Fei Se

My brother, at the whim of his new girlfriend, fired our entire security team, leaving my mother and me alone in our isolated lake house. I had a premonition of a violent attack, but he just laughed and called me a drama queen. That night, my vision came true. Intruders stormed our home, and my mother took a crowbar to the chest to save my life. I escaped through the blizzard, bleeding and desperate, to my fiancé Cristofer' s cabin. He met me with a cold smirk. "Broderick warned me you'd pull a stunt like this." He accused me of faking it all for attention, then beat me until I tasted blood, leaving me on the floor. My brother and the man I was supposed to marry had branded me a liar while my mother was dying. They had chosen to believe a fantasy over my reality. But as I lay there, broken, Cristofer's phone rang. It was the sheriff, confirming a 911 call about a home invasion and a critically wounded victim at our address. Their world of lies was about to come crashing down.

I served the Dunlap family for six years, managing their dark accounts and raising children that weren't mine, all while waiting for my husband to truly love me. But when the "real" mistress returned, my devotion was rewarded with a death sentence. My husband, Gavyn, didn't just ask for a divorce; he dragged me to a cliff edge. He stood next to Iliana, the woman who stole my life, and looked at me with cold indifference. He called me a thief. He called me an "incubator"—a temporary vessel used to hold his place until his princess came back. Then, he ordered his hitman to finish it. I managed to bribe the hitman and jumped into the freezing ocean, but the fall cost me the only thing that mattered. Alone on a desolate beach, shivering and broken, I miscarried Gavyn's child—the baby he didn't even know existed. I lay in the sand, hollowed out by grief. I couldn't understand how the man I worshipped could discard me like trash. He didn't just break my heart; he tried to erase my existence. But fate wasn't done with me. On that same beach, I found a wounded young man hiding in the woods. He wasn't just a stranger; he was the lost heir to the Sosa crime family—Gavyn's mortal enemies. When the Don, Daniel Sosa, came to claim his nephew, he offered me a hand. Now, the world thinks Alex Dunlap is dead. But tonight, I am walking into the Grand Gala on the arm of the most dangerous man in the city. And I’m going to burn Gavyn’s empire to the ground.

My husband, Mark, was in the shower when a message from an unknown number buzzed, "Your husband says I'm way more exciting than you, his dead fish, and now I'm pregnant with his child. Who do you think he'll choose?" It was Chloe Miller, Mark' s assistant, the one I' d personally recommended. My breath caught as a video downloaded-Mark, wild and untamed, saying something I couldn't hear over the pounding in my ears. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the shower. Humiliation washed over me, and my decade-long world crumbled. I found a drafted divorce agreement in Mark' s desk drawer. He had been planning this. Then Chloe sent more photos-Mark kissing her in a honeymoon suite in Iceland, taunting me with, "How long has it been since he touched you, old hag?" Every image was a fresh stab of pain. At a charity gala, Chloe, visibly pregnant, clung to Mark. He whispered to her, showing genuine worry. He then bought her a diamond necklace right after buying me a spa voucher. Later, his phone lit up with a message from her, "Is the old hag mad? Don' t worry about her. Come back to me. The baby and I need you." He typed back instantly, still holding me, pretending to comfort me. How could he feign concern for me while being so blatantly connected to her? How could he lie so effortlessly, acting the part of a loving husband while planning to discard me and our entire life? The hypocrisy was suffocating, the cruelty breathtaking. I looked at his smiling, deceitful face, and felt nothing but a vast, empty wasteland where my love for him used to be. My heart, once a steady flame, was extinguished. Now, all that was left were the ashes, and I was ready to become the storm.

The doctor' s words hit me like a cold gavel: six months left to live. My life's purpose, my son David, would inherit everything I' d worked for. My life was dedicated to him, every penny saved, so he and his family would never worry. On Christmas Eve, after preparing a giant feast, David called, claiming they were stuck in traffic. Then I overheard his wife, Jessica, and David himself, laughing about my "stuffy little house" from his biological father Daniel's mansion, discussing how they needed to ensure David was in my will. A cold dread seeped into my bones as I listened to them tear me apart. Jessica hissed that I held David back, keeping him from his "real, successful father." David, my son, replied with a deep resentment, wishing he were a Hayes, not a Miller. The phone clicked dead. The love that had defined my existence went cold. I had worked two jobs, sold my mother' s jewelry, and sacrificed my retirement for him, only to be called selfish and an obstacle. If I was just a will to him, then I would write a new one. My quiet rebellion had begun.

