Category: English

Six months after we broke up,my ex,Damian Blackwood,DM’d me a screenshot. It’s a photo I posted three minutes ago. A silhouette of me at a gallery opening,with the caption:[I miss you]. Before I could reply,my phone rang. It was him. I heard the muffled bass of a party in the background. Then came his voice—that damn lazy drawl,as controlling as ever. “So,you finally came to your senses? I hooked up with a model,so what? It’s not like I stopped loving you. This little tantrum of yours needs to end. Besides,compared to the girls around me,your quiet socialite type is honestly a little boring.” A text notification popped up—an address for a rooftop bar in Manhattan. His voice,slurring slightly,dropped to a command. “Thirty minutes.Get here,and we’ll pretend nothing ever happened.” I let out a soft,”Okay.” Then I hung up and blocked his number for good. Damian always forgot one thing. When a girl like me decided to move on… We actually moved on. We chose someone we could build a real life with. I honestly thought the call was another one of Damian’s late-night whims. But my best friend’s frantic call woke me up the next morning. She was hysterical about a limited-edition Aston Martin parked outside my building. I looked out my window. And there he was,leaning against the driver’s side door. That was when I fully woke up. He was serious. Six months apart,and he was standing there like nothing ever happened. A bag of croissants from the French patisserie I used to love was in his hand. He saw me,but didn’t ask why I’d ghosted him the night before. With a casual gesture,he opened the passenger door. It was a move straight out of our past. He motioned for me to get in,holding out the bag. “They’re still warm.” I did not take them. I just looked him straight in the eye. “Are you enjoying this,Damian?”

He paused,pulling a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. Smoke drifted from his lips as he exhaled. “Aurora,this little act of yours is getting boring.A little jealousy is one thing.This is pathetic.” He’d said those exact words the day I broke up with him. We were at his estate in the Hamptons. A model sauntered past me,wearing nothing but his dress shirt. Her skin was covered in fresh love bites. Damian stood by the pool,casually fixing his collar. Then I saw it. A bright red scratch snaking up his neck. I felt my blood turn to ice. “Why?”My voice was a trembling whisper. He barely glanced up,his tone infuriatingly light. “Oh,her?A friend brought her over.She was fun,so I kept her around.” His casual dismissal… It was as if they’d spent the night discussing philosophy. He frowned when he saw my eyes glistening with tears. “In our circle,this is just how things are.Life’s too long to be tied to one woman,Aurora.It’s boring.Besides,you’re my girlfriend,you don’t own me.A little attitude is one thing.This is embarrassing.” I opened my mouth,ready to scream. But the accusations got stuck in my throat. All that came out was a shaky,”We’re over.”

He leaned against the bar,silent for a long moment. Then his voice dropped to a low warning. “What set you apart was that you were smart and classy.Don’t lose that now.” It hit me. In Damian Blackwood’s world,I was no different. I was just a diversion,a toy to pass the time. He’d shower me with affection when he was interested,and discard me the second he found someone new. After we broke up,he dived right back into the party scene. A new girl on his arm every other week. My leaving meant nothing to him. I was a wreck for months,lost in a spiral of self-doubt. It took everything I had to claw my way out of that darkness. I didn’t care what Damian wanted from me now. I just knew I wasn’t getting roped into his comeback tour. “Step aside,Damian.Or I’m calling the cops for harassment.” He crushed his cigarette and closed the distance between us. The faint scent of another woman’s perfume clung to him. I tried to step back,but his hand shot out and clamped around my wrist. “Harassment?That post yesterday was obviously bait for me.Now you’re playing the saint?Is this some new trick?” He always did this—ignoring my anger. He was convinced I was playing hard to get. “Look,I know you don’t have a new boyfriend,and I happen to be single.So why not get back together?” Oh. So he was bored again and decided to dig up his old favorite toy. His dark eyes locked onto mine. “This time,I’ll let you be my girlfriend again.And I promise,for the next three months,I won’t see anyone else.” The offer was delivered like some grand act of charity. In his mind,I was supposed to fall at his feet,grateful for the crumbs. His long fingers stroked my wrist. I ripped my hand away. My eyes met his. “Damian.I’m getting married.”

“Married?” Damian acted like I’d just told the funniest joke in the world. He bent down,his fingertips tracing a teasing line along my jaw. “It’s been a while.I thought you’d finally come around.Why kill the mood with all this boring marriage talk?Who are you marrying?Because I have no plans to propose.” Of course I knew that. He’d made that clear when he staged the scene to humiliate me. After five solid years,I thought we were finally ready. I was going to introduce him to my parents,to start planning our future. Instead,at our own anniversary party,I walked in on him with another woman. I ran from the Hamptons villa,stumbling onto the dark coastal road. My ankle twisted,a sharp pain shooting up my leg. As I waited for my friend to pick me up,I heard Damian talking to his business partners. “Damian,wasn’t that too cruel?”his partner asked. Damian just sounded casual,unbothered. “I overheard her on the phone with her sister.Said the‘time was right’to meet her parents.I’m not getting tied down.This was a way to get her to back off.I’m too young to be chained to one woman.” His friend snickered. “What if she’s for real this time?What if she actually leaves you?”

A confident smirk played on Damian’s lips. “She was with me for five years.She can’t leave me.Give her a month,tops.She’ll come crawling back,begging.Just watch.” That’s when it all clicked. He had heard my call. Instead of talking to me,he chose the cruelest way to cheat. All to avoid a conversation about our future.Or,god forbid,marriage. His phone rang,snapping me back to the present. Damian answered,and a sugary-sweet voice cooed from the other end. “Damian,you promised you’d make it up to me for our breakup.I’ve decided what I want.Can you come now?” Her voice caught in a fake,pathetic sob as she spoke. “We’re done.Don’t contact me again.” He probably didn’t even realize it,but his voice softened. I knew that tone. It was the same one he always used to calm me down. After hanging up,he deliberately flashed the phone in my direction. “See?I cut everyone off for you.” He shoved a cold croissant into my hands. “From now on,my world is just you.I’m giving up a lot to be here with you.” I dropped the pastry bag into the nearest trash can. I took out a wipe and scrubbed the spot on my wrist he had touched. “Who cares?Listen,we are not getting back together.” His face darkened.”Fine.You want to be ungrateful?” He immediately dialed the model back. “Address.I’m on my way.” His eyes stayed locked on my face,seeking a reaction. When he got nothing,he hung up and slid into his car. “Have it your way.You’re going to regret this.” Regret it? Never.

After he left,I took a cab to the office. I had to request my a from my boss. The wedding leave alone wasn’t enough for the honeymoon. He approved it right away. The next morning,the bridal boutique called about my final makeup trial. The moment I walked in,I ran straight into Damian. He froze for a second when he saw me. Then that lazy,arrogant smirk spread across his face. “Still chasing me,even after you said no?” I didn’t say a word. The bridal consultant beside me spoke up. “Mr.Blackwood,this client is here for her wedding day makeup trial.” The smirk on Damian’s face vanished. His hand almost twitched,as if to reach out. Then a sharp voice cut through the air from behind him. “Wow,interesting,Aurora.Heard Damian and I were here taking wedding photos,so you rushed over?And with such a pathetic excuse.” A model named Tiffany latched onto Damian’s arm,rolling her eyes at me. “I’ve never seen someone so desperate to marry rich.There isn’t even a ring on your finger,and you’re already here marking your territory?” A few of Damian’s rich friends snickered. “Oh,this is nothing.You have no idea what she’s capable of.” “She’s a total stage-five clinger.Impossible to shake off.Poor Damian was terrified.It took him forever to finally get away from her.” Another one chimed in,laughing. “Seriously.It’s been six months since the breakup.All Damian has to do is look at her,and she comes running back like a lapdog.” A sharp slap cracked through the hall.

