183 Book(s) Related to lane hayes

The day my son called another woman "Mom," I signed the divorce papers and left.

Five years later, now a top scientist, my ex-husband cornered me at a gala. I tried to push him away, but he gripped my waist tighter, his hot breath against my ear sending shivers down my spine.

"Stop pretending," he rasped. "Your body still remembers me."

I scoffed. "Ex-husband, have some dignity."

Just then, my phone rang with my son's desperate sobs. "Mommy! The bad woman hurt me... Please come save me! Daddy said you don't want us anymore..."

I felt my heart tighten in my chest as I watched with horror, my fiancé and my best friend having sex in the hotel. They were so engrossed and couldn’t even care less that they were half naked and anyone who cared, could see them from the glass wall of the building’s fourth floor. Sonia was pressed to the wall while Dennis worked her insides from behind. I couldn’t hear her moans but with every second that I imagined it, my heart sank the more.
Tears flooded my face as I flashed into the last two years of my life when I met Dennis. He was everything I wanted and more. Tall, handsome, broad shoulders and chest, I couldn’t stop drooling as he pulled me into a hug. For a moment there, my heart forgot how to beat, and the moment he smiled and introduced himself, I knew I was going to marry him. I had fallen hard in love with him.
Freya decided to try love again after several heartbreaks, she thought Dennis was different but reality dawned on her when she caught him cheating with her best friend, Sonia, the same person who matchmade them in the first place.
Actually, Dennis wasn’t cheating on her with Sonia, he was cheating on Sonia with her! The two have been dating over five years, and she never knew. She was the third wheel in their relationship…
What will happen now that Freya has found out? Find out in the story!

I'm Jane—until I discovered my marriage was built on lies.

The hotel penthouse door stood ajar as I approached.

"Your wife is so pathetic," she moaned breathlessly, her voice echoing from inside.

My breath caught as I pushed the door wider, revealing my husband with another woman pressed against the floor-to-ceiling windows, her legs wrapped around his waist as he moved inside her.

"Does she even know how to satisfy you like this?" she gasped, her nails raking down his back.

Lucas gripped her hips harder, his voice rough with desire: "Jane was always just part of the plan. You're the only woman who sets me on fire."

My phone slipped from my trembling hands, exploding against the marble floor like my shattered heart.

This time, I refused to be the victim.

I demanded a divorce—but Lucas had orchestrated every detail to keep me trapped.

Just when despair consumed me, Ethan Quinn appeared like salvation in a thousand-dollar suit

"Get divorced. I'll help you. One condition—marry me," he whispered.

The most powerful man in New York wanted me? A discarded wife?

But as Ethan protected me fiercely and Lucas begged desperately for forgiveness, the shocking truth emerged:

‘Ethan had been searching for me for twenty years.’

‘I was the little girl who once saved him from hell.’


"You pulled me out of that nightmare," Ethan's eyes filled with intensity. "I've spent my life becoming worthy of saving you back."

The scared boy became the most powerful man in the city.

His love wasn't coincidence—it was destiny.

Some people arrive like answered prayers you never knew you were praying...

Nyra Vale was born without a wolf, and rejected by the one man fate chose for her.

When her Alpha mate turns his back on her, Nyra leaves her pack with nothing but a broken heart and the gift of healing she was never allowed to be proud of. She disappears into the wild, determined to survive on her own.

But fate is not done with her yet.

Wounded and close to death, Nyra is saved by Rowan, a powerful Lycan who has long given up hope of finding a mate. In his territory, she finds safety, strength, and a man who does not look at her like she is lacking.

As a deadly curse begins to spread through the packs, Nyra’s healing becomes the one thing that can stop it. The Alpha who once rejected her must now kneel before her for help. But some bonds, once broken, can never be healed.

She will save them all.
She just won’t give her heart away again.

"What if I told you I don 't care?" Amelia shot back, her tone sharp and unwavering.
Miguel 's lips curved into a sly smile, his eyes gleaming with challenge. "Then I 'd say you 're lying to yourself, Mia. Because no one fights this hard unless they feel something."
Amelia Hart 's quiet, predictable life is upended when her mother marries the wealthy Emilio Sanchez, bringing Amelia face-to-face with her new stepbrother, Miguel Angel Sanchez.
Wanton, arrogant, and infuriatingly charming, Miguel is everything she detests in a person. But sharing a home—and a school—turns Amelia 's disdain into a fiery rivalry, and their clashes soon spark something neither of them can deny.
Torn between her lifelong crush on the handsome, dependable Christian Grammer and the undeniable pull toward Miguel 's dangerous charm, Amelia 's world becomes even more complicated than she imagined.
As secrets are exposed and the pressures of their families, the media, and their own hearts collide, Amelia and Miguel must decide whether to risk it all for a love that feels as impossible as it does inevitable.
In this passionate enemies-to-lovers story, where love and hate blur at every turn, the greatest risk might just be following their hearts.
The Fine Line Between Us is a story of forbidden romance, self-discovery, and the courage to follow your heart.

