1798 Book(s) Related to is this hero for real novel read

He marked her as his… Now there’s no way out.

Isla Monroe is a struggling college student with big dreams—until a single night changes her fate for good when she crosses paths with Damian Cross, the dangerous and charming powerful heir to a ruthless mafia empire.

With one claim, he marks her as his. But Damian didn’t choose her by accident—his secrets are tied to her past. As enemies close in and forbidden desire ignites, Isla learns a terrifying truth:

Falling for the devil doesn’t just burn you—it brands you for life.

Myla had always known something was wrong with her life.

Not in a way others noticed—but in a way she could never explain. A constant feeling that she did not belong anywhere.

Then one night, a voice found her in the dark. A stranger. A card. A promise that she was not alone.

That moment leads her to a hidden academy filled with people like her—those with abilities, secrets, and truths the world was never meant to see.

At first, it feels like her home. Until she realizes she is being watched and wanted.
Not by one… but by three powerful Alphas.

One who protects her.

One who understands her silence.

And one who terrifies even the strongest in the academy.

As Myla is pulled deeper into their world, she becomes the center of something far more dangerous than her desires.

She becomes a prize.

And war begins between the Alphas who refuse to share her.

Because in the academy, power is not only fought on the battlefield… it is earned from your circle.

And Myla was never meant to choose easily.

She was meant to be claimed in chaos.

They paid me a fortune to authenticate a masterpiece. It took eight seconds to know it was a forgery — and eight more to understand I was the forgery they'd hired.

The brushwork was my great-grandmother's. The woman they let die in a county ward, calling herself a liar for daring to say the paintings were hers.

The Ashford name sits on three centuries of art, scholarship, and law. None of it is theirs. He stole her words. His wife stole her paintings. They built a dynasty on a woman they erased — and never learned her blood runs in me too.

I'm the lawyer they brought in to seal one more theft. I said no.

By the time they remember her name, they won't have one left to sign.

"I fell in love with a stranger. I didn't know he was my brother."
When I first saw Victor, I didn't see a sibling. I saw a man who set my skin on fire. I saw a pair of dark eyes that reflected my own soul. Our attraction wasn't just a choice—it was a gravity I couldn't escape. For weeks, we existed in a fever dream of late nights and whispered promises, building a future on a foundation I never knew was forbidden.
Then the truth came out. One old photograph, a single name, and my world shattered.
Now, the touch that felt like heaven feels like a sin. But how do you stop your heart from beating for the one person you were never supposed to touch?

"I, Alpha Miller, hereby reject you, Isla Higgins, as my mate and Luna of the Pembroke pack," he said with a smirk as his beta pinned me against the wall. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces, and I felt a physical ache in my body as pain penetrated through me.
“There is no competition here.” Mora, the girl who had made my life hell since childhood, wrapped herself around my fated mate, and he pulled her into his chest, kissing her with passion and lust. I glared at her in frustration and wished I could punch her fake image.
Isla decides to leave the pack after the humiliating rejection and the betrayal. Five years later, she returns to her old pack after her mother falls ill. As she comes to terms with the past and becomes a respected warrior in the Eclipse Moon Pack, secrets and lies are revealed. Isla must decide whether to give her ex-mate a second chance or realize her worth without him.

Unlike her twin brother, Jackson, Jessa struggled with her weight and very few friends. Jackson was an athlete and the epitome of popularity, while Jessa felt invisible. Noah was the quintessential “It” guy at school—charismatic, well-liked, and undeniably handsome. To make matters worse, he was Jackson’s best friend and Jessa’s biggest bully. During their senior year, Jessa decides it was time for her to gain some self-confidence, find her true beauty and not be the invisible twin. As Jessa transformed, she begins to catch the eye of everyone around her, especially Noah. Noah, initially blinded by his perception of Jessa as merely Jackson’s sister, started to see her in a new light. How did she become the captivating woman invading his thoughts? When did she become the object of his fantasies? Join Jessa on her journey from being the class joke to a confident, desirable young woman, surprising even Noah as she reveals the incredible person she has always been inside.

