Qing Jiu

For ten years, my world was silent. Bryan was my protector, my voice, my everything, shielding me from a world I couldn't hear after my parents died saving him. But when a new girl, Astrid, arrived and started a cruel war against me, I suddenly regained my hearing-only to discover the horrifying truth. Bryan wasn't my protector; he was the mastermind. "He loves seeing you squirm," Astrid sneered, her voice a venomous whisper I could now hear perfectly. "He told me he gets off on it. He hates your blank face." Their twisted game was to make the "emotionless Elinor" cry. My pain was their entertainment. The boy I trusted, the family I loved-it was all built on a foundation of guilt and deceit. He thought I was a silent, helpless victim he could control. He thought I would endure his betrayal forever. He was wrong. So, I jumped from the third-floor window, orchestrating a public "suicide" to expose their crimes. As the world erupted in chaos and his perfect life shattered, I knew my real story was just beginning.

My fiancé, Liam, told me to sign a document to save his family's company. It was a false confession, pinning a hundred-million-dollar mistake on me. A mistake his childhood sweetheart, Chloe, had made. When I refused, he showed me a live feed of my mother in her hospital bed. Her life-saving cancer treatment was funded by his family. He smiled, his thumb hovering over an icon on his phone. "One call, Ava. The funding stops. Her treatment is over." Later, after I signed, he locked me in a lab that caught fire. He thought I was trying to sabotage Chloe. As I pounded on the door, choking on smoke, he stood on the other side, comforting a perfectly fine Chloe. He looked at me, trapped and burning, and shouted, "This is your own damn fault. I'm disappointed in you, Ava." He left me to die. But I survived. When I woke up in the hospital, I made a single call to my hacker contact. My message was one word: "Execute."

My life, once a meticulously designed blueprint, began its demolition on the eve of my wedding. I was Ethan Miller, an architect on the verge of having it all, returning home to celebrate with my fiancée. Instead, I found her in our bedroom with my best man, a scene that shattered everything. Fleeing into the night, a car blared, then metal met bone, and blinding pain consumed my right arm. I woke in a hospital, my dominant hand irreparably damaged, my career as an architect declared over. The world celebrated my tragedy; my fiancée and best man married in my place, turning my life into a public spectacle of pity and gossip. The pain in my chest eclipsed the physical agony as my identity crumbled, rendering me a broken man, a backdrop for my betrayer' s rising star. I spiraled, questioning the point of it all, refusing to eat, to heal, to exist. My professional talent, the very core of my being, had become a burden, a target for those who sought to elevate themselves on my ruins. Then, in my deepest despair, Olivia Chen, my betrayer's best friend, appeared as my savior. She became my devoted wife, meticulously managing my recovery, holding me through frustrated tears, and becoming the anchor in my new, quiet life. Until a Tuesday. When I returned home early, the words from the sun-room sliced through the quiet, words spoken by Olivia and my physical therapist. "You arranged for him to be hit by a car for Mark Davis." "Yes." My world collapsed again. The woman who saved me, who spoke words of love, was my captor. She had orchestrated my accident, meticulously sabotaged my recovery, all to ensure Mark Davis's success. It wasn't love; it was a cage, a beautifully crafted prison designed to keep me broken, a pawn in their twisted game fueled by her obsessed ambition for Mark. Every tender touch, every encouraging word, a calculated lie. My love, her most effective weapon. How could I have been so blind? How could the woman I trusted with my broken heart be the architect of my ruin? Was there any truth to anything she ever said? This betrayal, so absolute, left me hollow, yet a cold clarity began to form. I was done being a victim.

My world with Chloe revolved around our eagerly awaited baby, our future taking happy shape with every nursery plan. An Instagram tag from her popped up then, a seemingly innocent ping. I opened it, and the image delivered a brutal, physical blow, vaporizing my reality. Chloe lay pale but smiling in a hospital bed, holding hands with her ex-husband Mark, in the bed beside her. The caption read: "This time, I'm choosing to be brave for love." My mind reeled: a bone marrow donor? Where was our baby? Comments hailed her a hero, oblivious to the life she'd just ended, never telling me. She returned, demanding comfort, yet casually dismissed my silent agony over our lost child. Her shocking nonchalance toward our baby' s life ignited a silent, seething rage deep inside me. I finally grasped that my unwavering kindness had enabled her, teaching her that monumental betrayals carried no real consequences. How could she expect recovery meals after such a horrific, selfish act? Staring at the stranger in my wife's eyes, the illusion shattered. "I want a divorce," I declared, beginning my fight to reclaim my shattered life.

After years hidden away, recovering from the fire that stole my old life, my meticulously crafted new identity as Ethan White was finally ready for a fresh start in Chicago, a surprise apartment from my sister, Sophia, waiting. But the key had barely turned in the lock when men burst in, led by Sophia’s fiancé, Rick Harrington, who saw not a brother returning home, but a stranger to be eliminated. Fists flew, bones crunched, and the man who was supposed to be my future brother-in-law sneered about Sophia’s "pet project," convinced I was just some con artist. Every desperate plea for my sister to recognize me, every mention of my true name, Evan, was met with another blow, another sneer, my new face cementing their conviction that I was an imposter. Even Mac, Sophia's head of security who’d known me since I was a kid, only saw a trespasser, his eyes blank with no recognition despite my desperate cries. As darkness swallowed me, battered and unrecognizable, the cruel irony was a bitter taste: the new identity Sophia had painstakingly crafted to keep me safe was now the very thing sealing my doom at the hands of her own fiancé. How could the security measures meant to shield me become the weapon used against me by the one person I was supposed to trust, the one who was about to marry my sister? Little did Rick know, a shattered phone with a single photo and a mother's heirloom would soon unravel his web of lies, bringing Sophia face-to-face with the brother she thought was safe, and unleashing her terrifying fury for justice.

On the eve of her engagement party, her half-sister and stepmother devised a trap, making Myra spend the entire night with another guy. She had no clue that this gentleman was no other than Kian, someone she had met a decade ago. That fun and crazy night started to unravel the course of their destiny. Engrossed in her life now and exacting revenge, Kian seized every opportunity to get closer to Myra and make her fall for him. He didn’t require any gifts except for her love and attention. Now that she has found the right man, she disregarded all the wrong ones.

"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."

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.

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."

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."