The night before her engagement, Valerie was tricked by her boyfriend and stepsister into spending the night with a stranger. After the night together, the man vanished. Later, her boyfriend accused her of cheating, revealing his affair with her stepsister. Pressured by her father, Valerie married an unconscious man in place of her stepsister. Valerie exposed the scheme, sabotaged her father's ambitions, and transformed herself. When her husband woke and chased her to the airport, she calmly refused him, saying, "It's over between us." He held her firmly. "You married me, so you must commit."
"Let me go! Who are you?" Valerie Brown's voice trembled, her struggles frantic but ineffective.
"Stay still."
The command was low and unrelenting, like gravel sliding down steel. One of the man's hands pinned her wrists to the headboard with effortless strength.
Valerie gasped as fabric gave way with a sharp, ripping sound, the air thick with the sudden violence of it. His touch burned like an ember against her skin-uninvited, scorching, and relentless. She fought, her movements wild and desperate, but his hold was unyielding.
"No... please..." Her voice cracked, small and broken. "I don't even know you..."
The silence answered her-thick and heavy-broken only by his breath, slow and deliberate.
......
A sharp knock on the door shattered Valerie's train of thoughts.
"Miss Brown, the car from the Holt family will arrive shortly. Please get ready to come downstairs."
Valerie nodded faintly, masking the fire of anger behind her cool, indifferent gaze.
It had been a month-a month since that night, when her life had spun out of control. She had lost her virginity to a stranger and, as if fate hadn't punished her enough, she was now being forced to marry Jonathan Holt-a man confined to a bed, comatose and unknowing, all because of a car crash. It was originally a marriage meant for her stepsister-until their father decided Valerie would do just fine.
She'd fought. She'd refused. But her father had anticipated her every move. Holding her ailing mother hostage, he left Valerie no choice but to surrender to his twisted demands.
For a whole month, Valerie had searched relentlessly. Every contact, every whisper of a lead, every phone call had turned into a dead end. Her mother remained out of reach.
In the end, she had no choice but to give in.
Valerie smoothed down the plain white wedding dress, and pulled out her phone to send a text.
"Javier, how is everything going?"
She clenched the device, waiting-hoping-for the screen to light up with a reply.
Javier Barnett was her boyfriend, the one person who hadn't turned his back on her after everything.
Despite knowing about her broken innocence, he had stayed, promising to help her find her mother and take her away from this nightmare.
But the screen stayed dark. Minutes stretched like hours, and still, no reply came.
A flicker of unease twisted in her gut. Unable to stand still, Valerie pushed herself out of the room. The silence of the house pressed in as she made her way downstairs. Passing by a lounge, she froze.
Laughter-her stepsister Lacey Brown's laughter-drifted through the slightly ajar door, sharp as a knife's edge. Then came a voice that made Valerie's blood run cold.
"Thank you, Javier. If it weren't for you sweet-talking her and tipping us off about her plans, she would have found her mother by now. It's time for your reward..."
Valerie stiffened. Her heart hammered painfully in her chest. Javier and Lacey?
Step by step, Valerie edged closer to the door, unable to stop herself. Peering through the gap, her world shattered.
Inside, Javier sat too close to Lacey, his hand brushing her arm, his expression smug and satisfied.
"You little slut," he teased, a cruel grin on his face. "Aren't you afraid Valerie will figure it all out? What if she finds out about us and refuses to go through with the marriage?"
Lacey's laugh rang out, cold and triumphant. "She wouldn't dare. Her mother is still in Dad's clutches, and she knows it." Lacey leaned closer, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Besides, if she ever found out that it was you who drugged her that night and set her up... well, she'd probably lose her mind."
......
The world collapsed around Valerie. Her ears buzzed, a static hum drowning out everything but the sharp ache in her chest.
Her body shook, trembling beyond her control.
She gripped the hem of her wedding dress, her knuckles turning white as she tried to anchor herself-to choke down the rage and heartbreak surging inside her.
This was why her search for her mother had gone nowhere. Javier. Her Javier. The man she thought loved her-truly loved her-had been lying all along.
He hadn't just betrayed her trust; he had betrayed her soul.