I shook the sting from my hand,glaring at him. “Watch your mouth.Or I’ll do it for you.” He stared,stunned,before his face twisted in fury. “You bitch!How dare you?!” “You’re just Damian’s used-up toy!I could ruin you in this city with a single call!” “You pathetic piece of…” “Enough!” Damian’s voice sliced through the air. He grabbed his friend’s arm before he could swing at me. The guy tried to argue,”Damian,I…” But Damian ignored him,his eyes locked on me,his brow furrowed. “Did you really have to make a scene?” I had no time for his drama. I turned to the staff.”Can you show me to the dressing room,please?” My fiancéwas still in Europe finishing up business. I had a million wedding details to handle and couldn’t waste time on this circus. The consultant quickly led me away. My custom gown,flown in from Paris,was waiting. After the makeup trial,I slipped into the dress to see the final look. But when the curtain was pulled back,Damian was there. Sitting alone on the sofa. The moment he saw me,his dark eyes lit up. “You look…incredible in that dress.” I turned my back on him,focusing on my reflection in the mirror. A second later,I was pulled into a familiar embrace. Damian’s arms locked around my waist. “You know,I’m suddenly thinking…Marrying you might not be a bad idea.”

His touch was revolting. I felt physically sick. But Damian was oblivious. He kept talking. “I just looked it up.We can get it done in two days.A big wedding is too much to plan,but we can go straight to City Hall.” Everything I had ever wanted from him… He was now tossing it at me like it was nothing. The thought made my stomach turn. Tiffany walked in,her eyes flashing with jealousy. “Aww.Looks like your little puppy-dog routine actually worked.” The man I’d slapped chimed in,his voice dripping with venom. “See?No shame gets you everywhere.Damian really has her well-trained.” Damian raised an eyebrow. He laced his fingers through mine,forcing my hand into his. “For the next three months,she’s the only woman you’ll see on my arm.So show some respect.” He acted like he was defending me. In reality,he was just making me look pathetic. I cut him off,my voice ice. “I have a fiancé.I am not marrying you.Have some self-respect.” The air in the room froze. Damian let out a sharp,bitter laugh. “A fiancé?Aurora,are you kidding?Enough with the tantrum.Who else but me would ever marry you?” His friend snickered. “This is priceless.She’s sloppy seconds,playing hard to get because Damian looked her way.” Tiffany looked down her nose at me,like she was offering charity. “Aurora,a word of advice,woman to woman?Quit while you’re ahead.”

She mocked me with her eyes. As if I should be grateful for Damian’s pathetic”generosity.” But I didn’t want his scraps. “If you like picking up trash,be my guest.Just leave me out of it.” Tiffany’s face flushed a deep crimson. Ignoring the fury on Damian’s face,I tore myself from his grip. There was no reasoning with them. My makeup trial was over,so I headed to the fitting room to change. When I came out,the gorgeous gown was a pile of shredded fabric on the floor. Tiffany stood there,holding a pair of scissors with a taunting smile. “Oops.Guess this cheap thing just falls apart if you breathe on it.” I was shaking with pure rage,staring at the ruin she’d made. My fiancéhad a top designer work on that dress for three months. A custom gown for me. She had destroyed it. Damian met my furious glare,then stepped in front of Tiffany to shield her. “It’s just a dress.I’ll pay you back for it,alright?” He grabbed a cheap,off-the-rack dress from a nearby rack. Then he shoved it into my arms. “Two days.Wear this to City Hall.” I stood frozen,clutching the cheap fabric,as they all walked away. A staff member approached me cautiously. “Miss Hayes,are you OK…?” I took a deep breath and turned to her. “Can you please get me a copy of the security footage from here?” They thought they could get away with this? Not a chance. Later,after they left,one of Damian’s friends asked him. “Damian,after all that,you really think she’ll show up and marry you?” Damian laughed,full of confidence. “I know Aurora.She acts tough,but she’s all talk.She could never stay mad at me.” “I’ll go pick her up myself in two days.She’ll come quietly.” All Damian could picture was how stunning I looked in that wedding dress. He suddenly decided that spending his life with me wasn’t a bad idea.

Watch👉 https://cps-front.novelix.live/app-api/ext/new/20260701CgyCHPRUYk 🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “Novelix” app 🔍 search for “ni086262”, and watch the full series ✨! #Novelix

The Covenant of the Scarlet Fang is absolute. At the Lunar Rite,the future Alpha must be chosen by the oracle to claim his Luna—bound by an eternal covenant. I loved Damien.We grew up together. For him,I poured every drop of my soul into my Moon-Bound Shard,praying for the bond to ignite. Seven years.Seven full moons. Every time,the Shard remained a cold,mocking void. Tonight was the eighth year. I stood in the shadows of the temple. A voice cut through the dark—low,urgent,unmistakably his mother’s. “Damien,you swore you’d marry Elara!” “Why did you use forbidden magic to mask her scent for seven years? You turned her Moon-Bound Shard into a lifeless stone! And you silently watched her weep—didn’t it break your heart?” The disappointment in her voice was impossible to miss. Damien let out a short,cold laugh. “Of course it hurts.But Lila is back from the Outlands.Her wolf-spirit is unstable. I promised to use my Alpha power to stabilize her for seven years. Besides,that fool won’t marry anyone else anyway. Next year,I’ll give her the grandest ceremony the pack has ever seen.” He tossed the stone into the cold brazier.It shattered. In the shadows,something in me quietly let go.Alaric,my grandfather,the High Elder,once told me:The Covenant only gives us eight chances. If the eighth oracle is destined to be blank…fine. I’ll just find another Alpha to marry. His voice floated back through the dark. “The sound of stone cracking is much more pleasant than your sobbing,don’t you think?” Damien was busy adjusting his silver-threaded cuffs,his eyes fixed on the temple doors. Outside,the moonlight was like liquid silver. The elite of the Scarlet Fang had gathered—a tide of low growls and proud silhouettes. The eighth Rite.My last chance. He brushed past me,heading straight for Lila. She stood in the middle of a cluster of high-ranking she-wolves. The moment she spotted Damien,she broke free and threw herself into his arms like a frightened fawn. “Damien!”Lila’s eyes were red.Her voice came out in a whimper. “They said I’m just a lowly Omega…they said I’m a sinner for standing between you and Lady Elara…” Damien furrowed his brow,his fierce Alpha presence sweeping the room before locking onto the whispering she-wolves.“Who dares question her?My will is the law of the Scarlet Fang—Lila is my honored guest.Anyone who causes her trouble will pay the price…with me.”He didn’t even spare me a glance.I waited for the familiar sting of tears.They never came. But I just watched him,my eyes as cold as the moon

A heavy silence swallowed the hall.The she-wolves’fur bristled with fear;their eyes pleaded as I emerged from the shadows. For seven years,I had been Damien’s rightful fiancée. I was the only noble-born she-wolf he ever tolerated by his side. Aside from the cursed Lunar Rite,he denied me nothing. They expected me to lash out at Lila,to leave marks of fury.At the very least,to shed tears.They thought I would cry and demand to know why he was protecting her—just like the last seven years. But this time,I simply brushed a speck of moon-dust from my gown. Taking a goblet of blood-red wine from a passing servant’s silver tray,I took a slow,deliberate sip. The icy liquid slid down my throat,extinguishing the last flicker of warmth I once held for him. “Lady Elara…are you just going to let this happen?” A wolf whispered tentatively. A smile touched my lips—cold as frost. “Let the future Alpha play the hero.Why would I get in the way?Besides,I’m far more curious whether the Moon Goddess has anything to say to me this year.” Damien went rigid. He snapped his head around to look at me,clearly blindsided. In the past,I would have already bared my fangs,sobbing and demanding Lila be banished from our lands. But tonight,I was as tranquil as a stranger passing through. A flash of irritation crossed his eyes. Releasing Lila,he closed the distance between us with long,aggressive strides. “Elara,what tantrum is this now?Lila’s got a fragile wolf spirit—she can’t handle any shock. You’re the heir to an ancient bloodline. So why not show some grace?”

