/0/71307/coverbig.jpg?v=22532312abb581bb0af87ccc4a8b6038)
Lara Sanders and Ethan Cole had been together for five years, but Lara had never been his priority. Ethan, obsessed with his work, did not see the soul of the woman he had married. Lara had tried to rekindle the flame, but in vain. She had had enough. One day, she left everything: the house, the promises, and Ethan. Years later, Lara reappears. She has become a successful entrepreneur, an icon of the business world, and no one recognizes her anymore as the fragile young woman she once was. Far from the shy and discreet Lara, she is now a queen of industry, admired and respected. At a public event, a journalist asks her: "Lara, you are the most influential businesswoman of the moment. What is the key to your success?" Lara, with a mysterious smile, answers: "Never let a man define you. Take charge of your life. » The next day, to everyone's surprise, Ethan appears at Lara's door. The man she thought had been forgotten, who had let her go without a glance, returns with a surprising proposition: "Lara, I made a mistake. Can we start all over again... Together?"
Lara worked silently in the kitchen, her movements precise and measured. The air was filled with the scent of a dish she had prepared especially for Ethan: a creamy risotto with saffron, his favorite dish. She had pulled out all the stops, as they say. The candles were lit on the table, creating a soft, warm glow. She had even slipped into a red dress, the one he loved, and had taken care of her hair, letting it fall in silky waves over her shoulders. A smile, shy and full of hope, floated on her lips. Tonight, everything would be perfect.
Tonight, she wanted them to find that complicity they had lost, to rediscover each other, like in the beginning.
She checked the time on her phone. The clock was ticking, and he still wasn't there. It had been months since they had shared a quiet evening, just the two of them. Months since he had been busy with work, coming home exhausted and in a hurry, barely seeing her anymore. But tonight, Lara hoped. She hoped that tonight would change everything, that her love would be enough to fill the void between them.
She sat down at the table, her mind a little elsewhere. The sound of her phone made her jump. She hurried to grab it, thinking it was him, but a message appeared on the screen. "I'm sorry, Lara. Something unexpected at work, I won't be able to come home tonight. I promise we'll make it up to you." Lara's heart sank. She read and reread the message, hoping to find something she had missed, an apology, a promise, a word that would erase this coldness that was slowly but surely setting in.
Her hands shook. The risotto, still warm in the pan, suddenly felt as cold as this absence. She felt a lump form in her throat, and she forced herself to breathe deeply, to not let the tears overwhelm her. But they were there, lurking, ready to fall. Lara stood abruptly, pushing the chair back. The sound of wood against the floor echoed in the silence of the room.
She glanced around quickly, and everything suddenly seemed strange, like she was in a place she didn't know anymore. Home. Their home. The one they had chosen together. But it wasn't the same anymore. She wasn't the same anymore. She had lost herself. They had lost each other. She stood there, in that little corner of the kitchen, her heart breaking with every breath, every beat. Love wasn't enough anymore, she knew. He didn't see her anymore. Or maybe he never really saw her.
She put her phone on the table and turned on her heel. Her footsteps echoed in the hallway like a sad melody, each step taking her further from the reality she had constructed. She stopped in front of their bedroom door. He wasn't even there to see her, to hold her, to tell her that everything would be okay, that he loved her. Because he didn't love her anymore. Not like before. He had replaced her with other things, other priorities. Work, ambition, fatigue. And she, she had become a shadow in his own life.
Lara suddenly felt very alone. How had they gotten to this point? How had they let time, routine, indifference, devour everything they had been? She closed her eyes, letting the memories invade her. The first months, the passion, the smiles exchanged, the endless discussions, the plans, the dreams they built together. Then the silences. Then the absences. Then the false hopes. And now, this letter he had just sent her, a cold and distant message, which left no room for doubt: there was no more of her in his world.
She walked to the living room, where he usually left his things lying around. Nothing was in its place. Nothing was the same as before. No more magazines scattered on the couch, no more coat thrown on the chair. Only emptiness, this emptiness that seemed to extend into every corner of the house. Lara sat on the couch, her hands clasped in her lap. She was tired. Tired of fighting for a love that no longer existed. Tired of giving herself, of giving her heart and soul to someone who didn't even see her anymore. Tired of waiting.
