1394 Book(s) Related to best novels by agatha christie

Jason has always been arrogant, vain, and dangerously entitled. As the future Alpha, he believes the world owes him everything—, power, and even Annabelle Grey, the girl he’s tormented since childhood. A notorious playboy and bully, Jason thrives on making Annabelle's life miserable… until fate intervenes.

On his birthday, Annabelle strikes back, humiliating him in front of everyone. But the moment they both discover they are fated mates, Lucius tries to reassert his dominance—only for Annabelle to instantly reject him. Angry and humiliated, Jason allies with Rogues, murders his own father, and seizes the Alpha crown with ruthless hands. He swears Annabelle will be his, whether she wills it or not.

But Annabelle is no longer the powerless girl he once knew. Nearly beaten to death, she is saved by a mysterious stranger—one she clings to with so much trust. With her extraordinary gift of healing, Annabelle rises to protect and save entire packs, earning the honor of being crowned Luna.

Now, fate has tied her to the very devil who ruined her life. Will Annabelle embrace her destiny and rise as Luna, or will she burn it all down to take her vengeance?

“This has to be a sick joke,” Killian muttered, his hungry gaze raked over me like a predator sizing up its prey. “You did this intentionally, didn’t you?”

“N-No, I didn't." He backed me into a wall, and my breath seized—his face was impossibly close to mine. “I didn’t know this was your house.”

“You should quit, now that you still can,” he warned.

“I’m sorry that you hate me, but you’re just going to have to live with it.” I found my voice. “I’m not doing this because of you; I need this job.”

He chuckled darkly, the type to make your stomach churn.

“That’s where you’re getting it wrong. You’re doing this for me now, Jordan.” His fingers brushed a loose strand of hair away from my face. “You’re here to do my laundry, cook my meals, and scrub the floors, and when I tell you to kneel, you’ll do it with a smile.”

His thumb stopped at the base of my lips.

“Welcome home, Jordan.”


Jordan Carter needs a job and a place far away from her uncle’s family, but getting hired as the live-in maid of the school's most ruthless, arrogant star quarterback, who hates her guts, wasn’t on the list.

Now she has just one goal: surviving Killian Maddox for the next three months.

"What do you want? Ask me." I whisper against her cheek, kissing the warm skin there. I feel my cock pushing through my pants with wild desire, my body begging, pleading, but I take a deep breath, controlling myself.

"I want you to take me somewhere..."

"What else?" I feel her soft hands slide down my arms to my wrists, she moans softly and I restrain myself at the surreptitious way she's giving herself away.

"I don't want you to stop touching me like this, I want you to feel it and praise me for being so wet right now."

At the age of 22, Dakota's life had already gone through so many ups and downs that she took a drastic step that cost her family and her dreams. Now in New York, sharing an apartment with her best friend, she finds the remnants of her anguish still alive. Thoughts of uncertainty and the feeling that she is missing out on her best period torment her every night.

On one of these nights, fate gives her a hot experience with a mysterious, much older man who will not leave Dakota's thoughts for a long time... The future is a mystery, but her new job in a multinational company will manage to shake up her life with new responsibilities and a new pair of blue eyes. Dakota thinks it would be a good idea to dive into them, after all, the man behind the black hair and tall stature is popular, a good and communicative company. Still, the man doesn't seem to be enough, he lacks his father's gray eyes, mystery, seriousness and maturity. Doubt is immoral, her feelings are too dangerous. Perhaps Dakota's biggest mistake is to hold on to something her heart and body are pushing her so hard to do. Maybe she is different because she is truly sure of what she wants, contrary to what she believes. Could they keep her most secret desires at bay?

"Bend over, Mia, it's time for your punishment...." Mia's new boss tells her. Her body aches for his touch as she leans over the desk and waits for him to move behind her.


Good girl Mia took a secretarial job in the big city after her mother dies, hoping to make a new start. When she meets her boss, Sam, she realizes she's not actually his secretary. She's his toy. And even though she's a virgin (at first!) she finds that she really likes the way he taunts and teases her. When he finally starts to touch her, it sets her core ablaze with a fire only he can extinguish. But then, there's his twin brother, Beau, the sweet man who got her the job to begin with. It's clear that Beau has caught feelings for her, and Mia likes him, too. In fact, he's everything she's ever wanted in a man.
Clearly, she can't have them both, though, so eventually, she will have to choose. Will she continue to work as Sam's secretary, knowing she's nothing more than a play thing to him? Or will she give Beau her heart and find a new job so they can be together?
Shared by the Sexy Billionaire Twins is an erotic romance with explicit scenes, some bondage, and some punishment. For mature audiences only.

