202 Book(s) Related to persephone: hades' torment read online

Betrayed to death by my own brother, I was reborn before the apocalypse descended.
He rushed to seize the god-tier [Copy] talent first, leaving the trash [Purification] talent for me.
He thought that with this talent, he'd have no worries and reign supreme in the apocalypse.
Meanwhile, I quietly closed the last door of my fortress.
He didn't know that his prized copying ability had a fatal flaw.

Lina Maria is a beautiful woman, born with elegant and distinctive features. There were countless of men chasing her, but she has never accepted any one of them. She will always remember the promise that her first love made to her in high school, “Wait for me, you will be the only girl that I will marry!”

Six years later, she was forced to marry the cold and ruthless billionaire president of DT Holdings, Lucas Lopez. “Since she wants to play with me, I will play with her till the end. I will make sure that she will heavily regret her decision to marry me for the rest of her life!”

"Leave this country and don't ever come back!" Being the sole survivor of her family's tragic car accident, a mysterious man gave Stephanie Ruan a chance to flee for her life.

Eight years later, Stephanie Ruan returned to the country as the director of an internationally renowned publishing firm. Upon knowing that her family's car accident is related to the prestigious Zhong Family, her best bet is to get close to Javier Zhong to find out the truth and avenge her family members.

"I want to be your fiancé." With her new identity and strong character, she fearlessly plotted against the most powerful and ruthless man in the country, Javier Zhong. Unlike other women whose biggest dream is to marry him, Stephanie Ruan spat out those words with much unwillingness. Of course, to scheme against such a dangerous man, there would be risks and sacrifices involved. She could either be killed by him or... unexpectedly fall deeply in love with him?

Whichever the result is, Stephanie Ruan knows that once she enters this game, there is no turning back!

"You are mine, Princess. For the next two months, I own this body and you will not give it out to any other man. I own every fucking inch of this body."



Mireille had been a good girl all her life, sheltered by her protective brother until he goes on a three-month travel.

Mireille has to stay with his best friend whom she last saw in high school. Mireille thinks she would finally be free from her brother's protectiveness but she turns out to be wrong as her brother's best friend is a worse version of her brother... Protective and possessive.

Mireille wants to hate him but it seems to be impossible to hate a man as hot as Dante Romano.

Hot, sexy and a billionaire mafia boss, Dante wants to make Mireille nothing more than his best friend's sister but it seems impossible with the heat that runs through their bodies with their every contact.

She is his innocent princess and she is supposed to remain so but when lust pulls her close, she becomes his woman, his possession, the Bad Boy's Princess.

But there are many more secrets lurking around, secrets insistent on pulling Mireille out of her innocent lifestyle.

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENTS AHEAD.

"Be my surrogate."
That is the price of Liora's life.
An omega the pack calls defective, she cannot shift and has never belonged. In a world ruled by bloodlines and strength, she has survived by being invisible.
Darren Hart, the Alpha's heir, has always been her only refuge. He chooses her to bear the future of the pack when tradition demands an heir and his mate cannot provide one. Under his protection, Liora is taken into the palace and bound to him by duty.
But it is not Darren who unsettles her pulse, it is his father, the Alpha, who makes her heart beat faster than it should.
Alpha Lucas Hart is power made flesh, a ruler feared and obeyed, and the one man Liora has never been able to look at without feeling something she should not. His gaze lingers too long. His questions cut too deep.
Caught between the heir who saved her and the Alpha she cannot stop wanting, Liora steps into a court where loyalty is currency and weakness is fatal.
Because she was never meant to be weak.
And loving the wrong Alpha may be the most dangerous choice of all.

When Bailey Carter walked in on her boyfriend tangled in bed with someone else, she swore she was done with love, and with hockey players.

Now, she is back in Michigan, working nights just to pay her grandmother’s hospital bills, trying to stitch her life back together one piece at a time.

Then he walks in.Orion Hayes—the arrogant, infuriating captain of Michigan’s hockey team, and her ex’s biggest rival.

He is cocky, ruthless and too damn gorgeous for his own good.
When he saves her at a club being bullied, he offers her a deal she can’t refuse—pretend to be his girlfriend to get his family off his back, and he’ll make sure her grandmother gets the best care money can buy.

But what starts as a fake relationship soon blurs into something dangerously real.
Under the swagger and smirk, Orion isn’t who she thought he was.And the more he pulls her into his world, the harder it gets to remember why she should stay away.

Her heart’s already been broken by one hockey player.Falling for another, especially her ex’s rival, might just be the biggest mistake of her life.

Sophia thought the death of her mother was the catalyst that would end her life. But that was the catalyst that brought her closer to the beginning of her life. To the time where she truly lived.

Orphaned at 19 and left no choice but to move in with her step uncle, whom she never knew, Sophia’s life becomes a roller coaster when she sees her step uncle isn’t what she thought, but a hot 36 year old man.

She’s ready to give everything to him on a platter –her heart, her body, her virginity, and even her life.