The system's cold, mechanical voice echoed in my head: "Elimination in 24 hours. Affection and love values from all targets remain at zero. Final task failed." My life, spent trying to win a game of affection I was designed to lose, was ending. Then the phone rang. It was my husband, David, frantic. "Olivia, where are you? Get to the hospital. Now. It's Emily." My twin sister. Always Emily. Her kidneys had failed, she needed a transplant, and as her twin, I was the perfect match. My heart didn't even flutter. They demanded my last kidney, just as they always demanded sacrifices from me. My mother called next, yelling, "How can you be so selfish? Your sister needs you! We've given you everything... the least you can do is save her life." They called Emily "delicate," their excuse for endless favoritism, while seeing me as "the strong one" who endured and gave without complaint. I had already secretly given my father one of my kidneys years ago, letting Emily take the credit and the love. I signed the consent forms for the surgery, a final act of surrender. My family promised David a down payment on a house and offered me "forgiveness for all the trouble I'd caused"- a veiled threat for a lifetime of perceived defiance. I was a tool, a means to Emily's end, and now, a vessel to be emptied. I had chased their love for ten years, following the system' s tasks, sacrificing my dignity for worthless points. But every time I earned one, Emily found a way to make me lose two. David' s score never even reached one. Now I knew the truth: the system was a curse, a reflection of my desperate need for their approval, and it was killing me. Just hours before the surgery, a new nightmare began. Emily's latest design was leaked, traced to my IP address. The press swarmed; my mother slapped me; Emily, the perfect victim, cried for me to be forgiven. My family ordered me to confess, to take the blame for something I didn't do, to protect Emily's reputation. And I did it. I publicly admitted to being the jealous villain, sacrificing my name, my dignity, my entire being for the family that never loved me.

The last thing I remembered was the blinding glare of headlights. When I woke, my world was darkness and pain, my hands - my tools - shattered. My fiancé, Liam, the city's celebrated neurosurgeon, became my rock, his voice a soothing balm. He claimed the drunk driver was caught, our unborn son Leo was safe, and he' d be my eyes and hands until I healed. Months blurred into a fog of physical therapy and his suffocating care. My hands were slow, my blindness absolute, a constant reminder of my helplessness. But then, a flicker. A shape. Color. My sight was coming back, a miracle I couldn' t wait to share with Liam. But as I approached his operating room, voices drifted out, shattering my illusion. "Dr. Miller, Mrs. Chen' s hands are showing signs of recovery again. Do you really want to break her fingers again? This is the eighth time." Eighth time? And then… "Ben, Leo was killed by you. You want to protect Charlotte, but you don' t need to destroy Ava!" Charlotte? Leo was killed? By Liam? This man, my savior, had murdered our son and systematically tortured me to protect his mistress? The joy in my heart turned to an icy dread. He thought I was blind, helpless, and broken. He had no idea the woman he tried to destroy was meticulously cataloging his every lie, his every atrocity. He thought I was his victim. He was wrong. I was his judge. And the trial had just begun.

Eight years of marriage, white tablecloths, and soft candlelit dinners. My husband, Liam, the man who once promised forever, took my hand across an expensive restaurant table. But the perfection shattered when he pulled his hand back, revealing his family' s relentless demand for an heir. Then Chloe, a "good, healthy girl" from the countryside, appeared in our living room, brought by his iron-willed grandmother. Soon, I overheard the whispers: Chloe was pregnant. Liam' s baby. When I confronted him with divorce papers, he begged, "I thought it was you." I believed his pleas for one more chance, for him to "handle" Chloe. But the real test came in a dusty warehouse: his business rivals, a choice to be made. "You can only have one," a cold voice stated. "Your wife, Ava, or your other woman, Chloe, carrying your heir." I held my breath, knowing he should choose me. "Let Chloe go. Protect the child. I need the child," Liam' s voice echoed, cold and distant. Then came a frantic whisper, "Ava, I promise. I' ll come back for you." The last thing I saw before the metal pipe struck was his empty promise, his true betrayal. I woke in a hospital, three days later, battered and abandoned. He didn' t come. He never called. He arrived later, no remorse, only self-pity, declaring, "I had to protect the heir. It was the only choice." His grandmother dismissed me as a barren failure, while Chloe, playing the innocent martyr, cried, "I told Liam to choose you… but he insisted on saving the baby… our baby." Watching him fuss over her, over their baby, something clicked. I was pregnant. Seven weeks. And he had just sacrificed our child, draining me for her, for a lie. My father's factory burned, his heart giving out from the shock, and Chloe, playing the sympathetic helper, framed me for arson. Then Liam had me committed to a psychiatric facility, where I barely survived a head injury. I finally understood: this wasn't about love, or even an heir. It was a calculated, ruthless game of power and betrayal. A cold, clear rage settled in. I would not just leave. I would make them pay. I would burn his kingdom to the ground.

