Smile

For three years, Arden endured a cold, loveless marriage with Julian Sterling, punished daily for a paparazzi trap she never planned. On the night of their third anniversary, she saw the trending news. Julian was photographed tenderly shielding his mistress, Sloane, from the rain. He had bought Sloane a breathtaking diamond necklace, while sending his assistant to hand Arden a cheap, tacky replica as an afterthought. The humiliation got worse the next morning when Julian hijacked Arden's work project, making Sloane the guest of honor at an exhibition Arden had spent six months planning. When Arden confronted him, he shielded his weeping mistress and delivered the ultimate insult. "Sloane will be the highlight of the evening. She'll be wearing The Midnight Gala." That legendary sapphire heirloom was strictly reserved for the wife of the Sterling family. When a heartbroken Arden calmly handed him a signed divorce agreement, giving up her rights to every single penny, Julian completely lost his mind. He dragged her up the stairs by her wrist, threw her onto the bed, and violently pinned her down, snarling that his family only had widows, not ex-wives. Arden couldn't understand it. He despised her, treated her like a scheming gold-digger, and gave all his love to another woman. So why did he go completely insane and refuse to let go when she finally stepped aside? After slapping him hard across the face to snap him out of his violent frenzy, Arden watched him flee the room in horror. She calmly pulled out her old suitcase and packed her encrypted laptop—the secret vault of her true identity as the famous anonymous designer, 'Elinor'. Leaving the grand estate behind in the pouring rain, Arden chose to finally reclaim her life.

My mother sacrificed her youth, her secret Mafia Princess status, and her entire fortune to help my father rise to the rank of Capo. But in return, he flaunted his pregnant mistress and declared her unborn baby as his only true heir. When the mistress faked an assault and a miscarriage, my father blamed my mother without a second thought. He ordered his enforcers to drag her into a dark room, commanding them to violate her just like his rivals had done to her years ago. To escape the brutal humiliation, my mother jumped out of the second-floor window, her blood pooling on the cold concrete. My father looked down at her shattered body with utter disgust, claiming she was just playing dead to scare him. He didn't know that the mistress had framed her, and he didn't know the lost baby was never his. He also didn't know that my mother was not a helpless orphan, but the missing heir to the most powerful Syndicate in the country. Just as he slapped me across the face and demanded I kneel to his mistress, a fleet of armored SUVs slammed to a halt at the gates. The terrifying Don Rossi stepped out, staring at the blood on the ground and the red mark on my cheek. "We have been searching for our daughter for six years," the Don said, his voice like ice. "And I swear a brutal Vendetta against you."

Seraphina, a broke single mother of triplets, snuck into a billionaire's charity gala just for the free food, desperate to fund her daughter's urgent heart surgery. But her genius five-year-old son secretly hacked the gala's raffle system, thrusting them directly under the spotlight. The untouchable billionaire host, Donovan Vance, froze when he saw the star-shaped birthmark on her wrist—the exact same mark from a dark hotel room five years ago. Cornered, Seraphina was forced into a five-million-dollar marriage contract to appease Donovan's dying father and secure his corporate empire. She swallowed her pride, took the money to save her daughter, and moved into the penthouse. But Donovan's obsessive childhood friend, Gwendolyn, immediately targeted her. She humiliated Seraphina for her poverty and violently grabbed her in the foyer. "I dare you to get a DNA test. When the world finds out they're not his, he'll throw you into the street himself!" Gwendolyn's vicious threat made Seraphina's blood run cold. She was suffocating in sheer panic. She didn't even know if Donovan was actually the father. If a test proved he wasn't, she would be destroyed, and her daughter would lose her only lifeline. But to her absolute horror, Donovan's father overheard the threat and ordered a legally binding paternity test that very day to permanently silence all doubts. With the medical team arriving and nowhere left to run, the terrifying secret Seraphina had buried for five years was about to be dragged into the light.

