Miss Demeanor

On my eighteenth birthday, the celestial pact hiding my aura finally expired. I stood on the rotting steps of the trailer, watching my foster family celebrate my eviction like they’d won the lottery. Brenda threw a liability waiver at me to sign, ensuring I’d never ask for a dime of their welfare checks again. Worse, her daughter Regina stood there smirking, flaunting the heirloom emerald bracelet she’d stolen from my secret stash—unaware it was a spiritual artifact soaked in fifty years of blood magic. "Consider it payment for room and board, freak," Regina sneered, forcing the silver band over her wrist. They thought they were discarding a burden. They didn't realize I was the only dam holding back a tidal wave of their own bad karma. As I signed the papers, voluntarily severing our ties, the air pressure plummeted. The bracelet began to constrict like a snake, turning Regina’s flesh a necrotic purple as the protection I offered vanished. Before they could scream, a matte black helicopter bearing the Sterling Industries crest descended onto the muddy lawn, blowing their plastic lawn chairs into the neighbor's yard. A man in a bespoke charcoal suit stepped out, ignoring the filth to bow before me. He looked at my terrified foster family and announced, "We are here to retrieve the Sterling heiress." I smiled at Regina, whose arm was already beginning to rot, and whispered, "Keep the bracelet. You'll need it to pay for the amputation."

I married Edwardo Steele out of a debt of honor, secretly loving the man who treated me like a contaminant. For three years, he weaponized his severe OCD against me, recoiling from my touch while I walked on eggshells in our cold, sterile mansion. My foolish hope for love died the night I saw him at a hotel fire, holding his mistress, Cassie, with a tenderness I had never known. He didn't just cheat; he destroyed me. He framed my brother, leaving him permanently disabled, all to protect her. Then, at Cassie's birthday party, he played our private video for everyone to see, a final, public humiliation. The man I sacrificed everything for had chosen a liar over me, and I was left with nothing but shame and a broken family. But in the depths of my despair, I discovered two things. First, I was pregnant with his child. Second, my brother had found a secret that could bring Edwardo's empire to its knees. I made an appointment to end the pregnancy. Then, I planned to use that secret to end my marriage.

For ten years, I was the silent engine behind my fiancé, the celebrated genius Dr. Alston Scott. I dedicated my life to our research, pouring my soul into a breakthrough that would change the world. But when that breakthrough finally came, he stole it. He put his new protégé's name, Kiara Gamble, on my life's work. At the annual colloquium, to shield Kiara from plagiarism accusations, he publicly dismissed my decade of research. "She performed some preliminary data collection," he announced to the entire institute. In that moment, I understood. I wasn't his partner; I was a tool. A convenient, disposable part he was now replacing. My family had already cast me out for losing my "golden ticket," and now, the man I loved had erased my professional existence. So after he tried to silence me with a kiss, I slapped him, walked back to my lab, and deleted everything. Every file. Every piece of data from the last ten years. Then I booked a one-way ticket to the desert.

For five years, I was blindly devoted to my fiancé, Austen Griffin. My family's power was the only reason he was about to be named heir to the entire Griffin fortune. But on the night of the announcement, he arrived late with my sister, Dennie, a fresh hickey on his neck. He cornered me, demanding a prenuptial agreement. "No shared accounts. No shared bedroom. And no questions about my life," he whispered. "You get the name, I get my freedom." In my past life, their public betrayal broke me. He used my love to secure his power, then cast me aside, leaving me to die alone while he and my sister enjoyed the fortune I handed them. But when I opened my eyes, I was back at the gala, moments before the decision. This time, when the family patriarch asked me to name my choice, I looked past Austen' s triumphant smirk and smiled. "I choose Kolton Griffin," I announced, my voice clear and cold, selecting the crippled, forgotten cousin he despised most.