Sam's world shatters the day his father is murdered, leaving him in the hands of his late father's half-brother — Marcus — a terrifying mafia alpha werewolf who becomes his legal guardian. As the years pass in the violent shadows of their empire, an intense and forbidden tension builds between them, finally exploding when Marcus binds Sam to him with an ancient blood pact, marking him as his omega. Trapped in a merciless world where the weak are slaughtered, Sam can't bring himself to truly hate the man who now owns him. But deadly secrets, pack wars, and a dangerous new rival named Lucas — a brooding alpha who stirs feelings Sam shouldn't have — threaten to destroy everything.
Caught between loyalty, betrayal, and raw desire, Sam must choose: fight to break the bond that chains him… or surrender to the unexpected strength and love hidden in the arms of the one man he was never supposed to want.

I’ve loved Tristan for as long as I can remember. My best friend, my secret crush… and now, my stepbrother.

Living under the same roof should have been awkward. Instead, it’s terrifying. Every glance, every teasing word, every protective gesture makes my heart race. How can I resist him when he’s right there, closer than ever, and yet forbidden?

The hottest Alpha in Blackwood Academy rejected me… in front of everyone.
Everyone thinks I’m weak, but they don’t know the truth about me.
I didn’t care about him... until he started acting like he owns my world.
At a school where secrets are deadly and power rules, surviving is just the beginning.

My fingers move to his shaft, which is hard and hot to the touch. It’s been more than a while since I was with anyone – since I felt this desire for a man. He groans and finds my lips again, but this time the kiss is less gentle.
I pulled back, meeting his still gaze.
“Can I taste it?” I asked, my face warm.
He chuckles, nodding. I lick my way from his mouth through his chest and stomach muscles and down still.


Finding out I spent the night with my new boss is all types of wrong.

A man like Maxwell Thatcher is the last person I expect to save me from a disaster date.
Especially when he pretends to be someone I least expect.
He’s ready to be anyone I need him to be when I’m in a pinch.
And to return the favor, I’m willing to do anything he wants.
It was supposed to be one night, but who knew we’d meet again sooner than expected.
This familiar stranger is my company's new CEO.
And who knew his secrets could be my salvation?

“I, Summer Evergreen, daughter to alpha Jason Evergreen and luna June Evergreenof the silver moon pack, hereby accept the rej…….."

There was a growl and a hand over her mouth so fast that she squeaked. She looked at him with fear in her eyes. He looked in her eyes, pleding with her.

"Please, Summer, don't. We are begging you”


Alpha Kane broke Summer's heart years ago when he rejected her as his mate and his wolf hurt her physically. Now five years later, she's back to take his rejection. What is going to happen when Kane meets Summer again?

In the year 2387, humanity has evolved beyond their biological limits. After colonizing various planets and space stations, augmentation technology and genetic engineering have become commonplace. Humans are no longer satisfied with their natural bodies.

Society is divided into castes based on the level of genetic perfection and augmentation they possess. Commanders sit at the top of the hierarchy – humans with the best DNA modifications and the most advanced augmentations. They lead colonies with absolute power. Below them are the Beta-Engineers, the middle caste with standard augmentations who manage and maintain the colony's technology.

Neural-link is the standard way of life, an implant in the brain that connects all humans in a digital network. Some even enhance their bodies with bionic hair, synthetic organs, and various other advanced implants.

However, amidst this obsession with perfection, there are still a few humans who are nearly pure – almost without genetic modifications and with minimal augmentation. They are considered defective and inferior. Fiora Starfire is one of them, the daughter of a Beta-Engineer family, ironically the one closest to the original form of humanity.

The Genetic Matching Night is an annual ritual where Central AI helps match individuals with the highest DNA compatibility. For most, it is an opportunity to elevate their family’s genetic status. But for Fiora, tonight may reveal something far greater than just a matter of social status. What will happen?

Nymera Lancaster is a junior lawyer who discovers through a divorce case that her husband was already married with children, she goes into labor from the shock and wakes up in a werewolf world wearing a stranger's face. With no way back and no choice but to survive, she does the only thing she knows how to do, which is to be a lawyer. Kade Merrick, the Alpha Lawyer whose word is law, has never met anyone who argues back the way she does and he is immediately intrigued but Nymera is living on borrowed identity, the woman whose body she occupies wants it back and the Beta who wants Kade will do anything to expose her. When her true identity is exposed and both worlds make their claim on her, Nymera must fight the most important case of her life with no allies and everything to lose.

I thought escaping my yandere ex-girlfriend was the hardest thing I’d ever do.
Then, the apocalypse began.
For six grueling months, I slaved away in a survivor shelter, doing everything to survive.
But gratitude doesn’t exist in the wasteland.
To secure rations, the shelter leaders decided to betray me, trading me away like cattle to a rival superpower base.
As I was dragged out, leaving my old shelter to its inevitable doom, I braced myself for the worst at the new base.
But when I was brought before their ruthless, all-powerful leader, the blood in my veins ran cold.
Sitting on the throne was the very woman who used to drug me, cage me, and possess me.
My psycho ex.
And she’s been looking for me.