I looked at the man I had loved for over a decade,and suddenly,he was nothing but a stranger. Seven years.Over two thousand five hundred days and nights. I hid my claws. I choked on ancient rules. All to be his perfect Luna. To ensure my Moon-Bound Shard would be chosen by the oracle,I had bribed the High Priest.I had groveled to his mother,the reigning Luna.I had bled myself dry. And for what? For him to tell me to show some grace. For my heart to lie shattered,nothing but ashes at the bottom of a cold brazier. “Damien.” I set my goblet down. The crystal clinked sharply against the stone table,the sound cutting through the heavy tension.”I’m not throwing a tantrum.I actually think you’re right.Miss Lila’s spirit is terribly delicate. She absolutely needs a powerful Alpha to stay by her side and heal her.” Damien froze. He stared intently into my eyes,searching desperately for a flicker of jealousy, a trace of wounded pride. But there was nothing.Only an endless frozen tundra. The realization that he was losing his grip on me sent a flicker of panic through his chest. He reached out to grab my wrist. “Fine.I’m glad you understand.Once tonight is over,next year—” “There is no next year.” I stepped back,easily dodging his grasp. My tone was as casual as if I were commenting on the moonlight. “The High Elder says the Covenant grants but eight chances. Tonight marks the eighth. If the oracle remains blank, our betrothal shall be void. Then,we are free to find our own paths.”

Damien scoffed as if he’d just heard a hilarious joke. “How many times are you going to play this same game,Elara?” “Three years ago,you said you’d go visit human cities—but you just stood at the border,howling and crying out for me.Two years ago,you demanded to break off our engagement. Then you stood outside all night in a blizzard,nearly freezing your wolf spirit. You really think you can leave me?” He was so sure of himself.So arrogant.He even looked at me with pity. To him,I was nothing more than a shadow.How could a shadow ever break away from the light? Beside him,Lila covered her mouth to hide a smirk.Her eyes mocked me. “Elara,I know you’re hurting.But Damien was only trying to help me—don’t say things like that just to get back at him.What if people take you seriously?What Alpha would ever come near you after that? Everyone in the North already knows you’d never settle for anyone but Damien.You’re already a laughingstock.” A laughingstock? She was right.For Damien,I had made myself a complete joke. I stared at Lila’s fake,innocent face. The words I had overheard at the temple door came back to me: “That fool won’t marry anyone else anyway.” To them,my devotion was sheer foolishness.My loyalty,nothing but weakness and worthlessness. “You worry too much,Miss Lila.” I tucked a strand of silver hair behind my ear.I smiled at her,gracious and unhurried. “My bloodline comes straight from the Moon Goddess. My family’s lands are vast and rich. Alphas who wanted to bond with me?They’d stretch from the Northern Peaks all the way to the Southern Coast.” “But you,Miss Lila…” My gaze dropped to her hands,still clinging weakly to Damien’s arm. “I heard you suffered in the Outlands for seven years. Is that why you’re still so frail?You can’t even stand without help? Should I call a Druid for you? Maybe we should drag you straight to the Cliff of Rest,just to check if your wolf spirit is dying?”

“You!”Lila’s face paled.Tears welled up in her eyes on cue,spilling down her cheeks. “Damien,look how she treats me…” Damien’s expression darkened. “Elara!You’ve crossed the line!Apologize to Lila!” “Apologize?” I raised an eyebrow. “For what?Because she’s the one you treasure above all else? Or because she’s a fragile Omega who needs everyone’s pity? Damien,did you forget?Tonight is my stage. Until the Moon Goddess’s blessing begins,I am still your official fiancée. What’s wrong with putting an outsider in her place?” Whispers broke out among the pack. The current Luna hurried over. Seeing the scene,she frowned deeply. “Stop this!Haven’t you embarrassed yourselves enough?” She shot Damien a sharp look,then turned to me with an unreadable look. “Elara,it’s almost time.Don’t let someone irrelevant cost you everything.” The Luna truly cared for me. She genuinely wanted me as her daughter-in-law to unite our powerful bloodlines. Too bad her precious son had destroyed it all with his own hands. Damien took a deep breath,suppressing his anger. He wrapped an arm around Lila’s shoulders and patted her comfortingly. Then he glared at me,his voice ice-cold. “Fine.If you want to play games,let’s begin. I can’t wait to see if you’re still this sharp-tongued when the oracle gives you nothing!” He turned and strode toward the high altar in the center of the temple. There sat the giant Moon Basin,filled with sacred spring water.My judgment stand. I watched him walk away.My gaze went cold. Damien,you think you control everything. You have no idea how swiftly the hunter becomes the hunted.

In the center of the temple,moonlight poured through the crystal dome. It cast a holy glow.Every wolf’s eyes locked onto the ancient Moon Basin. By tradition,the basin held hundreds of”Moon-Bound Shards”from eligible noble she-wolves.When the ritual began,the Alpha would reach into the basin,guided by the Moon Goddess to his destined mate’s shard. If chosen,they were fated mates,engaged on the spot. If not,their fate was delayed to the next year. For the past seven years,I had watched my shard drop into the basin with so much hope. And every time,Damien pulled out a dead stone. I had thought it was bad luck. I thought the Goddess was testing our love. Until today.Today I learned the truth. My shard was never in that basin. He had used forbidden magic to replace my shard with a dead stone— with his own hands. “Go on,Elara,”the Luna encouraged from below. “I had the High Priest read the stars.He said your destined mate will appear tonight. You will succeed.” Maybe.But those stars weren’t shining for Damien. I lifted my gown and walked up the steps. Damien stood by the basin.One hand in his pocket.Utterly arrogant. He looked at me like I was a pup throwing a tantrum. He leaned in,lowering his voice so only I could hear. “Elara,apologize to Lila now.If you do,I promise the Goddess will’choose’you next year. Actually,you won’t even have to wait that long.Be a good girl.Stop bullying Lila,and I might consider ending this boring game early.”