For two thousand, five hundred and fifty-five days, I breathed air filtered through silver vents. Silver is poison to our kind, yet my Fated Mate, Alpha Dante Moretti, personally drove me to that prison and locked me in hell for seven years. He did it to protect another woman. When I was finally released, gaunt and broken, Dante didn't offer an apology. He offered excuses. He claimed it was necessary to save Chiara, the delicate "golden child" who supposedly saved his life years ago. But it was a lie. I was the one who had drained my veins until I went into shock to save him, while my parents handed the credit to Chiara. Now, back in the manor, I was forced to watch my mate feed her grapes and comfort her fake distress. My parents called me a "soulless waste" and demanded I annul our engagement so Dante could mark Chiara. They thought I was a weak Omega they could discard. They didn't know that the silver hadn't killed me; it had forged me. They had no idea that the "runt" they abused possessed the blood of the White Wolf, the most powerful creature in our history. When the truth finally shattered their lies, Dante crawled to me, bleeding and begging on his knees in a hotel hallway. But I didn't feel triumph. I felt nothing. "I, Alessia Salinas, reject you, Dante Moretti." I walked away from the Alpha who broke me, leaving him to scream into the silence of a severed bond.

The man who swore he would burn the world down for me has been married to another woman for three years. I found out the day I was finally discharged from the Swiss clinic he'd sent me to. I flew home to surprise him, only to discover my release was a year overdue. He had forged my medical reports, painting me as a fragile, broken thing just to keep me locked away while he built a new life. His new wife, Isabella, hit me with her car. He defended her, calling me hysterical. She stole my art portfolio and claimed it as her own, and he forced me to take the blame to protect his family's reputation. She even killed her own puppy to frame me. While I jumped into a freezing river to retrieve my father's medallion that she'd thrown in, he stood on the terrace pointing out a meteor shower to her. The final betrayal came when Isabella faked her own kidnapping and named me as the culprit. I didn't understand. This was Dante Moretti, the Devil of the East Coast, my guardian, the man who had sworn to be my shield. Why was he letting this woman destroy me piece by piece? Believing I was the kidnapper, he had me tied to a helicopter, dragged across a field, and left me for dead. But I didn't die. I survived. Five years later, I have a new name, a new life, and a husband who loves me. And today, I just ran into Dante on the street. He looked at me like he'd seen a ghost.

For nine years, I poured every ounce of myself into building a life for Chloe, the girl I rescued from the streets, even secretly sacrificing all my personal savings and hiding my identity as the heir to the Miller Group just so she could achieve her dreams. Then, she graduated, landed a prestigious job, and looked me in the eye at our wobbly kitchen table: "Ethan," she said, her voice flat. "I want a divorce." She claimed we'd grown apart, that I was "still me" while she had changed, dismissing our entire history as a mere "survival pact." She shoved divorce papers at me, demanding a "clean break" with the cold efficiency of a corporate cut, then walked out to her new life, leaving behind the untouched steak I' d cooked-her favorite. Later, I found brand-new, expensive men's shoes hidden in her closet, clearly not for me, another man' s size. The realization hit me: this new life she spoke of wasn't just about career. It had a name: Brendan. The very man I' d seen her kissing on a snowy street, laughing as she called our home "pathetic." My heart, which had endured her constant complaints about our small life, now burned with betrayal and confusion. How could she so easily discard nine years of unwavering devotion, reduced to a transaction? But the ultimate insult came when Chloe tried to manipulate me one last time, offering a "second chance" at our marriage-if I "fixed" things, if I got Brendan, the man she' d chosen over me, his job back. That' s when I dropped the bomb: "I paid her," I revealed, "I took the last five thousand dollars from our house fund, money I earned working nights in a freezer warehouse, and I paid her to walk away so that you could have your dream job." Her world, built on my silent sacrifices, crumbled, leaving her exposed and desperate. I walked away, finally free, leaving her to face the consequences of her choices as winter' s first snowflakes fell, washing away the last traces of a shattered dream.

