bankrupted me, friends vanished. The world turned its back. Anxiety became my shadow. In a desolate, snow-covered parking lot, Ethan' s radicalized fans, convinced I had destroyed their idol, emerged from the swirling snow. The last thing I felt was the cold, then a sharp, searing pain, then nothing. A life unjustly stolen, a future erased by a con artist and a betrayer. I woke with a gasp, heart hammering. Sunlight streamed through my old bedroom window. The date on my phone: Thanksgiving morning. The day of the engagement party. The trauma was real, but so was the second chance. This time, I wouldn't be the victim. This time, they would pay.

I was the heir to a tech and real estate empire, living a life most only dreamed of. Yet, I felt a constant ache, a longing for something pure. My father’s “Vanguard Program” was supposed to find me a wife, and I was infatuated with Ava Moreau, the ice queen he picked as a frontrunner. I thought she was my future. Then, my world shattered. I overheard Chloe Bishop, one of the Vanguard women, openly mock my "pathetic devotion" and call my near-drowning "staged." Moments later, I witnessed Ava and her supposed "younger brother," Liam, in a passionate embrace, betraying everything I believed. Their intricate scheme began to unravel. Liam faked an injury to frame me. Ava deliberately sabotaged my horse's saddle during a polo match, leaving me bruised and broken. Then, she humiliated me publicly at a charity gala, hijacking an auction and smirking as she gifted my prized item to Liam. The final blow came at my own engagement party: a deepfake video of me, making lewd comments, broadcast to hundreds. The crowd gasped, whispered, judging me. My reputation, my honor, publicly shredded. How could people I nearly married, people embraced by my family, plot such elaborate deceit? Why the constant humiliation, the relentless sabotage, to destroy me? Their betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound. But their arrogance was their downfall. I had secretly installed surveillance. And as the fake tape played, exposing me as a pervert, I pulled out my phone, ready to expose *them* and tear down their web of lies, no matter the cost.

Sarah Thorne, née Miller, lived in a glittering New York penthouse, the wife of tech billionaire Marcus Thorne. Everyone whispered it was a fairytale, but Sarah was trapped, a silent prisoner in a gilded cage. Her world crumbled when Marcus, the man who’d allegedly ‘saved’ her, began using her parents’ struggling diner as ruthless leverage, threatening them with prison. Then, his mistress Tiffany arrived, turning Sarah’s home into a stage for relentless humiliation. Marcus’s cruelty escalated: from gaslighting his infidelity to forcing Sarah into a childhood trauma trigger – a dark, rat-infested root cellar. He even publicly shamed her with leaked childhood photos and doused her in greasy dishwater at a high-society event. The betrayal was absolute. How could the man who promised her the world become her tormentor? Why did he constantly break her down? In despair, Sarah decided she couldn't escape him alive. She contacted her childhood chemist friend, Evie, for an untraceable substance. Her grim plan: a final, shared exit. But Evie's "poison" wasn't what Sarah thought. It was a reversible sedative, designed not for an end, but for Sarah's ultimate freedom and Marcus's brutal, surprising reckoning.

I have been with Valerie since childhood, and our relationship is as deep as sisters. The Flynn family carefully selected a husband for her, and they chose the newly crowned top scholar. I thought Valerie would be able to marry well. However, on the eve of the wedding, the Flynn family suffered a sudden disaster and everyone perished except for Valerie and me, struggling in the storm. While on the way to her fiancé, Valerie was kidnapped by bandits and her whereabouts remain unknown. She eventually met a tragic end by falling into a dry well. As for me, Valerie's fiancé took me as his concubine and I became pregnant with his only child. Princess Miranda sees me as a thorn in her side, while the top scholar treats me like a treasure. However, they don't know that I am actually a grim reaper sent to take their lives!

"Stella once savored Marc's devotion, yet his covert cruelty cut deep. She torched their wedding portrait at his feet while he sent flirty messages to his mistress. With her chest tight and eyes blazing, Stella delivered a sharp slap. Then she deleted her identity, signed onto a classified research mission, vanished without a trace, and left him a hidden bombshell. On launch day she vanished; that same dawn Marc's empire crumbled. All he unearthed was her death certificate, and he shattered. When they met again, a gala spotlighted Stella beside a tycoon. Marc begged. With a smirk, she said, ""Out of your league, darling."