To him,my seven years of suffering meant nothing. My youth.My dignity.It was all just a game to him. A game he could pause whenever he felt like it. I stopped.I stood right in front of him. We were only inches apart,but a bottomless abyss lay between us. “Damien,”I said softly.”Do you really think you’re my only choice?” Damien froze for a second.Then,he laughed out loud. “Who else?” “What other Alpha could handle the terrible temper of your ancient bloodline? Besides the Crimson Fangs,what other pack is good enough to ally with your family? Accept your fate,Elara.You are destined to be my Luna.And mine alone.” He was so confident. He thought he held my weakness. He thought he could trample my boundaries forever. I dropped my gaze to hide my smirk. “Is that so?Then let’s see who really needs to accept their fate.” I took a deep breath.Slowly,I raised my right hand and plunged it into the freezing Moon Spring. My fingertips brushed against the icy Moon-Bound Shards.One.Two.Dozens. The temple was dead silent. Lila stood at the front of the pack.A winner’s smirk played on her lips. She knew my shard wasn’t in the basin. She was waiting for me to make a fool of myself. She wanted to watch me break down and cry in front of the entire pack. Damien casually looked away. He already knew the outcome.Or so he thought. I closed my eyes. Finally,my fingertips brushed against a stone. Its texture was unmistakably different. Before the ritual,during the crowd’s chaos,I had my loyal guard slip it in. It was my ultimate backup plan.My final way out. My eyes snapped open. With a flick of my wrist,I pulled the shard out of the water. “Alpha Heir,”I called out. I held the shard high.My voice rang clear and loud across the entire temple. “It seems your little guarantee has just expired.”

The smug indifference vanished from Damien’s face. His eyes darted to the shard in my hand. A flicker of confusion broke through his arrogant facade. Impossible.He had crushed my original Moon-Bound Shard with his own hands. He’d even used dark magic to mask my scent. To be absolutely sure,he had double-checked the sacred basin right before the ceremony began.There was no chance any stone in there would react to me. “What kind of stunt are you pulling with that fake rock,Elara?” He scoffed,reaching out to snatch the shard from my grip. “Stop making a scene.You’re embarrassing us in front of all the Northern packs.” “Whether it’s a fake or not,why don’t we let the Elder read the decree?” I stepped aside,dodging his hand. A fierce,untamed smile broke across my face—a smile he had never once seen in all seven years I had spent shrinking myself for him. “Since the Alpha Heir doesn’t believe me, I’ll ask a respected Elder to read the Goddess’s will.Alaric,would you do me the honor?Tell us which Alpha this rune points to.” Leaning on his bone staff,Alaric walked steadily onto the dais and took the shard. Under the moonlight,a complex crest began to glow on the stone’s surface. Alaric’s aged eyes widened. Suddenly,a booming,joyous laugh erupted from his chest. “Yes!Yes!The Moon Goddess has spoken!This is her true will!” Unease clawed at Damien’s chest. Forgetting all protocol,he lunged forward. “Elder,let me see that!” But Alaric snapped his hand shut over the stone. He turned to face the hundreds of elite wolves below. His ancient voice thundered across the sanctuary, “By the ancient pact and the guidance of the Moon Goddess, Elara has received her decree on her eighth blessing! She has found her fated mate!A destined match!”

Watch👉 https://cps-front.novelix.live/app-api/ext/new/20260701Ebv5EQddnU 🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “Novelix” app 🔍 search for “ni844477”, and watch the full series ✨! #Novelix

