The Regret of a Cheating Husband

I married tech mogul Ethan Hayes for one purpose: to save my dying brother. Five years, a gilded cage. Curator by day, desperate sister by night, I endured his coldness and countless affairs. Then, a falling sculpture, a blinding pain, and the secret hope of three months was violently extinguished. "I lost the baby," I whispered, my voice raw. His chilling reply: "Don't be dramatic, Ava. I'm busy. Send me the bill." Two days later, my brother, David, his last will to fight gone, passed. Ethan, consumed by a baseless vendetta against my father, publicly humiliated me, using David' s very ashes as a cruel weapon. He even orchestrated my brutal assault in a dark warehouse, leaving me battered and violated, a trophy for his mistress. Every bruised inch of my body screamed, but the betrayal was the deepest wound. Where was the protective man I once knew? How could he have become such a monster, all built on a lie? I wouldn't just break; I would break him. I would uncover the truth about our fathers, expose his monstrous deception, and shatter his world. My meticulous revenge began now.

I gave my childhood sweetheart, Kade, ten years of my life and the code that built his empire. I thought we were a team. Then, on the night of our success, I overheard him call me his "unpaid intern" and "beta test." He publicly discarded me for a strategic marriage, shattering my world. I fled, rebuilt my life from scratch, and found real love with a kind man named Heath. But Kade came back, obsessed and unhinged. When I refused to take him back, he had his thugs beat Heath bloody in an alley. He cornered me, begging for another chance, his eyes wild with a twisted love. "It was always you, Addy! I made a mistake!" I walked straight into his corporate office, my heart cold as stone. I looked the monster I once loved in the eye and delivered my final promise. "You will stay away from me and the man I love," I said, my voice lethal. "Or I will expose every last one of your family's secrets and burn your entire empire to the ground."

For five years, I was the live-in psychologist who saved billionaire Julian Davenport. I did it to repay a debt, believing he was the boy who once saved my life. On my last day, he and his fiancée framed me. They destroyed my career, turned my family against me, and left me with nothing. I was broken, betrayed by the very man I had healed. Then, a kind stranger found me standing in the rain. He revealed a devastating secret that changed everything: he was my real savior, and the man I sacrificed my life for was a fraud.

My wedding day was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but I found myself tied to a chair in a dark, moldy basement, a burlap sack ripped from my head. The kidnapper held my phone, reading my fiancé Ethan Riley' s name, demanding a thirty-million-dollar ransom. Desperate, I called Ethan, but his line was busy-forty-nine times. On the fiftieth try, the kidnapper lost his patience, breaking my ribs with a punch, calling me "useless." The physical pain was nothing compared to the cold dread that settled in my heart. Why was he so busy? A week ago, Ethan paid a thirty-million-dollar ransom for his childhood friend, Chloe Davis, without hesitation, abandoning me at our wedding rehearsal to deliver the money himself. Then, a video message from Chloe lit up my phone, which the kidnapper held to my face. Chloe smiled, cooing, "Sorry, Sarah, Ethan's a little busy right now. He's putting my shoes on for me." The camera panned to Ethan, kneeling, gently sliding a crystal-heeled shoe onto her foot. But it wasn' t his devotion that shattered me; it was the dress Chloe was wearing – my wedding dress, the one my mother had made for me. A white-hot rage surged through me. I screamed for the phone, but the kidnapper smashed it, severing my last connection to Ethan. He then dialed Ethan on his burner phone, putting it on speaker, and calmly declared a new ransom: "One dollar. For every time he doesn't answer, I cut off a finger." On the fourth ring, Chloe answered, her voice dripping with fake concern. "Oh, Sarah," she sighed, "You have the worst timing. Ethan's busy getting a band-aid for me." I screamed, "I've been kidnapped! Tell him I've been kidnapped!" Chloe laughed, calling me dramatic. Then, Ethan' s voice, cold and impatient, filled the silence. "Sarah? What is this? Chloe said you're playing some kind of game. Kidnapped? Again? This is a new low, even for you." He hung up. The kidnapper reached for my hand. "Well, it looks like he didn't answer." He severed my pinky finger with rusty pliers. The blinding pain made my world tilt. I begged him to video call Ethan, just so he could see. Ethan appeared, annoyed, with Chloe beside him, dabbing a tiny scratch on her foot. He called me a liar, manipulative, and selfish, accusing me of trying to ruin their wedding. I showed him my mutilated hand, the bloody stump where my pinky used to be. For a second, he hesitated, a flicker of horror in his eyes. But then Chloe shrieked, "That is disgusting, Sarah! Where did you get that fake movie prop?" She sobbed dramatically into Ethan' s chest. His brief doubt vanished, replaced by a storm of protective rage directed at me. "Look what you've done," he snarled. "You're making Chloe cry. All you do is cause pain. You're a monster." He hung up, telling me never to call again. The kidnapper picked up the pliers again, eyeing my ring finger. "Let's get rid of this one next." My ring finger, the one holding all my broken promises, was severed. Then, he live-streamed my torture to the world, revealing me – Sarah Miller, Ethan Riley' s supposed fiancée – bruised, bloody, and broken. Comments flooded the screen: "Fake," "Awesome special effects!" until people recognized me. The kidnapper cursed, ending the feed, but then showed me another video: Ethan and Chloe, at our wedding venue, getting married. Chloe in my dress. Ethan' s voice, clear and steady, saying, "I do." My world went black.