How far will she go to prove herself? And what happens when she digs up secrets that were never meant to see the light of day?

"What if I carry your child one day?" Ayla asked through gritted teeth.
Prince Deniz's eyes turned cold.
"Wrong," he said mercilessly. "I don't want you or the child growing inside your womb."
A master thief from modern day Hong Kong, Elena risked her life to steal the legendary Ruby Miracle Stone.
But after jumping off a ten story building to escape capture, she wakes up inside the body of Ayla, a dying slave trapped in the vicious royal harem of Camelot Kingdom.
Bullied, beaten, and treated as less than human, Ayla was supposed to die quietly.
Instead, Elena fights back.
Smart, fearless, and impossible to control, she quickly attracts the attention of Prince Deniz, the kingdom's infamous war prince known for his cruelty, bloodshed, and hatred toward women.
The problem?
The Ruby Miracle Stone Elena has been searching for is hanging from his sword.
To return to her world, she must steal it.
To survive, she must stay away from him.
But every encounter between them becomes a dangerous game of desire, humiliation, and obsession.
And when Elena discovers she may actually be the long lost princess of the enemy kingdom, the palace turns into a battlefield filled with betrayal, political schemes, and deadly secrets.
Now Elena must choose: go home and reclaim her old life or stay in Camelot with the prince who could either destroy her or make her queen?

Three years ago, Ye Chen was the unrivaled genius of the Azure Cloud Sect—until the woman he loved betrayed him, shattered his dantian, and stole his Spiritual Bone to climb higher. Cast into the Spirit Beast Stables as a cripple, he is beaten, starved, and forgotten.

But when his blood awakens an ancient ring, everything changes.

The Supreme Overlord System binds to his soul, repairing his body and granting him heaven-defying power. In mere breaths, he reclaims lost cultivation. In a single night, he crushes his first enemy.

The sect believes he is trash.

They are about to witness the birth of a god.

And Ye Chen has a debt to collect.

A virgin at thirty? A plus-size? Yes, that's Hera. After a painful heartbreak, she shuts herself off and chooses to focus on her career. Well, that's until She meets Mason aka Viper, the leader of Shadow riders motorcycle club on her way to her best friends wedding. He stakes his claim on her but life has a way of messing people up. Past traumas and bitter Ex's crawl on them. Hera has a secret, will Mason accept this side of her when he learns about it?


He is ready to settle, she only wants to play around. He is Jepoy aka Zero. The deadly weapon of the club, yet she elopes his traps, avoiding his claim.

She was not always like this, a traumatic marriage changed her. He saved her from him, but he can't save her from the hell she lives in everyday. Chloe knows she isn't ready to settle, Jepoy knows he must stake a claim on her. Two wounded souls, two different destination, is there a future for them?

TRIGGER WARNING: The story contains sensitive information. Acts of violence and extremely mature content (+18) will be explored. Proceed with caution.

Dr. Adrienne Volke doesn’t simply sell fragrance; she offers a unique form of control. Her luxury colognes are lauded for seamlessly blending wellness and allure. Yet, they harbor a covert formula she developed in secret—a scent that manipulates desire, rewires loyalty, and transforms obsession into an extraordinary tool.

Her private files lay bare her intentions. Each subject is meticulously categorized—Needy, Charming, Controlling, Defiant—with every experiment crafting a system more potent than the last. To Adrienne, power equates to unchallenged authority, freedom from abandonment, and eternal remembrance. Control is not granted; it is seized.

Adrienne’s influence over men fuels her obsession, and her genius leads her to believe no one can resist her or escape her reach. However, the very hunger that constructed her empire may one day become its undoing.

Power, however, comes with vulnerabilities. Past subjects carry scars, her brother Noah harbors knowledge she presumed was buried, and Silas, a colleague at her company, is beginning to unravel her concealed schemes. With each new revelation, Adrienne becomes more entrenched in her conviction that her grip cannot be broken.

She sought to create an obsession.
She yearned for them to obsess over her.
Yet obsession is complex—and her relentless pursuit of power may ultimately spell her downfall.

Branded as the weakest Omega of the Silver Moon Pack, Lila's life shatters the night her fated mate rejects her for duty and she is exiled for a mysterious pregnancy she cannot explain. In exile, she discovers the devastating truth: she carries the ancient blood of the Moon Goddess, making her one of the most powerful werewolves in existence. Forged into a fierce warrior while raising her gifted twins, Lila returns with vengeance in her heart—only to find her former pack on the brink of ruin.
Now, a greater threat emerges.
Ruthless Alpha King Dante Blackwood sets his sights on Lila, demanding to claim her by force and crushing anyone who dares to resist him. At the same time, the pack that once cast her out is collapsing under the weight of war, and the mate who abandoned her begins to regret his choice.
Hunted, desired, and feared, Lila is forced back into a world that never wanted her—this time carrying power no one can control.
The question is no longer whether she will submit.
It is what will be left of the werewolf world if she doesn't.