“Ah,” I throw my head backwards as Roman shoves two fingers up my cunt.

“Look at you,” he mocks, lust in his eyes as he frees his stiff cock.

“See how good you take me.” He pushes in with a groan, and desire ripples through me as my cunt expands to take his cock.

He wraps one hand firmly around my throat and digs his fingers into my ass. We collide like two dying stars, our bodies flushed together, and the thick musk of sex in the room. I drag my nails down his back, taking him in deeper. He trembles in my hold.

“You say you hate me, yet … hmm, yet, you fuck me this good.” I whimper as he lengthens his thrusts, and my legs start to tremble.

A wicked grin flashes on his face, he tightens his hold around my neck, and reaches down for my clit. My whole body goes rigid as he pushes me closer to the peak.

“You are mine, Scarlett -- all pieces of you. You are mine. Lie to me all you want, nothing will change the fact that you are mine. Now, be a good girl and cum on my cock.”

She needed protection. He needed a wife.

Scarlett Brooks has been running from her past so long she's forgotten what standing still feels like. Roman Sterling doesn't do feelings, only power, money, and the cold precision of getting what he wants. When he makes her an offer, she has no choice but to accept. The terms are simple: two years, unlimited resources, zero emotions.

But Roman is possessive in ways the contract never covered. And Scarlett is hiding something that could destroy them both.

What begins as a transaction becomes an obsession neither of them can survive.

When I handed the divorce agreement and the severance-of-parental-rights form to my husband and son, they signed without even reading them.
"Mom, I don't need your patent transfer. I'm in a hurry to go see Aunt Bianca," my son said.
My husband tossed the divorce papers aside. "Bianca's dog is missing. Get out of the way."
I picked up the scattered pages from the floor. A long time passed before I whispered to the empty hallway, "But… today is my birthday."

For all the little girls who grew up wondering what happens after the prince kisses the girl—this is the story they never told you.
.
Locked in her frozen tower, Bella dreamed of warmth, of touch, of freedom and of love. Cursed with the power of ice and snow, she’s spent her life alone. A secret they tried to protect the world from. Her only escape comes in the form of the books she reads. Stories of heat, desire, and the kind of love that could melt even her frostbitten heart.
Damien is the Beast. A dragon King with a temper forged in flame and a soul hollowed by duty. The world fears him. The people call him a monster. But beneath the scales and the rage lies a man who has never been touched by love.
When frost meets fire, the world shatters. She was never meant to leave her tower. He was never meant to find her. But destiny doesn’t bow to kings or care for cages and now the question burns through them both: Can Bella have her Beast? Or will the girl of snow melt in the heat of his desire?

.
"I’m keeping her."
"What?"
Before I can react, he scoops her up. Her small body fits easily in the cradle of his talons. For a split second, she looks startled, but not afraid. Her hand rests against one scaled finger, and she stares up at him with that same curious wonder, as though she’s already forgotten she was ever meant to fear me.
"Put her down," I try to command, panic threading through my thoughts. "You’ll hurt her."
"She’s ours," the beast insists, possessive and fierce. "Our snowflake."

Not every fantasy is gentle. Not every desire plays by the rules. Some pleasures are dangerous. And these stories? They come with teeth. Behind closed doors and under tight sheets, women surrender to the hunger they're not supposed to have… and the men who know exactly how to feed it.
From a gynecologist who crosses the line with a patient who wants more than a check-up… To a reverend's wife who falls for a man she sees every Sunday and sins with every chance she gets… To a virgin student who learns her first lesson in the back office of her lecturer… To a nanny who becomes the one thing her boss can't resist… This isn't about love. This is about lust… raw and dripping.
Forbidden romance. Unholy cravings. So if you're looking for soft kisses and fairy tale endings…Turn back now. But if you're ready for something that makes you squirm in your seat… If you want stories you'll replay in your head long after the last line…Then go ahead. Open the book.

“I’m going to tell you what I have in mind,” he murmured.
“First you’re going to strip down until you’re completely naked,” he whispered against her ear. “Then I’m going to tie you up so you’re completely powerless and subject to my every whim.”
“Mmm, sounds good so far,” she murmured.

