Discarded Wife, New Beginning

My life's work was stolen by Dallas Mueller. She built an empire on my research, becoming a tech celebrity while I was framed for fraud and left with nothing. I decided to crash her biggest product launch to get my life back. But instead of justice, I was met with violence. Dallas and her followers beat me in front of everyone, tearing my clothes and humiliating me. They dragged me outside, vandalized my car, and set my personal journal on fire. The ultimate betrayal, however, was seeing my own fiancé, Elias, standing by, his face cold. He believed her lies over me. He watched them destroy me and did nothing to help. Just as I was about to break, a voice cut through the chaos. My mentor, the powerful billionaire Clifton Kramer, had arrived. He exposed Dallas as a fraud on the spot and revealed he had surveillance footage of the entire attack. Cradling me in his arms, he promised, "I promise you, darling, they will pay."

My mother, Karen, a high school principal, enforced a chillingly twisted version of "fairness." It demanded that if I, Sarah, her academically gifted twin, received anything, my less-inclined sister, Emily, had to get the exact same. This rigid, oppressive equality dictated every aspect of our lives, from grades to family trips. When my SAT score of 1550 dwarfed Emily' s 950, Mom's response was swift and brutal: we would both attend a local community college. My mental health, my severe depression diagnosis-all dismissed. When I finally dared to protest, begging her to consider what a gap year or an ill-suited college might do, her facade cracked. With a terrifying burst of rage, she grabbed the hot coffee pot and hurled it. Scalding liquid seared my arm, the sudden agony echoing years of insidious abuse: forced underperformance, hidden self-harm scars, and moments of utter abandonment, all justified by her twisted "fairness." My sister, Emily, merely smirked, validating the cruelty. This wasn't simply unfair; it was a profound, suffocating sickness, a delusion my mother wielded as a weapon, and one my sister benefited from with chilling indifference. How could a parent inflict such systematic psychological and physical torment, all while proclaiming "good intentions" and "fairness"? The lie consumed me, pushing me to the brink. Shattered, terrified, and with my arm throbbing uncontrollably, I fled instinctively to the apartment building rooftop, the familiar precipice of my despair. But this time, amidst the piercing cold and the overwhelming sense of abandonment, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I hadn't touched in years: my estranged father. It was my only hope for escape.

I poured my soul into his tech startup, sacrificing law school and working tirelessly. Years later, as Innovatech became a multi-million-dollar empire, I found myself battered by endless, agonizing IVF failures. Then, the truth shattered my world: my beloved husband, Ethan, had been having a secret seven-year affair with his young assistant, Chloe. He'd rented her a luxury downtown apartment and showered her with designer gifts, all while I was injecting hormones, praying for 'our' baby. When confronted, Ethan showed no remorse, blaming my 'stress' and 'obsession with IVF' for his infidelity, claiming Chloe was 'easier' and 'the future.' Chloe, emboldened, moved into our home, flaunting her affair, even subtly attempting to poison me with my severe allergies. Ethan consistently sided with her, excusing her malice, eventually proclaiming his joy over Chloe' s pregnancy while cruelly using my infertility as a weapon against me. His contempt reached its peak when he blamed me after Chloe's hired thugs brutally assaulted me in a parking lot, leaving me bleeding and collapsing. How could the ambitious, loving man who once promised a lifetime of happiness transform into such a heartless monster, completely discarding me for a manipulative mistress? My deepest pain, my very being, had been weaponized against me. But as the Austin sun set on my shattered life, a cold, unshakeable resolve dawned. I had lost our baby, lost my marriage, lost my sense of self. Now, the charade was over. It was time to dismantle his world, piece by agonizing piece, and reclaim everything he'd stolen. My Manhattan sunrise would be a brutal awakening for him, and a brilliant new beginning for me.

As Ava Vanderbilt, an heiress with everything, my biggest obsession was Ethan Blackwood. He was my father's most brilliant protégé, incredibly cold and distant. I saw his indifference not as dislike, but as a mysterious depth, a challenge only I could conquer. I convinced myself his passion was reserved, waiting for me alone. Then came the night I peered into the conservatory. Ethan wasn’t just talking to Lily, his "innocent younger sister." He was kissing her, devouring her with a raw, possessive hunger I’d only dreamed of receiving. This wasn't brotherly love; it was undeniable passion. The truth hit like a physical blow: his coldness to me wasn't a facade, it was pure disinterest. But it got worse. I overheard the unthinkable: all my father's proteges, including Ethan, despised me. Every compliment was a lie, every gesture a calculated act to use my marriage to fund Lily’s exorbitant dreams. The final sting came when Ethan, to "teach me a lesson," deliberately tampered with my horse's saddle, breaking my leg. Then he publicly sabotaged my credit cards at an auction, humiliating me before New York society to buy Lily a dazzling necklace. My heart, once foolishly infatuated, now felt nothing but ice. How could these men, given everything by my benevolent father, conspire to so cruelly orchestrate my downfall? The betrayal was absolute, the humiliation soul-crushing. Was I truly so pathetic, so blind, that I was just a pawn in their twisted game for Lily? The naive Ava Vanderbilt died that day. In her place, a woman forged in fire and betrayal emerged. My upcoming engagement party, meant to announce my future with honest Carter Sterling, would now be their public reckoning. I would not be a victim. I would reclaim my destiny, and they would all pay.

When love turned real, it was destined to be guarded for life. The first time Bella met Charles, she was young and innocent. She was a nobody when she fell for him. However, when she finally plucked up the courage to confess her feelings, an unexpected misunderstanding ripped them apart. She would have endured the thorns just to hug him, but in the end, she only got scarred. Exhaustion released her from this delusion, but he was unwilling to let her go...