Sweet Poison, Cold Revenge

I was Chloe, a high school student with Ivy League dreams, just two months shy of the SATs. Our kind housekeeper, Ms. Evans, offered me a "special calming tea" to ease my nerves. It wasn't comforting. It was a soul-swapping recipe that stole my life. I woke up trapped in the body of Brenda, Ms. Evans's resentful, academically hopeless daughter. Brenda, in my body, went to the SATs and deliberately caused a horrific scene. She tore up the test. They disqualified me. They blacklisted me. My parents, blindly trusting Ms. Evans, believed I'd had a breakdown or cheated. Their disappointment crushed me. My Ivy League dreams shattered into a million pieces. Ostracized and consumed by despair, I faded away. I simply stopped. The horror of remembering, the injustice of watching my future crumble, burned within me. Why did Ms. Evans and her daughter hate me enough to destroy me? But then, I woke up. I was back, two months before the SATs, alive again, before everything went to hell. This time, I wouldn't just prevent it. I would understand why, and then I would make them pay.

I woke up in 1982, my 22-year-old body buzzing with memories of a 72-year marriage to Mark Johnson. This was my second chance. Today was the day Mark proposed in our past life, and my heart beat with familiar hope, ready to relive our perfect love story. I found him at the town gathering, my heart leaping. But he wasn't looking for me. Instead, Mark went straight to Bree Thompson, his confident smile fixed on her. Then, loud enough for everyone, he asked her out. My treasured memory, my entire hope, shattered instantly. That perfect marriage, all those cherished moments, felt poisoned. He was reborn too, and he clearly wanted someone else. Public humiliation, malicious accusations, and finally, deliberately snapping my guitar string right before my talent show performance-his cruelty knew no bounds. My beautiful past was ruined. Was our entire 72-year marriage a lie? Was I just a convenient second choice? The rage and disbelief at this changed man consumed me. Why was he so intent on destroying me? Why did he hate the life we' d built? The confusion was a constant ache. But defiance sparked. I sang acapella, winning a demo deal. Enraged, Mark dropped his charade, spewing venom about how I'd held him back. "We're done!" I declared, finally seeing the selfish parasite he always was. This was my true second chance: to embrace my music, my freedom, and my own splendid future.

The National STEM Innovators Challenge was my last hope. My little brother, Leo, desperately needed experimental treatment for his rare genetic condition. Winning the astronomical prize money was the only way to save his life. But every round, it was the same nightmare: Tiffany Harrington, my relentless rival, would beat me. Not by much, but by an impossible, precise ten points, mirroring crushing defeats from a past I couldn't escape. No matter how flawless my code or how innovative my robotic design, Tiff' s score would appear exactly ten points higher. My own boyfriend, Jake, sided with her, dismissing my suspicions as "sore losing," drawn by her family's wealth and influence. Tiff' s cruel taunts about Leo' s deteriorating health twisted the knife deeper, leaving me feeling utterly alone and powerless. How could this be happening again? How did she always predict the exact margin? It wasn't just cheating; it felt like a predetermined, relentless pattern designed to break me, as if an invisible force was pulling the strings, defying all logic and fairness. Desperate to crack this impossible code, I decided I had to test it. In the final round of the Challenge, I would do the unthinkable: submit absolutely nothing. I had to know if this "ten-point rule" was absolute, even if it meant risking everything for Leo.

I woke up nineteen again, in my familiar 80s room, recalling a seventy-year marriage with Mark. He was my soulmate, my golden love story, and I believed this time, we could make it even more perfect. But this new, young Mark was shockingly different. He was ambitious, driven, and then, at the Fourth of July picnic, he publicly asked Tiffany Anderson, the town' s popular golden girl, to be his girlfriend. My seventy-year love story, my perfect reunion dream, shattered into a million pieces. I watched my past, present, and future fall apart before my eyes. Every shared milestone, every tender moment, was now seen through a horrifying lens of betrayal. He' d never been truly with me; he was always just chasing her. Mark himself confirmed my deepest fears, treating me with open disdain, trying to sabotage my music. How could the man I loved for a lifetime treat me like this? My heart screamed, "Did you ever, in all those seventy years, actually love me?" His answer was a cold, brutal laugh: "Love you? Don't be stupid. It was convenient. It was always Tiffany." My entire past life, a carefully constructed illusion, imploded. But in that moment of utter devastation, a fierce, new resolve ignited within me. The very sabotage meant to break me instead opened an unexpected door. A city music promoter, impressed by my raw performance, offered me a way out-a chance to become truly myself, finally free from his shadow.