My life as a pastry chef with dreams as sweet as my confections was shattered in an instant. The doctor' s words echoed: "Acute myeloid leukemia." But that diagnosis was only the first blow. Numbly, I returned home, only to discover a hidden folder on my longtime boyfriend Liam' s tablet: "Walker_Harrington_Private." Inside were marriage certificates and photos of Liam, beaming, with his wife, Bella-dated three years ago. My heart didn't just break; it stopped. The man I loved, the one I' d been sketching wedding cakes for, had a secret wife. Then, the true horror unfolded: I overheard Liam casually discussing "the Ava project" with a colleague. His plan? Use me as an incubator for a child for him and Bella, who was barren. He' d meticulously crafted my world, ensuring I had no one but him, even starting malicious rumors during our college days to isolate me. Eight years. My entire future, my security, was a meticulously woven lie. The sickness eating my body felt less painful than the absolute, soul-crushing betrayal. How could I have been so utterly blind? So stupidly devoted to a monster? But in that abyss, a flicker of cold defiance sparked. A brochure for experimental CAR T-cell therapy in Boston. I would fight for my life, but on my own terms. My only path forward: survive the leukemia, and completely disappear from Liam' s monstrous game.

I was Ellie Vance, living a quiet life, secretly the Grand Lumina, wielding immense power I called The Radiance. For years, I poured my very essence into Michael Thorne, elevating his career, believing our deep love meant a future as husband and wife. Then, I overheard him plotting his political marriage to Victoria Ashworth, and the horrifying truth hit me: I was merely his "Pure Spring essence," a convenient resource to be exploited, dismissed, and discarded. The betrayal was a relentless, agonizing assault: Michael left me to nearly drown for Victoria' s feigned stumble, physically forced my healing blood from my arm for her, and let her flaunt the Heartstone Locket he' d given only to me. He watched while his friends mocked me, then heartlessly tore the treasured bracelet he' d made for me from my wrist to buy her a trinket. Finally, he callously struck me, leaving me bruised and trapped after fabricating an attack, instantly believing Victoria' s vile lies. How could the man I loved and sacrificed everything for be so utterly blind, so profoundly callous, so unspeakably cruel? My unwavering devotion, my secret, immense power, my very identity, had all been meticulously used as a mere stepping stone for his ambition, reducing me to a disposable tool. But the pain, the incandescent rage, the profound destruction of my world, forged an unyielding strength within me. No longer just timid Ellie Vance, I returned to the High Sanctum, severing every last emotional thread binding me to Michael Thorne. I strode into his lavish wedding, not as The Grand Lumina, but as the "simple Ellie" he so disdained, utterly prepared to shatter his carefully constructed facade. My name is Elara, and from the ashes of his monumental betrayal, my true ascension had just begun.