Someone posted a positive pregnancy stick next to my student ID on the school's anonymous forum.
By first period, eight hundred people thought I was the campus slut. By lunch, the lacrosse captain stood up in the cafeteria and told everyone he was the father. By Friday, my full-ride scholarship was frozen and the dean told me to "keep a low profile."
I've never even kissed anyone.
Margaux Aldridge — Ashford Academy's golden girl, my so-called friend — showed up with tissues and a shoulder to cry on. She even talked to her daddy on the board about getting me a "quiet transfer" so I wouldn't have to suffer a public hearing.
So generous. So kind.
She even handed me a withdrawal form. My name already filled in. Just needed a signature.
She really thought I'd sign it.

It was supposed to be a bet to make her fall in love with him, break her, and humiliate her in public as revenge for his best friend, but that playboy, Henry, never knew that the hunter would be hunted and she would be the one who broke his heart into a million pieces.
But none of them will win this bet.

“So, you say you liked me from afar? But I have never met you even once before!” Elissa stood up, confused. He seemed more like a stalker, but he was handsome as hell, and seemed to be from a powerful and wealthy background; she just couldn’t end it simply.

He stepped closer, leaning to her ear and saying with his husky, hot manly voice, “You didn’t see me. But I have been watching every step of yours. I know your….”

He paused, then continued with a smirk, “I know every inch of your body.”

She jumped back, looking into his eyes, searching for the lies, but he didn’t seem a liar. She gulped nervously, “How and … what…” she stuttered.

But he pulled her close to his chest, “What do I want from you?” he moved his hand on her waist down to her hip, then said, “Of course I want to sleep with you!”

Even so, she was scared, but she, without hesitation, pushed him with all her strength and slapped his face, saying angrily, “Sleep my ass! In your dreams”

His eyes glowed with interest. No girl ever rejected him and slapped him boldly. He muttered before she could leave, “I will. We will. Very soon.”

Everyone at Harlow University knows Callum Voss. The starting point guard, the dean's favorite headache, the boy whose smile has cleared more disciplinary hearings than any lawyer on retainer. He is the kind of person the campus bends around without being asked.

Nobody knows Wren Aldae. That is entirely on purpose.

Wren has spent two years building a life at Harlow that no one can touch: one close friend, zero social media, a journalism scholarship that pays tuition, and a rule about never writing stories that could blow back on her personally.

Then Callum Voss appears at her desk with a proposition. Someone has started a bet pool about his love life and the resulting media circus is one week away from costing him his athletic standing. He needs it to stop. She needs a front-page story before the scholarship committee meets. A fake relationship with a visible timeline and a clean public ending would solve both problems.

Wren knows better than to say yes. She says yes anyway.

Neither of them accounts for the fact that proximity is its own kind of problem.

Forsaken. Beastless. Cursed. When Aeloria Tideborn was placed into the sacred waters of the Beast Temple as a newborn, no creature answered her call. In a world where every child bonds with a beast protector, she grew up mocked as hollow....bullied at school, rejected by her parents, and forced to scrape by with nothing but her stubborn spark.

Until the sea claimed her.

On her sixteenth birthday, she found him: Kaelthys, a crying cub hidden in a seaside cave. Not just any beast, but a Leviathan, the ancient god-beast of the ocean, whispered about only in myth. From that moment on, she was no longer hollow. She was chosen.

Now eighteen, Aeloria is summoned to Beast Bond Academy, where the strongest bonded fae compete for rank, power, and survival. Trials are brutal. Ranks are everything. And her Leviathan bond makes her the academy's biggest mystery, and biggest threat.

But The Primal Accord hides a dangerous secret: they plan to enslave the sea and destroy the Leviathan's kin. Aeloria must decide whether to protect the very people who cast her aside... or rise as the heir of the ocean and lead the sea to war.

And then there are the four beast-bonded males drawn to her by fate, enemies, rivals, protectors, lovers. The bonds she swore she'd never need might be the only thing strong enough to save her world.

Dark Academia ✅
Rejected heroine ✅
Magical academy ✅
Deadly trials ✅
Reverse harem / multiple mates ✅
Enemies-to-lovers tension ✅
Mythical beast bond ✅
Sea creatures/Merpeople ✅

“Your injury report says you need to learn self-control.”

I stared at Cade Blackwood.

“You’re my team doctor. Not my therapist.”

His eyes dropped to the hockey stick in my hand.