Bonnie Galvan woke up to the suffocating scent of lilies, staring at the mirror in the exact same seven-figure wedding dress she had worn seven years ago. In the doorway stood her so-called best friend Itzel and her secret lover Erwin, desperately urging her to elope. They warned her that her soon-to-be husband, the billionaire Arlington Townsend, was a crippled monster, and marrying him would ruin her life forever. In her previous life, she blindly believed their lies and ran away from the altar. Because of her public betrayal, the ruthless Townsend family completely bankrupted her father's company in retaliation. Erwin and Itzel swooped in as her saviors, only to steal whatever was left of her family's wealth and power. When she was finally stripped of her value, Erwin pushed her down an icy mountain slope during a brutal blizzard. With a shattered ankle, she could only watch as Itzel smirked and Erwin coldly walked away, leaving her to be buried alive under the freezing snow. As her lungs burned and her heart gave out in the agonizing cold, she was consumed by hatred. Why did the man who swore to protect her and the friend she trusted with her life plot so meticulously to destroy her? Opening her eyes again, Bonnie was back in the bridal suite, minutes before the ceremony. This time, she didn't run. She walked straight down the aisle, looked the terrifying Arlington Townsend in the eye, and firmly said her vows. "I do."

After a long trip, I arrived in an unfamiliar city, hoping to celebrate my birthday with my husband and daughter. Instead, they didn't remember the occasion at all. Worse, the two of them were busy preparing a surprise for my half-sister. Throughout our seven years of marriage, I lived far away from my husband and daughter so I could support my husband's career. Over time, the distance gave them the chance to grow close to my half-sister, and the three of them nearly became a real family without me. For the longest time, I believed that if I kept giving everything I had, they would eventually return my devotion with genuine love. Yet the moment the cruel truth destroyed that final shred of hope, I didn't hesitate. I asked for a divorce. Maybe because I spent so many years focused on my family, they had forgotten something important. I was a business prodigy. I refused to keep living as the woman who craved their approval. Even if they came to me on their knees, begging for forgiveness, I wouldn't spare them a second glance. From now on, I would make sure the world saw me in a completely different light.

I was an intern nurse working exhausting shifts, yet my mother constantly forced me into blind dates with wealthy, arrogant men to secure our family's social standing. During a terrifying hospital lockdown, an assassin disguised as a doctor held a scalpel to my throat. I was almost killed, but a high-ranking military colonel threw his own body down a flight of concrete stairs to shield me. I survived with cuts and bruises, but when I went home, my mother didn't care about my near-death experience. She was only furious that I had rushed out on my blind date with Preston, a rich financial analyst. She forced me to meet him to apologize. When Preston grabbed my arm, bruised me, and mocked my attack as a pathetic lie, my mother still took his side. "Men get angry," she told me coldly. "It's your job not to provoke them. You will beg for his forgiveness, or you are no longer welcome in this house." I had narrowly escaped an assassin, yet my own family was willing to feed me to a monster just for a fat paycheck and neighborhood gossip. My heart went completely dead. So, when the intimidating Colonel appeared, offering me maximum military protection through a sudden marriage, I didn't hesitate. I walked back into my parents' house and calmly slapped a crisp marriage certificate onto the coffee table. "I won't be apologizing to Preston. I got married today."

Lillian woke in a werecreature universe as a total loser. Good news was that women ruled here and could take multiple mates, yet she still ended up as the one everyone looked down on. Compared to her talented sister at every turn, she watched her first match get stolen and her next four mates reject her without mercy. The first mate was the King of Succubine himself. On their very first meeting, he warned Lillian that he was only staying long enough to recover from his injuries-and that there could never be anything between them. The second mate was a merman. He took one look at her and said he had no interest in a loser like her, tossing her some cash so she could break off their bond herself. The third mate was the progenitor vampire-over a thousand years old. He admitted to admiring her sister instead and made it clear he had no interest in a layabout like Lillian. Lillian cut every bond and chose her own path instead. But as she rose higher and higher, those same men returned, full of regret and begging her to look at them again. The fourth mate was a werewolf Lillian had rescued from an underground fighting ring. She thought he might actually stay-until he revealed himself as royalty. And of course, he wanted to break their bond for more power.

