Winnie Suchoff's Books and Stories
My Husband's Blindness, My Sweet Revenge
The roasted lamb was cold, a reflection of her marriage. On their third anniversary, Evelyn Vance waited alone in her Manhattan penthouse. Then her phone buzzed: Alexander, her husband, had been spotted leaving the hospital, holding his childhood sweetheart Scarlett Sharp's hand. Alexander arrived hours later, dismissing Evelyn's quiet complaint with a cold reminder: she was Mrs. Vance, not a victim. Her mother's demands reinforced this role, making Evelyn, a brilliant mind, feel like a ghost. A dangerous indifference replaced betrayal. The debt was paid; now, it was her turn. She drafted a divorce settlement, waiving everything. As Alexander's tender voice drifted from his study, speaking to Scarlett, Evelyn placed her wedding ring on his pillow, moved to the guest suite, and locked the door. The dull wife was gone; the Oracle was back.
The Scapegoat Fiancée: I Am No Substitute
Seven years. That was the price I paid for my sister’s crime. My fiancé, Dante, the most ruthless Don in New York, called my prison sentence "mercy." He promised we would go back to how things were once the debt was paid. But when I walked out of those gates, I didn't find a husband waiting for me. I found him peeling grapes for my sister, Chiara. They sat at the family table, telling me I was unstable. They demanded I break our engagement so Dante could marry her instead. They claimed she was fragile, dying of leukemia, while I was "strong enough" to handle the rejection. They didn't know the truth. They didn't know that while I was in solitary, I was dragged to a clinic to donate my bone marrow—without anesthesia—to save her life. I gave my freedom and my bones for this family. Yet, when I told Dante the truth, he looked me in the eye and called me a liar. He chose the sister who framed me over the woman who sacrificed everything for him. So, I didn't scream. I didn't fight. I simply disappeared. Two years later, when Dante finally found me in a gallery in Paris, begging on his knees with his wrist slashed in desperation, I didn't feel love. I looked at the man who destroyed me and said, "Security, please escort this gentleman out."
From Shadow Lover To Her Own
For five years, I was his shadow and his secret lover, all because of a deathbed promise to his older brother—the man I was supposed to marry. On the day that promise was fulfilled, he told me to plan his engagement party to another woman.
Five Years, A Fading Love
For five years, I was Grafton Mcleod's shadow. I wasn't just his assistant; I was his alibi, his shield, the one who cleaned up his messes. Everyone thought I was in love with him. They were wrong. I did it all for his brother, Justen—the man I truly loved, who made me promise on his deathbed to look after Grafton. The five years were up. My promise was fulfilled. I handed in my resignation, ready to finally grieve in peace. But that very night, Grafton's cruel girlfriend, Cherrelle, dared him to a deadly street race he couldn't win. To save his life, I took the wheel for him. I won the race but crashed the car, waking up in a hospital bed. Grafton accused me of doing it for attention, then left to comfort Cherrelle over a sprained ankle. He believed her lies when she said I pushed her, shoving me against a wall so hard my head wound split open again. He stood by while she forced me to drink glass after glass of whiskey he was deathly allergic to, calling it a test of loyalty. The final humiliation came at a charity auction. To prove his love for Cherrelle, he put me on the stage and sold me for the night to another man. I had endured five years of hell to honor a dead man's last wish, and this was my reward. After escaping the man who bought me, I went to the bridge where Justen died. I sent Grafton one last text: "I'm going to be with the man I love." Then, with nothing left to live for, I jumped.
The Face Swap Scandal
My fiancée, Chloe Miller, replaced my face with someone else' s on our engagement photos and posted them online, proclaiming "Liam Stone" her "soulmate" after "ten years of waiting." When I confronted her, she dismissed it as a "joke" for her followers, but at our lavish engagement party-which I paid for-she publicly disavowed me, feigning ignorance and crying harassment, leading to me being brutally beaten and thrown out by security. Waking up in the hospital with a concussion and broken ribs, I watched her and Liam flaunt their "new life" on social media, even occupying my apartment. Her subsequent call, laced with fake concern and an audacious request that I jump-start Liam' s car, truly opened my eyes. The pain of betrayal was immense, but it was nothing compared to the sickening realization that I had wasted five years, abandoning my family for a manipulative parasite. The absurdity of her demands, even after all this, finally brought a cold clarity. I hung up, dialed my mother, and asked if the arranged marriage offer was still on the table, ready to reclaim the life I had foolishly cast aside.