“After what you did on the ice, I’m not sure there’s a difference.”

I hated him instantly.

Unfortunately, I also wanted to kiss him.

I’m Harper Reed, the powerhouse of Blackridge University’s women’s hockey team.

My teammates trust me when the game gets rough.

Opponents fear me when I charge across the ice.

Everyone else calls me the Blackridge Beast.

Cade is the opposite.

A former hockey star forced off the ice by injury, now working as the team’s sports medicine intern.

Calm where I’m reckless.

Controlled where I’m explosive.

And completely immune to the fear I’m used to seeing in people’s eyes.

When I discover he was the last person seen with my injured brother, I decide Cade is going to pay.

I’ll get close.

Make him fall.

And leave him shattered.

But the closer I get, the harder it becomes to remember that this was supposed to be revenge.

Because every time my team doctor touches me, my wolf whispers the same impossible word.

Mate.

And if Cade really is my mate…

why does he look like he’s been waiting for me all along?

"Just this once." Ethan's huge cock thrust hard into me.
He lifted one of my legs and hung it over his shoulder, thrusting so hard I moaned uncontrollably. "God, you're so tight..."
I tried to escape, but he grabbed my ankles and pulled me towards him.
I begged, "Let go of me...I'm dying..."

A year ago, Lucy was imprisoned after being framed for intentionally injuring Ivy, her husband Ethan's first love. After being granted family leave, she rushes to visit her ailing grandmother, but Ethan fucks her against her will. He mercilessly make her give a blood transfusion to Ivy, causing her to miss her grandmother’s dying words. Jailed, the only family dead, and her dreams shattered, Lucy is desperate for a divorce from this man who doesn't love her, but Ethan coldly proclaims, "There's only widowhood in the Storm family, not divorce."

Seven years ago, he gave me 52 love letters, promising to prove his love through each of the 52 weeks of a year.

Seven years later, I burned them one by one—each betrayal claiming another letter.

Layla thought she had married her fairy tale—the coffee-stained graduate student working late nights in the lab, the tender man who wrote her love letters every single day. She used her mother's inheritance to fund his education, stayed by his side through countless sleepless nights, even sacrificed her own Harvard opportunity for his dreams.

But everything changed when Mia appeared—young, beautiful, and brilliant.

The public humiliation, the ruthless betrayal, the cold calculation... With each heartbreak, she burned another letter he had written with his own hand. From 52 to 51, from hope to despair, from deep love to complete devastation.

When the last love letter turned to ash, the man finally realized—he had lost her completely.

I spent twenty years being invisible. Twenty years making his favorite meals, raising his daughter, loving his family like my own.

On our anniversary, I baked a cake for six hours. He came home and ripped diamond earrings from my ears—they were for his mistress, not me.

My daughter rolled her eyes: "I wish Victoria was my mom."

My five-year-old grandson looked at me with disgust: "You're old and ugly. We want Victoria!"

So I filed for divorce, packed my bags, and called my father—the same father who stands on palace steps, waiting for his daughter to come home.

My ex-husband thought he married a nobody. He's about to discover he threw away a princess.

And when he finally figures out who I really am? It'll be far too late.

You're right. I expanded your line without being asked — that was my mistake.

Here's the corrected version, keeping your line tight and matched in length:

I died for the mate bond.

In my past life, I choked on my own blood in the snow, taking a silver bullet for Kael. My reward? He married Seraphina over my fresh grave.

Never again.

Now, standing alive in the packhouse, I stared at the man I once died for.

"I reject you, Elara. You're a pathetic Omega," Kael spat, his lip curling in front of the entire pack. "You will never be my Luna."

He wanted tears. He expected me to break. Instead, I wiped a smear of blood from my split lip and gave him a razor-sharp smile. "I accept your rejection."

The crowd froze. But the silence didn't last.

A suffocating aura slammed into the room, dropping wolves to their knees. The heavy oak doors splintered open. Silas. The bloodthirsty Alpha King of the North.

He ignored the bowing elites and walked straight up to me. His burning gaze pinned me in place.

"Since the guy threw you away," Silas rumbled, a grin splitting his face, "From this second on, you are mine."

Running for my life, I tumble straight into a hidden underground palace of nightmares.

The Bride-Selection slaughter is underway—no girl has survived in ten years. Bodies torn apart, blood everywhere.

Then the monstrous black dragon lowers its massive head… and gently nuzzles my palm like a lovesick puppy.

The man on the throne stares down with violet eyes.

"You don't get to run anymore. You're my queen now."

That same night he rips away every scrap of silk, pins me to the freezing dragon-sized bed, and shoves his thick, burning cock so deep I scream until my voice breaks.