The day my college entrance exam results came out, my entire wealthy family was on their knees, not for me, but begging for forgiveness. For years, they had seen me, Ava Stone, as nothing more than a lazy, incompetent disgrace, believing my adopted sister, Chloe, was the true prodigy. My tech-mogul grandfather decided to host a "Startup Pitch Competition," a high-stakes game between Chloe and me, to see who could secure the most venture capital. The winner would get a ten percent stake in the Stone family's main tech conglomerate. But it turned into a public execution for me. My parents, disgusted by my "laziness," bet three of their tech incubators on Chloe. My brother wagered ten data centers. Even my fiancé, Liam Miller, put up a brand-new AI patent, declaring to reporters and distinguished guests that I was "truly uninspired" and "guaranteed to lose," deeming me a disgrace to the Stone name. To their shock, I announced I'd match their bets, wagering my entire family inheritance, an offer they eagerly accepted, scrambling to put up almost everything they owned. My parents called me "crazy." My mother linked arms with Chloe, saying, "If it weren' t for Chloe, you' d drive us all crazy." My heart turned to ice as I watched them, hoping to rid themselves of me for good. They conveniently forgot Chloe had taken my place years ago, framed me repeatedly for her misdeeds, and was even secretly having an affair with my fiancé, Liam. Liam, eager to please Chloe, publicly crushed my deceased foster mother's modest necklace-my most precious possession-under his heel, sneering, "I, Liam Miller, would never marry a failure like you. Our engagement is over." My own mother slapped me for my tears, calling the necklace "cheap" and declaring I was "no Stone." As I was assaulted, restrained by bodyguards, and forced to watch a live stream of my robotic dog, Buddy, being tortured at a recycling plant-a "piece of junk," as my mother called him-my father kicked me, demanding I apologize. Amidst the chaos, a voice cut through: "The college entrance exam results are out!" Everyone swarmed around Chloe, celebrating her supposed triumph. Chloe smiled mockingly, "Ava, it' s finally time, isn' t it?" But it was my smile that unsettled her. Liam, eager to secure his future, dropped to one knee, proposing to Chloe, "Marry me, Chloe." The crowd roared, taunting me with my supposed failure. The notary announced Chloe's score: 702, second in the state. My family erupted in cheers, showering Chloe with praise and assets. Chloe gloated, "You bet your inheritance, but you're just a stepping stone for me. You're nothing but a clown." Then the notary announced my score: "Ava Stone, total score 748, first in the state for science. And also the national top scorer for science in this year's college entrance exam." The room fell into a terrifying silence. My mother's triumphant smile froze. Liam' s hand, hovering over a money transfer, paralyzed. Chloe snatched at the tablet, screaming, "Impossible! She partied every single day!" The notary calmly stated, "Miss Ava Stone wins all the wagers placed in the prize pool." As I pulled out my competition awards and university acceptance letters under my real name, the lights dimmed. Surveillance footage played: Chloe cheating on her exam, Chloe framing me. Every lie, exposed. Grandpa, watching from upstairs, confirmed I had been faking incompetence all along. He then delivered the final blow: his paternity test from twenty years ago confirmed Chloe was not his granddaughter. Chloe had manipulated everyone, replacing the true Stone heir-me. With my family' s assets now mine, and Chloe and her mother exiled, I reclaimed Buddy from the recycling plant, converting it into an animal rescue center. On Christmas Eve, I hosted a quiet dinner with the children from my foster home and the kind housekeeper who had secretly helped me. Months later, I restructured the Stone Group, clearing out those who had conspired against me. Liam, facing bankruptcy, tried to crawl back, but I made him pay every outstanding debt. My father and brother became ghosts in the mansion, stripped of their power. Grandpa then revealed everything: my foster mother, a nurse, had saved me from my biological mother' s machinations years ago, protecting me while Grandpa secretly supported us, waiting for the perfect moment for me to return and reclaim what was mine. My future stretched out, clear and open. I was ready to walk it, a tribute to my foster mother, a promise that I would build something good, something that would last.