What if everything that you thought defined you-suddenly didn't?

Scarlett Ryan McKenna had one plan: run fast, win big, and leave everyone else in dust. But after a devastating careless injury ends her track career, she's forced to move into a house full of hockey players-crutches, pride and all.

Sean Callahan wasn't planning on female roommates, especially not the sharp, stubborn girl who steals his hoodies, challenges his routines, and somehow sees straight through the golden boy act he shows everyone else.


He is the NHL-bound captain who's supposed to have it all figured out.

She is the track star learning how to stand still for once.

And neither of them knows how to handle the kind of chemistry that can't be trained for.

What if healing meant breaking the rules-and letting someone in?

Line Change is a swoony, emotionally-charged college romance about second chances, learning how to breathe again, and falling for the person who sees the parts of you you've tried to hide.

This is the first book of the Line Change - Boston University Sports Romance Series.

Sylvie Crane has spent years living as a ghost. She has no roots, no record, nothing for anyone to take note of.

When a criminal faction traces her to a warehouse in Velthorn City, it is Zarek Nox who steps between her and the predators they sent after her. He proposes an arrangement afterwards—stay close to him, as a matter of fact, marry him and become untouchable.

With no option left, she accepts, taking him as her only means of survival and the one who might actually save her from running.

What Sylvie doesn't know is that Zarek has known her for longer than she knows, that he had been searching and found her before the faction did. That the night they met was not by chance at all.

What she does know though is that she feels safer beside him than she has ever felt anywhere in a very long time.

And for the first time in years, part of her actually wants to let someone stay even though this someone was responsible for her brothers’ death.

"She was MINE before. How could I have known she would find another man so quickly?"
Dresden Wade was pretty sure the goddess was punishing him. Married for half a decade to his childhood sweetheart without a child, he is desperate for a chance to fight his wrongs when he sees her again.
His TRUE mate. The woman he scorned and humiliated all those years ago.
Except that now, she is standing holding hands with another Alpha.
Mara Reid wants nothing to do with the surly, arrogant Alpha that used to be her mate. He had made the earlier parts of her adulthood traumatic to say the least.
So why did meeting him again feel like coming home?
Why did her traitorous heart skip whenever he called her name?

Twelve years of love, loyalty, and promises—shattered in one gunshot moment.

Aria thought she knew what love meant: sacrifices, patience, blind faith in the man she'd called her fiancé for over a decade. But on Valentine's Day, with a gun pointed in their direction, Liam instinctively shielded his ex, Sophia—while Aria was left bleeding and invisible.

"You almost died!"
"And he didn't even look at me, Lili. He wrapped his arms around her like I was nothing."

Torn between heartbreak and dignity, Aria makes a bold move—marrying Liam's wealthy rival, Aiden Carter, in an impulsive act of revenge. But Aiden is more than a rebound. He's powerful, possessive, and unexpectedly protective—and he plays for keeps.

Now caught between a love that failed her, and a man who may demand more than she's ready to give… Aria's heart faces the ultimate reckoning.

Will she finally become someone's first choice—or lose herself trying?

ADRIAN Cole had it all. Wealth, power, a beautiful wife, and a daughter who adored him. But one mistake… one affair… and one phone call from his mistress was enough to shatter the perfect life he thought he controlled.

When Amelia walked away, she didn’t just leave her husband behind, she carried a secret of her own, a secret that would change everything.

Now Adrian is left chasing shadows of the woman who once loved him, realizing too late that money and pride can’t heal the wounds of betrayal. But the road back to Amelia’s heart isn’t just blocked by her pain, it’s poisoned by the jealousy of her own sister, whose hidden hatred runs deeper than anyone could imagine.

Caught between regret, family betrayal, and the fight for the woman he once took for granted, Adrian must prove that his love is real this time. But what if Amelia’s forgiveness is the one thing he can never buy back?

A story of betrayal, heartbreak, and redemption. Will love survive when it’s already too late for sorry?

WARNING: Adult content included OVER 18+
She arched herself against the pleasure of his mouth, and gave out a soft moan, raked her hot nipples with his teeth and dragged it up a bit then gently rubbed his tongue on it before proceeding to suckle on it again.

Slowly he went in again with a finger into the lace tong and thrust slowly into her hot, creamy and clenching channel, and she was still very much tight,making him wonder how many men she’s been with.


Dumped and disgraced on their anniversary day infront of her colleagues by her boyfriend Luke.
Her first love and a man who she had sacrificed all her life for including 7 abortions!

Valerie Jumbo was left with no choice but to be the chief bridesmaid at her own wedding in just a few weeks!
Her replacement was her own best friend!

To get away from the heartbreak and betrayal, the only solution was suicide then an unexpected chance came out of the blues,she grabbed it.
Desperate to get over her ex, she had accepted to be a one time date for her controlling, insufferable and egocentric,popular billionaire CEO,Mr Prince Norman!
A sinfully sexy and incredibly irresistible playboy, whom every woman had a crush on, Valerie included.