1 In my past life, I saved Finn, the golden boy of the city’s most powerful elite circle. He fell for me at first sight and married me in a lavish, heavily publicized wedding. But only after the wedding did I discover the horrifying truth. He was impotent, a twisted sadist who married me solely to conceal his dark secret from the high-society gossip columns. I was systematically tortured by him until my heart finally stopped. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the past, on the very day he brought a horde of reporters to my family’s doorstep to locate his mysterious savior. Before I could even slip away, my younger sister, Sienna, charged forward. She pointed a finger at me, shouting for everyone to hear. “Finn, don’t let her fool you! That night, Nora was partying at a club, drinking with several guys until the early hours of the morning. There’s no way she could have saved you!” “She’s trying to steal credit for my actions just so she can claw her way into your family and become your trophy wife!” I froze in utter shock, the paralyzing terror in my chest instantly dissolving into pure, unadulterated ecstasy. This was spectacular. Since I was supposedly partying that night, it meant I had never saved him. Which meant this psychopathic heir would have absolutely nothing to do with me in this lifetime. … In my past life, I had found Finn severely injured on the side of the road and rushed him to the emergency room. In his semi-conscious state, he pressed a luxury watch into my hand, telling me it was a token to find him. After he was discharged, he used the hospital records to locate me. Claiming to have fallen in love at first sight, he knelt and proposed to me in front of a crowd of reporters. I had been overjoyed to marry into such wealth, completely ignorant of his true nature. Only after the wedding did I realize he was impotent, deeply insecure, and highly unstable, taking his rage out on women behind closed doors. I died in absolute despair under his endless cruelty. Now that I was back, I only wanted to run as far away from him as possible. But before I could take a single step, Sienna blocked my path, confronting me fiercely in front of the cameras. “Nora, have you no shame?” She strode up to me, her voice dripping with venom. My heart sank, assuming she was about to expose my actual rescue of Finn. But before I could speak, she turned to Finn and threw a stack of photos onto the ground at my feet. “Finn, please don’t let her trick you! She was at a club the entire night, she never left!” I stared at the photos on the ground. They were highly realistic, showing me laughing and drinking at a crowded bar. The editing was so perfect that it was impossible to tell they were fakes, even though I had never stepped foot in a nightclub in my entire life. I frowned. “Sienna, what on earth are you talking about? I didn’t…” She cut me off with a sneer. “Stop acting! You’re just jealous that I’m the one who saved Finn. You stole the watch he gave me, trying to take my place and gold-dig your way into high society! Several people at the club saw you that night, and they’re all ready to testify!” As soon as she finished speaking, a few unfamiliar men stepped forward from the crowd, nodding in agreement. I stared at my smug little sister, a profound sense of absurdity washing over me. Was she actually saving my life, or was she just desperate to steal my misfortune? Finn watched me with a mocking, half-smile, his eyes completely cold. “Your name is Nora? You have decent looks, but did you really think you could play me by stealing Sienna’s credit? A woman like you doesn’t deserve to be my savior.” He turned to face the reporters, speaking with absolute authority. “I have personally verified that Sienna is my true savior. Her sister, Nora, is a deceitful opportunist who tried to steal her credit. She has absolutely nothing to do with me.” He then turned back to Sienna, his gaze softening into a look of deep affection as he dropped to one knee. “From the moment you saved me, I fell in love with you. Sienna, will you marry me?” Watching the two of them act out this ridiculous melodrama, my heart didn’t even skip a beat. Normally, anyone would be driven mad by such a betrayal, screaming and begging to prove their innocence. But not me. I was thrilled to let her have him, eager to sever all ties with this monster. Still, the sheer coldness of my family’s betrayal stung. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, my parents grabbed my arms, holding me back with bruising force. My father lowered his voice, his tone dripping with impatience and embarrassment. “Nora, you aren’t his savior. Stop lying to yourself. Trying to slander your sister at a time like this, have you no shame?” I wanted to say something, to give my sister one last chance to back out of this grave she was digging, but my mother yanked me away, dragging me to the very edge of the crowd. 2 Sienna stood beside Finn, her meticulously applied makeup catching the camera flashes. She looked at me like a victorious queen sneering at a beggar. “See? No one is going to listen to you,” she whispered in my ear, her voice dripping with malice. “I am the one marrying into the most powerful family in the city. Play nice and keep your mouth shut, or I’ll make sure you can’t survive in this town.” Ah, so she truly believed I had hit the jackpot in my last life and wanted to snatch my fortune. Well, who was I to deny her? The sheer joy bubbling up inside me was almost impossible to contain, but I forced my head down, hiding the massive grin threatening to split my face. When I finally looked up, I forced a look of desperate, wild fury onto my face. “This is a setup! Sienna, you claim I was throwing myself at men in a club that night instead of saving him? Where is your proof?” My face was flushed, and I trembled with theatrical rage. Sienna glanced at the media, a smug grin playing on her lips. “Proof? I have eyewitnesses.” The reporters and onlookers pressed closer, trapping me in the center. Two heavily styled strangers stepped out from the crowd, immediately grabbing my arms with dramatic distress. “Nora, you can’t just pretend we don’t exist!” I shoved them off. “I don’t even know who you are! Stop lying!” The two immediately burst into tears for the cameras. “How can you be so heartless? We spent the entire night together in that VIP booth. We did everything there is to do, and now you’re acting like we’re strangers!” Whispers broke out among the onlookers. “She looks so innocent, but she’s actually so wild.” “No wonder she tried to steal her sister’s fiancé. She’s just a social climber.” I took a deep breath, feigning desperate defense. “I drove Finn to the hospital myself that night. The security cameras must have caught my face. How could I have been at a club?” Sienna let out a soft laugh. “Oh, didn’t you know? The hospital’s security footage from that night has been completely erased.” “That’s impossible! Medical records are kept for years.” “If you don’t believe me, call them yourself,” Sienna challenged, crossing her arms. I quickly dialed the hospital’s reception, my voice shaking with realistic panic. “Hello, could you please check the security footage from a week ago?” “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we’ve had a massive system crash. All of our video archives from the past month have been completely wiped.” My fingers grew cold, but I pressed on. “What about the physical paperwork? There must be a registration sheet with my signature on it.” There was a brief pause on the line. “I’m so sorry, but there was a localized electrical fire in our records department a few days ago. The physical charts were destroyed.” As I hung up, Sienna’s smile widened. “See? No signatures, no footage. You have nothing.” “Even if the records are gone, the attending doctors and nurses can testify for me!” Sienna clapped her hands in mock amusement, signaling her assistant to bring out several documents. “Oh, I forgot to mention. The medical team you’re talking about? They’ve all resigned and left the city.” 3 Sienna let out a theatrical sigh. I turned my gaze toward my parents, the people I should have been able to trust most. They quickly looked away, unable to meet my eyes. Beautiful. Just beautiful. It wasn’t just my sister. Even my parents were in on the plot. I clenched my fists, letting my fingernails dig into my palms. Everything was too perfect. Every step calculated, every detail engineered to leave me absolutely no way out. The two hired actors stepped close again, trying to grab my shoulders. “Nora, just admit it…” “Get away from me!” I snapped, my voice sharp enough to silence the room. The two jumped back in surprise, and Sienna’s smile faltered for a second. I scanned the crowd until I found a familiar face. “Penny, come here.” Penny was my closest friend. Since the day we met, we had been inseparable. I had defended her from bullies, bailed her out of trouble, and supported her through every low point in her life. But I hadn’t missed the guilty glance she exchanged with Sienna earlier. She slowly walked over, her chin pressed against her chest, utterly refusing to look me in the eye. Sienna smirked. “Go ahead, Penny. Tell everyone where Nora was that night. Did she save Finn?” Penny kept her eyes on the floor, her voice quiet but clear. “Nora didn’t save anyone. She was at the club with us the entire night. I watched her walk into the club myself. She was nowhere near the alley where Finn collapsed. This entire savior story is a complete lie she made up.” The crowd erupted into furious whispers. I let out a bitter, mocking laugh. “Penny, I treated you like a sister for years. Is this how you pay me back?” She finally looked up, her eyes rimmed with red, though her words remained sharp. “Nora, I just can’t lie for you anymore. Sienna is the one who saved Finn. I can’t let you keep deceiving everyone.” Sienna patted her shoulder consolingly. “Thank you for telling the truth, Penny.” I looked at the two of them, shaking my head. “Betraying me for a payout… you people really have no shame. You, and you, and every single person standing here, remember this day.” None of them cared. Penny looked relieved that her part was done, while Sienna stepped forward, her eyes locked on my hand. “Stop stalling and give me the watch you stole from me.” I squeezed the luxury watch in my hand, my knuckles turning white. It was the token Finn had forced on me, and now they were fighting like dogs over it. Sienna sneered. “Cut the crap and hand it over!” With tears stinging my eyes and a look of utter defeat, I threw the watch onto the gravel before her. Sienna snatched it up immediately, cradling it like a treasure. I turned around and began walking away. Sienna jeered behind me, her voice dripping with triumph. “You’re nothing after all, Nora!” I paused, slowly turning my head to give her one last cold, penetrating look. “You have no idea what kind of monster you’ve just bought. When you finally see his true face, don’t regret it. And don’t you dare come begging for my help.”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480756”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