My cousin Liam has a hobby. It' s ruining my life. Every time I found a girl I genuinely liked, he' d swoop in, charm her, and orchestrate a public, humiliating breakup. For years, I played the victim, internalizing the laughter and pity, dismissed by my mother as merely "jealous." But this time, with Chloe Jenkins, I wasn't just waiting for the storm. I built it. I watched as Liam Davis, parasite extraordinaire, took the bait. He flaunted Chloe on social media, convinced she was another notch on his belt, funded by his ex-wife Sarah' s endless alimony checks. Then, Sarah revealed Liam was living on borrowed time, off credit cards in her name. It was all a carefully laid trap, and he walked right into it, dragging Chloe and himself into a spiral of fraud and deception. He showed up at my door, a ghost of the man who terrorized my youth, wild-eyed and desperate. "You set this all up," he snarled as two menacing figures dragged me into a black SUV. He threw the first punch, my head snapping against the window. This wasn' t just about humiliation anymore; it was about survival. But Liam forgot one crucial detail: I wasn' t the only player in this game. And as his broken body plunged into the dark water, pulled down by the very current he created, I finally understood. Freedom wasn't a gift. It was a weapon, forged in years of pain, and wielded with precision.

The doorbell rang, a cheerful chime that felt utterly out of place, ushering in my mother-in-law, Eleanor, unannounced. Her unusual warmth and compliments were a warning, a performance leading up to her real ask. Then, over dessert, she dropped the bombshell: a request for a $250,000 "loan" from my disabled father' s settlement to fund my brother-in-law' s extravagant wedding. My father's money was for his life-long medical care, sacrificed from a lifetime in the steel mills. I refused, unleashing years of suppressed anger against her family' s disdain for my working-class roots. But the true betrayal came later, a phone call from a real estate agent asking to schedule a viewing for my house, which my husband, Kevin, had secretly listed for sale. He was planning to liquidate our home, our future, to fund his family' s delusional prestige. The shock, the raw devastation of his betrayal, quickly morphed into a cold, precise fury. He thought I was a naïve, hardworking girl he could easily manipulate. He had no idea I was about to weaponize a secret I had meticulously guarded for our entire marriage: his infertility. I decided, then and there, he would learn what it truly meant to lose everything.

The media called my wedding to Damian Blackwood a modern Cinderella story. They didn' t know it was a gilded cage, and I was the bird about to be locked inside. As I stood in my bridal suite, my sister Jessica walked in, her husband Leo trailing behind. Her eyes raked over my expensive dress, and a look of pure acid twisted her face. "It should have been me," she hissed, her voice low and venomous. Then, with a wildness I hadn' t seen, she whispered, "You stole my life, Amy." Something sharp and cold pressed into my stomach, a silver letter opener. Warmth bloomed across my white dress as my legs gave out, and darkness swallowed me. I died, bleeding on the floor, the last thing I saw Jessica' s horrified face. But then I woke up, not on the plush carpet of a Hamptons bridal suite, but in my childhood bed, years earlier. The lumpy mattress, the stained floral wallpaper, the year on the calendar-it was all wrong. Then Jessica walked in, wearing that cheap dress, with the same resentful ambition in her eyes. She knew. She was back, too, and declared, "This time, the life of a billionaire' s wife is mine!" I knew how that story ended. Let her have him.

Our startup, Veridian Capital, was supposed to be our shared dream-Sarah's and mine. I poured my life, my family's money, everything into it, even as a mysterious, chronic fatigue consumed me. Tonight, at the annual gala, Sarah, now CEO, was radiant. Then, on stage, she didn't just announce a new strategic business partner. Her voice, filled with sickening pride, declared they were expecting a child. With him. My blood ran cold as the room erupted in whispers. She looked at me, the man she' d called her husband, and spat, "This is your fault! Your debilitating negativity! Your lack of vitality!" After I demanded a divorce, her new "partner," a supposed Italian Count, brutally attacked me in our apartment, leaving me broken and bleeding. I lay there, ribs cracked, utterly bewildered. But the true horror hit harder than any fist: My sister, a tough US Attorney, later confirmed that my mysterious illness – the very fatigue Sarah used to justify her betrayal – wasn't natural. It was a slow-acting poison, meticulously administered over two years. By Sarah. The woman I loved, the partner I built everything with, had systematically poisoned me to take my company, my life, and replace me. And now, she was about to learn that Michael Holloway, once discarded and broken, was finally free. And I was coming for everything she held dear.