“Then I’m going to insert a plug to prepare you for me. After that I’m going to spank that sweet ass of yours until it’s rosy with my marks.”

She shivered uncontrollably, her mind exploding with the images he evoked. She let out a small whimper as he sucked the lobe of her ear into his mouth. God, she could cum with just his words. She was already aching with need. Her nipples tingled and hardened to painful points. Her clit pulsed and twitched between her legs until she clamped her thighs together to alleviate the burn.

“And then I’m going to fk your mouth. But I won’t cum. Not yet. When I’m close, I’ll flog you again until your ass is burning and you’re on fire with the need for relief. And then I’m going to fk that ass. I’m going to take you hard and rough, to the very limits of what you can withstand. I won’t be gentle. Not tonight. I’m going to take you as roughly as you can stand. And then I’m going to cum all over your ass.
Are you ready to be completely and utterly dominated?"

Isla is determined to leave the pack after being rejected and humiliated by the soon to be alpha, Miller. After finally coming to terms with the rejection and having moved away to the Eclipse Moon Pack, Isla is suddenly called back to her old pack due to her mother becoming unwell. Secrets and lies are about to be unravelled along the way but how will Isla react to her ex mates sudden regret at rejecting her five years ago? Can he win her back or will Isla realise her worth without him??

LILA KING is somewhat notorious in her old pack - as a child she led a rebel crew of delinquents who caused havoc in the reserve and fought vampires. She was one of the best fighters in the pack, but following her best friend's death at 18 she left the pack to live with humans.

For her 25th birthday, she finally returns, but only to introduce her werewolf family to a human fiance.
What no one expects, though, is that at the party her family throws... she will encounter her fated mate. He is no other than DARIUS CARTER - the new Alpha of the biggest pack in the region, holding a bad rep for killing the former Alpha to assume his righteous position.
But there is much more to him than just a pretty face and a fabulous six-pack...
Can Lila fight destiny? Does she even want to?

"Suck my cock, Rosabella. That's all you're good at. A hopeless orphan can only dream of luxury. Keep your filthy mouth out of my affair…use it only to make me cum."
Bella Hale has known suffering her entire life. Orphaned at sixteen, she survives on scraps and desperation. She does whatever it takes not to starve with only little dignity intact.
She envies the rich—people who seem immune to hardship and pain. Yet she promised herself that if she ever got her hands on one of them, she would never let go. She was done suffering.
Lucian Rodriguez is everything she should despise.
A cold, selfish, ruthless billionaire with little conscience and no mercy…
a man who knows how to smile for the world while keeping his darkness well hidden.
Their worlds collide when Lucian's four-month-old daughter goes missing… and Bella finds her.
Lucian offers no gratitude…and Bella refuses to let the opportunity slip. She demands compensation. Not just money, but security. A lifetime guarantee that she will never be poor again. In return, she will do whatever he wants. Her body. Her life. He can have it all.
Bella is taken into his world—strictly as a deal.
What she doesn't realize is that when you make a deal with the devil, you should never expect it to be fair.
And she will learn too late that being poor was far better than belonging to Lucian Rodriguez.
A deal turns into obsession.
Survival into desire.
Desire into Hate.
Hate into Love.
That love and commitment becomes the biggest and worst mistake.
Will Bella's desperate deal destroy her?
Or Will she become Lucian's destruction?

Noelle lives a boring life at the orphanage but everything changes when she becomes 18 and gets selected to be sacrificed to the King of the Sea. The king of the Sea is rumored to be a giant man with no kindness in his heart. Every year he selects an 18-year-old virgin but no one has ever returned. Noelle has no idea why she got picked and what will happen but she sure as hell knows that no one can put out the fire in her heart.

"I married you for power," he said with a smile.

She believed him.

But the warrior who spent four years bleeding on frozen battlefields, who lost everything and survived on memories of her alone—he's been playing a very different game.

Sometimes the biggest lie is pretending you don't care.