But Mr Prince wanted more. Something Valerie swore never to give to any man again, and that which he also swore to his Alpha self never to ask of a woman.
A chance to love.

Three years ago, billionaire Theodore Chambers handed Victoria Ellis divorce papers with cold eyes and colder words—all for the sake of his first love, Isabella Waters.
Victoria didn't cry. She didn't beg.
She simply signed her name, walked out of that golden cage, and disappeared from the world of the rich.
What the world didn't expect…
Was for the discarded ex-wife to rise from the ashes—not as a socialite, but as the world's most sought-after reconstructive mortician. Behind every high-profile crime scene and closed casket, she was the one restoring dignity to the dead—and building a name powerful enough to shake law enforcement and the elite alike.
Now, at a funeral of all places, their paths cross again.
She stands beside another man, radiant, untouchable.
He watches in disbelief—his ex-wife, no longer his.
"You handle corpses every day. Aren't you afraid of bad luck?" he growls, grabbing her wrist.
She smiles coldly.
"In my heart, the grass over your grave has already grown two meters tall."
But fate has one final card to play.
When Victoria finds Theodore lying in a pool of blood, clutching an old photo of her, everything unravels.
Was it too late after all?
Or is love just another body she's not willing to reconstruct?

My fiancée, with whom I've been in a relationship for three years, has threatened to break off our engagement for the hundredth time, forcing me to donate a kidney to her adopted brother, who's faking illness and acting like a hypocrite.

My biological parents even threatened to sever ties with me: "You have a healthy body. Ian has nothing but us. You can't even bear to part with a kidney. You're so selfish and cold-blooded!"

They don't know that my hands, which I used to play the piano, had already been crushed by gangsters while cleaning up their mess; they also don't know that at this moment, I have a critical illness notice for late-stage bone cancer in my pocket.

Seeing the undisguised disgust and indifference in my fiancée's eyes, I swallowed the taste of blood in my throat and calmly signed the consent form for the live organ removal.

"Okay, I'll donate. I'll give you back my life along with it."

Later, I died like a dog on the rusty operating table of a shady clinic, my bones and marrow completely drained.

But when I was truly reduced to dust and left without even a complete corpse... the truth about my vicious foster brother faking illness was exposed.

The aloof and arrogant female CEO who once treated me like trash went completely mad overnight.

She knelt desperately before my nameless grave, plunged a sharp knife into her abdomen, and collapsed in a pool of blood, pleading for me to see her one more time.

After one painful and humiliating night, Mia was left wondering if Master Reed was just a figure that she dreamed up when she secretly discovered the world of BDSM. Until she collided with him in the conference room at her office building and found out just how real he actually was and he's made it very clear that he is going to be her Master.

Reed bought "Bean Me" with the intention of claiming Mia as his submissive. A dream he'd had ever since the night he had picked her up off the sidewalk at his club "The Dungeon" three years earlier.

Before that dream can come true, it is threatened when his manipulating ex-wife comes back into the picture with every intention of staying there. She brings a few nasty surprises as well that will leave Mia and Reed reeling and wondering if there is anyway their fragile budding relationship.
18+ Adults only
Explicit Scenes, BDSM

Bound To Me Series Contains Four books, You Are Mine, You Are Ours, Because I Want To, and They Are Mine.

"Who is your Master, girl?"
"F- f*ck. A- are you serious?" Julie whined.
"Yes. You need to know what we need. As well as what we want from you. You think you can handle it? Show me," Dax demanded. "Who is your Master?"
His finger sped up again, making her mind spin out of control.
"You! Oh, fuck! You are!" she cried desperately.
"Now, now, sugar. Don't forget about me," Shane butted in.
"Yes, don't forget Shane," Dax added.
Julie couldn't think properly and just obeyed
"Yes! Oh god! You both are! You both are!" she relented. "Please! I wanna come! Please!"
"Then ask your Doms, darlin'," Shane pushed her.
"Oh god! Please can I come, Sirs? Please, please!"
"Good enough, for now, little one," Dax praised. "Come for us, now."


This Christmas, Julie's life is about to get a whole lot hotter. Returning home for the holidays, she's surprised to find her aunt's new beau, Shane, is young, charming, and utterly captivating. But Shane isn't the only one who's caught her eye. His friend Dex, a dark and mysterious stranger, has also sparked her interest.
With one flick of fate's hands, Julie's life is thrust into immeasurable danger.
As Julie dodges bullets, and navigates her feelings for these two captivating men, she must confront her own desires and the danger that's lurking in the shadows. Will she be able to trust her heart and find love with not one, but two men who are determined to keep her safe and make her theirs?

Ten years ago, Mara's older brother disappeared just outside of their hometown. With no clues, everyone believed that he'd just run off. But Mara knew better. She vowed to continue the search.

Despite being called crazy, she believed the local legend about a portal to another world. The Old Oak Archway.

Now, after all these years, Mara has found a way through.

What she didn't expect was to find on the other side was her brother living happily with the Golden Draygons.