My name is Luna Boudreaux. They call me the Oracle. For generations, my family, the Boudreaux, has served the powerful Devereaux dynasty. Our sacred duty: activate the Legacy Locket to choose the next Devereaux heir, who then marries me. Today was that day, the Locket ceremony, set to fulfill our destiny. But this wasn't my first time. In my previous life, I fell desperately in love with Beau Devereaux. He was handsome, charming, everything I thought I wanted. Blinded by adoration, I committed a terrible sin. I used forbidden Boudreaux magic, a profound spiritual sacrifice, to force the Locket to choose him. I gave him everything – my family' s power, our wealth, and my entire heart. The moment he ascended, he turned into a monster. He sneered, "What Oracle? Just your desperate trick to marry me." He annulled our marriage, annihilated my family' s reputation with twisted lies, blamed us for an "accident" he orchestrated involving his obsession, Chantelle Dubois. He stripped us bare. And then, he had me killed. To my dying breath, I couldn't comprehend how a love so fierce could transform into such cold-blooded cruelty, or why I' d been so profoundly, fatally wrong. But then darkness lifted. Now, I'm back. Same place, same moment, a terrifying second chance. Beau can have Chantelle. I won' t interfere. This time, the Locket will choose truly. Fate will decide. And maybe, just maybe, I' ll uncover why, in a future vision, Beau Devereaux was on his knees, begging me to marry him instead.

I was just a grease-stained mechanic, happily working with my adoptive dad in rural Nevada, on the cusp of starting my engineering journey at MIT on a full scholarship. Then, a sleek black Mercedes pulled up, and out stepped a woman claiming to be my biological mother, Eleanor Vance, revealing an 18-year-old hospital mix-up during a chaotic wildfire. Suddenly, I was thrust into the opulent world of the Thorne family, where my biological father, Richard, and his entitled son, Ethan, made it abundantly clear I was an unwanted outsider, doling out belittling gifts and thinly veiled insults. At their grand charity gala, Richard and Ethan orchestrated a public humiliation, aiming to shame me in front of their elite circle, leaving me burning with indignation and confusion over their blatant hostility. But what they didn't foresee was my tech-billionaire boyfriend, Sam, along with his incredibly influential parents, crashing their party, turning their calculated attack into a spectacular downfall that exposed not just their schemes, but a multi-layered, decades-long conspiracy of baby swaps and deceit far beyond a simple hospital error.

My bachelor party in Vegas was supposed to be a modern celebration of love, a joint affair with my brilliant, beautiful fiancée, Sophia. But the flashing lights of the club turned into a blinding nightmare when her "gay best friend," Julian, drunkenly screamed that he was the father of her unborn child, revealing a betrayal that shattered my world. Sophia, utterly cold, confirmed it, then had the gall to demand I still marry her, raise Julian's baby, and even ordered me to retrieve her overnight bag from his lavish penthouse where I found her already moved in, curled in his lap, sharing an intimacy she'd denied me for years, as they mocked my shock and called me "insecure." The woman I'd chased for years, the Ivy League intellectual, stood there with her lover, confidently outlining a "modern compromise" where I was a mere placeholder, discarding five years of our life together with chilling condescension; how could I have been such a fool? Just as despair threatened to consume me, a drunken call from my long-lost college friend, Chloe, brought an unexpected confession of love and a radical offer: "What if I married you instead?" In that moment, a desperate, defiant spark ignited, steering me toward an improbable new beginning away from the toxic wreckage.