Luke proposed eight times. Each time, disaster struck. His friends sneered I was a jinx, our fates doomed to clash. Determined the ninth would be perfect, I came early to check everything myself. Instead, I found him cornering his secretary, his voice hard. “When you took my mother’s fifty-million-dollar payoff and left, did you think I wouldn’t marry?” “You’ve sabotaged my proposals over and over. Did you really think I’d play this game forever?” Someone whistled. “Luke, stop acting. You’ve humored her eight times already.” “What’s the drama today? If this fails, Nora will cry herself sick. Don’t you feel bad?” Luke laughed, unbothered. “Of course I do.” “But she’s sweet, easy to comfort. Even now, pregnant, a few kind words have her dreaming of the next proposal.” He looked at Sienna, eyes soft with unmistakable affection. “Not like some people—heartless. One fight and they vanish, forgetting everything.” “So tell me, whose feelings come first?” Their laughter stung my eyes with tears. I wasn’t a jinx. Those disasters weren’t accidents. Play your games with her, Luke. I don’t want your proposal anymore. 01 The event planner, who had just rushed over, greeted me with a warm smile. “Miss Nora? Why are you standing out here? Why aren’t you going inside?” She enthusiastically ushered me right to Luke’s side, then turned to her staff to bark out orders. “Everyone, get to your positions! The ceremony is starting now.” A delicate white veil was draped over my head. I stood there, watching Luke walk toward me step by step, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers. This time, the helium balloons didn’t suddenly explode like they did during the first proposal, setting my dress on fire and leaving me with painful burns. The heavy backdrop wall didn’t collapse and crush my arm into a fracture, repeating the disaster of the second proposal. And there was no random drunkard rushing in from nowhere to tackle me to the ground, trying to tear my gown off in a manic frenzy. Everything was going flawlessly. Luke slowly sank to one knee before me, his eyes glistening with what looked like genuine, emotional tears. My rational mind screamed at me to wake up, but hope still clawed its way up like wild weeds. What if, just this once… But in the very next second, every illusion shattered into pieces. The massive banner hanging from the ceiling unfurled: Sienna, marry me! The giant LED screens began scrolling through a montage of romantic photos. It wasn’t me. It was Sienna. Her radiant smile in those pictures felt like a physical slap to my face. Luke glanced up casually, his voice remarkably dismissive. “I’m so sorry, Nora. It looks like another mishap. We can’t go on with the proposal today. The new secretary is young and careless. I’ll make sure to reprimand her later.” Always the exact same excuse. Only today did I learn that Sienna wasn’t just some newly hired secretary. She was the first love Luke could never truly let go of. Obsessed with his past, he turned a blind eye to her sabotage. He even enabled her, letting her ruin my hopes over and over again without consequence. Even during the last proposal, when I was trapped in a sudden fire and nearly suffocated to death, Luke had brushed it off with a casual, “She didn’t mean to do it.” I stood there in complete silence. I didn’t try to salvage this “accident” like I always used to. Luke raised an eyebrow in mild surprise, then patted the back of my hand to comfort me. “Since the setup is already ruined anyway, we might as well roll with it. I’ll just go through the ceremony with someone else today. Think of it as a dress rehearsal so I can get a feel for the real thing.” The crowd fell into a stunned silence. Guests exchanged uneasy glances until one of his friends finally spoke up. “Luke, the other accidents were one thing, but swapping the bride on the fly today… isn’t that crossing the line a bit?” Even outsiders realized how messed up this was. I swallowed the bitter lump in my throat and looked up at Luke, desperately searching his face for even a flicker of guilt. But he only paused for a fraction of a second before dismissing it. “Don’t worry, it’s just a rehearsal for the real deal. The actual proposal will be yours, I promise. And it’ll be way grander than this.” Without another ounce of hesitation, he turned around with the ring in hand, walked over to Sienna, and dropped to one knee. Sienna let out a gasp of delight and threw herself into Luke’s arms, her voice trembling with excitement. “Yes! A thousand times yes! Ten whole years… I’ve finally waited long enough for this.” Instantly, waves of mocking and pitiful stares shifted toward me. I sniffled, forcing my burning tears back. That diamond ring, the one Luke had spent months refining with a custom designer specifically for me, was now being carefully slid onto Sienna’s ring finger. “It’s just a ring, Nora. Don’t be petty,” Luke murmured, catching my gaze. “Your favorite designer just launched a new collection. I’ll have someone buy you the best piece tonight, and I’ll make sure you love it for our real proposal. Out with the old, in with the new. You deserve better anyway.” Watching Luke hold Sienna close amidst the cheers and wolf whistles of the crowd, I felt as if I were looking at a complete stranger. I forced myself to look away and nodded slowly. “You’re right. I do deserve better.” I paused, my voice steady. “Luke, we’re done. Let’s break up.” 02 The celebratory fireworks launched into the night sky, their thunderous booms completely drowning out my quiet voice. Luke frowned, leaning slightly toward me. “What did you say, Nora?” Before I could repeat myself, someone shoved Sienna forward, sending her stumbling directly into Luke’s arms. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her to steady her. The crowd surged forward, and someone yelled at the top of their lungs, “Kiss her! Kiss her!” Luke’s best friends winked and nudged him. “Come on, man, don’t waste this chance! Make up for all those lost years tonight!” Sienna blushed crimson, looking up at Luke with breathless anticipation. Nearby, guests and bystanders raised their phones, eager to capture the romantic moment. Luke turned back to me, his expression laced with mock helplessness. “What should I do? Everyone is putting me on the spot… If I don’t go along with it, the rumors will ruin Sienna’s reputation by tomorrow. She’s my employee, after all. I have to protect her.” Listening to his pathetic, paper-thin excuses, I felt nothing but a hollow sense of absurdity. When I was the one subjected to public humiliation and branded a curse, Luke had never cared. But when it came to his precious first love, he couldn’t bear to let her suffer even a second of discomfort. “Do whatever you want,” I said, offering him a faint smile. “A reunion like this is quite beautiful, isn’t isn’t?” Luke froze, seemingly unsettled by my lack of anger. “What are you talking about? It’s just a show for the crowd. Be good, Nora. You’ve always been the sensible one. Just give me a little time, and as soon as this is over, I’ll take you home.” I didn’t bother replying. I turned around and let myself fade into the bustling, noisy crowd. The romantic music I had personally selected reached its swelling crescendo. Under a shower of red rose petals I had spent weeks organizing, Luke and Sienna shared a passionate kiss. I joined the crowd, clapping along like a detached spectator. Someone gently nudged my elbow and offered me a tissue. “Did the romance make you cry too? I heard they were high school sweethearts. They lost touch for five years and only just found each other again. Apparently, when she broke up with him back then, he went absolutely wild with rage. The very next day, on Valentine’s Day, he hooked up with some random girl just to spite her.” Five years. Valentine’s Day. No wonder his friends had looked at me with such bizarre, pitying expressions when Luke first introduced me as his girlfriend. Some of them had swallowed their words; others had snickered behind my back. They had even set up a betting pool on how many days it would take for Luke to dump me. To them, I was nothing but a rebound, a “random girl” chosen to fill a void. The woman beside me kept babbling on. I quickly wiped my face, entirely uninterested in hearing a stranger gush over the fairytale reunion of my boyfriend and his soulmate. Muttering a quick thank-you, I spun on my heel and walked out. As I waited for a cab, the clouds finally broke, and a heavy downpour began to drench the streets. I spotted a single remaining umbrella in the venue’s rack. Just as my fingertips brushed the cold handle, a large hand snatched it away. “Sorry, Nora. Sienna has a weak constitution, and the rain is freezing. I can’t let her catch a cold.” I looked up in shock, only to see Luke’s retreating back. He didn’t even spare me a passing glance. Through the thick curtain of rain, I watched Luke open the umbrella, keeping it entirely over Sienna as they walked away. Perhaps sensing my gaze, he paused and looked back. Our eyes met. Luke hesitated, his gaze shifting uncomfortably between me and Sienna. “Nora, go find somewhere dry to wait. I’ll drop her off at the hotel lobby and come right back for you.” Before I could even open my mouth, he turned his back on me again and guided Sienna into the warmth. Inside the cab, my phone buzzed incessantly. Luke: Why did you head home on your own? The guys are hammered and won’t let me leave. I’m stuck here. Luke: Don’t be petty, babe. Go take a hot shower and get some sleep. Don’t wait up for me. I’ll make sure to be on time for your OB-GYN appointment tomorrow. I blocked his number immediately. Almost instantly, a call from my mother flashed on the screen. “Now that you’ve finally come to your senses, clean up your mess quickly,” she said, her voice crisp and businesslike. “Come back home. It’s time to prepare for your marriage alliance with the Harrington family.” 