Alexia, as the perfect Luna to her pack, was married to her husband alpha Damian for love, they were not meant and mate for each other. Alexia had never thought one day she could have the rebirth of her.
Alexia was murdered by her evil husband Damian and his later-found mistress Hayley, who also became his mate after her death.
One fortunate day, Alexia opened her eyes only to find out that she was back from the dead.
“Oh my Wolf, I am back from the dead. I can’t feel myself before anymore… I feel some kinda new powers inside of me” Alexia said to herself.
In order to protect what she had worked for, Alexia is determined to fix all of her problems.
By living again as a Powerful Luna, who cannot be oppressed by her foes but will be the OPPRESSION of them herself.
By drafting a whole new plan, she begins with the people who planned for the death of her previous life.

One night, when Alexia was running in her favourite woods, she met a huge wolf with silver eyes. This was the first time she has ever set her eyes on that kind of breed.

.
.
Who was this wolf?
How would she be the oppression… to her foes?
How would things go differently from the previous life Alexia experienced?

"P-please...I don't want trouble," the homeless man said, putting his hands up.
With another guttural growl, the attacker suddenly shifted, his body twisting grossly as fur sprouted over his skin. His face elongated into a monster snout filled with sharp fangs as he dropped onto all fours, eyes wild.
A scream caught in Jessica's throat as the beast lunged, clamping its jaws around the homeless man's throat and ripping it open viciously. Warm blood sprayed across the ground as her mind reeled, unable to process the unholy horror unfolding just feet away.
The werewolf lifted its snout, locking eyes with Jessica as a few drops of red speckled her pale cheeks. A low, menacing rumble vibrated from its throat.

Jessica Ward was a very ordinary girl. At least, that's what she thought. She lived in Chicago and had a normal routine. She worked as a finance analyst, home prepped meals, budgeted her money, and sometimes went out with friends. She was good with numbers, data, and facts.

But in a world with ancient prophecies, Jessica finds herself caught out of her routine and caught up in an unbelievable destiny. She is pulled into a werewolf pack and learns she is the fated mate to not just one, but seven powerful alpha males. She must embrace her new Luna powers and create unbreakable bonds with her fated mates. Together they will face betrayals, battles, and a passion burning hotter than the moon itself.

“Xavier.” She moaned softly.
That gentle whisper broke me and reformed me all at the same time.
“Yes, blondie?” I panted heavily, my dick rock hard against her belly.
She shook her head, her hands dropping from my suit.
“I can't do this again.”
I grabbed her face between my palms, searching desperately, needing to find the truth within her expression but all I could see were remorse, guilt and regret plastered across her eyes and it fucking haunted me.
“Why?” I heaved, my chest threatening to give out.
“Tell me why.”
“Because,”Her eyes turned into a look of shame and sadness. “I'm not who you think I am.”

He knew falling in love with her wasn't right. She was the enemy.
But he fell anyway..
Now he'll have to live with the consequences of their uncontrollable lust.

King Tus III is anxious to find a bride for his son and heir - Prince Kyan. But the defiant Prince insist on having a wife "who's thoughts move the Earth."

The King and Queen search the Kingdom and yet do not find such a girl, so they invade other Kingdoms and conquer them in search of a befitting bride for their son.

Isla is the first child of a peasant family in the Kintil Kingdom. All her life, she has been suppressing herself because of the strange powers she possesses. Her world crumbles when her Kingdom is raided and her family is separated.

She is sold as a slave to a goldsmith but when she plans an escape which she uses her strange abilities, she is captured and sent to the King to be the wife of the Prince.

Can Isla escape from a forced marriage and re-unite with the people she loves?

Are her strange abilities a blessing or a curse?

Beta Aaron Keizer brings Diwa back to the packhouse after being away for more than ten years. However, as soon as she arrives, a dangerous presence from her past begins stalking her and her newly found mate. Even worse, Di’s elder brother, who happens to be the Gamma of the pack, openly shows his disapproval of the union. Will Di be able to find freedom from her past while finding happiness in Aaron? And can the Beta be able to see beyond the bond so he can help Di finally fight the monster who continues to claim her as his?

Ashes in Her Mouth

The fire took more than walls. It took names. Faces. Pieces of me I’ll never get back.