My lungs were failing, but my music was finally taking flight. I was a dying folk singer, determined to record my father's unfinished songs – a legacy. A grant from the prestigious Astor Family Arts Foundation felt like a miracle, a chance to complete my final masterpiece. Then, the “miracle” became a nightmare. The foundation was run by Ethan's family—my ex-fiancé's. And then *she* crashed into my world: Bella Thorne, America's sweetheart pop star, Ethan's new, very public girlfriend, announced she'd "collaborate." It wasn't collaboration; it was a hostile takeover. Bella and her producers butchered my raw sound, demanding synths and demanding co-writing credits on my father's decades-old lyrics. They wanted to make it "pop," to erase me. Bella's cruel jabs became relentless, each comment a tiny cut. My health, already fractured, spiraled with the stress—coughing fits, nosebleeds I desperately tried to hide. Ethan, the man I once loved, stood by, a silent, unreadable observer, always by *her* side. He watched my spirit being systematically dismantled. Then, in a moment of manufactured fury, Bella "accidentally" slammed my father's vintage guitar to the floor, splitting it in two. The guitar wasn't just wood; it was my soul, my last connection to him. Bella then posted a tearful video, portraying herself as heartbroken, casting *me* as the volatile drama queen. The internet, fueled by carefully leaked old photos of Ethan and me, branded me a gold-digging manipulator, faking my illness for attention. Even Ethan, seeing Bella's performance, was convinced. He texted, offering to "replace" my irreplaceable guitar, further proving he never truly understood. I was dying, fighting for my art, and the world thought I was faking. How could he be so blind? With trembling fingers, I deleted Ethan's contact. My legacy, my final gift, was being ripped apart, but I wouldn't let them silence the truth in my music. I had to protect it, even if it cost me everything.

Sure! Here’s the translation: "I am the gentle sweet wife in everyone's eyes. When my husband is abusive, I silently endure; when he cheats, I cry and forgive. Even when he says his boss likes married women and wants me to sleep with him, I reluctantly agree. He thinks I am weak and incapable, so he happily turns and leaves. After he goes, I wipe away the fake tears from my face and touch the back of my head. Covered by a thick mass of hair is another face, one that is almost taking shape— He still doesn’t know that another me inside is about to awaken."

Emberly, an esteemed scientist of the Imperial Federation, took her own life after completing important research. She was reborn, and just like in her first life, she was born into a wealthy family. She could’ve lived a carefree and prosperous life. However, the babies got mixed up in the hospital and she was taken home by another family from the countryside. Her foster parents later found out the truth and brought her to her real family, but they didn’t like her. Her evil adopted sister even loathed her. She was framed and ultimately, she died in prison. But in her next life, she refused to stay a coward and swore she would take revenge on all who wronged her. She would only care about those who were truly good to her and turn a blind eye to her heartless family. In one life, she had once experienced darkness and been trampled upon like an ant. In another, she had stood on top of the world. This time, she only wished to live for herself. As if a switch had gone on inside of her, she suddenly became the best at everything she put her mind to. He won the math contest, topped the college entrance exams, and solved an age old question... Later, she garnered countless scientific research achievements. People who had once slandered her and looked down on her cried bitterly and begged her for a patent authorization. She just sneered at them. No way! This was a world without faith, but the world put their faith in her. Austin, the heir to a powerful aristocratic family in the imperial capital, was cold-hearted and decisive. He scared anyone who laid eyes on him. Unbeknownst to everyone, he doted on one woman: Emberly. Nobody knew that his desire for her grew stronger with every passing day. She brought light to his originally dull and gloomy life.

Betrayed by the two people she trusted most - her husband and her foster sister-turned-best friend - Lilith dies with regrets. But fate has other plans. Granted a second chance by a mysterious system, she wakes up in the past. This time... She won't be naive. This time, she'll rewrite her destiny. On the first day of her rebirth, she crosses paths with Dean: a disarmingly gorgeous, silver-haired man who proposes a fake engagement to help her. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to draw the line between real and pretend. With the past betrayal still fresh in her mind, Lilith must decide- Will she risk her heart again... or keep her eyes on the prize?