She stood up suddenly, like an impulse that had passed through her. She went into the bedroom, opened the wardrobe, and grabbed a suitcase. There was no reason to stay anymore. No reason to hope anymore. He would never see her, and his love would no longer be enough. She had had enough. She had had enough of being invisible, of being a shadow of what she had been to him. She couldn't go on like this. Not a second longer.
With a speed she didn't know she had, she began to fill the suitcase. Clothes, a few personal items. The bare minimum. She didn't know where she was going, she hadn't thought about all that yet. But she knew she had to leave. She had to find herself, find herself again, far from this relationship that no longer nourished her. Far from this life where she had faded away, where she was nothing more than a ghost.
She paused for a moment, her gaze fixed on the suitcase she had just closed. She thought of Ethan, of all they had shared, of all they had built together. But it was over. She knew it. They were already dead, both of them, in what they had become. And the Lara he had loved no longer existed. She was only a memory. An illusion. She took a deep breath, then, without looking back, she approached the desk. There, under an abandoned notebook, was a sheet of paper. She grabbed it, took a pen, and wrote. She didn't write long paragraphs. Just a few words. A few words that, she hoped, would explain everything.
"I'm not who you wanted anymore. I'm not who you love anymore. It's time for me to go. To live for myself. To find myself again. I love you, but it's too late. Lara."
She put down the quill and stared at the words. They didn't hold the pain she felt, but they held a kind of resignation. Of release. She knew it was all over. And that now, there was nothing left to save. She grabbed the letter, folded it carefully, and set it down on the couch, where he would sit when he got home, if he got home.
The door opened slowly, but she didn't stop. She crossed the threshold of the house, suitcase in hand. Each step took her further, away from him, away from everything she had ever known. When she crossed the front door, she felt a heavy weight lift off her shoulders, a heavy mist dissipate. The night air hit her softly. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling this freedom she hadn't had in so long. She walked, without a specific goal, just to escape. Escape the shadow of herself.
Under the gaze of a fallen mafia, Elvie, a young woman with a troubled past and victim of a brutal ex, seeks to rebuild her life. Working as an assistant in the villa of the Corleone, an influential crime family, she tries to avoid conflict with the three Corleone brothers, all as dangerous as each other. But everything changes when Adriano, the eldest brother and heir, breaks his arranged engagement to embrace the war between enemy families and must quickly remarry. Cold and calculating, he sees Elvie as a simple piece in his game. For her, he is just another nightmare to flee. But as they interact, appearances crumble and unexpected bonds are forged. As her ex resurfaces, Elvie will have to choose between her new life, her secrets and the growing violence that threatens everything she has rebuilt.
Alice's life has been devastated by the betrayal of those she believed to be her allies. Five years ago, her fiancé, in the grip of a professional failure, convinced her to sacrifice her dreams to help him get back on his feet. But her best friend, hungry for glory and power, made a decision that would change their friendship forever, by secretly becoming a surrogate mother. When Alice's fiancé, now at the top of his career, left her, claiming that she no longer met his expectations, Alice, broken, accepted the proposal of the mysterious billionaire, Gabriel Hartman. Known for his coldness and indifference, Gabriel seemed to offer Alice an escape. What she didn't know was that he was the one who had orchestrated her best friend's request for maternity... But what if everything she thought she knew was just a decoy? What if, deep down, the price of her redemption is much higher than she imagined? Can the truth really mend broken hearts, or will secrets destroy everything in their path?
Zoe's dreams of marriage are shattered when she catches her fiance in a compromising situation with his best friend. Devastated, she seeks to recover what she has lost. That's when an enigmatic man, a warm billionaire named Maxime Delacroix, offers her an unexpected solution: a loveless marriage, a contractual alliance with the aim of destroying his ex's career. Although reluctant, Zoe accepts, ready to do anything to get revenge. But as their relationship grows, Zoe realizes that the stakes are more complex than she imagined. Between revenge and a budding passion for this distant man, she finds herself torn between her desire for justice and her budding feelings. How far will she be willing to go to get revenge without losing everything in the process?
Lily thought she had a simple life, surrounded by her adoptive parents in a small town. But everything changed the day she learned that her real parents were industrial tycoons and that she had a twin brother, heir to a family empire. Welcomed into a world of luxury, she found herself facing a reality very different from the one she knew. Her brother, a cold and ambitious man, had always hated her. "You're just an intruder, Lily," he told her. But another secret resurfaced: a mysterious businessman claimed that Lily was the rightful heir to a huge hidden fortune. "It's time you knew the truth," he told her. Between betrayals and revelations, Lily must choose between wealth and family loyalty.