Hurricane warnings flashed across my screen. My "family"-my adoptive mother Jennifer, my brother Matthew, and my beloved sister Sabrina-drank champagne, scoffing at my warnings. But when the storm hit, and the grand mansion began to collapse, it was me, Nicole, the "hick" from Appalachia, who dragged their dead weight from under crumbling ceilings. I broke through walls, tore my hands digging a tunnel, all to save them. Yet, as first responders arrived, Matthew smirked, accusing me of abandoning them, while Sabrina feigned innocence. They both pointed paramedics away from me, towards their "trapped" daughter. I fell, impaled by rebar, bleeding out in the rubble, completely alone, as they rescued Sabrina, showering her with concern they never once gave me. They never saw the blood soaking my hands, the growing stain on my abdomen. Why would they choose her, time and time again, even as I sacrificed everything for them? Why did they leave me to die in a pile of concrete? They just made a huge mistake. Because my father, Andrew Clark, is about to make them watch exactly how I died. And the truth will shatter their perfect world.

I was Evelyn Reed, a senior litigator, standing in my office. Everything felt chillingly familiar, as if I' d lived this exact moment before. Because I had. Just moments ago, I recalled the cold New York air, the city lights blurring in betrayal, as my husband Damien pushed me from our penthouse roof. He did it after his men had their way with me, a brutal punishment for his lover, Isabelle's, death. But then, I blinked, and I was back, staring at the exact clock on my desk where my old life began its final, downward spiral. The doors to our main lobby burst open, and a group of angry, suit-wearing men, the "family" of a pro bono client, stormed in. They were here because Damien had failed to file a critical injunction, initiating a terrifying lockdown of the entire floor. When my loyal paralegal tried to call him for help, Damien' s arrogant dismissal over the phone led to him being brutally knocked unconscious. The bitter irony: he thought he' d silenced me forever, but I was back, a ghost with one singular, burning purpose. No longer the compliant wife, I would use every lesson from my past demise to orchestrate his downfall, piece by agonizing piece. This time, he wouldn't just lose; he would suffer.

For years, I lived in the hallowed halls of the Blackwood estate, a shadow. My supposed mother, Agnes, systematically siphoned my spiritual energy, gifting it to her own daughter, Claire, who reveled in every stolen blessing. I was the family's "cursed" child, scarred and suffering, my true, ancient Silvercreek power suppressed, biding my time. My life, a lie, a carefully constructed illusion of weakness. Then came the Founder's Centennial Gala. Agnes, consumed by hubris, decided this was her stage. She orchestrated a twisted plan: publicly declare Claire her biological child, and use me as live bait to lure a mythical beast, the Old Man of the Mountain, to steal its powerful Heartstone for Claire. I endured the unimaginable: dragged to sacred peaks, brutally mauled, left for dead, then hauled back to the glittering ballroom, bleeding and broken, a grotesque spectacle. Guests gasped, recoiled in disgust. Agnes beamed, ready to deliver her grand, self-serving revelation, believing her triumph was at hand. They thought me a pitiful, broken creature, a mere pawn in their twisted game. Did they truly believe I had endured decades of torment, of stolen life and power, only for a final humiliation? Did they think my silence was weakness, my downtrodden gaze surrender? I watched and waited. No. The pain was my fuel, the injustice my fire. As Agnes began her smug confession, I rose, not as a victim, but as a force. The Gala wouldn't be Claire's crowning; it would be the Blackwood family's absolute reckoning. I would unveil every single one of their dark, bloody secrets, starting tonight.

"Not until when she got pregnant did Nora realize that she was not the one Martin really loved. All of his sweet words were nothing but a romantic illusion. As she got the news that he would be engaged to another woman, she finally gave up and left away with his child. When she came back with their baby, he went back to her, trying to win her back. This time, she had no way to run away from his love tricks and deep affection."

"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.

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."

Two years of marriage left Brinley questioning everything, her supposed happiness revealed as nothing but sham. Abandoning her past for Colin, she discovered only betrayal and a counterfeit wedding. Accepting his heart would stay frozen, she called her estranged father, agreeing to the match he proposed. Laughter followed her, with whispers of Colin's power to toss her aside. Yet, she reinvented herself-legendary racer, casino mastermind, and acclaimed designer. When Colin tried to reclaim her, another man pulled Brinley close. "She's already carrying my child. You can't move on?"

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."