The car horn blared, a familiar sound mirroring a day that once ended my world. My eyes snapped open to the rain-streaked window – SATs morning, a date etched in my memory, not for the test, but for the beginning of my ruin. Last time, it began with my 'friend' Jessica' s sweet smile, offering food after the exam. Then, the peanuts. My throat closed. My boyfriend, Liam, sided with her, dismissing it as 'an accident.' That 'accident' spiraled. Online posts branded me a monster, my tech CEO mother' s reputation shredded, her company attacked by Jessica' s followers. The worst? Dying, isolated and vilified, knowing Jessica orchestrated it all for revenge-her father fired for embezzlement-and for social media clout. The bitter betrayal still burned. How could I have been so easily destroyed by a calculated lie? I died a villain while she won. But this time, the script was about to flip. I wouldn't be a victim. An MIT early admission letter, a full scholarship, sat on my desk, secured weeks ago. The SATs, once my undoing, now meant nothing to me. But they meant everything to them. The past was a horrifying ghost, but its lessons were concrete. I was ready to make them pay.

I woke up to the familiar rumble of thunder, the bruised purple sky mirroring the dread in my stomach: exam day. It was all happening again, precisely like last time. Last time, Kevin, my earnest ex, held us back for Brie, the school' s queen bee, who, ever the drama, insisted on a "critical influencer photoshoot." We were late, of course. But the real disaster wasn't just missing the exam. Later, at a supposed peace offering, Brie handed me a coffee. It was laced with tree nuts, my deadliest allergen. I died. Kevin and his "Elites" lied, claiming I was distraught and ate something by accident. Brie played victim online, painting me as the bully, while my mother' s quest for justice shattered her life. Having lived through that betrayal, that humiliation, that fatal setup once, to wake up here again on this exact morning felt like a second chance – not just at life, but at cosmic rebalancing. Why was I back? This time, I wouldn't say a single word. Let them wait. Let them miss their exam. Let them ruin their own lives. My future at MIT was already secure. Theirs, however, was about to unravel, with me watching from the sidelines.

"You're mine, little puppy," Kylan growled against my neck. A soft gasp escaped my lips as his lips brushed my skin. My mind screamed at me to push him away-the Lycan Prince who had humiliated me again and again, but my body betrayed me, leaning into him before I could stop myself. He pressed his lips against mine, and his kiss grew more aggressive, more possessive as I felt my legs weaken. What was I doing? In a split-second, I pulled away and slapped him hard across the face. Kylan's eyes darkened, but the smirk on his lips exposed his amusement. "You and I both know we can't fight this, Violet," he said, gripping my wrist. "You're my mate." "And yet you don't want me," I replied. "You told me you were ashamed of me, that l'd never be your queen, that you'd never love me. So please, accept my rejection and let me go." "Never," he whispered, his grip tightening as he pulled me closer. "Soon enough, you'll be begging for me. and when you do-I'll use you as I see fit and then I'll reject you."

Life was perfect until she met her boyfriend's big brother. There was a forbidden law in the Night Shade Pack that if the head Alpha rejected his mate, he would be stripped of his position. Sophia's life would get connected with the law. She was an Omega who was dating the head Alpha's younger brother. Bryan Morrison, the head Alpha, was not only a cold-blooded man but also a charming business tycoon. His name was enough to cause other packs to tremble. He was known as a ruthless man. What if, by some twist of destiny, Sophia's path were to intertwine with his?

Lucia Balstone thought she had chosen the right man to spend the rest of her life with, but he was the one who ended her life. Their ten-year marriage seemed like a joke when her husband stabbed her with a dagger. Fortunately, God is never blind to people's tears. Lucia got a second chance. She was reborn at the age of 22, before all the terrible things had happened. This time, she was determined to avenge herself and let those who hurt her pay! She made an elaborate list of her goals, and the first thing on her list was to marry her ex-husband's enemy, Alonso Callen!

With a contract, they got married in a flash. He doted on her, loved her, and made her the envy of all women in the world. When she took the pregnancy test sheet and stood happily in front of him, he handed over the divorce papers. She didn't ask him for an astronomical compensation,and left without any property. Five years later, when she and her fiancé were choosing the wedding dress arm in arm, he suddenly showed up. He dragged her to his side and said possessively, "Baby, my son said, he doesn't want a stepfather."

Hazel Queen had loved her husband with all her heart for three years. But the one thing she never saw coming was the cold, shocking truth: he wanted a divorce because his mistress was pregnant. Heartbroken and betrayed, Hazel decides to move on and returns to Queen Corp, where she steps into her true role as the powerful female president, worth hundreds of millions. This revelation shocks her ex-husband, Damon Price, who never knew that the woman he left behind was the mastermind behind the famous Queen Corp-the Heiress of the Queen family, who had supposedly died in a fire three years ago.

On the eve of their wedding, Clara Raymond discovers her fiancé in a compromising situation. Deeply hurt by his treachery, she has a breakdown outside the civil affairs office where she intended to formally register their marriage, following a family tradition. However, his abrupt withdrawal on that very day after betraying her the night before proves to be the breaking point. She is no longer willing to forgive and move on. Instead, she craves vengeance. To retaliate, Clara seizes the first attractive man nearby and boldly proposes, "Will you marry me?"