Elliana, the unfavored "ugly duckling" of her family, was humiliated by her stepsister, Paige, who everyone admired. Paige, engaged to the CEO Cole, was the perfect woman-until Cole married Elliana on the day of the wedding. Shocked, everyone wondered why he chose the "ugly" woman. As they waited for her to be cast aside, Elliana stunned everyone by revealing her true identity: a miracle healer, financial mogul, appraisal prodigy, and AI genius. When her mistreatment became known, Cole revealed Elliana's stunning, makeup-free photo, sending shockwaves through the media. "My wife doesn't need anyone's approval."

For three quiet, patient years, Christina kept house, only to be coldly discarded by the man she once trusted. Instead, he paraded a new lover, making her the punchline of every town joke. Liberated, she honed her long-ignored gifts, astonishing the town with triumph after gleaming triumph. Upon discovering she'd been a treasure all along, her ex-husband's regret drove him to pursue her. "Honey, let's get back together!" With a cold smirk, Christina spat, "Fuck off." A silken-suited mogul slipped an arm around her waist. "She's married to me now. Guards, get him the hell out of here!"

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."

After five years of playing the perfect daughter, Rylie was exposed as a stand-in. Her fiancé bolted, friends scattered, and her adoptive brothers shoved her out, telling her to grovel back to her real family. Done with humiliation, she swore to claw back what was hers. Shock followed: her birth family ruled the town's wealth. Overnight, she became their precious girl. The boardroom brother canceled meetings, the genius brother ditched his lab, the musician brother postponed a tour. As those who spurned her begged forgiveness, Admiral Brad Morgan calmly declared, "She's already taken."

Maia grew up a pampered heiress-until the real daughter returned and framed her, sending Maia to prison with help from her fiancé and family. Four years later, free and married to Chris, a notorious outcast, everyone assumed Maia was finished. They soon discovered she was secretly a famed jeweler, elite hacker, celebrity chef, and top game designer. As her former family begged for help, Chris smiled calmly. "Honey, let's go home." Only then did Maia realize her "useless" husband was a legendary tycoon who'd adored her from the start.

Sunlit hours found their affection glimmering, while moonlit nights ignited reckless desire. But when Brandon learned his beloved might last only half a year, he coolly handed Millie divorce papers, murmuring, "This is all for appearances; we'll get married again once she's calmed down." Millie, spine straight and cheeks dry, felt her pulse go hollow. The sham split grew permanent; she quietly ended their unborn child and stepped into a new beginning. Brandon unraveled, his car tearing down the street, unwilling to let go of the woman he'd discarded, pleading for her to look back just once.

In their previous lives, Gracie married Theo. Outwardly, they were the perfect academic couple, but privately, she became nothing more than a stepping stone for his ambition, and met a tragic end. Her younger sister Ellie wed Brayden, only to be abandoned for his true love, left alone and disgraced. This time, both sisters were reborn. Ellie rushed to marry Theo, chasing the success Gracie once had-unaware she was repeating the same heartbreak. Gracie instead entered a contract marriage with Brayden. But when danger struck, he defended her fiercely. Could fate finally rewrite their tragic endings?

After two years of marriage, Kristian dropped a bombshell. "She's back. Let's get divorced. Name your price." Freya didn't argue. She just smiled and made her demands. "I want your most expensive supercar." "Okay." "The villa on the outskirts." "Sure." "And half of the billions we made together." Kristian froze. "Come again?" He thought she was ordinary-but Freya was the genius behind their fortune. And now that she'd gone, he'd do anything to win her back.

For three years, Cathryn and her husband Liam lived in a sexless marriage. She believed Liam buried himself in work for their future. But on the day her mother died, she learned the truth: he had been cheating with her stepsister since their wedding night. She dropped every hope and filed for divorce. Sneers followed-she'd crawl back, they said. Instead, they saw Liam on his knees in the rain. When a reporter asked about a reunion, she shrugged. "He has no self-respect, just clings to people who don't love him." A powerful tycoon wrapped an arm around her. "Anyone coveting my wife answers to me."