"I will not let you take me alive" was the last thing she said before it all went dark. Watching both her parents murdered and their kingdom torn to ruins, it seems Leiya's life cannot get any worse, but it does. She is forcefully torn away from her sister and sent as a gift to appease Helion, ruler of the Kaltain Kingdom, the most powerful demon to ever exist, the "Prince of Hell", but Leiya is determined to keep her fathers dying wish. She will find her sister, Nayla at all cost, and not even Helion can stand in her way.

What did you say, little omega? I didn’t quite hear you.” Grayson rushed after me and growled; he yanked me roughly by the hair and pulled me back to face him. Then grabbing me by the scruff of the neck. I didn’t whimper or make a sound. I looked down at the ground, careful not to meet his glare. I knew that would make him more furious and I had learnt not to do that a long time ago. I could feel the eyes of the cafeteria on me, waiting for my response. My heart raced in my chest as Grayson's grip tightened on my neck. But I refused to show any weakness. That is what he wanted—weakness to show how powerful he was. But he would never be as powerful as his brothers or the Alpha and he knew it. "I said you don't have the right to treat others like dirt, Grayson," I repeated, my voice loud and clear for everyone around us to hear. Eliza is nothing more than an omega at the Creek Pack. All her life she has been treated badly by everyone especially the Alpha quadruplets and the Beta’s daughter. Determined to leave as soon as she turns eighteen, she soon realises that the moon goddess has other plans for her. How will Eliza react when she finds out that she is mated to the alpha quadruplets who made it their mission to destroy her life from day one. Will they regret their actions and claim Eliza as theirs? Or will Eliza stick to her plans and leave her mates and Creek pack for good?

A sharp pain shot through my head, pulling me from a deep darkness. I opened my eyes to my luxury penthouse, but I shouldn't have been there. I remembered dying. The memory was cold and sharp: my protégé, Dustin, sold me out, and my husband, Graves, watched our company crumble, leading to my fatal heart attack. Then, Graves appeared, his charming, empty smile unchanged. But he wasn't alone. A young woman, Alex Salazar, stood behind him, clutching her cheap handbag. Graves introduced her as an intern, saying she had nowhere to stay and would be living with us. My eyes fell to her neck, where a dark hickey was partially hidden. The date on the nightstand confirmed it: I had traveled back in time to the exact day Graves brought Alex home in my previous life, the beginning of my long, painful nightmare. Last time, I had screamed and thrown things, starting my humiliation. A strange calm washed over me. I had been given a second chance, not to win him back, but to escape. "Of course," I said, my voice even, "The poor thing. We should take care of her." Graves looked surprised, then relieved. He thought he had won. "In fact," I continued, pulling out divorce papers, "I'll make sure she's comfortable. You just have one small thing to do for me." I wanted the Malibu property. "Give me that, and I'll walk away quietly. You can have your new life. You can take care of this... orphan."

I had loved my fiancé, Dominic Watts, since we were children. Our marriage was supposed to be the perfect seal on a merger between our two family empires. In my last life, he stood outside my burning art studio with my stepsister, Julia, and watched me die. I screamed for him, the smoke choking me, my skin searing from the heat. "Dominic, please! Help me!" Julia clung to his arm, her face a picture of false terror. "It's too dangerous! You'll get hurt! We have to go!" And he listened. He looked at me one last time, his eyes filled with a pity that cut deeper than any flame, and then he turned and ran, leaving me to burn. Until I died, I didn't understand. The boy who promised to always protect me had just watched me burn to death. My unconditional love was the price I paid so he could be with my sister. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in my bedroom. In one hour, I was due at the family board meeting. This time, I walked straight to the head of the table and said, "I am breaking the engagement."

The champagne tasted like ash. My daughter, Lily, beamed beside my beaming husband, David, celebrating her university graduation-a picture-perfect moment I' d relived before. In my previous life, it was on this very day that she had shattered me, screaming, "You're not my real parents!" after draining my retirement, all to fund the biological family who' d thrown her away. That betrayal, that sickening realization of my life's savings gone, had led to my death in a car crash, a distraction of overwhelming grief. I didn' t understand how the sweet girl we had doted on for twenty-two years could be so cruel, so utterly devoid of gratitude, bleeding us dry for people who saw her as nothing but a walking ATM. But then, I woke up, back in my own bed, on the morning of this exact party. This time, there would be no selfless mother, no victim. This time, I was a survivor, and I was ready for war.