Now it’s back. Different street, same smoke. Same teeth in the dark.

The brass call it arson. I call it unfinished business.

Every blaze leaves a mark a body, a whisper, a threat carved in soot. Someone wants me chasing. Someone wants me choking on the past.

I should walk away. Let the flames eat the city clean. But the next fire is already lit. And I know where it’s burning.

Not a matter of if I get there in time. Just what I’ll lose when I do.

Sarah Mitchell has always been the quiet girl who keeps her head down. Working two jobs to support her sick mother, she's never had time for causes or protests. But when her mother dies from cancer linked to the chemical plant poisoning their water, Sarah's world ignites.
What starts as personal grief becomes a fierce crusade for justice. Armed with nothing but determination and a growing sisterhood of women who've lost everything, Sarah transforms from a timid waitress into a fearless leader taking on one of the most powerful corporations in America.
But fighting the system means risking everything—her job, her safety, and the fragile life she's built. Will Sarah find the strength to burn down the walls of injustice, or will she be crushed by the very system she's trying to change?

“What do you think of when you paint?”

“A bunch of things. But lately… you.”

He took my hand and led me into the adjoining room. I gasped. The walls were covered with paintings of me—moaning on a bed, on my knees, my mouth full of cock.

“Tell me to fuck you.” His lips were inches from mine, his hot breath brushing my skin.

I reached out, my fingers brushing his lips. “Fuck me.”


Vesper has one reason for enrolling at Veyl Academy: to avenge her clan. The royal House of Ophir burned her clan to ash on her fifteenth birthday, and she has spent four years being sharpened into the only weapon that can bring them down. She is an Ashblood, the last of a line that dragon fire cannot touch and royal Command cannot bend, and she intends to use every advantage this gives her.

The plan was simple: get close to the heirs, reach the king, and end the dynasty.

The plan did not account for a crown prince whose fire marked her as his mate the moment she walked through it, a sharp-tongued second prince who sees through everyone and chooses her anyway, a gentle third prince who needed one person to treat him like he mattered, or a sworn blade who broke his oath every day he decided not to end her.

Every step closer to revenge pulls Vesper deeper into their dangerous world—and closer to four men she was raised to hate. Will she navigate her overwhelming desire for these four men and survive long enough to carry out her revenge?

WARNING: RATED 18+
This book contains graphic depictions of sex (BDSM) and violence.

Five years ago, Nia Morgan was supposed to die. She had seen something — something the billionaires at Westwood Global couldn’t afford to let her live with. Her own future father-in-law ordered the hit. Her fiancé never came looking.
But the thing about dead girls? Some of them don’t stay buried.
Now, she’s back. New face. New name. New mission. As Elise Ward, she slips quietly into the same empire that tried to erase her. Her heart’s not here for revenge — it’s here for the truth. But if revenge comes with it? She won’t say no.
The problem? Damien Westwood. The man who once held her heart — and unknowingly watched her die.
He’s darker now. Harder. Colder. And when he starts to dig into her past, it’s not just her cover that’s at risk… it’s everything.
Because the deeper she goes, the more bodies start to surface. And someone else knows she’s alive.
Someone who kills just to keep the past buried...

Beautiful, kind and loyal.
Who would have thought this would happen to her?
When Piper steps in to help a friend, she would never expect she would land in serious trouble. Abused, broken and used as a pawn in a conspiracy to bring down her best friend’s husband’s company, her life takes on a sudden somersault.
Will she ever walk out of this living hell or will she be drawn in by the temptation of the evil within?

Detective Selena Ward has built her life on logic, control, and the belief that every mystery can be solved except one: her sister’s disappearance ten years ago. When a new string of murders strikes the rain-drenched city of Hollow Creek, Selena is forced to confront the one case she never escaped.

Each victim is found posed with eerie precision their fingerprints removed, their faces serene, and a silver locket engraved with a single haunting word: “Remember.” The pattern is methodical, personal, and unmistakably connected to Selena’s past.

When the only surviving victim mutters her name in a half-conscious state, the walls of reason begin to crack. Soon, Selena receives a locket identical to those found on the bodies along with her sister’s lost bracelet and a note written in her own handwriting.