Suddenly, Mara is claimed by the King and the portal is closed. She is stuck on a planet filled with dragons and thrust into a struggle for power everywhere she turns.

But, Tohr is determined to win her hand and her heart to keep her with him. Mara quickly learns that when a Draygon makes up his mind, he will stop at nothing to make it happen.

Adults Only, Explicit Scenes, Extreme Violence, Hot Dragon Shifters
The Book of Mara is created by Leann Lane, an E-Global Creative Publishing Signed Author.

Molly Harper has always been considered a wild child. Not that she was ever really crazy. But she could be called rash at times. This was a quality that has gotten her into a few scrapes. Thankfully, she has always had someone she could rely on to help her out. Even if he does grumble about her irresponsibility. But during her summer vacation from college, she has finally gotten the chance to get out from underneath the watchful eye of her unwarranted protector, Scott Monroe. In the romantic, beautiful city of Paris, no less. But when her rash, passionate decisions landed her right in Scott’s lap, she knew her life was changing forever.

Scott was not looking to work with his father’s company any longer than he had to. Just long enough to show him that he was able to make what his father called “adult decisions”. His dream was to open a club in the heart of Denver and be his own boss, business owner. In order to do that, he needed his father's help and money. But when Molly is literally kneeling in front of him, looking up at him with those sexy, defiant eyes, he would forget his plans every time.

Molly is determined to not let Scott ruin another fun and exciting adventure. Until she realizes that Scott is exactly the person she needs to show her this new lifestyle that she has found.
Scott just wanted to keep her safe until he could find someone to take care of her. If there was someone that lived up to his standards, that is.

I don't remember anything. Not my name, not my life, not even what I did yesterday. The only thing that I seem to remember is my training. A training to obey my masters in every desire they have. I don't know what will happen next, but then I remember dark brown eyes. A shiver runs down my spine when I think about those dark brown eyes, and I feel moist between my thighs. A reflex that I can't stop. I do not know what it means, and I do not know whose eyes they are, but it's the only thing that I remember.

When psychologist and religious scholar Alison Gray's sister vanished, she took matters into her own hands, infiltrating the St. Thomas Academy as the Thomas Special Program teacher. As she delved deeper into her sister's disappearance, Alison became entangled in a series of bizarre and chilling murders.
Renowned detective Oliver was charming yet arrogant. As they worked together, Oliver was drawn to her. They solved a string of bizarre murders, rescued her sister, and ultimately unraveled a vast conspiracy.
Some mysteries were better left unsolved—but some secrets demanded revelation, no matter the cost.

(Book 1) Rebecca is young and innocent when Noah Jones moved in next door. Wise and worldly, he never would have thought he would be drawn to such a shy, fumbling girl.
However, from the moment that he failed to rescue Rebecca's welcome pie, he couldn't put her out of his mind.
But there was no way that he could introduce her to what most would consider a depraved lifestyle. On the same note, he couldn't keep himself away from her.
Rebecca is wildly attracted to Noah, more so than she had been to anyone before. He makes her feel things that, even at 19, she couldn't understand. But she wanted to find out with him.
But what would people think about a young woman such as herself getting caught up in all Noah's luscious debauchery? And should she care?
It only got worse when her strict, uptight parents started pushing her into the arms of the one man in town that almost made her physically sick. Keith is not the kind of man that Rebecca wanted to be tied to, much less be alone with.
However, when Rebecca's secret love for Noah comes out in the open. She is forced away from everything and everyone that she knew.

My story is about an older guy who takes an instant liking to a much younger girl. They are both opposites, one is a mafia boss and the other is a flight attendant who is running from her past and starting afresh in a new city where she meets the love of her life.

Lily lived a normal life, when her mom passes away. Then she discovers that her mom had a complete life that she knew nothing about. Determined to figure out why her mom was laundering money, Lily makes use of her company resources.
In the same time, Lily's boss is in a predicament where he needs Lily to obey his commands at work. However, Lily is not prepared to break laws for him. Threats become harder and more dangerous for Lily to give in to those commands.
Because of her position in her work, there are more people after her with multiple agendas. Matteo is one of these people after her, but then they fall in love when they least expect it. But when Matteo's enemy kidnaps Lily, he needs to chose between business or love. Along the way, Lily also continues to learn about her mom, with many twists and turns.

Reverse harem story in which Enora is unaware of her legacy, but feels attraction to men she has never met before. Sebastian, Adam and Lucas get tricked into coming back to the pack to enter the leadership.

An epic cold snap struck, causing temperatures to plummet to minus eighty degrees Celsius.
My fiancée and best friend occupied my hillside villa, laughing hysterically as they watched a video of me nearly freezing to death.
In their eyes, once I turned into a solid block of ice, they could rightfully inherit my vast fortune and live in this warm, doomsday Noah's Ark.
But what they didn't know was that the video was n't real at all .
I stood in the temperature-controlled bunker twenty meters below them and cut off their main power.
The hunt was about to begin.