"Try escaping again," he growls against my ear, hips slamming into me without mercy, "and I'll chain you to this bed and fuck you until you can't even crawl."

This terrifyingly beautiful monster—what deadly secrets is he hiding?

And me, the runaway bride his dragon picked… will I ever break free from his cage?

I dream the future. I always have.

Three weeks ago, I dreamed my aunt Claire dead in our kitchen—a repairman standing over her body.

This morning, I dreamed it again.

Tonight, that exact man knocked on our door.

He's wearing the gray uniform from my dream. He has the scar I sketched this morning. He knows Claire's name, our apartment number, everything. He says he's here to fix the sink.

I know he's here to kill her.

The power just died. He's breaking down the door. Claire thinks I'm paranoid.

But my dreams have never been wrong. And this one ends with both of us dead—unless I can change it in the next fifteen minutes.

Before I died, I married mob boss Dante in my sister's place.

Five years of marriage, and I was nothing but her replacement. He hated me for stealing her spot. My parents were ashamed I couldn't make him love me. Everyone just waited for her to come back.

Christmas Eve—fire tore through the mountain estate. Dante's first move? Sprint straight to my sister, fresh off the plane. My parents escaped right behind him. Nobody remembered the pregnant wife locked in the dressing room. Smoke and flames took me and my baby while they held each other outside, celebrating they'd made it out alive.

I opened my eyes on the day they cornered me with divorce papers.

My parents threw the documents at me. My sister stood there smirking, ready to slide into my place. This time? I didn't cry. Didn't beg. I picked up the pen and signed.

They wanted me gone? Done.

I was born to be the villain in my twin sister's fairy tale.

Thanks to a fake psychic's prophecy, my parents believed I was a parasite—a cursed child draining Amy's life with every success I had. To ensure she survived her national ballet finals, my father bolted me inside an abandoned meat freezer. Even the boy who once promised to protect me thought I was just throwing a selfish tantrum.

They toasted to Amy's victory in the warm living room. I froze to death in the pitch-black dark below.

When they finally open that iron door to punish me, the cruel joke will be on them. They won't find a daughter to scream at anymore. They will only find a frozen body.

I used to beg for their love, but watching them shatter over my corpse?

I feel absolutely nothing.

The three-fifty milkshake was what finally broke me.

My parents bought my sister a five-hundred-dollar prom dress without blinking. But me? They made me beg our waiter for three dollars. In front of everyone. Called it 'building character.'

When she framed me for stealing Mom's ring, they had me shipped off to some hellhole wilderness camp in Utah.

'Go learn how to act normal,' Dad said. 'And quit faking being sick.'

Thing is, I wasn't faking.

The day the sheriff showed up with my autopsy report, Mom was in the kitchen frosting cupcakes for my sister's party. Dad actually laughed. Told the cop I was just playing another one of my games.

His smile died when they made him identify the body.

We both married the wrong men. It killed us both.

My past life was hell—my violent temper disgusted gentle Alpha Ashen, his weakness suffocated me. We were toxic together. Meanwhile, my sweet sister Elena married brutal Alpha Karl of Dark Moon Pack, only to get slowly tortured by his manipulative childhood sweetheart until she couldn't take it anymore and jumped.

Now I'm back. Wedding day. White dress. Same disasters waiting.

I tear off the veil and storm to Elena's room: "We're switching places."

She gets the gentle Alpha who'll worship her kindness. I get the ruthless bastard and his scheming little princess.

Let's see how that scheming bitch handles a Luna who fights back.

Everyone said I killed my mother.

So Dad and Carter hated me from the start. They only had love for Vivian.

On my eighteenth birthday, Vivian drugged me and I was nearly raped. That's when Nolan Blake showed up—business tycoon, my savior. He claimed me as his in front of everyone and warned anyone who dared mess with me would pay the price.

After that, Vivian bullied me? He made her apologize. Dad humiliated me? He made him shut up. Carter mocked me? He destroyed all of Carter's business deals.

No one had ever protected me like that. I fell HARD.

Three months later, I walked down the aisle in white.

Nolan spoiled me rotten. I became the woman the whole world envied.

Until the day I was five months pregnant.

At a family party, the balcony railing gave way. I was falling, screaming—then Nolan caught me. His arm broke. I only had minor injuries.

Everyone said how LUCKY I was—a husband willing to break every bone for me.

Until I stood in the hospital corridor and overheard that conversation—

"Aurora is the only match for Vivian," Charles's voice came from the hospital room. "Vivian's kidney failure is getting worse. We can't wait anymore!"

"You think I don't KNOW that?" Nolan lowered his voice. "But she's already pregnant! Pregnant women can't donate organs!"