As she digs deeper, the investigation unravels a decade-old conspiracy involving a secret memory clinic, unethical experiments, and a man the city once believed dead The Pale Man, a ghost from her childhood. His twisted philosophy seeks to cleanse the world of pain by erasing memory itself and Selena is the final subject he’s been waiting for.

Torn between duty and obsession, truth and illusion, Selena must face the darkest corners of her mind to uncover what truly happened to her sister. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes that some memories aren’t meant to be found and some ghosts never left.

He was her stepfather, her Alpha and her ruin.

Seraphina came to Crimson Veil Pack expecting an awkward reunion with her mother, not to discover that the Alpha she’s sworn to respect is the mate written into her soul.
Lucian Valemont has never bowed to fate.

Until the Moon Goddess binds him to the one woman he can never claim.

Torn between duty and desire, they try to resist… but forbidden fire burns hottest. One reckless night changes everything.

As betrayal unravels within the pack and enemies rise from the shadows, Seraphina learns the truth: her mother’s marriage is a lie, her ex-lover wants the Alpha’s throne, and the empire she stepped into is built on secrets.

When she disappears carrying the Alpha’s heir, Lucian loses everything, his mate, his throne, and his trust.
But fate is merciless.

A child blessed by the Moon Goddess is born.
A Direwolf rises.

And twenty years later, blood will demand revenge. In a world ruled by power, love is the most Tobiasgerous bond of all.

Xander Miller is long in the game. She's a rare type of repulsive being... A reason he felt some sort of joy when she was brought to his abode. He knows just how to bend her type of steel.

Hell-bent on bending her to a point of exhaustion and submission, she either work on getting out of the Academy alive or run very far away.

However, both options seems too far-fetched? Especially when she can see the way he looks at her when he thinks she's not watching. The heat in his gaze. The hunger. He can deny it, but he wants her. She wants him too. What happens when a dirty secret got out, threatening their blossoming love?

The night my sister, Quinn, got her registered nurse license was supposed to be Jude's big moment—down on one knee, proposing.
Instead, Garrett showed up. The same animal who assaulted Quinn in the redwood forest six years ago and drove our mother to her death in the ocean.
Her future mother-in-law took back the ring on the spot, and her fiancé trailed after her like a kicked puppy.
The entire town of Hawkins went from pity to disgust when they looked at us.
Seven days later, the deputy sheriff stood in my kitchen, staring at the twenty-second batch of bubbling meat sauce...

I spent three years in the squad — three years carrying them to the top of the S-rank hero league. And their reward? They decided my B-rank rating wasn't good enough, and brought in an A-rank support to replace me. Fine. I'm done pretending. The truth is, I'm S-rank.

“You’re dripping,” he groaned. “You hear that? You’re making a mess all over me.”


He's the school's willful billionaire bad boy— hot, tall, handsome who made her fall and loosen herself for him just to find out it was all a lie.

A bet.

Well, two can dance a tango, right?

A comeback is all she needs. One that would make the so-called dangerous bad boy fall to his knees.

It wasn't just a game to him.

What if there's something more…

A facade he's hiding behind?

WARNING: Contains strong vulgar languages, sexual scenes, erotic contents, triggering situations, and lots more.

When Iris went to prison for her boyfriend, she discovered that he was about to marry Alpha's daughter.
It turned out that he had been using her all along and then abandoned her...
Iris fell into despair, but unexpectedly, she crossed paths with Marcus, Alpha's son and her former patient.
She became her ex's brother-in-law's wedding companion?! The most notorious playboy in the Pack?