My fiancée and best friend, whom I risked my life to protect, sold me to the brutal "Blood Blade Gang . "
They laughed as they watched me being kicked into a pool of radioactive waste like a dog, waiting for me to turn into a pile of bones.
But they didn't know that the deadly radiation not only failed to melt me, but also forcibly ruptured my genetic lock, awakening the [Nuclear Fury].
I rode back to the old camp in her heavily armored vehicle.
Those two scoundrels were still arrogantly bullying me: "I have the Blood Blade Gang backing me! The big shots are coming soon, you're dead!"
I sneered and slapped them away.
Idiots, look back! Your so-called powerful backer is kneeling in the vehicle, lighting my cigarette.

I thought I was the luckiest person in the apocalypse.
My brother, a former special forces soldier, brought me supplies so I wouldn't have to face the horrors above ground.
My girlfriend comforted me over the radio, saying she'd cry in my arms once we could finally get out.
I lived underground for three years, grateful like a domesticated dog.
Until that day, when I pushed open the door, smelled fresh grass, and saw the swimming pool in the sunlight—that's when I understood that the so-called apocalypse was never outside, but behind the door they had locked me in.

Victoria discovered that I hadn't submitted any supplemental medical expense claims for two weeks.
She assumed I had finally been disciplined and had given up what she called "the exploitative nature of the lower class."
Little did she know, my backpack held the signed divorce papers and my mother's death certificate.
As I turned to leave, I was still wearing the discounted trench coat she'd casually given me three years ago when we got married.
What she didn't know was that I, a deep-sea geology genius from MIT, willingly endured three years of her humiliation and ridiculous rules, just so my mother could stay in her conglomerate's private hospital to prolong her life.
Now, my mother has died because of unpaid bills , and even her ashes are carried by me in a cheap canvas bag.
Now that my loved one is dead, there's no need for me to continue being her obstructive dog on Wall Street. The lives she owed with those approval forms, I will settle with the collapse of her entire conglomerate empire.

Betrayed by my wife on the eve of the apocalypse, they stole the shelter keys and locked me in the heart of the zombie outbreak to die.
I felt no anger.
Three minutes to blast open the blast door, ten minutes to drain the billions from that despicable couple's overseas accounts,
and then I'd buy machine guns and artillery from the black market! The couple speeding down the highway had no idea that the "top-secret key" they were protecting was actually a bomb designed to detonate the defense system.
The real wasteland survival game had only just begun.

"The contract marriage has expired. You're no longer useful to me," Lucas's cold voice pierced my heart. After three years of devotion, I was nothing but a disposable tool.

Then, he brought her home. Amelia, his cherished true love—and the daughter of the mafia family that slaughtered my parents. She sneered at me, flaunting my mother's stolen sapphire necklace, while Lucas ruthlessly kicked me out, calling me a mere "housekeeper."

My heart shattered entirely, but the tears finally stopped. I signed the divorce papers and walked out into the night.

He thought I was a penniless nobody who would crumble without his wealth. He didn't know my real name was Isabella Sorelli.

When I appeared at a top-tier banquet, flanked by my three wildly protective, billionaire brothers, Lucas's eyes widened in sheer shock. I am the heiress to the city's greatest empire now. You threw me away for a snake, Lucas? Watch me crush her. And when you finally realize what you lost, begging on your knees won't be enough.

On the night of my rebirth, fueled by alcohol and rage, I stumbled into the room of my fiancé’s sworn enemy—and kissed him.

Everyone thinks Atlas is a heartless playboy who toys with women.

Only I know how submissive he can be, and the filthy, dirty things he whispers when he calls me "Baby."

Outside the door, my scumbag ex-fiancé, Knox, was screaming, begging for a second chance.

Inside the door, Atlas’s wandering hands were exploring every inch of my body.

"Be a good girl," he rasped against my ear. "Moan loud enough for him to hear."

The next day, Knox pinned me against the wall, his eyes red with jealousy. "I can do better than him. Choose me, okay?"

I shoved him away coldly. "Too late."

From the moment I was reborn, my goal was to make Knox pay. Why simp for a cheater when I can make him lose his fortune, his reputation, and force him to kneel at my feet?

Atlas smirked, pulling me into his arms. "Choose me. I'll help you destroy him."

My name used to be whispered in fear by dictators. Now, it’s mocked by cheerleaders.

I am—or I was—Phantom. I killed for a living, and I was the best. But my retirement plan was cut short by a sudden darkness I never saw coming.

Fate, it seems, has a twisted sense of humor. I’ve been reincarnated into the body of Raven Martinez, a high school girl with a life so tragic it makes my old job look like a vacation.

Now I have to deal with pop quizzes, teenage hormones, and a hierarchy of bullies who think they run the world.

They pushed the old Raven to her death. But they’re about to learn a very painful lesson: You don't corner a viper unless you're ready to get bitten.

High school is hell. Lucky for me, I'm the devil.