Luca Moretti, an influential businessman, is forced to marry Amélie Lefevre, a woman he considers a simple family obligation. Already in love with another, he vows to make Amélie's life hell so that she will ask for a divorce. However, he does not know that Amélie is hiding a secret that could change his life forever. Behind her calm facade, Amélie is much more determined and intelligent than he thinks. What will happen when Luca finds himself caught in his own game? Will he succeed in breaking their union or will he succumb to the hidden truth?
For three years, Althea lived in the shadow of an arranged marriage with Damian Crowe, a billionaire as ruthless as they are insistent, known for his dark things and his absolute control over the elite. This marriage, designed by their families to unite two dynasties by the decline, quickly turned into a nightmare. Ignored by Damian, and closely monitored by his allies, Althea has discovered a world of unavowable secrets and questionable transactions. One night, she comes across compromising information that could ruin Damian and her whole family. Realizing that she is only a pawn in their game, she disappears without warning, leaving behind an empire in danger and a man plagued by her own demons. When Althea resurfaces three years later, she was unrecognizable: independent, formidable and armed with a infallible strategy to undermine the power of Damian. In parallel, it becomes the target of the rivals of the latter, who see in it the key to destroy the reign of the Crowe. But Damian did not say his last word. Torn between his desire to reconquer and the fear of the truths that Althea could reveal, he embarks on a battle where love and destruction are intertwined. Does Althea play a vengeance game, or is it about to overthrow a world that she has sworn to never suffer?
Allison fell in love with Ethan Iversen, the soon-to-be Alpha of the Moonlight Crown pack. She always wanted him to notice her. Meanwhile, Ethan was an arrogant Alpha who thought a weak Omega could not be his companion. Ethan's cousin, Ryan Iversen, who came back from abroad and was the actual heir of the pack, never tried to get the position nor did he show any interest in it. He was a popular playboy Alpha but when he came back to the pack, one thing captured his eyes and that was Allison.
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?
Darya spent three years loving Micah, worshipping the ground he walked on. Until his neglect and his family's abuse finally woke her up to the ugly truth-he doesn't love her. Never did, never will. To her, he is a hero, her knight in shining armour. To him, she is an opportunist, a gold digger who schemed her way into his life. Darya accepts the harsh reality, gathers the shattered pieces of her dignity, divorces him, takes back her real name, reclaims her title as the country's youngest billionaire heiress. Their paths cross again at a party. Micah watches his ex-wife sing like an angel, tear up the dance floor, then thwart a lecher with a roundhouse kick. He realises, belatedly, that she's exactly the kind of woman he'd want to marry, if only he had taken the trouble to get to know her. Micah acts promptly to win her back, but discovers she's now surrounded by eligible bachelors: high-powered CEO, genius biochemist, award-winning singer, reformed playboy. Worse, she makes it pretty clear that she's done with him. Micah gears up for an uphill battle. He must prove to her he's still worthy of her love before she falls for someone else. And time is running out.
She was a world-renowned divine doctor, the CEO of a publicly traded company, the most formidable female mercenary, and a top-tier tech genius. Marissa, a titan with a plethora of secret identities, had hidden her true stature to marry a seemingly impoverished young man. However, on the eve of their wedding, her fiance, who was actually the lost heir to a wealthy dynasty, called off the engagement and subjected her to degradation and mockery. Upon the revelation of her concealed identities, her ex-fiance was left stunned and desperately pleaded for her forgiveness. Standing protectively before Marissa, an incredibly influential and fearsome magnate declared, "This is my wife. Who would dare try to claim her?"
Elena, once a pampered heiress, suddenly lost everything when the real daughter framed her, her fiancé ridiculed her, and her adoptive parents threw her out. They all wanted to see her fall. But Elena unveiled her true identity: the heiress of a massive fortune, famed hacker, top jewelry designer, secret author, and gifted doctor. Horrified by her glorious comeback, her adoptive parents demanded half her newfound wealth. Elena exposed their cruelty and refused. Her ex pleaded for a second chance, but she scoffed, “Do you think you deserve it?” Then a powerful magnate gently proposed, “Marry me?”
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"