In the aftermath of a heart-wrenching betrayal, Clara Beaufort resolves to take control of her own destiny. Walking in on her boyfriend entangled with his secretary shattered her trust in men. Determined to build a future on her own terms, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery—one that leads her to a startling realization.

Alaric Moonblood, a powerful and enigmatic figure, has been marked by the agony of an unmated existence for two long decades. The madness that lurks within the unmated threatens to consume him entirely, driving him to the edge of his own sanity. Little does he know that the moon goddess herself has woven their fates together, their destinies intrinsically linked since time immemorial.

United by the unseen forces of the moon, Clara and Alaric find themselves entangled in a cosmic dance of intertwined destinies. But can they come to terms with the weight of this profound connection, forged long before their paths crossed? Can Clara embrace the idea of bearing her child without a man involved, and can Alaric relinquish the solitude that has defined his existence?

As their individual struggles converge, Clara and Alaric are propelled into a world where love, destiny, and untamed desires collide. The power of the moon goddess binds them, compelling them to confront their deepest fears, embrace their shared fate, and rewrite the very rules of their existence.

In a tale that traverses the boundaries of passion, vulnerability, and self-discovery, Clara and Alaric must navigate the tumultuous journey towards acceptance and love. Will they find solace in each other's arms and fulfill the destiny that awaits them, or will the weight of their respective pasts tear them apart before they can grasp the eternity that destiny has bestowed upon them?

All her life, Caroline used to believe werewolves are fantasy creatures. Not until her 18th birthday was Caroline told that she was adopted and to make her feel worse, she was adopted into a werewolf family. More importantly, she was her stepbrother's Mate and her stepbrother is an Alpha. Just when Caroline was blending into the situation, she was found by a man who told her he is her real cousin.
She was also told her identity as a Lycan- werewolf's most hated enemy and the only way to live is to escape.
What happens after Cara found out that her mate's grandfather is the one that murdered her parents? Although her mate is one of the leaders in the academy, what if other leaders did not accept Lycans? Will Caroline run from the academy or will she fight against them to be with her mate?

Tiana Earhart thought she’d already survived heartbreak.
She was wrong.

Married young to the ruthless Alpha of Rivermist Pack, she believed love was her destiny—until the night she caught him in bed with his true mate… and learned he’d been drugging her to keep her barren.
Betrayed... shattered. More heartbreak erupted when her husband traded her like property to seal a pack alliance, Tiana ran—straight into the path of three men who would change her life forever.

The Madison triplets.
Ezra — the dangerous Alpha who owns the city’s underground empire.
Ethan — the cold-eyed CEO who hides his pain behind logic and steel.
Ezekiel — the wild Lycan outlaw with a taste for chaos.

They were brothers bound by blood… until they met her.
To Ezra, she’s a temptation he can’t control.
To Ethan, she’s the mate he swore to reject.
To Ezekiel, she’s the only thing worth breaking every law for.

But loving one Madison is dangerous.
Loving all three could destroy her.

When old enemies rise and dark secrets resurface, Tiana will have to choose between guilt and desire, revenge and redemption—
…or risk losing not just her heart, but the supernatural bond that ties them all together.

Sara Chen never wanted to be Luna but when her manipulative stepsister forces her into Alpha Ronan's brutal mate selection, everything changes and Sara's life takes a turn when she is stripped of her wolf and Alpha Ronan declares her his mate only for Sara to discover his true mate is her own sister Carla. Trapped in a nightmare marriage and pregnant with either Ronan's child or her cheating ex-fiancé's, Sara flees for her life. Five years later, she has built a new life as a healer with her twin sons but when fate brings her face to face with Ronan again, her carefully constructed world shatters. As war threatens between packs and a dying confession reveals a devastating truth Ronan must fight not just to keep his mate and children, but to prove his love is real before his past abuse destroys his chance with the family he never knew he needed.

I never meant to betray my sister. But from the moment Adrian's dark, smoldering gaze met mine, he became my secret addiction. His touch sets me on fire, his possessiveness borders on obsession. And despite him being my sister's boyfriend, I'm powerless to stop.

Then there's Alexander. The charming guy I met on campus. He's everything Adrian isn't. He's sweet, kind, safe, and he makes no secret of how much he wants me.

With one boy, I'm breaking all the rules. With the other, I'm denying all my desires. But now I'm trapped between one love I can't have and another love I can't resist.

Wasn't I good in bed? Didn't I spoil you enough? What the hell did those fuckers give you that I couldn't?" My husband, Dean, yells at me for the very first time, gripping my hand and when I look into his eyes, I see how much he's hurting, how much he believed all the lies, how much he's not willing to listen.

"I'd never do that to you, Dean. I love you, please believe me," tears streamed down my face as I pleaded with him.

"You're meant for the streets Bella, and that's where you'd always be,"

And just like that my once perfect marriage hits the rock edge in a twinkle of an eye.