After Alpha King Kaius publicly rejected Elowen, she left his kingdom and never looked back. She had to start over completely - no pack, no family, no one to help her. She built a new life on her own and thought she was safe. But on what should have been a peaceful birthday, she found herself captured by the King's guards and thrown into the castle dungeons. Now they think she's some kind of enemy spy, and she needs to escape before Kaius figures out who she really is and discovers all the secrets she's been hiding. The problem is, she's not the same broken girl who left four years ago, and he's not exactly the same cold bastard who rejected her either. With lives on the line and nowhere left to run, can she get out before everything falls apart?

To save my dying sister, I provoked James Smith, the city's most dangerous Mafia Don.

I thought it was a simple transaction, but he pinned me against the wall, his fingers tracing my lips as he whispered dangerously, "Sweetie, since you call me your sugar daddy, then fulfill your obligations. Remember, your first time was mine, and you’ll never escape me in this lifetime."

I believed he was a heartless monster until, facing death, he shoved his only gun into my hands and placed his ring around my neck. "Ella, run! Hide and wait for me..."

As his black SUV drifted into the gunfire to draw them away, I was left trembling. Would he make it back alive to claim me again?

I thought ten years of childhood sweethearts could weather any storm.

Until that night when Charles rushed out after her call, leaving me alone in bed with his child growing inside me, not knowing how to tell him.

Seraphina Blackwood, tech dynasty heiress, threatened Charles with her father's billion-dollar empire to marry her. And me? Just an orphan girl who seemed to mean nothing in Silicon Valley's power games.

When I watched him remove our wedding ring, when I saw their sweet photos at the hospital, when I lay bleeding on the floor and he chose her... I finally understood that maybe love really can't survive against money.

But what I didn't know was that while I started my new life in Switzerland, there was a man secretly protecting me with his kidney, his heart, his everything...

Until his assistant appeared at my little bakery, desperation in his eyes: "Ms. Thorne, please, you have to save him!"

At the board meeting, he voted to dilute my equity.

"This is business, Elena. Not personal."

Three years of hidden marriage. I thought we were partners. But in that moment, I finally understood—I was just his technical supplier on the road to success.

What Ryan didn't know: that Technology Contribution Agreement he signed three years ago contained one clause. 70% of NexTech's core algorithm IP belongs to me. Personally.

Product launch day. Two hundred investors watching. I took the microphone.

He thought I'd present the tech specs like always.

He was wrong.

Dante Ashford is my stepbrother, and the one person I should never have fallen in love with.

When I was ten, my parents died saving his family. The Ashfords took me in. He was good to me back then. Somewhere along the way, I fell for him.

When I was eighteen, he nearly died in an ambush. I donated blood, then a kidney to save him. I was unconscious for three days. When I woke up, Vivian Ross sat by his bed—and he believed she was his savior.

After that, he pushed me away. Vivian became his fiancée.

In my past life, Vivian's crimes brought disaster to our family. Dante got on his knees and begged me to take her punishment. I refused. She died anyway. Then he pretended to love me, planned our wedding—and on that day, his assistant announced to everyone: "This wedding was a lesson to show Miss Elena Hayes what it feels like to be abandoned by the whole world."

I jumped from the church balcony.

When I opened my eyes, I was back at that moment—him on his knees, begging.

This time, I said yes.

Dante, from now on, we're done.

My father died owing the Callahan family a blood debt. His payment? Me and my sister—married off to their sons.

I woke up reborn on the night they buried him.

Standing in that funeral chamber, watching the lawyer crack open the sealed will, I discovered I could suddenly hear thoughts. My sister Vivienne's voice ripped through my head: Not marrying that butcher. No way in hell.

She lunged forward and grabbed Adrian—the refined bastard son who looked like a lawyer instead of a mobster. The same "perfect gentleman" I married in my past life.

Which left me with Dominic Callahan. The scarred heir. The Executioner.

Last time around, Vivienne married Dominic and got beaten down for years. I married Adrian and lived like a queen.

I almost laughed out loud.

Because she has no idea—this time, she's the one who grabbed the monster.

Everyone in this city knows that the king of the underworld, my husband Vincent, is crazy about me.

Three years ago, when that bullet tore through my abdomen, it took away my chance of ever being a mother. He held my blood-soaked body and swore to God he'd make the shooter's entire family pay. A month later, that family was wiped off the map in this city. No one dares speak their name anymore.

He sat by my hospital bed, holding my hand. "I don't need kids. I only need you."

I believed him.

Until six months ago, when his brother died in an accident, leaving behind his wife Serena. The family pressure came like a tidal wave. An heir. A bloodline. That's all they cared about. And that woman became everyone's golden ticket to keeping the Caruso name alive.

That's when my husband stopped coming home at night. Every night, I hear them through the wall. Sounds that used to be mine.

But today, the doctor told me my body is healing. The chances are slim, but there's hope.

I clutch the medical report and rush home, imagining Vincent's face when he sees the results. Maybe everything can go back to how it was. Maybe he'll realize he doesn't need her.

Until I stand outside our mansion and hear laughter pouring out.

"Serena's pregnant! Can you believe it? The family finally has an heir!"