"There is no us. There hasn't been for six years."
"You dropped divorce papers at my feet, Aidan. In front of cameras and everyone who mattered. Your mistress called me trash, and you stood there and said nothing."
"He is not yours, Aidan. He has a father. If I had been pregnant with your child back then, I would have gotten rid of it. You don't deserve anything from me."
Six years ago, Evelyn believed she had the perfect marriage.
On the night Aidan Smith celebrated his greatest achievement, she was ready to reveal the happiest news of her life. She was pregnant with his child.
Instead, she was publicly humiliated.
Aidan believed a cruel lie and chose his mistress over the wife who had loved him for years. In front of cameras and high society, he ended their marriage without knowing he was leaving behind a child who would change everything.
Heartbroken, Evelyn disappeared and started over.
Six years later, she returns as Evelyn Cole, a world renowned fashion designer and billionaire CEO. She built an empire, raised her son alone, and became the woman no one can look down on anymore.
Then fate brings her back into Aidan's life.
When the truth finally comes out, Aidan realizes the woman he abandoned was the greatest treasure he ever lost.
He wants his ex wife back.
But Evelyn Cole no longer belongs to him. And this time... he will be the one begging for her love.

Catherina Hanshaw Dalton has spent six years believing she lived a fairytale, married to billionaire Xavier Dalton, cherished by him, and building a life rooted in devotion, even amid one heartbreak she cannot control: their inability to have a child. Though Xavier assures her she is enough, Catherine senses his quiet disappointment, a wound deepened by the venomous hostility of his mother, Lydia Dalton. Lydia never misses a chance to insult Catherine’s infertility, idolize Xavier’s sister Mia and her children, or imply Xavier married beneath his status. Catherine endures it all, clinging to the one constant comfort, Xavier always defends her. Or so she believes.
This Christmas, however, Catherine’s dread of another humiliating Dalton family gathering turns into confusion. Lydia is gracious….kind, even. The manor is full of relatives, business partners, and esteemed guests, including Hunter Powell, Xavier’s ruthless business rival. The brief moment when Cathy’s eyes meet Hunter unsettles her, but nothing prepares her for Lydia’s “special Christmas gift.”
During the toast, Lydia presents Caroline Turner…a beautiful young woman who is allegedly four months pregnant through surrogacy…with Xavier’s child.

When Alexander Carter, the ruthless and irresistibly charming CEO of one of the country’s largest corporations, walked into my office, I thought he was there to terminate my contract. After all, I had just lost everything in a project sabotaged by his company. But instead, he made me an offer that would change my life: marry him for one year.

Sounds crazy? Maybe. But with my younger sister depending on me and the bills piling up, refusing wasn’t an option. In return, he offered enough money to rebuild my career and a contract to lead a project I had always dreamed of.

There was just one rule: don’t fall in love.

Simple, right? Or so I thought. Until I realized that behind his cold demeanor and flawless suits was a man full of secrets. A man who started to unravel me with every touch, every whispered word, every lingering glance.

Now, as I fight to keep up the façade of the perfect wife and uncover the conspiracies within his world, one question remains: when all this ends, will I be able to walk away unscathed?

Eight years ago, I was the heir to a powerful dynasty—the man set to inherit an empire.

On the way home from a business deal, our convoy was ambushed and I was taken. My fiancée arrived with the ransom, and the kidnappers gave her a choice: save one man. She saved my closest friend—and left me bleeding in the ruins.

They thought I was dead. They went on camera, announced my “tragic death,” took my company, split my legacy, and lived on my name for eight long years.

But I didn’t die. A gray-zone mercenary unit pulled me out of a pile of bodies. I changed my name and climbed from the bottom of their world—training, bleeding, killing, leading—until I became one of their commanders.

Today, my fiancée is marrying my best friend. The invitation arrived with my name on it. I board a first-class flight under a new identity and head straight for their wedding.

Halfway through the ceremony, the priest asks if anyone objects.

I stand up. “I object.”

I didn’t come back to give my blessing. I came back to collect.

I thought I'd signed up for an immersive dating show.

Turns out it was a 99.9% death rate, globally livestreamed horror game.

And me? Half-blind without my contacts, desperate to go viral, I somehow talk my way through a death game like it's a romance.

I mistook blood for ketchup, human eyeballs for sashimi, a murderous child ghost for a kid who just needed some love.

Worst part? I fell for the guy running the place, the one who could kill you without blinking, and tried to get his number within the hour.

My teammate hissed at me, shaking. "You wanna die, fine, just don't take us with you!"

I just waved him off. It's a dating show. Relax.