My mother' s voice, thick with religious fervor, announced her latest decree for SAT season: 100 days of no secular music, no TV, no internet. This wasn't the first time. I remembered falling down the stairs, Molly's raging accusations still ringing in my ears, right before the darkness consumed me. Now, I was 16 again, trapped in the same suffocating reality, but with the chilling knowledge of how it all ended for me. My twin sister, Molly, quickly embraced Mama's extreme rules, her 'pious' facade masking pure laziness, while I quietly perfected my escape plan. As Molly spiraled into isolation at school, earning the nickname "Amish Girl," my mother, Debra, only tightened her grip, even forbidding basic hygiene. The SAT scores revealed my 1580 against Molly's dismal 850, shattering Mama's carefully crafted image, especially on live stream. Instead of facing reality, Mama demanded I sacrifice my Duke acceptance, "for Molly's sake," a sister who had literally killed me in my past life. How could my own mother expect me to give up my entire future, again, for the one who destroyed me? Why was I back? This time, I wouldn't argue, I wouldn't compromise, and I certainly wouldn't die for their delusions. This time, I was getting out, even if it meant watching them burn their own lives to the ground.

For nearly a decade, I walked through life as Mrs. Hamilton, wife to the charming and successful Ethan. Our perfect marriage was more than a facade; it was my very existence, bound by a secret Soul Pact that determined whether I lived or died. Then, seven days before my designated survival deadline, Ethan casually dropped a bombshell: he needed a temporary divorce for his latest fling, a demanding young intern named Chloe. He offered me designer bags and an unlimited credit card, oblivious that he was asking me to sign my own death warrant, effectively sealing my fate. Chloe, triumphant and venomous, reveled in my humiliation from my very own penthouse, mocking me as "old news" while lounging in my favorite spots. Ethan, valuing his mistress's fleeting whims over my life, eagerly discarded our shared history and sent me away. The chilling countdown from the Soul Pact System inside me confirmed my imminent end-a meticulously "staged accident" awaited. How could someone mistake my life for a casual game, oblivious that his "temporary break" was my permanent end? My heart ached with the profound loneliness of carrying this fatal secret alone, a cruel irony after years of quiet endurance. I died in a fiery crash, right on schedule. But then, a cold, digital voice whispered, "System error. Collect 100 Regret Points from Ethan to be reborn." Now, an unseen spectator, my very existence hinges on the depth of his sorrow.

Ava Chen, adopted into the Hamilton dynasty, lived a life of polished perfection, her cool-girl facade masking a vibrant inner world obsessed with cheeseburgers and artisanal donuts. Tonight, at the annual Children' s Literacy Gala, everything changed. Skyler, the newly discovered "true" heiress, fueled by jealousy, wished on an antique locket for everyone to see the "real" Ava. Suddenly, Ava' s every internal thought, from her deep-fried cravings to her scathing social commentary, became audibly broadcast to everyone nearby. Her meticulously crafted mask shattered, public embarrassment her constant companion. This bizarre "superpower" sabotaged her family's prestigious arranged marriage with the powerful Julian Astor, who rejected her publicly, sparking her adoptive parents' outrage. Branded a "liability" and a "public glutton," Ava was banished from their opulent mansion, deemed an utter disgrace. Humiliated and perplexed, Ava couldn't understand why her mind had betrayed her with such mundane, food-focused secrets. Why was she cursed with this bizarre ability? What was the true source of this unpredictable chaos that had cost her everything? Yet, even amidst the chaos, a strange sense of liberation stirred within her. Cast out but unburdened, Ava found refuge in an unexpected place: her childhood friend Rhys' s cozy bookstore cafe. Now, with nothing left to lose, she must navigate a world where her inner voice is a public spectacle, and somehow, find her true self amidst the delicious chaos.