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch-a titan of industry and my best friend's father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

As I lay on the floor of our manor, bleeding out from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, I used my last ounce of strength to call my husband, Cole. I begged him for help, my vision blurring. But the only thing I heard was the clinking of champagne glasses and his mistress's giggle in the background. "Stop the drama, June," Cole snapped, his voice cold. "We're about to go on stage. Don't call again." He hung up, leaving me to die alone on the Persian rug while he accepted an award with another woman on his arm. I woke up in the hospital days later. My baby was gone. They had removed my fallopian tube. Cole finally arrived, smelling of expensive scotch and his mistress's perfume. He didn't hug me. He didn't cry. Instead, he leaned over my hospital bed, pressing his knee into the mattress until my fresh stitches tore open and bled. "You embarrassed me by calling an ambulance," he hissed. "My mistress, Alycia, says you're faking it. Clean yourself up." He left me bleeding again to go announce a $10 million donation to Alycia's "groundbreaking" medical research. I stared at the TV screen, numb. The research Alycia was taking credit for? It was mine. I wrote that patent years ago under a pseudonym. They thought I was just a poor, orphan housewife who needed Cole's money to survive. They had no idea I was actually a billionaire scientist hiding my identity. I pulled the IV needle out of my arm. A drop of blood fell onto the divorce papers I had been hiding. I didn't wipe it off. I signed my name right over it. Then I walked into the bank, reactivated my dormant account with $128 million, and bought the penthouse directly overlooking Cole's house. The mourning widow is dead. The avenger is born.

I woke up on silk sheets that smelled of expensive cedar and cold sandalwood, a world away from my cramped apartment in Brooklyn. Beside me lay Ezra Gardner-my boss, the billionaire CEO of Gardner Holdings, and the man who could end my career with a snap of his fingers. He didn't offer an apology for the night before; instead, he looked at me with terrifying clarity and proposed a cold, calculated business arrangement. "Marriage. It stabilizes the board and solves the PR crisis before it begins." He dressed me in archival Chanel and sent me home in his Maybach, but my life was already falling apart. My boyfriend, Irving, claimed he had passed out early, yet his location data placed him at my best friend's apartment until three in the morning. When I tried to run, I realized Ezra was already ten steps ahead, tracking my movements and uncovering the secret I'd spent twenty years hiding: my connection to the powerful Senator Grimes. I was trapped between a CEO who treated me like a line item on a quarterly report and a boyfriend who had been using me while sleeping with my closest friend. I felt like a pawn in a game I didn't understand, wondering why a man like Ezra would walk up forty flights of stairs on a broken leg just to make sure I was safe. "Showtime, Mrs. Gardner." Standing on the red carpet in a gown that cost more than my life, I watched my cheating ex-boyfriend's face turn pale as Ezra claimed me in front of the world. I wasn't just an assistant anymore; I was a weapon, and it was time to burn their world down.

Kayla stood outside the CEO suite, holding a custom suit for her fiancé, Brennon. They had spent seven years building a tech company from a freezing garage into a billion-dollar empire. But through the cracked door, she heard the breathy laugh of Evelin, the newly hired director. Then came Brennon's low, careless voice. "The wedding's a PR milestone for the IPO, nothing more." Kayla's blood turned to ice. "She's comfortable. Makes sense on paper," Brennon continued. "But you, Evelin. You understand ambition." The betrayal hit her like a physical blow. She had written the core code that made him a billionaire. She had stayed up until 4 AM debugging while he slept on a futon. Now, he was mocking their relationship to his mistress and handing over her life's work to a woman who couldn't even read a data log. Seven years of loyalty, reduced to a PR stunt. She didn't cry. Instead, a cold, violent clarity washed over her. Why should she let him keep the crown she forged? Without a word, she pulled the three-carat diamond off her finger and dropped it into her bag. She walked out of the building, drafted her resignation, and accepted a VP position at his biggest Wall Street rival. It was time to show Brennon what happened when the real genius behind his empire decided to tear it down.