The Shattered Wife's Ascent
My husband, David Chen, the CEO of "InnovateX," called for a celebration on our fifth anniversary. He announced, with a theatrical wink, that the two representatives for the Global Tech Summit in Hawaii would be chosen by a game. He drew his own name first, then reached into the glass bowl, his hand going straight for a specific spot, and pulled out a precisely folded slip: his much-younger assistant, Emily White. A wave of whispers and knowing glances went through the office. Emily, wearing the new perfume I' d noticed in our bathroom, practically ran to him, her red nails lingering on his arm after an embrace that lasted far too long. I stood frozen, the silent partner, the co-founder, the wife whose marriage was a secret to protect his "young, bachelor CEO" image-an image he was now building with Emily. The next morning, Emily sabotaged a crucial presentation I' d spent two months perfecting. David, instead of holding her accountable, punished me. He canceled my trip and ordered me to fix "my department's mistake" over the weekend, all while comforting Emily and giving her credit for my work in front of the entire company. The humiliation was a physical weight, pressing down on my chest. Later, I found an elegant Vera Wang box on our bed, a dress I' d dreamed of. My heart leaped, hoping for an apology, a real celebration of our secret marriage. But David nonchalantly explained it was for a client, "to seal a deal." Hours later, I found his phone, a notification for "E's final dress fitting tomorrow" on the screen. The wallpaper was Emily, in my wedding dress, with his chilling caption: "My future Mrs. Chen." The glass shattered in my hand. My entire world shattered with it. The silence in our once-shared home was deafening, the truth a cold, hard slap. This wasn't about business; it was about betrayal, about a life I poured my soul into, stolen and given to someone else. I was ready to vanish, a ghost in my own life. But the rage that simmered beneath my quiet compliance ignited a spark. Now, I wanted something more than to disappear. I wanted justice and I wanted everything back.
Reborn For Vengeance, Not For Love
The sterile scent of the morgue was the last thing I remembered, watching my own lifeless body while my mother sobbed for someone else. My death, labeled a suicide after pushing my foster sister Ashley down the stairs, was a lie. No one cried for me, Chloe Chen; only for Ashley Miller, my mother Sarah' s "precious" foster daughter. My mother's betrayal had been a slow poison: she' d stolen my inheritance, my future, even fabricated a criminal record for my decorated NYPD father to disqualify me from a prestigious government job, all for Ashley. The final blow was discovering the truth in my mother's safe: a secretly altered birth certificate listing Ashley as her biological daughter, and me as erased. The grief consumed me, and my final confrontation ended my life. Lingering as a ghost, I saw Ashley' s faint, triumphant smirk, very much alive, playing the tragic victim. Rage consumed me-a tearing force demanding justice, revenge. Then, the world twisted violently, dissolving into white light, pulling me backward through time. I gasped, sucking in a real breath of warm, lemon-scented air. I was in my childhood bedroom, my phone buzzing with the date: the day my background check for the government job began. I was alive. I was back. This wasn't just a second chance; it was a chance to fight. I heard my mother' s cheerful voice downstairs, cooing over Ashley: "Ashley, darling, come see what I bought you." She presented Ashley with an expensive designer bag, then offered me a cheap knock-off. In my past life, I' d forced a smile, but now, I saw the deliberate cruelty. "No, thank you," I said, my voice clear and firm. My mother' s smile faltered, her face hardening as I called out her insult and Ashley' s fake concern. When I denied Ashley was my sister, her fury erupted, culminating in a violent slap that left me bleeding. Any shred of hope for my mother vanished with that blow. She blamed me for Ashley's feigned injury, demanding an apology. "You hit your own daughter to defend a fraud," I spat, revealing I knew about Ashley' s true parentage, the truth about Jake Miller. Leaving their shattered lies behind, I contacted Officer Thompson, my father' s best friend, to uncover everything about Jake Miller and their scheme. He revealed the horrifying truth: my mother, a victim of human trafficking by Jake Miller at fifteen, had given birth to Ashley and abandoned her, consumed by guilt. Now, that guilt had been weaponized into a calculated criminal conspiracy by Ashley and the recently released Jake Miller. I was done being manipulated. At Ashley' s lavish "victory" party, poised to celebrate her stolen job, I delivered my counter-punch. As the clock struck 8 PM, Ashley' s name was missing from the State Department list. Mine was at the top. Then, the doorbell rang. Two NYPD officers, with David Thompson, delivered the crushing blows: my mother was arrested for fraud and bribery. Ashley' s meltdown began. I silenced my condemning relatives, exposing my mother' s hypocrisy and her scheme to slander my father and erase me. On the living room TV, I projected the forged birth certificates, revealing Sarah' s deceit and Ashley' s true parentage: the daughter of a human trafficker. "This is my father' s house," I told a stunned Ashley, opening the door. "Get out." She retorted with a threat: "My father will hear about this." Knowing Jake Miller' s greed, I set a trap, luring him into a confession that led to his re-arrest. I sent Ashley a photo of her father in handcuffs. I never heard from them again. The past was behind me. I was Chloe Chen, no longer a victim, but finally free.