A stripper, an exotic dancer but none of that mattered to Dean, he promised to love me and he kept to his words, not until this day.

And even worse, he used my past against me, something he swore never to do..


Ethan Fernandez, is a notorious casanova and unlike his friend, he never commits to any woman until his path crosses with Ivy, the formidable lawyer and the last person that gives a fuck about men and their shenanigans.

Now, the player becomes the played as his life takes an unexpected turn with the walking temptation that lurks in the form of Ivy Reynolds.

I only meant to kiss a stranger to make my ex-fiancé jealous.
One daring moment in the heart of the pit; the roar of the crowd echoing off the steel, adrenaline pumping, and my heart pounding, I kissed the most dangerously gorgeous man I’d ever seen.
I didn’t know he was the Don to the most feared mafia group in the city.
I didn’t know he was being hunted.
And I definitely didn’t know I was his perfect alibi.
Now I’m tangled in a cruel world filled with secrets with the man who claims I belong to him. But there’s something Nikolai Moretti doesn’t know; I’m not just some pit-side whore fling. I’m his salvation…. and his damnation.

“He showed up for his sister’s wedding. He left wearing the dress.”

When Liam LaRosa returns to New York, he expects his sister's wedding, not his wedding. But after his twin sister takes her own life hours before her forced mafia wedding, Liam is given an impossible ultimatum: take her place at the altar… or watch his family fall.

Now bound to Donatello Moranno, the city’s most feared mafia boss, Liam becomes a pawn in a bloodstained game of power, loyalty, and twisted desire. But what starts as survival turns into something far more dangerous.

Because Donatello isn’t just the devil in a tailored suit. He’s the man Liam can’t stop thinking about.
And in a world where love is a liability… falling for the enemy might be a death sentence.

"I'm all yours, take me," she whispered, running her finger all over the bare part of the chest, and sealing her fate with that one word.

"Once you become mine, you are mine alone!" He whispered the warning.


On that forbidden night of her eighteenth birthday, Eleanora's bond linked her to the one man she wished ill upon, the same man that had taken her innocence and disappeared without a word, the ruthless Alpha Alaric; worse still, he was the older brother to the man she secretly desired.

Torn between two brothers, one who owns her soul yet forbids her touch and the other whose forbidden touch she yearns for, Eleanora realises that there is more to her mate mark than just a claim.

She was not just a target but prey hunted by both brothers for far darker motives.

In a bid to change her fate, she journeys farther into a perilous territory; doom is now inevitable.

“If our marriage were already claimed before the whole pack, I would make sure your ex-mate was watching as I make you moan my name, showing him the male who can take you past the moon… and make you beg for more until your voice breaks, Elena,” he whispered slowly.

"But… we should stop before someone walks in and sees us like this," Elena murmured, as she pressed back against him.


Elena Monroe once poured her entire soul into helping her mate, Drake Hamilton, the proud Beta of the Crescent Moon Pack, to remember the bond they shared before the accident stole his memories. Instead of returning to her, Drake chose Cassandra Travers, a glittering celebrity with a noble name and a perfect smile.

Then everything exploded.

At Drake's birthday party, Elena faced allegations of drugging and sleeping with him. Humiliated and mocked in front of the whole pack, she was on the brink of disaster when her protector, the male everyone believed was her guardian, pulled her away from the chaos.

The mate bond was cut, and Elena walked away in pieces.

But loss followed her. Two of the people she loved most were taken from her by her ex-mate and his family while she fought to clear her name.

Sorrow transformed into rage.

A reckless night with the man she previously referred to as her guardian sparked an illicit fire neither could extinguish.

Now hidden in a city far from her pack, she is no longer the broken omega they underestimated. She is ready to reclaim her life—and destroy those who dared to ruin it.

But when her ex-mate's memories finally come back, Elena finds herself torn between revenge and a love she ought to avoid.

And this time, her children’s lives hang in the balance.

She lost her child, her womb, and the man she thought was her forever.

After years of miscarriages, Elara finally agrees to let her best friend carry her baby, only to discover that her husband has been sleeping with the surrogate and plotting her death. The final betrayal shatters her, until she uncovers one thing that changes everything: he only married her for her wealth, and now plans to steal it all.

But Elara isn’t as helpless as he thinks. Beneath her gentle exterior lies the secret identity of a powerful heiress, and when her husband’s disgraced father returns from prison seeking revenge of his own, their fates collide.

Two broken souls. One shared enemy.
And a burning desire for vengeance that might just turn into something far more dangerous.

"Nancy has returned. I'll have my secretary prepare the divorce settlement."

Andrew Lopez, the superstar and my secret contract husband of three years, buttoned his shirt coldly. For three years, I was his perfect, obedient wife in the shadows. I fulfilled his every need and never caused a single scandal. But the moment his first love returned, I became entirely disposable.

"Very well, I will sign it," I smiled, understanding my place.