I was a wolfless Rogue, cast out and humiliated when my childhood sweetheart abandoned me to mate with a powerful Alpha's daughter. To get revenge, I willingly walked into the bed of Graham Rogers, the ruthless Alpha King of New York. I thought I could use his power, but I traded one monster for an even worse one. He forced me to sign a suffocating contract, trapping me as his personal assistant and absolute property. When he found the empty box of the morning-after pill I took, his eyes turned black with terrifying rage. "Did you really think a filthy rogue bloodline like yours was worthy of carrying my child?" His brutal fury left me with severe internal injuries that a doctor warned could permanently destroy my body. While I was trapped in this living hell, my ex and his family, now facing bankruptcy, suddenly came crawling back. They begged for my forgiveness, hoping to use my new connection to the Alpha King to save their dying pack. They thought I was still the weak, pathetic girl they could easily manipulate and discard. But they didn't know I had just discovered they were likely the ones who murdered my parents fourteen years ago. Looking at my ex's desperate, pleading face, I calmly answered a call from the very devil who held me captive. I was done being a victim, and I would borrow the beast's power to burn their entire world to the ground.

I was Nyx, a top-tier covert operative. But when I opened my eyes, I was trapped in the unfamiliar, overweight body of a bullied girl named Eliza. Before I could even process the body swap, the bedroom door splintered open. I was in bed with Julian Malone, a wealthy military heir, both of us heavily drugged. Cameras flashed wildly. It was a vicious setup to ruin his career, and I was the bait. To save his family's reputation, Julian was forced to marry me. But the moment the wedding was over, he abandoned me. His elite family treated me like a disease. His mother froze my only bank account, trying to starve me into submission. I even intercepted a private conversation between his parents. "Once she's in a private facility, she loses all legal standing. We can sign anything we want on her behalf." They planned to lock me up in a mental asylum and erase my existence entirely to get rid of the "trailer park trash." To them, I was just a weak, pathetic pawn they could crush without a second thought. They thought they had backed a helpless girl into a corner. They had no idea they had just declared war on a lethal weapon. I didn't cry or beg. Instead, I bypassed their state-of-the-art security, cracked their safe, and stole the financial secrets that could destroy their entire empire. "I want five hundred thousand dollars, or these files go to the IRS." This time, I was playing by my own rules.

I woke up from a coma in the hospital, universally condemned as the vicious daughter who pushed the beloved fake heiress, Georgina, down the stairs. My ruthless billionaire brother, Angelo, stood over my bed with cold eyes, ready to destroy me for hurting his precious sister. But as I looked at him, a terrifying prophecy from my coma flooded my brain. Our entire family was doomed. In the original timeline, Georgina would team up with corporate rivals to bankrupt the company, frame Angelo, and send him to federal prison, while our parents would abandon me to die miserably. Lying there, I didn't dare speak. I just desperately cursed my idiot brother in my head. "This stupid brother is still yelling at me for that fake heiress. He doesn't even know he's going to be framed and sent to prison next month!" I just wanted to stay quiet, let them ruin themselves, and run away from this toxic family. But strangely, Angelo didn't strangle me. Instead, his attitude took a shocking turn. He abruptly fired the driver plotting to kill him, destroyed the abusive fiancé of a family ally, and publicly humiliated Georgina at a high-society gala. He even shielded me from our abusive parents, declaring to the world that I was the only sister he would ever protect. I was completely terrified and confused. Why was the tyrant brother suddenly acting like a protective beast? It wasn't until he flawlessly crushed a massive corporate attack using the exact financial secrets I had just complained about in my mind that a horrifying realization hit me. He could hear my inner thoughts!

On our third anniversary, my husband canceled our dinner, claiming a sudden work emergency. I tracked his phone to an exclusive French restaurant, only to find him tenderly fastening a blessed bracelet—one I had flown across the world to get for him—onto his college ex-girlfriend's wrist. The sheer shock triggered a violent placental abruption. Bleeding out in my car just across the street, I frantically called his number. Through the window, I watched him glance at his screen, frown in annoyance, and press decline to focus on his lover. While I was wheeled into a freezing operating room for an emergency C-section utterly alone, he took his mistress back to our marital bed. He didn't even bother to check if I was alive, completely oblivious that our premature daughter was fighting for her life in the NICU. I soon discovered our entire marriage was a sham. He had used my family's wealth to save his company, and now he was trading me to secure a massive business deal with his ex's father. The man I loved didn't exist; he only saw me as a disposable asset. "I'm going to make him wish he had never been born." After secretly securing my baby in a private retreat, I ordered a medical-grade silicone pregnancy belly to hide my flat stomach. I stepped back into our penthouse, ready to burn his precious empire to the ground.