A Wife's Quiet Devastation
My husband, Mark, swore he' d never betray me. After three years of his relentless pursuit, promising a world where my work was respected, I believed him. Then, a routine check of our shared finances revealed recurring, substantial transfers to a secluded suburban home I' d never heard of. I drove there myself, my heart pounding at the sight of his second car in the driveway, the one always "at the repair shop." Chloe, Mark' s distant cousin, opened the door, her panic palpable, and behind her, two small children, twins, peeked out with Mark' s eyes. Just then, Mark' s car pulled in, and his smile vanished when he saw me, followed by his parents, beaming, cooing over the toddlers. He dropped to his knees, begging, "Those aren' t my kids. I swear they aren' t." He spun a tale of Chloe' s assault and his noble act of protection, a story Chloe tearfully corroborated, then added, "Please, let me stay." As she moved, I saw it-a clear, undeniable pregnant belly, and before I could ask who this father was, she shrieked, pulling a paring knife to her throat, "Don' t ask! I can' t take it! I' ll kill myself!" Mark' s parents shot me dirty looks, comforting a sobbing Chloe, their unified front of lies cornering me. I gave a stiff nod, allowing this charade, this invasion, into my home. But in that moment, something inside me broke. He didn' t buy himself more time; he' d only started the clock on his own destruction.
The Woman He Wronged
The city lights glittered below, a diamond carpet as I stood on Liam's penthouse balcony, a velvet box heavy in my pocket. Inside, the watch I'd saved for months, a five-year anniversary gift for the man who was supposed to be my future. He was the brilliant tech entrepreneur, my Liam, and tonight was about us. Then, his voice, cold and casual through the slightly ajar sliding door: "The wedding is in two weeks." My breath hitched. Wedding? A dismissive laugh followed. "Chloe doesn't need to know." "She's… comfortable." "She can be my girl on the side." "It's the perfect arrangement." "I get the family connections, and I still get to keep the woman I actually enjoy being with." The world tilted. Mistress. The word echoed, a sickening smear across my vision. I was a business plan, a line item. The five years, the love, the life we'd built-all a lie to be sold for a better deal. The casual cruelty was a physical blow, leaving me unable to breathe, lost in a room suddenly filled with monstrous laughter. He caught my eye from across the room, smiling that warm, intimate smile he reserved for me, the one that promised forever. And in that moment, the champagne glass slipped from my numb fingers, shattering on the polished floor, echoing the complete destruction of my heart. His fake concern, the lies in his eyes-I saw it all. Chloe Chen, the woman who loved him, ceased to exist. I walked out of the penthouse, out of that life, knowing I had to erase him. Piece by piece. Starting with me.
From Outback Predator to Texas Queen
Three years in the unforgiving Australian Outback had transformed me from the Cullen Cartel' s soft heir into a predator, but nothing prepared me for the sickening horror awaiting me in Texas. I' d returned, expecting to surprise my sister and mother, Maria, after a dubious "hunting accident" had severed contact with my uncle. Instead, on my first acquisition as the new Cullen head, I stood on a VIP balcony, watching an illegal auction devolve into a nightmare. Down below, my sister Molly, drugged and half-naked, was paraded like livestock, a "charity" lot to be sold off in parts. Matthew Scott, her ex-fiancé, grinned, announcing her as "a lesson" for Maria, humiliating her every step of the way. My mother, once a formidable Cullen, looked broken, her dress second-hand, as Matthew jeered about her foreclosed ranch and called her a "cleaner." She tried to save Molly, desperately, using our family's sacred Saddle-Maker's Coin and then the priceless soil from our founding homestead, each treasure a piece of her soul. Matthew, Wendy Fuller, and my own father laughed, reveling in the cruelty, planning to sell Molly' s kidney and then auction her beloved horse, Starlight, to a slaughterhouse. The raw injustice burned through me, watching my mother, once so proud, making unimaginable sacrifices to shield her child. How could they do this? How dare they desecrate what was mine? In that moment, a cold, precise rage solidified inside me, turning pain into power as my mother, with a final, desperate plea, cast a plain black card onto the auctioneer' s table, crashing the system and signaling the true turning point of the Cullen empire.