I packed my bags and prepared to step aside. But the script didn't go as he planned. When his "innocent" first love tried to bully and humiliate me, I refused to be a pushover, tearing off her fake mask. And when my handsome former classmate showed up to protect me, Andrew completely lost his mind.

He pinned me against the wall, his eyes burning with intense jealousy. "You're still my wife! Stay away from him."

I let out a cold laugh. "We're getting divorced, remember? You chose your true love. Now, watch me shine and live my best life without you."

Is a stay-at-home wife just a maid in her marriage?

I say: Absolutely not.

I worked late just to buy my daughter a birthday cake.
But when I got home, I accidentally heard her on the phone with another woman.

She was ashamed of me, called me a maid, and begged that woman to act as her family member at the parent-teacher conference.

Later I found out my husband had been with that woman all along.
Hidden inside my daughter’s watch was a small group chat with just the three of them.

My own daughter said she hated me and planned to drive me away.
And my husband let it all happen.

My heart was completely broken.
On my birthday, I signed the divorce papers and left home quietly.

After leaving, I discovered a much bigger world and achieved my dreams.

But their lives fell completely apart.

She stole from the wrong billionaire. Now she's his most valuable prize.

Half-fae thief Vesper thought she'd pulled off the heist of a lifetime—until she discovered her mark was a dragon in disguise. Draken, the ruthless CEO who rules Las Vegas with an iron fist and a hoard of gold, doesn't forgive. He doesn't forget. And he never lets go of what's his.

One stolen memento. One impossible connection. One soul-bond that neither of them wanted.

Now she's caught between vampire syndicates, dragon-hunters, and a possessive billionaire who claims her as his fated mate. But none of them saw it coming: her half-fae bloodline wasn't a weakness—it was the perfect vessel for primordial dragon magic, a power no mortal was ever meant to wield.

Now she can see through any lie, bend probability at the casino tables, and challenge the immortal elite who've ruled Vegas for centuries. In a city where money is god and magic is currency, Vesper must master these stolen abilities before her enemies weaponize her gifts—or before Draken's obsession consumes them both.

Everyone thinks I'm the wild child of the family, the one who won't fall in line.

Blake's the young king of the business world—rational, cold, always in those perfectly cut suits.

But every night, he's got me pinned underneath him, breathing my name.

He said I was his, but never let me see daylight. Until she came back—my father's mistress's daughter, in her white dress, smiling like an angel.

On my birthday, he went to pick her up from the airport. When the chandelier crashed down, he carried her to the hospital and left me bleeding on the floor. When she smashed my mother's heirloom, he made me apologize on my knees. He said she was fragile, needed care; said I was strong enough to understand.

Then I heard them on my bed, her moaning his name.

So I left. Married a man who truly loved me. And he went insane.

He kidnapped me, forced a wedding, announced to the world I was his wife.

But this time, I just smiled and shook my head.

"Let go. It's too late."

I used to be the Blackwells' best killer. For him, I walked away from that life and became his wife. I even gave him a daughter.

I thought it was redemption. Turns out, it was the start of something worse.

Three years ago, during that shootout at the docks, his first love showed up with his bastard son. When the rival family put guns to both kids' heads, he didn't hesitate. He chose to save her son.

My daughter burned in the explosion.

That was the day the man I loved for ten years died. What's left is just my sworn enemy.

At the Met Gala, I heard my husband tell his friends in French that I'm "boring." That his 22-year-old girlfriend is "so much more exciting in bed."

He laughed when they asked if I knew. "Elle ne comprend même pas 'bonjour'." (She doesn't even understand 'bonjour'.)

What Marcus doesn't know: I spent two years at the Sorbonne.

Je comprends tout, Marcus. I understand everything.

The diamond necklace he gave me after my miscarriage suddenly feels too tight. I smile at him across the champagne and candlelight.

He has no idea what's coming.

Everyone says he loved me more than anything. So I chose to answer that love with death.

Forbes cover stories, tearful speeches at charity galas, shutting down Fifth Avenue every Valentine's Day just to watch fireworks with me. They said he ruled a business empire but would kneel in front of the entire world and call me his reason to live.

I used to believe it.

Until I discovered my perfect husband had built another home with another woman. A warm one, filled with laughter and his child.

So I chose to disappear the night the storm swallowed everything.

They say he spent three days on his knees at the cliff's edge, screaming my name into the black ocean. The man worth billions couldn't even find his wife's body.

When the rescue team recovered that burned-out car, he finally opened the safe I'd left for him. Inside was a positive pregnancy test and a divorce agreement that would never be signed.

By then, nothing mattered anymore.

At the bar, I watched Ethan get publicly dumped and made a crazy proposal fueled by liquid courage—a three-month fake dating contract.

I thought this was my only chance after twenty years of secret crushing. Until his ex showed me the text: "With Mia? Pretty convenient. She's been following me around since we were kids."

So I was just a tool.