"Finally. The family's saved."

The day I died in a foreign country, my boyfriend was in the spotlight with another woman.

He's the man I built from nothing. Five years ago, I saved a broke orphan fresh out of college from the gutter. He said he wanted to be famous, wanted to make it to the top of the hockey world. In exchange, he became my boyfriend for five years.

I gave him the best coaching staff money could buy. Bought an entire hockey franchise and made him the centerpiece. Called in every favor I had to make him MVP.

But while he enjoyed everything I gave him, he refused to make our relationship public. Said it would "hurt his brand." He could make headlines with reporters and models, but nobody could know I existed.

He even said on national TV: "Those owners who just throw money around are pretty boring. Hockey is about skill, not money."

So why did he lose his mind when he found out I was dead?

The alliance between the Human Empire and the Wolf Empire has stood for centuries. The treaty requires the Human Empire to send a princess to the Wolf Empire every so often, to become the Wolf King's mate and strengthen the bond between our kingdoms. Now, it's time to honor that pact again.

Father is old now, ready to step down. My sister and I have to choose.

In my past life, Adelaide chose the throne. She thought power meant she could do whatever she wanted. Within three years, the Human Empire crumbled in her hands. At home, she bled the people dry, filling her own coffers while they starved. Abroad, her arrogance drove away our allies. The Dwarven Empire, the Serpent Empire, they all cut ties. In the end, the surrounding kingdoms banded together and attacked. The Human Empire fell in the war. Our parents died by enemy blades, and Adelaide had to flee.

And me? I went to the Wolf Empire, just like the treaty said.

On the surface, I was the Wolf Queen, worshipped by every wolf, living in the grand Wolf Court, attending state banquets. In reality, I was his prisoner. Forced to run as prey in the hunting ritual, slapped to the ground in front of the council, shoved forward as a hostage when conflicts arose.

At one banquet, Adelaide appeared in front of me, gripping a dagger, madness burning in her eyes. "This is your fault! If you hadn't been so useless in the Wolf Empire, we wouldn't have lost everything!"

The blade sank into my chest. I collapsed in a pool of blood.

When I open my eyes again, I'm back in the throne room with Father watching us.

Adelaide barely hesitates before speaking up. "I'll go to the Wolf Empire. Let Brynn take the throne."

I smile.

Foolish Adelaide. She has no idea that beneath the Queen's crown lies nothing but chains and blood.

Ryan loves me deeply—at least that's what everyone says. Seven years together, we look like the perfect couple to outsiders. But only I know he's betrayed me three times.

The first time was three years ago. His brother died saving him, leaving behind his widow Sophia—Ryan's unforgettable first love. He married her behind my back. When I found out, I completely fell apart. I have dignity. I refuse to be the other woman. I wanted to leave, but he begged on his knees. "This is just to take care of my sister-in-law. Once I find the truth about my brother's death, I'll divorce her. Then we can get married."

I believed him. I forgot that a man never lets go of a lost love he's gotten back.

The second time was at last year's company anniversary. In front of everyone, he introduced Sophia as his wife. I watched them on stage, a knife through my heart. That night he explained, "It's just for show. Once everything's over, we can be together."

I believed him again.

The third time was two weeks ago. Surveillance footage showed Ryan with Sophia entering a hotel room. I rushed to confront him, but heard her voice outside his office. "Ryan, I'm pregnant. It's your baby."

Through the crack in the door, I see him hesitate. In that instant I understand.

He's going to keep her.

He spots me and rushes out in a panic. "It was an accident! Let me explain! After she has the baby, I'll give her money and make her leave. She won't be in our lives anymore!"

In that moment, I finally wake up. There will be no future for us.

The mafia boss chose me as his decoy—a body double for the woman he loves.

Eight years. Three bullets, one car crash, one explosion. The doctor said ten more minutes and I would've died on that operating table when they took my kidney. I gave him a son. He let me play "the boss's wife" in public.

Until he cleared every obstacle for her and decided to marry her.

Her wedding photos replaced mine in the master bedroom. He has her initials tattooed on his arm. When I questioned him, he had his men slap me at a charity gala, forced me to admit "I'm just a stand-in." When I touched her, he took away my custody, declared she was "the true lady of this house."

The punishments got worse. When he threatened to cancel my mother's insurance, I finally learned to shut up.

He pulls me close, whispers in my ear: "She gave up everything for me. Not like you—you were born to take bullets for me."

"Deal with it. She's not replacing you. This is her house now."

Even my son took her side.

"Stop being dramatic! Natalie actually loves us! You're nothing!"

But their pure, innocent Natalie? She unplugged my mother's ventilator while I was locked in the basement. Let his enemies slip poison into my drink during the last job.

When Grayson found me, all he said was: "She's pregnant and emotional. Go rearrange the flowers at the wedding venue."

I wipe the black blood from my lips. Look at him quietly.

"I'm dying."

Everyone in our circle knows I'm Adrian's caged bird, and the "bad woman" his son Miles hates most.