I died on a Tuesday. It wasn't a quick death. It was slow, cold, and meticulously planned by the man who called himself my father. I was twenty years old. He needed my kidney to save my sister. The spare part for the golden child. I remember the blinding lights of the operating theater, the sterile smell of betrayal, and the phantom pain of a surgeon's scalpel carving into my flesh while my screams echoed unheard. I remember looking through the observation glass and seeing him-my father, Giovanni Vitiello, the Don of the Chicago Outfit-watching me die with the same detached expression he used when signing a death warrant. He chose her. He always chose her. And then, I woke up. Not in heaven. Not in hell. But in my own bed, a year before my scheduled execution. My body was whole, unscarred. The timeline had reset, a glitch in the cruel matrix of my existence, giving me a second chance I never asked for. This time, when my father handed me a one-way ticket to London-an exile disguised as a severance package-I didn't cry. I didn't beg. My heart, once a bleeding wound, was now a block of ice. He didn't know he was talking to a ghost. He didn't know I had already lived through his ultimate betrayal. He also didn't know that six months ago, during the city's brutal territory wars, I was the one who saved his most valuable asset. In a secret safe house, I stitched up the wounds of a blinded soldier, a man whose life hung by a thread. He never saw my face. He only knew my voice, the scent of vanilla, and the steady touch of my hands. He called me Sette. Seven. For the seven stitches I put in his shoulder. That man was Dante Moretti. The Ruthless Capo. The man my sister, Isabella, is now set to marry. She stole my story. She claimed my actions, my voice, my scent. And Dante, the man who could spot a lie from a mile away, believed the beautiful deception because he wanted it to be true. He wanted the golden girl to be his savior, not the invisible sister who was only ever good for her spare parts. So I took the ticket. In my past life, I fought them, and they silenced me on an operating table. This time, I will let them have their perfect, gilded lie. I will go to London. I will disappear. I will let Seraphina Vitiello die on that plane. But I will not be a victim. This time, I will not be the lamb led to slaughter. This time, from the shadows of my exile, I will be the one holding the match. And I will wait, with the patience of the dead, to watch their entire world burn. Because a ghost has nothing to lose, and a queen of ashes has an empire to gain.

I was the spare daughter of the Vitiello crime family, born solely to provide organs for my golden sister, Isabella. Four years ago, under the codename "Seven," I nursed Dante Moretti, the Don of Chicago, back to health in a safe house. I was the one who held him in the dark. But Isabella stole my name, my credit, and the man I loved. Now, Dante looked at me with nothing but cold disgust, believing her lies. When a neon sign crashed down on the street, Dante used his body to shield Isabella, leaving me to be crushed under twisted steel. While Isabella sat in a VIP suite crying over a scratch, I lay broken, listening to my parents discuss if my kidneys were still viable for harvest. The final straw came at their engagement gala. When Dante saw me wearing the lava stone bracelet I had worn in the safe house, he accused me of stealing it from Isabella. He ordered my father to punish me. I took fifty lashes to my back while Dante covered Isabella's eyes, protecting her from the ugly truth. That night, the love in my heart finally died. On the morning of their wedding, I handed Dante a gift box containing a cassette tape—the only proof that I was Seven. Then, I signed the papers disowning my family, threw my phone out the car window, and boarded a one-way flight to Sydney. By the time Dante listens to that tape and realizes he married a monster, I will be thousands of miles away, never to return.

Emma had agreed to pretend to be her boss's girlfriend at an event where his ex-wife planned to show up with the guy she had cheated with. "We'll see how this turns out."

After a blackout one-night stand, Celine discovers she's pregnant by a stranger she knows nothing about. Three years later, Hunter Reid returns to town. He's cold, ruthless, and obsessed with perfection. When their paths cross, Hunter finds Celine's kindness and naivety infuriating-but he can't ignore the pull he feels toward her, no matter how much he tries to deny it. Celine, confused by his hatred, does her best to steer clear of him, but fate keeps throwing them together. As secrets unbox, she's faced with a choice: risk her heart for a man whose icy gaze hides dangerous truths, or walk away to protect her child's future. Can Celine break through Hunter's walls, or will his past shatter their chance at happiness?

Life was a bed of roses for Debra, the daughter of Alpha. That was until she had a one-night stand with Caleb. She was sure he was her mate as determined by Moon Goddess. But this hateful man refused to accept her. Weeks passed before Debra discovered that she was pregnant. Her pregnancy brought shame to her and everyone she loved. Not only was she driven out, but her father was also hunted down by usurpers. Fortunately, she survived with the help of the mysterious Thorn Edge Pack. Five years passed and Debra didn't hear anything from Caleb. One day, their paths crossed again. They were both on the same mission-carrying out secret investigations in the dangerous Roz Town for the safety and posterity of their respective packs. Caleb was still cold toward her. But as time went on, he fell head over heels in love with her. He tried to make up for abandoning her, but Debra wasn't having any of it. She was hell-bent on hiding her daughter from him and also making a clean break. What did the future hold for the two as they journeyed in Roz Town? What kind of secrets would they find? Would Caleb win Debra's heart and get to know his lovely daughter? Find out!

After being kicked out of her home, Harlee learned she wasn't the biological daughter of her family. Rumors had it that her impoverished biological family favored sons and planned to profit from her return. Unexpectedly, her real father was a zillionaire, catapulting her into immense wealth and making her the most cherished member of the family. While they anticipated her disgrace, Harlee secretly held design patents worth billions. Celebrated for her brilliance, she was invited to mentor in a national astronomy group, drew interest from wealthy suitors, and caught the eye of a mysterious figure, ascending to legendary status.