Betrayed and killed by the wolf king in my past life, I came back from hell. On the wedding day, I turned down his proposal without hesitation. I made a blood pact with his greatest enemy—the vampire king. Together, we avenged my child and family, and built a new future in the dark.

My daughter Lily was shot dead while she was performing on her own stage.
I rushed forward to shield her, and a speaker crashed down onto my right shoulder. The bone shattered.
My husband, Vincent, “shot the gunman dead” at once and sealed off the entire opera house.
When I woke up in the hospital room, the pain almost suffocated me. My right shoulder was wrapped in thick bandages, and when I tried to raise my arm, all I felt was a numb.
“…This isn’t what we agreed on.” The doctor’s voice was low and unsteady. “We only needed her blood sample for matching. Why did it have to go this far?”
“Lily’s blood type is a perfect match. This is the best possible outcome,” Vincent said. “I married Elena for this moment. I’ve been waiting for it.”
The doctor was silent for a few seconds. “But she’s your daughter… There’s no need to sacrifice a life, even if she is a Salaceno.”
Vincent cut him off. “You know how long an artificial heart can last. Camila’s daughter won’t hold out for long. I can’t put her through another surgery.”
“Camila’s child is the one I should cherish.”
At that moment, my blood ran cold. In his eyes, my daughter was nothing but an organ container.
He had no idea. All that talk about protecting his precious daughter—she wasn't even his.

They told me the baby was gone, but they didn't tell me my heart was being carved out, too.

I woke up on the operating table, paralyzed. Through my blurred vision, I saw my beloved husband, Marco, trembling with excitement as he held my medical chart.

"Her blood is perfect," he whispered. "It is a perfect match for Isabella. We can proceed with the transplant now."

"Finally. It wasn't in vain that I brought her back." My revered father let out a sigh of relief. "If it weren't for this day, how would someone who wandered outside for so many years be qualified to step into this house again?"

When my husband said "I love you," he actually meant "Your heart is perfect for the woman I truly love."

I couldn't scream; I couldn't move.

I could only watch helplessly as the silver scalpel pierced toward my chest, while my sister, Isabella, lay on the operating table next to me, smiling in her sleep.

I was never a long-lost daughter, nor was I a beloved wife.

I was just a mobile blood bank waiting to be slaughtered.

To help his life-saving benefactor, he personally pressed a pregnant me on the operating table to draw bone marrow.
I cried and begged him, "James, I'm pregnant. It's your child. Don't do this to me..."
But he had a look of disgust in his eyes. "Elizabeth, you'd lie about something like that just to get out of helping Mandy?"
Until there was a river of blood in the operating room and that unformed child turned into a pool of bloody water, he finally panicked.
Later, when he knew that the person who saved him in the fire ten years ago was actually me, he held my ashes and knelt outside the operating room for a full three days.

At the engagement party, Julian tore up our agreement on the spot, selling me for a single dollar to Callum, a man rumored to be a bloodthirsty, crippled psychopath.

Our mutual friend frowned.

"Are you out of your mind? Sylvia stayed by your side through your hardest three years, and you're really going to send her off to be tortured by a freak like Callum?"

Julian casually swirled the whiskey in his glass.

"It's just a little punishment. Rosie is carrying my child and needs a title, but Sylvia is too damn proud. Not only did she refuse to step down, but she also upset Rosie and affected her pregnancy."

"Callum is a twisted cripple. Give it three hours, and she'll break down completely. By then, she'll obediently accept Rosie's existence and even willingly stay as my hidden mistress."

The friend looked at my retreating back and couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you afraid you'll push her too far, that she'd rather stay with that psycho than come back to you?"

Julian let out a light scoff.

"Absolutely impossible. She loves me so much she'd give her life for me. Even if she takes a trip to hell, she'll only beg me to be her savior."

I picked up that one-dollar coin from the floor, without a single tear or tantrum.

Later, Julian broke into Callum's estate like a madman, begging me to go back with him.

But the disabled man from the rumors simply stood up, pulled me securely behind him, and sneered, "My wife. Is she someone you are even fit to touch?"