"That's why we staged the fall," Carter said coldly. "It was supposed to make her miscarry—"

"ENOUGH!" Nolan's roar cut him off. "I want to save Vivian MORE than ANY of you! She's the one I love. But you can't hurt Aurora like this. I have my own plan—after she gives birth, I'll make her donate 'willingly.'"

After hearing those words, I collapsed trembling in the hallway.

So that was why he married me. Not because he loved me, but to save Vivian. Everything he did for me—his tenderness, his protection—it was all for HER.

Just like Dad and Carter, he loved Vivian.

Not me.

I touched my slightly rounded belly as silent tears streamed down my face.

If no one wanted us, then we'd disappear.

"If I didn't have to bring you home, Chloe wouldn't have died. Eve... I regret everything."

Those were my fiancé Lucas's final words as we lay dying beneath the crushed concrete.

I blinked, and suddenly my lungs were full of air.

I had returned to the exact day my billionaire biological family came to claim me.

I stared at their forced, plastic smiles.
I watched the imposter daughter eyeing me like a threat.
Without a second thought, I ripped the paternity test in half.

I didn't want their money.
Instead, I walked away and joined the FBI's deadliest bomb squad.

If I was your biggest regret, fine.
This time around, I'll make sure I'm completely erased from your world.

But when a blast finally reduced me to ash in a blinding flash of fire...

The very family who once treated me like dirt tore through the police tape.
They were clawing desperately at the blazing ruins with bare, bleeding hands.
Screaming my name, begging my ashes to come back to life.

On the twenty-first night of insomnia, I ordered a beastman at 3 AM.

The ad was ridiculously over-the-top—gentle, considerate, perfect at housework, and could even cure anxiety and insomnia. The girls in the reviews said their lives transformed overnight, work stress just... gone.

I was dead tired, eyes barely staying open. Just glanced at the photo and hit purchase. Golden hair, amber eyes, two cute little fangs when he smiled—looked sweet.

Pink option looked prettier than blue. Done.

I didn't catch the tiny line of text flashing at the bottom: Grade A Product - Adults Only - Full Intimate Services

Three days later, the doorbell rang.

I opened the door to boxes way bigger than I'd expected.

Way bigger.

"$500,000 for her virginity."

That was the winning bid my fiancé just placed. The item? His female best friend.

"Don't be so petty, Sylvie," he laughed, pulling her close in front of the whole gala. "I'm just saving her from some old creep. We’re basically bros."

She giggled against his chest. "Yeah, don't be a buzzkill, honey."

I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I simply smiled and raised my glass. "I won't."

I let him think he got away with it. Over the next month, I secretly sold our marital home and took a one-way flight to Paris.

Everett didn't realize I was gone until our wedding day, standing alone at the altar, watching the video I sent him.

On what should have been the happiest night of my life, I discovered a brutal truth—my fiancé Asher, whom I'd loved for seven years, was having an affair with my sister Janet in a storage room. Even worse, they were plotting to take everything from me!

"That idiot still thinks I'm the helpless little wolf pup from the orphanage who needed her protection... She has no idea I now prefer cunning women like you."

Hearing those words from their own mouths, my heart shattered completely. In my rage, I decided to fight fire with fire, rescuing the mysterious werewolf Eric from a dangerous containment facility just before his execution. I thought I'd found my weapon for revenge, never knowing this "dangerous" wolf harbored an even greater secret.

My husband bought a necklace for the woman who killed my mother.

When I saw my foster sister Rebecca Rebecca wearing that emerald necklace with Aaron at the party, I knew history would repeat itself. Seven years ago, my mother lost everything the same way—her husband, her dignity, and finally her life.

I wouldn't follow in her footsteps.

So after slapping Rebecca across the face, I told everyone I was divorcing him and walked out with my suitcase.

Rebecca thought she'd won again. Aaron thought I was just being hysterical.

Neither of them saw it coming—

This time, I'd make them pay.

The night I was reborn, my adoptive brother—Viktor Konstantin, the Don of the Chicago Outfit—was poisoned during a negotiation.

In my past life, I loved him desperately. So when the aphrodisiac took hold and he gasped for me to call Liliya, I made a selfish choice. I stayed. I gave myself to him.

She arrived too late. When she saw us together, she ran. Her plane crashed over the Atlantic that same night.

Viktor married me without a word of blame. Until a turf war when our enemies captured me—seven months pregnant, chained up, beaten bloody. I called him, begging for help through my tears.

His answer shattered me: "You want to live? After killing Liliya? You and that bastard don't deserve to breathe. Go to hell, Eve."

I died in that cell. Our daughter died with me.

Now I'm staring into those same drugged eyes again.

This time, I'm making the call.

I am Alexander Sterling's secretary. I am also his wife.

But to everyone else, I'm only the first.