Worse, her loss of innocence hadn't been an accident. It was a piece of their twisted game, a cruel trap she had walked into blind.
The sounds coming from the room-Lacey's lustful moaning and Javier's grunting-coiled in Valerie's ears like poison. A wave of nausea rose in her throat, but Valerie swallowed it back, her pain sharpening into something else.
With shaking hands, she wiped away her tears and pulled out her phone. She couldn't let this go. Not now. Not ever.
Peering through the gap once more, she hit "record", capturing every cruel detail. She then uploaded the video to the Brown Group's company group chat from an anonymous account. A single click.
She glanced back at the two inside, her gaze as cold as steel.
"Javier, Lacey," Valerie whispered under her breath, her voice a razor's edge. "This is only the beginning. Once I find my mother, I will make you pay for every lie, every scheme, every piece of me you have shattered."
She turned on her heel, her movements calm but deliberate, and descended the stairs. Without a backward glance, she slipped into the waiting car that would take her to the Holt family's estate.
Meanwhile, phones buzzed, screens flashed, and shocked gasps filled the halls of the Brown Group offices. The video Valerie had uploaded blazed through the company's group chat like wildfire, leaving scandal and uproar in its wake.
Janet was adopted when she was a kid -- a dream come true for orphans. However, her life was anything but happy. Her adoptive mother taunted and bullied her all her life. Janet got the love and affection of a parent from the old maid who raised her. Unfortunately, the old woman fell ill, and Janet had to marry a worthless man in place of her parents' biological daughter to meet the maid's medical expenses. Could this be a Cinderella's tale? But the man was far from a prince, except for his handsome appearance. Ethan was the illegitimate son of a wealthy family who lived a reckless life and barely made ends meet. He got married to fulfill his mother's last wish. However, on his wedding night, he had an inkling that his wife was different from what he had heard about her. Fate had united the two people with deep secrets. Was Ethan truly the man we thought he was? Surprisingly, he bore an uncanny resemblance to the impenetrable wealthiest man in the city. Would he find out that Janet married him in place of her sister? Would their marriage be a romantic tale or an utter disaster? Read on to unravel Janet and Ethan's journey.
Stella Judd worked hard for her entire life, in return, she only got endless deception and oppression and died without dignity. However, she was reborn with time turning back. She vowed to never again let anyone who had bullied her get anything out of her. She got away from a very vicious family and got rich by her own hands. Nevertheless, she felt in love with a cripple. Although he was a cripple, Stella wanted to protect her husband and live in peace, but she didn't expect that her crippled husband suddenly turned into the distinguished Prime Minister! What's more, not only he was not lame anymore, but also he walked with her through life and death.
Two years ago, Ricky found himself coerced into marrying Emma to protect the woman he cherished. From Ricky's perspective, Emma was despicable, resorting to underhanded schemes to ensure their marriage. He maintained a distant and cold attitude toward her, reserving his warmth for another. Yet, Emma remained wholeheartedly dedicated to Ricky for more than ten years. As she grew weary and considered relinquishing her efforts, Ricky was seized by a sudden fear. Only when Emma's life teetered on the edge, pregnant with Ricky's child, did he recognize-the love of his life had always been Emma.
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
On her wedding day, Khloe’s sister connived with her groom, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. She was sentenced to three years in prison, where she endured much suffering. When Khloe was finally released, her evil sister used their mother to coerce Khloe into an indecent liaison with an elderly man. As fate would have it, Khloe crossed paths with Henrik, the dashing yet ruthless mobster who sought to alter the course of her life. Despite Henrik’s cold exterior, he cherished Khloe like no other. He helped her take retribution from her tormentors and kept her from being bullied again.
"Sign the divorce papers and get out!" Leanna got married to pay a debt, but she was betrayed by her husband and shunned by her in-laws. Seeing that her efforts were in vain, she agreed to divorce and claimed her half of the properties. With her purse plump from the settlement, Leanna enjoyed her newfound freedom. The constant harassment from her ex's mistress never fazed her. She took back her identities as top hacker, champion racer, medical professor, and renowned jewelry designer. Then someone discovered her secret. Matthew smiled. "Will you have me as your next husband?"