The day we broke up, he shouted with red eyes: "I've been crazy about you for twenty years!" I thought he was acting, until his mom handed me a worn journal—

That careless comment I made at thirteen, "I'm never marrying Ethan," he'd remembered for twenty whole years.

Every page of that diary was filled with my name...

Every time my husband wants to make me give in, he slaps divorce papers on the table. Every time my parents want me to cave, they threaten to disown me.

What they want is simple: give everything to my twin sister.

I used to fight back. I cried. I demanded to know why it always had to be me.

But when the doctor slides the test results across his desk and tells me in that pitying voice, "Stage four brain cancer. You have a month, maybe less," something in me just... stops caring.

I'm dying anyway. They can do whatever the hell they want.

Three years after returning to the Duke's estate, I finally admit the truth: the phoenix I poured my heart into raising doesn't love me. He only spreads his brilliant tail feathers for the replacement.

I was six when traffickers took me, stuck in the slums for twenty years. A year after losing me, the Duke and Duchess adopted an infant from the church.

That girl became the new daughter, enjoying everything that should have been mine.

When they found me at twenty-six, my parents looked at me with guilt, yes, but mostly like I was a stranger. They loved the daughter they raised more.

I don't blame them.

Twenty years in the slums taught me: don't count on anyone's love. Only power and gold won't betray you.

So when he refused me for the third time, I went to the black market auction and bought a battered wolf slave.

The phoenix finally panicked, feathers flaring, voice shaking:

"Master, you promised you'd only keep one magical beast..."

Ethan and I grew up together. We were supposed to exchange rings at the altar, make our vows. But on our wedding day, he left me standing there to go save his so-called suicidal ex. Almost killed my parents from the shame.

Four years later, I'm back in Portland with my husband. The city isn't that big, and of course fate decides to throw him in my path again.

He has the nerve to ask me to be his mistress.

I hold up my left hand, the ring catching the light. "Are you blind?"

The day I get diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, I can finally stop selling plasma.

For five years, I thought I was paying for the fire that killed my parents and son, left my brother disabled. Selling plasma, joining drug trials, doing the worst jobs imaginable, all to pay back a debt that wasn't even real.

The doctor says I have a few weeks left. I clutch the diagnosis report and head home to tell them.

The moment I push open the door, I see my parents in the kitchen, the ones who supposedly died in the fire. My brother, who was supposed to be in a wheelchair, stands there raising a glass, laughing with my husband.

My brother shrugs like it's nothing. "The broken leg was fake the whole time. You were the only one hurt in the fire. We just wanted to teach you a lesson, make you appreciate things."

"We were going to tell you eventually." My husband pats my shoulder. "Go apologize to Vanessa. Stop giving her a hard time."

"All the money you gave us went to Vanessa," Dad says. "That's what you get for throwing your bio-daughter status in her face."

I touch the diagnosis in my pocket. Everything was a lie. The only truth is that I'm dying.

The first thing I do with my second chance is sell off my perfect fiancé for ten million dollars.

The first time around, I became someone else for Julian Whitmore.

He likes nude-toned dresses. Hates when I wear anything with color. He won't let me have more than one glass of champagne in public. Won't let me laugh too loud. Won't let me initiate anything in bed.

His voice is always so calm, like he's correcting a disobedient pet.

I spend three years turning myself into what he wants: docile, proper, flawless. Until depression drags me under. Until that night I lay in the bathtub and watched the water turn red.

When I die, he's still downstairs in his study, editing my speech for tomorrow's charity gala.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in the Winters' living room with that unsigned arrangement in front of me.

This time? Fuck perfect.

But when he lifts that veil at the wedding and realizes the bride isn't me, this man who's spent his whole life in control completely loses it.

The night the team wins again, the roar inside the arena could raise the roof.

On the ice, the captain has his arm around the new cheer captain, spinning her under the lights. His skates cut clean lines across the ice. Teammates whistle and shout, someone yells "ask her out!", someone else films on their phone. Everyone waits for me to show up and make a scene. Cry, stumble onto the ice, drop to my knees and beg him to come back. Pathetic, like every time before.

But no one knows I'm in the back of the locker room right now, pressed against a cold metal locker.

The quiet backup player has his hand on the back of my neck, his voice barely steady. "You sure about this?"

I push up on my toes and kiss him first.

Three months ago, I was kidnapped. When Alexander rescued me, I woke up in a hospital bed with my clothes disheveled and bruises covering my body. What happened during those hours? I don't remember any of it.

A week ago, I found out I was pregnant. He held me as I shook and told me that it wasn't my fault. That he failed to protect me. Even if the baby wasn't his, he'd raise it. He'd still give me the perfect wedding.

But the guilt ate me alive until depression took hold.

Every night, sleep stays out of reach. Nightmares find me the moment I close my eyes. I've tried to end it. Three times now. Each time, someone found me just in time.

After the third failed attempt, I make tea and head toward his study to apologize. Voices drift through the door before I reach it.