For Miles, I gave up my fellowship in Zurich and spent seven years playing housewife.

What did I get in return? Adrian took Sophie to gallery openings on our anniversary. Miles smashed cake in my face in front of everyone, calling me a frumpy housewife.

Adrian was certain I couldn't leave him. Certain I couldn't leave our son.

He threw the divorce papers on the table with a cold smile. "Sign this, and you lose everything. Including Miles."

He expected me to beg on my knees.

I didn't.

I picked up the pen and signed without hesitation.

"Fine, Adrian. You keep Miles. And I get to keep myself."

For just a moment, I saw shock flash in his eyes.

I heard later that Adrian searched for me like a madman, and the son he doted on cried and screamed for his mommy.

Too bad. I'd already burned it all down myself.

I've been secretly married to him for five years, but he's never treated me as his wife. Our six-year-old daughter has never called him Dad in public.

One drunken night, I got pregnant. He gave me a marriage contract that came with one condition: secrecy.

I thought time would change everything. I stood by him through the company's darkest days. When I was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer, he didn't come. When our daughter was born, he was in a meeting. Every moment that mattered, he wasn't there.

Then that clumsy intern showed up.

From that point on, he gave her all his attention and patience. He broke his own rules for her again and again. That's when I finally understood: when someone doesn't love you, they just don't.

So I took my daughter and disappeared from his world completely.

But why did that calm, controlled man lose his mind?

I helped him claw his way up from nothing—from the family's bastard to king of the underworld.

I saved him when he got jumped in the streets. Took bullets for him when his father beat him half dead. We fought our way up from nothing, survived assassination attempts, built an empire that made people fear our name.

I thought we'd always stand together.

Until the day I nearly died giving birth, and all I found in the bassinet was a stack of cash.

I asked him where our baby was. He couldn't look me in the eye. His stepmother walked out holding my son. Smiled and said she deserved this, a child of her own, since she couldn't have one herself. He'd given my baby to another woman.

Turns out he'd been sleeping with her the whole time.

I threw the money in his face. I spent the next six years trying to get my son back.

Last week, when some small-time gang grabbed him, I went in alone with a gun. Bullets flew past my ears, kicked up concrete dust. I fought my way to the back and pulled him out. At the hospital, he pushed me away, crying, "Why'd you have to come?! We could've been a real family by now! Just leave! Leave me alone!"

I stared at his small face for a long time.

Finally, I said, "Call me mom one last time. Then I'll let you go."

Our engagement has gone unfulfilled for ten years.

My parents saved his family in that yacht accident. With their dying breath, they asked his family to look after me. In return, we go to city hall every year, trying to fulfill this obligation.

Ten attempts. Ten failures.

Elevator malfunctions, food poisoning, home invasions, car crashes... Every single time, I get hurt at the worst possible moment while he walks away without a scratch.

This makes ten. A truck slams into the passenger side, my head smashes against the window, and he's already running across the street, pulling that woman into his arms.

On my way to find him after they stitch me up, I hear his assistant's voice in the hospital corridor:

"Mr. Ashford, the truck driver's been taken care of. Money'll hit his account like we agreed... but is this really fair to Miss Bennett? It's been ten years, every single year—"

William's voice comes out low and tired. "I don't have a choice. Her parents saved me, but I'm in love with Emma."

I look down at the diagnosis. ALS. Late stage.

Turns out I've been trying to marry a lie this whole time.

Landon Rhodes and I grew up together, both dreaming of becoming top chefs. But I knew he was the one with a palate kissed by God.

So when Rowan Stone, this street-rat punk, got her claws into him, I took the drinks, the smoke, the slaps for him. When he wanted to skip the National Young Chefs Competition to stay with her drunk ass, I dragged him back to the culinary lab.

He won the championship, got recruited by a three-star Michelin restaurant, graduated and made millions. I became the most invisible prep cook in his kitchen.

Until Rowan wrapped her car around a pole during one of her episodes, and he lured me into a basement.

"This is all your fault! If you'd minded your own damn business, she'd still be alive!"

His foot came down on my right hand. Bones cracking. My fingers ground to pulp.

All those 5 AM trips to the fish market for him. All those nights watching stock simmer for forty-eight hours straight. All the praise he soaked up at final practicals. My sacrifices, and all I got in return was his hatred.

"These worthless hands that can only cut vegetables deserve to rot in the ground with her."

The pain swallowed me whole.

When I wake up again, I'm back to that afternoon when he said he was going to the bar to find her.

This time, I won't stop him.

I promised Ethan Caldwell, the boy I grew up with, I'd give up the top schools to attend some mediocre college with him.

On the final day of application submission, I brought homemade soup to his studio.

Outside the door, I heard him bragging to his friends: "Claire Bennett's like a damn puppy. I tell her to come to NYU with me, and boom, she changes her whole application to NYU. Lily's grades are shit. If Claire doesn't go for that full scholarship, Lily's got it in the bag. And Claire's so whipped, even when she finds out, she'll just suck it up like always."

The thermos in my hands feels cold now.