03 The morning sun was already filtering through the blinds when Luke finally stumbled back, reeking of alcohol. “Babe, why did you block me? Sienna and I… there’s really nothing going on between us.” As he bent over to hug me, a box of condoms slipped out of his coat pocket and clattered onto the hardwood floor. Luke didn’t even blink. He casually picked the box up and tossed it into the trash can. “The guys shoved those into my pocket last night. Annoying as hell. Don’t overthink it.” A torn plastic wrapper peeking out from his pocket. A fresh, raw bite mark on the web of his hand. Even asking questions felt like an exhausting waste of breath. I closed my eyes in deep fatigue. Luke finally noticed something was wrong. He reached out to touch my forehead. “Why are you burning up?” Dizzy and weak, I propped myself up and leaned back, deliberately carving out space between us. “I got soaked in a freezing downpour. Catching a fever is only natural, isn’t it? Oh, by the way… how was your night with Sienna at the boutique hotel?” Luke’s face darkened, his drunken haze instantly vanishing. “Were you spying on me?” I didn’t need to. Someone had been eager to ensure I knew, sending me the video directly to my phone. Luke yanked at his tie in frustration, looking at me as if I were the one causing trouble. “It was just a joke! The guys booked the room for laughs. The atmosphere got a bit carried away, so we just played along for the final part of the rehearsal. It’s not a big deal. Why do you always have to make a mountain out of a molehill? Aren’t you tired of this?” Swapping the bride was an accident. Getting a hotel room with his ex was a rehearsal. I stared at Luke, feeling a cold, hollow amusement. Amusement at his pathetic lies, and at myself for wasting five years on this man. The bedroom fell into a suffocating silence until his phone rang. The ringtone, customized specifically for Sienna, was high-pitched and grating. “Luke, I’m so stupid,” she whimpered over the speaker, her voice dripping with tears. “I can’t do anything right. I was just cutting some fruit and sliced my finger open. It won’t stop bleeding… I don’t know what to do.” Maybe it was the fever clouding my mind, or perhaps it was the sudden, fluttering sensation of the baby kicking for the very first time. I reached out and weakly caught the hem of Luke’s shirt. “Can you stay?” I heard my own voice, nasal and desperate, attempting to threaten him in a way I had once thoroughly despised. I just wanted to give our five years one final, desperate chance. “If you walk out that door, I’m terminating the pregnancy.” Luke stared down at my pale face. A trace of memory flickered in his eyes, replaced quickly by a smug, mocking smirk. “Cut the act, Nora.” He paused, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. “We both know how hard it was to get this baby. You really expect me to believe you’d throw that away?” So he did remember. The endless hormone injections. The cold, sterile operating table for the egg retrieval. The three miscarriages we fought through just to keep this one pregnancy viable. I never imagined that my physical agony would one day become the leverage he used to mock me. “That’s enough,” he sighed, patting my hand dismissively. “I promise the real proposal will go off without a hitch. Just stop throwing tantrums, okay?” Before he could finish, I spoke in a quiet, deadpan voice. “There won’t be a next time, Luke. Tomorrow, I’m going to the clinic…” But he didn’t even have the patience to let me finish. Snatching his car keys, he mumbled a distracted reply. “Tomorrow? Did they reschedule the ultrasound? Look, if you’re feeling sick from the fever, call the driver to take you. I really have to go check on Sienna.” I watched his retreating back as he rushed out, not even taking the time to put his shoes on properly. In the empty, silent room, I whispered the words I hadn’t finished. “To get an abortion… and then we are done forever.” A few minutes later, my screen lit up with a text message from the same unknown number. So sorry, sweetie. I accidentally nicked my finger, and he just had to drop everything to rush over to me. Attached was a photo of Luke, kneeling at her feet, his expression entirely focused as he carefully wrapped a band-aid around her finger. Ignoring Sienna’s petty provocation, I opened my contacts and sent a message to my doctor. Help me book the earliest termination procedure possible. 04 Once Luke was gone, any trace of sleepiness vanished. I got out of bed and began packing my things. The skincare products, the jewelry, the designer clothes… everything Luke had gifted me over the last five years. After a moment’s thought, I left them all behind. Aside from my passport, ID, and the two simple outfits I had brought with me when I first moved in, I took absolutely nothing. The matching toothbrushes, the couples’ slippers, the custom mugs… everything that tied me to him went straight into the trash. It wasn’t an act of petty anger. It just felt wrong to leave them there, mocking what we used to be. I tore out the pages of our five-year relationship journal, feeding them sheet by sheet into the paper shredder. I was never one to dwell on the past. Once I decided to move forward, I would never look back. I had just booked a hotel room and was heading for the door when the lock clicked. Luke walked in. One of his hands was wrapped tightly around Sienna’s, while the other wheeled a bright pink suitcase. The moment his eyes landed on me, he dropped Sienna’s hand as if he’d been burned. A flash of irritation crossed his face. “Why are you still awake? It’s late. Look, Sienna… she had too much to drink, and there’s no one at her place to look after her.” I didn’t look at him. I knelt down to lace up my shoes. “Oh, that works out perfectly then. I’m leaving, so she can have my spot.” Only then did Luke notice the suitcase standing beside me. He froze, then rubbed his temples in frustration, his voice heavy with exhaustion. “Nora, can you please not add to the drama? Dealing with Sienna has already drained me. I’m just letting her stay the night. Is it really necessary to throw a fit and threaten to move out? What is wrong with you?” Before I could reply, Sienna raised her head from Luke’s chest, her eyes glassy with alcohol. Her gaze locked onto my slightly rounded belly, and tears welled up in her eyes. “You bitch!” she shrieked. “You’re only keeping Luke trapped because of that baby! That’s why he won’t come back to me!” Startled by her sudden mania, I frowned and took a step back. “What are you doing?” Before the words could fully leave my mouth, she lunged at me, raising her hand to strike. I reached out to grab her wrist to defend myself, but a massive hand clamped down hard on my arm, pinning me in place. Slap! My head whipped to the side, and a sharp, burning pain bloomed across my cheek. A fleeting look of regret crossed Luke’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. “Sienna’s mother just passed away, Nora. Her mental state is fragile right now. She can’t take any triggers. Just… let her get it out of her system. Bear with it for a moment, okay?” A thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of my mouth. I tried to speak, but the movement stung, forcing involuntary tears to slip down my face. My hand trembled, and the folded paper containing my clinical appointment slipped from my fingers, fluttering onto the floor. Luke’s eyes darted to it, catching the words OB-GYN Clinic before I quickly snatched it back up. “So you booked your ultrasound for tomorrow?” The tension in his brow melted away, replaced by a confident chuckle. He was absolutely certain that my departure was just a childish bluff. “Look, if you really need space, go stay at a hotel for a couple of days. Send me the address and the appointment time. I’ll drive you tomorrow.” Without waiting for my response, he guided Sienna toward the master bedroom, never once looking back. The next morning, the aggressive buzzing of Luke’s phone woke him up. Friend: Damn, Luke, you’re a legend! Spending the night drinking with your ex, and now you’re up early to play the doting father at Nora’s ultrasound? Respect. Luke frowned in confusion, but before he could type a reply, another message flashed on the screen. Friend: Holy shit, dude, what is going on? Did you bring Nora here to get an abortion? The moment Luke opened the attached video, his phone slipped from his hand and crashed onto the floor. Every ounce of color drained from his face.