"Are you out of your mind? Evelyn's your fiancée!" His friend sounds disbelieving. "You actually hired someone to kidnap her? Made her think she was assaulted? Just so Lily could take her place? Do you know how messed up that is? What that does to someone?"

Alexander's voice comes out calm. "Lily got sick because of me. Her dying wish is to marry me once before she goes. If I didn't push Evelyn out of the picture, her father would never let Lily take her place."

All those nights. All those nightmares. All those times I scrubbed my hands raw until they bled. It was all a lie. A setup.

For another woman.

I pull out my phone and call my father.

"Dad. I'll agree to the arrangement."

Being born a Moretti daughter means one thing: the family owns you.

In my past life, Vivian thought she had what it took. She promised Dad she could handle it, swore up and down she'd make him proud. Six months later, she'd burned through three generations of work and left us with nothing but an empty shell. Our enemies found her eventually. Broke both her legs.

And me? I married Marco Rossi.

Everyone envied me for marrying into one of the most powerful families in the city. What they didn't know was that I was his prisoner. He used me, turned my family's connections into stepping stones for himself, spent my money on his mistresses, used my body as a bargaining chip at his deals.

In the end, Vivian killed me. Jealous of my "perfect life," she dragged herself over on those broken legs and put a bullet in me.

When I open my eyes again, I'm sitting in Dad's study.

The door slams open. Vivian bursts in, cutting me off before I can speak. "Dad! I'm marrying Marco Rossi! Give the family to Sienna!"

I look at her and smile.

This time, I'm going to survive. And I'm going to do a hell of a lot better than just survive.

In my past life, we were camping in the wilderness area of a state park when my best friend handed out "lucky charms" to the whole group. Charms she'd secretly packed full of wildlife attractant.

A wild boar knocked me to the ground outside the cabin door. Its tusks tore into my stomach. I pounded on the wood with both fists, screaming. "Help! Open the door!"

Inside were my boyfriend of two years and the best friend I'd been quietly supporting for just as long. Autumn Warren.

"I'm so sorry, Brynn." Autumn's voice broke into sobs, but her weight stayed pressed hard against the door. "There are boars everywhere. We open that door, we're all dead."

"Just hold on! I'm calling 911!" Wyatt Fletcher's voice rang out with the kind of conviction that cost him absolutely nothing.

I paid for that trip. I'd fallen behind because I'd stopped to pull Autumn along.

And they stood on the other side of that door, my blood soaking into the dirt, and locked me out.

I open my eyes. I'm back. It's the day we left.

For the top university in the North American wolf packs, transfer students aren't exactly breaking news. But this one sets the entire forum on fire.

It starts with a photo. A girl standing next to a tall, imposing man. Both faces are deliberately blurred, but that build, that presence... every wolf in North America recognizes it. The Alpha King. The caption reads: "Dad why'd you send me this 😭 I'm not ready to go public yet."

Minutes later, the post vanishes. But screenshots flood the forum.

"Moon Goddess above! Is that really the Alpha King?"

"The girl in the photo... could she be the royal princess no one's ever seen?"

The comments explode. Compliments flood in. Even my aloof boyfriend joins in.

Something feels off. I type out a comment: "The Alpha King keeps a low profile. His daughter should do the same. Posting photos like this... doesn't seem right."

Less than a minute later, the replies come.

"Who do you think you are to question her?"

"Can't stand seeing someone else do well, huh?"

My boyfriend chimes in too: "Quit it. You're embarrassing yourself."

I pick up my phone and dial a number. "Dad, since when do you have another daughter?"

The moment I gave up wasn't when I found out my husband was cheating. It was when I heard my ten-year-old daughter laugh into the phone and say, "Mom's so clueless. She has no idea about Dad and Summer."

Ten years ago, I was a top biomedical researcher, making six figures. I gave it all up for his promotion and our newborn daughter. Ten years later, the perfect marriage I traded my career and youth for turned out to be nothing but an elaborate lie.

He called me his safe haven, then got in our bed with his mistress and discussed how to keep me in the dark.

This time, I'm not going to cry or make a scene. I'm going to quietly gather my evidence and call the lab director I've turned down seven times.

The fake heiress and I died twice fighting over the same thing—which of us would get adopted by that wealthy couple.

The first time, I got the necklace. I became their daughter. I thought I'd finally have everything I'd ever wanted. Three months later, they drowned me in the bathtub.

William's voice still echoes in my head. "This is your fault! If we'd taken Chloe instead, she'd still be alive!"

The second time, I gave Chloe the necklace. Let her have the good life. I thought that would keep me safe.

Five years later, Chloe turned up dead in their mansion. The Harringtons called the cops on me. They said I broke in and killed her out of jealousy. I died in prison, broken and tortured. The last thing I heard was Catherine's voice through the visiting room glass, cold as ice. "You belong in the gutter."

The third time, I open my eyes again.