The Husband's Cruel Secret
Today marked our fifth wedding anniversary, sweet with the scent of blueberry pancakes, and I hummed, cradling the secret joy of our twelve-week pregnancy. I couldn't wait to surprise Mike tonight with the news we'd finally conceived after years of trying. But a sudden, chilling suspicion washed over me when I looked at the "stronger supplements" Mike had insisted I take, recommended by his high school ex, Jessica. These pills were unfamiliar, chalky, and came in a plain, unmarked bottle. A frantic search of Mike's sock drawer yielded a pharmacy printout: Misoprostol, a drug specifically used to terminate pregnancies. The dosage matched his instructions for the "supplements." My baby was gone, blood gushing, the world went dark. I woke in a sterile hospital room, our baby gone, my mother's face a mask of grief. Mike walked in, completely devoid of remorse, claiming Jessica "needed this" for *her* last chance to have *his* child, accusing me of being "insensitive" to her needs. Then, my father, crushed by the devastating loss, collapsed into a coma. While he lay fighting for his life, Mike publicly flaunted his relationship with Jessica online, creating a GoFundMe painting himself as their selfless hero, and me as the "unsupportive, bitter ex." The audacity escalated when his lawyer brazenly suggested I "channel my maternal instincts positively" by caring for Jessica's future baby. My anguish turned to a cold, hard resolve as I realized the depth of their malice. I wasn't just getting a divorce; I was going to make them pay for every lie, every manipulation, and every ounce of pain they had inflicted.
Six Lives, One Endless Game
Five times I died. Five times I tried to build a life, a bond, with Ethan Cole, and five times I failed. The last time was a masterpiece of cruelty. He knew. All along, through every new face, every persona, he knew. “I’d rather jump off this skyscraper, Amelia, than be with your desperate act.” His icy words cut deeper than any simulated death the ReLife Program put me through. My current identity, Maya, drowned three days later. Always an accident. I was trapped in an endless loop of new lives, new hopes, and the same crushing, inevitable end. Just survive. Stop dying. Exhausted, I was offered an unprecedented choice: Ethan, or Liam Walker, his best friend. As consciousness faded, a desperate whisper echoed: "Next time... choose me..." A dying hallucination? Or was it Liam? I chose him. I became Sarah Miller, armed with five lifetimes of observation, determined to finally break the cycle. But Liam wasn't the salvation I hoped for. He was aloof, his actions bafflingly calculated. My carefully planned “accidental” encounter with CEO Liam ended with a cold dismissal, leaving me shattered. Was I destined to another death, or could I finally escape this cursed program, and the frustrating game he seems to play?
Burnt for Her, Saved by Amnesia
I woke up in the hospital with a fractured tibia and a hell of a headache, but the worst part? Amnesia. They said I'd forgotten someone important, but when my buddy Matt showed up, his face etched with worry, and asked, "You really don't remember Emily?", I drew a blank. Emily who? Turns out, pre-accident me was obsessed with Matt's sister, Emily. Chased her for two years straight, showering her with flowers, gifts, and even redesigning my whole damn apartment in hopes of impressing her. Total cringe. The kicker? She wasn't interested. Cold, distant, and according to Matt, I was bordering on stalker territory. My phone was filled with creepy candid shots of her, and my notes app looked like a stalker's diary. Likes, dislikes, journal entries detailing every rejection. I was horrified. This wasn't love; this was a damn train wreck. Who was this pathetic dude? Then, standing at the edge of a new life, my mom mentioned Chloe, a childhood friend, and a potential architectural project back home at her family's farm. Ditching my city life and all those toxic memories, I vowed to never love her again. Forget getting my memories back; I was starting fresh. This time, with someone genuine.