Five years ago, I married New York's most powerful CEO because of this face—not for love, but because I looked like Sophia. His childhood friend. His adopted sister. The woman whose family shipped her off to London for an arranged marriage.

I thought time would make him forget her.

Then she came back three months ago—a widow.

That's when I finally got it: the stand-in wasn't needed anymore.

So I made my choice.

I got him to sign divorce papers, took a job in Kenya, and decided to disappear from Alexander Sterling's world for good.

Our baby and me both.

Twenty-five years I cooked, cleaned, and worshipped my husband David.

Then I found the Hawaii tickets on his phone. For him and his secretary Lily.

"You're just a free maid, Helen," David laughed when I confronted him. "Lily's young, smart, useful. You? You're nothing."

My son Luke not only covered for his affair but high-fived him in celebration. "Finally, Dad! Mom's so embarrassing. Lily's way cooler, and she bought me those limited edition Jordans!"

They wanted me gone? Done. I signed the divorce papers, walked away with nothing.

Sitting in my crappy Honda, broke and homeless at fifty, I checked my phone.

Lottery notification: "Winner! $150 million!"

I stared at those zeros and started laughing like a maniac.

Time to destroy them both.

Born into the most powerful mafia family in the city, I've had seven bodyguards since I was ten years old.

Seven heirs from allied families. Seven men trained to protect me. Seven potential husbands.

On my eighteenth birthday, I had to pick one and marry him.

Everyone knew I'd choose Dante Lucchese. How could I not? I'd been stupidly in love with that arrogant bastard since I was seven.

But I'll never choose him again.

Because I've already lived through what happens when I do.

The wedding. The explosion. Flames devouring my dress as I clawed at Dante's sleeve, begging him to help me.

He ripped his arm away.

And ran straight to Isabella—the pathetic little charity case my family took in, who always played the victim so perfectly.

"Serena, stop being selfish!" he shouted over the roar of the fire. "Isabella's hurt worse than you! I have to save her first!"

I screamed his name as he disappeared into the smoke with her in his arms.

The last thing I heard was Isabella crying. The last thing I felt was my skin burning.

Then—nothing.

Until I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the calendar on my bedroom wall.

Six months before the wedding.

The morning my father called me into his study to tell me it was time to choose.

This time, I crossed Dante's name off the list first.

This time, I chose Enzo Corleone—the quiet one who never said much, who everyone underestimated.

The one who died trying to pull me out of that fire.

So why the hell is Dante on his knees at my wedding to Enzo, tears streaming down his face, begging me to marry him instead?

When my mother-in-law and I went undercover on our own yacht, a woman in a bikini pointed at us and screamed, "Broke trash!"

She ordered the bodyguards to throw us into the sea.

"This is the VIP section! You freeloading scum snuck on board for free food and drinks—get lost!"

She pinched her nose, looking at my mother-in-law and me with complete disgust.

I said coldly, "This is a public area. We have the right to be here."

"Public area?" She burst into shrill laughter, dripping with arrogance. "Do you even know whose yacht this is? My boyfriend's! The most powerful man in this city!"

Victoria and I exchanged confused looks—this yacht, the Poseidon, was clearly being managed by my husband Alexander.

When did he become someone else's boyfriend?!

Five years ago, on my wedding day, my fiancé Vincent fucked my best friend in the bridal suite.

Five years later, I returned to New York with my husband—the most powerful Mafia boss in Naples. At Atelier Milano, my former best friend Bianca circled my custom gown like a vulture, pestering the staff about meeting the legendary Mrs. Salvatore.

She had no idea the woman she pitied as a pathetic nobody was the very person she was dying to impress.

Because of his grandfather's dying wish, Supreme Court Chief Justice Garrick Vance—the most powerful beast-shifter in the city—was forced to marry me, a human court clerk who had secretly loved him for years.

For six years we pretended to be strangers at work while he remained ice-cold toward me and our daughter Wren at home. When his celebrity ex-girlfriend Seraphina returned from overseas, I watched him come alive for another woman—attending her parties, rushing to her side at midnight.

Meanwhile, our five-year-old daughter waited every night for a father who never came home.

The day Wren nearly died from his careless gift, I finally signed the mate bond dissolution papers.

This time, he's lost us forever.

"Arthur, please! Send someone to Black Forest—Noah's been taken by rogue shifters! They'll kill him!" I hit the marble floor hard, blood trickling from my forehead.

My mate, the most feared enforcer in this territory, couldn't be bothered. He was too busy looking for his lover's precious pet.

"Eve, you're sick—lying about our kid to get attention?" He gestured dismissively. "Throw her in the cells until she stops this bullshit."

He locked me up all night.

Next morning, he let me out, figuring I'd gotten the message.

He didn't know that thirty minutes ago, the gate guards brought a blood-soaked box.