I watch the couple smile at us, all warmth and kindness, and one question burns in my mind. Which daughter do they actually want?

Marlowe Crane is my best friend, and she's also a succubus.

She was born with this power that makes men lose their minds, but she always told me she only wanted to use her "gift" to protect me.

So every time I dated someone, she'd volunteer to "test" him.

Without fail, every single man fell at her feet.

She'd send me photos of them in bed together. "See, Rosie? They're all trash. Lucky I caught them for you."

After breaking up more times than I can count, I had a breakdown and moved from Boston to Los Angeles.

That's where I met Holden Kingsley. I thought the nightmare was finally over.

On my wedding day, Marlowe showed up in my dressing room with a glass of drugged water.

In my past life, I drank it and passed out. She stripped off my wedding dress, put it on herself, and climbed into Holden's bed.

Someone threw cold water on my face to wake me up. When I walked in with the bridesmaids, I caught them tangled up together.

I lost it. Screamed and cried and called the police right there.

And what happened?

Holden didn't feel guilty at all. He acted like I was the bad guy, like I'd ruined Marlowe's life.

Under Marlowe's succubus influence, he believed she was innocent, that I forced her into it.

After that, my marriage became a living hell.

Now I'm back, standing in front of the mirror, staring at that drugged glass of water in my hand.

This time, they're the ones going to hell.

Everyone knew Ethan Blackwood and I were Professor Richard Hartwell's two proudest students. From childhood easels to Columbia studios, inseparable for over a decade.

Everyone assumed we'd get married, stand together on the Pritzker stage someday. Until he fell in love with Sophia Crane, daughter of our mentor's academic rival.

I let him go. Love isn't something I can design.

But I never thought he'd destroy our mentor's entire life for her.

Five years later, he's back in New York riding high on his success, excited to "make amends" with Professor Hartwell.

I laugh.

Go ahead, Ethan Blackwood. You'll spend the rest of your life searching.

At a late-night party, when the bottle spins to my boyfriend Tyler, he picks dare.

"Kiss anyone here except your girlfriend," the host announces with a smirk.

Tyler barely hesitates. He walks straight to my best friend Sienna and kisses her for a full seven seconds in front of everyone.

When he comes back, he leans close to my ear. "Don't sweat it, we'll have fun when we get home."

When it's my turn, I choose truth. "Tell us a secret nobody knows."

I look around at all these drunk college kids, then say calmly, "I killed someone."

I'm a figure skating prodigy from one of the wealthiest families in the country. I'm also an idiot.

I believed that if I was kind enough, people would be kind in return. So I sponsored Haley Dunning, a scholarship skater on our team, and treated her like my own little sister.

The day before the NCAA qualifier, she came up to me with a sports drink, said she wanted to help keep my energy up.

I drank it. Went down on the ice with a broken leg. Drug test came back positive for banned stimulants.

Overnight, I went from the queen of the rink to the face of a scandal no one could stop talking about.

Expelled from school. Torn apart on social media. Calloway Corporation's stock in freefall.

Haley stood in front of the cameras, tears in her eyes: "Piper just wanted to win so badly. I never thought she'd go this far..."

I fell into a depression. Couldn't sleep without medication.

Then one day, she showed up at my hospital room with my boyfriend, bearing "comfort": a cup of water and a few pills: "Piper, take your meds, okay? This is all my fault for being so stupid..."

Three minutes later, I'm coughing up blood, convulsing on the floor.

Right before I died, I caught the look on her face. That sweet, innocent face. A slow, vicious smile spreading across it.

She knocked over the pill bottle and started screaming: "I grabbed the wrong ones! I mixed up her antidepressants with some old person's heart meds! I'm so stupid!"

My boyfriend pulled her into his arms. Didn't even glance at me dying on the floor: "She meant well. Piper just had bad luck."

I was poisoned to death in that hospital room.

Then I opened my eyes, and it was the day before the qualifier.

Three years ago, I was in a car crash that killed both my parents and shattered my legs beyond repair. The doctors said I'd never walk again.

When I had nothing left, he appeared like some kind of savior. He paid for everything, brought me to his private research facility, took care of me.

He told me he loved me, broken body and all. We got married. He was perfect to me.

There was just one catch. His sister. Not even blood related, just some girl he grew up with. She had some rare blood disease, and turns out I had the exact blood type she needed. So I gave blood. Bone marrow too. Over and over.

I thought I owed him my life. For three years, I let them stick needles in me, drain whatever they needed. I thought that was love.

Until today, when I found a video on his phone from three years ago.

In the footage, one of his men reports back: "The crash was clean. Her parents are dead. Her legs are destroyed, just like you wanted."

His voice, cold as ice: "Good. As long as her blood keeps Cora alive, that's all that matters. She's got no one and nowhere to go. She'll have to stay."

The accident that killed my parents and destroyed my legs wasn't an accident at all. He planned it.

So I planned my own death. And when he saw my body, the man who dragged me into hell finally lost his mind.

"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."