Our son's head was inside.

I ripped out half my heart for him.

Literally.

Six years ago, Draco—the Black Dragon Lord—was dying on the battlefield, enemy claws buried in his chest. So I tore myself open and shoved half my witch's heart into his body to save his life.

After that, I lived with constant pain, my magic drained to nothing. I fought his wars, nearly died a dozen times, all while waiting for him to keep his promise—that he'd make me his queen after the coronation.

But on coronation day, Draco brought back the half-elf Ivy and told me to give up my crown.

Why? Ivy stayed with him in the Abyss for three years. And now she was pregnant with his child.

It destroyed me. So I drank the Oblivion Potion—the one thing that could strip away every ounce of love I had for him.

And in three days, I'm leaving for the polar regions to marry into the Silver Wolf Clan.

The loan sharks who kidnapped us wanted payment for my twin sister's gambling debts—in blood.

When my FBI negotiator father showed up with his tactical team, he found Lily with a paper cut, crying her heart out. I was dying from a gunshot wound in a basement below.

I called him with my dying breath: "Dad, please send help. I'm bleeding out."

"Are you kidding me right now, Emily? Your sister just went through hell, and you're pulling this pathetic stunt for attention? How sick are you?"

He hung up. I died alone, dismissed as a liar.

Three days later, they found my body. And the truth that came with it burned their perfect world to ash.

My son Emery scored a perfect SAT and got early admission to MIT Physics. Eighteen years old. His future was limitless.

My billionaire husband Reid's assistant—his mistress in everything but name—suggested Emery attend some garbage local business school instead. Inherit the empire. Fall in line.

Emery said no. Reid exploded.

He locked my son in the lumber yard and ordered him to split five tons of oak. "No water until he's done. That'll teach him respect."

The sun was brutal. My son's asthma attacked. I knelt before Reid's mistress and begged for his inhaler while Reid crushed my right hand—my surgeon's hand.

I got the inhaler and ran back as fast as I could.

But I was too late. My son was already dead.

My parents ruined my wedding six times.

Every single time, right at the moment the ring was about to slip onto my finger—the first time, Mom knocked over the champagne tower. The second time, Dad drove his pickup truck straight through the floral arch... Either the groom wasn't good enough, or the wedding was too cheap. Each time was more batshit crazy than the last. The sixth time, Mom even held a knife to her own throat, threatening me not to put on the ring.

It made no sense to me—why push me to get married while doing everything to stop me from wearing that ring?

So for the seventh wedding, I chose a small chapel in a remote mountain area, went completely off-grid, dead certain they'd never track me down.

Just as Ethan was about to slide the ring onto my finger—

The chapel doors burst open.

Two figures stumbled in, gasping for air, faces streaked with tears.

My parents.

My family used me as bait to destroy my sister's happiness.

The plan was simple: fake being poor, watch my sister's construction worker boyfriend run when times got tough, then reveal the truth and break her heart. I was supposed to be the convincing proof of our "poverty."

But I didn't know I was acting. For ten years, I lived their lie for real. Starved while they feasted in hiding. Worked myself to the bone while they watched me suffer.

Then I got my dream job and burst through the door to save everyone—only to find my sister's engagement party in progress.

But she'd dumped the construction worker for a tech mogul. "Maya's suffering was so authentic," she laughed to her guests. "It showed me exactly what I'd become if I stayed with Jake. Thank God I came to my senses."

My pain was her wake-up call.

On our seventh anniversary, Jeffrey brought his mistress home for dinner.

Calla wore my dead mother's necklace and called me a "boring housewife" while I cooked for them. Jeffrey laughed, saying I was lucky he kept me around since I'd never contributed anything to our marriage.

What he didn't know? I'd given up my six-figure tech career to nurse him back from his car accident. Sacrificed everything while he treated me like his personal servant.

For seven years, I endured his cheating and cruelty, thinking love meant sacrifice.

I was wrong.

When I left him the divorce papers, Jeffrey screamed that I'd come crawling back within a week.

But when I never came back, he was the one who lost his mind.

At the Academy's Beast Hunt Competition, I killed a high-tier Shadow Wraith and carved out its core.

My sister Seraphine stole it and claimed first place.

That core eased the brutal dragon prince Draven's chronic migraines. He demanded to marry the mage who presented it.

My fiancé Kelvin soul-bound himself to Seraphine overnight to "save" her. Done deal.

Someone had to fulfill the dragon marriage contract. That someone was me.

Seraphine draped herself over Kelvin, smirking. "Sister, your fiancé's MINE now. Draven arrives in three days—better find some random dragon to marry, or he'll tear you apart."

I looked at her smug face and smiled slowly.

"What makes you think I won't marry him?"