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480757”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 Before her death, my mother left me three matches. She said they could pull me through time’s currents. I used the first at a corporate gala when Dominic was drugged. I stayed close, kept him from the spiked drinks, and ensured no other woman stood a chance. Our marriage became flawless, life moving exactly as it should. I let my guard down, becoming the envied Mrs. Blackwell. Then came the crash. Dominic shielded me with his body, taking the full force of steel and glass. He died on the operating table. I struck the second match without hesitation, rewriting his fate to avoid that moment. I thought I would never need the third. We were meant to be forever. Until he tossed an ultrasound photo onto the coffee table. The world tilted. His voice was ice. “Jade is four months along. It’s my son.” The ringing in my ears drowned everything out. He spoke without warmth. “Surviving that crash was a sign. God gave me a second chance to be with my true soulmate. You keep the Blackwell name, but don’t touch Jade.” The matchbox in my pocket bit into my palm, sharp enough to draw blood. I didn’t know how he remembered the crash. But he clearly didn’t think I held the power over time. The hospital’s air conditioning sent a violent shiver through my spine. I forced the question out of my throat. “Why?” Dominic’s expression softened, but not for me. “Jade isn’t like you. She grew up with nothing. She’s fragile, she needs security. This baby is her shield, and it’s my promise to her. Besides, we’ve been together for fifteen… no, five years. Touching you now feels as exciting as my left hand touching my right.” I caught his slip of the tongue immediately. In my original life, I discovered his affair with his secretary in our tenth year of marriage. Our child was five years old then. He had slit his own wrists, writing me a letter in his own blood, claiming he had been drugged and only stayed with her out of a sense of forced responsibility. He had transferred all his assets to me in a show of “remorse.” In my panic back then, I used the first match to go back to our fifth year. But he just said fifteen years. I fought back the tremor in my chest. “So, she’s the love of your life.” Dominic leaned back, looking bored. “Yeah. You might not believe this, but every time I’m at death’s door, I wake up in the past. You? You’re tough. You don’t need security. You were ready to elope with me right after graduation. You even stole your family’s legal documents just to marry me. Sloane, you’ve always been cheap.” I clutched my chest. A sudden, sharp pain flared beneath my ribs, forcing me to double over. After high school graduation, we had a plan to run away together. But that night, he never showed up at our meeting spot. My parents found me instead. When I confronted him later, Dominic’s eyes were red as he held me. “Sloane, your father was right. We’re too young. We can’t support a ‘forever’ yet. Just give me some time. I’ll give you the world. I’ll take you away properly, with my head held high.” I was furious at his broken promise. I froze him out. Even though we went to the same university, I treated him like a ghost. But in our second year, he started a tech company with some friends and actually made a fortune. He showed up at my father’s house with a mountain of cash to ask for my hand. My father still refused. Dominic just smiled, said nothing, and went back to making more money. I was the one who snapped. I stole my birth certificate and passport, and we eloped to the courthouse. He was working for our future, and I was willing to burn every bridge to stand by him. Dominic looked at me with pure vitriol. “You can ask for a divorce if you want. But just remember, your mother’s experimental cancer treatments? You’ll be paying for those yourself.” His phone rang. He answered it and walked away without a backward glance. I touched my heart. Can a man truly become this heartless once the love dies? After my mother found out he was an orphan, she stepped in and treated him like her own son. She lived in our villa, taking care of us. When people whispered that he was a “nobody” with no family, my mother would chase them down the street with a kitchen spatula. And yet, no matter how many times I reset the clock, my mother always ended up with cancer. I stood up and chased after him. I was the one who pulled him back! I was the one who saved his life! How dare he betray me again! The scent of wet pavement and rain filled the air. Outside the hospital, Jade was standing there, her feet tucked into Dominic’s oversized designer shoes, her arms wrapped around his neck. “The baby and I have been waiting forever!” she pouted. “You’re late. You better buy me something amazing to make up for it!” Dominic’s lips curled into a genuine smile. “I heard there’s a stunning jewelry set coming up at the Sotheby’s auction. I’ll have my assistant bid on it for you.” My feet felt like they were nailed to the floor. I watched as Dominic kissed her, and when she pulled away, he leaned in to chase her lips again. I realized then that we hadn’t been that intimate in years. Since the honeymoon, we stopped kissing. The most we ever shared was a dry peck on the cheek. I pulled out my final match. The freezing rain couldn’t clear the fog in my mind. Where could I go now? To what point in our lives? Dominic’s betrayal seemed like an inevitability, a fixed point in time. But my mother’s cancer was under control in this timeline. She wouldn’t die in agony like she did the first time. Was it worth resetting? Two nurses walked past me, their voices filled with gossip. “I heard he sleeps in the same bed as that Miss Jade every single night just to give her ‘security.’ He’s desperate for that baby.” “That’s nothing. Last week, she called him a ‘dirty dog’ because of his wife, and he actually made the doctors give him a chemical peel and full-body scrub just to ‘cleanse’ himself for her! He’s obsessed.” “I heard she liked the original villa the wife lives in, so he told the wife he had to sell it for ‘business investments’ just to kick her out. Now he’s putting the wife in some cramped apartment near the clinic.” I felt a jolt go through my soul. A year ago, Dominic told me his company needed to expand. He said he was short on cash. I couldn’t stand seeing him drown his stress in alcohol at business dinners, so I suggested we sell our wedding home. We moved into a rental near the hospital to make it easier to care for my mother. I had been so heartbroken to leave that house. Dominic had held me, promising he’d buy me a sprawling estate once the money started flowing back in. I didn’t want him to struggle. I used my father’s inheritance to pay for our daily expenses while I worked a grueling 9-to-5. The nurses’ voices drifted further away. “He even opened a flower shop for her right across from the hospital!” I looked through the veil of rain at the flower shop across the street. A bitter, hollow laugh escaped my lips as tears finally began to fall. I went there every morning to buy a bouquet. The clerk told me the owner was a close friend of Dominic’s and always gave me a discount. When I told Dominic, his eyes had flickered with something I couldn’t read, and he just vaguely nodded. I pushed open the door to the shop. The clerk recognized me instantly. “You were here this morning. Another bouquet already?” I looked around the shop. From the lighting to the placement of the sink. The specific model of the flower fridge. It was all hauntingly familiar. When we first started dating, Dominic asked me what I’d do if money wasn’t an issue. I told him I wanted to open a flower shop. I had shown him a stack of sketches, my dream since middle school. My father had called it a “useless hobby,” but Dominic had helped me refine the designs. But after graduation, I was too busy being his social proxy, entertaining other wives, managing his household, and working my own job. I never had the energy for my own dreams again. Rage bubbled in my throat. The clerk suddenly whispered, “Did you do something to offend our boss?” “What do you mean?” “I’m just saying, maybe you should apologize. It’s not good for a sick person to breathe in flowers that have been treated with those specific chemicals every day. It’s bad for the lungs.” I dug my nails into my palms. “What chemicals?” The clerk checked the security camera on the wall, then pulled me into a corner. “The kind that triggers chronic inflammation and allergies. The boss told me you tried to drug her husband and get pregnant on purpose. She said her husband was smart enough to trick you with a fake marriage certificate. He even hired someone to stage a ‘fender bender’ to get rid of your ‘mistake’ of a pregnancy.” “But you don’t seem like that kind of person. You always bring me those homemade sweets.” I thought of the ultrasound I lost. I grabbed the clerk’s hand, my grip like a vice. “Last May, was your boss vacationing in the Swiss Alps?” The clerk nodded. “Yeah. Her husband takes her abroad every month because she loves it. Apparently, he met her at a club right after he finished college and he’s been taking care of her ever since.” The world turned gray. I leaned against the wall for support. Last April, I was in a car crash. I had gone through thousands of hormonal injections to finally succeed with IVF. And just like that, the baby was gone. I had called Dominic a hundred times. He was in Switzerland, claiming a client was being difficult and wouldn’t let him leave. When I finally saw him after my recovery, I had screamed at him, asking why he wasn’t there when I needed him most. He had acted so repentant back then. He stayed by my side, helping me crawl out of my depression. Now I realized he had been with Jade the whole time. I was just too blind to see it. I pulled out my phone and sent a photo of my “marriage certificate” to a lawyer friend. The reply came back instantly. It’s a fake, Sloane. A high-quality forgery, but it wouldn’t hold up in any court. Who would even dare to pull this kind of stunt? That was the final blow. Every reset, every sacrifice, was a joke I played on myself. I was the fool who kept paying for her own destruction. Even the last flicker of hope vanished. I knew exactly which moment I had to go back to. I sat by my mother’s bedside until the sun began to peek over the horizon. My mother opened her eyes, groaning in pain. “Mom,” I whispered, my eyes burning. “If I go back again, will you still have to suffer?” As if we were linked by a thread of fate, she didn’t ask why. She just reached out and touched my hand. “Next time, I’ll tell you where those matches really came from.” I went back to the villa he had “sold.” I wanted to ask him why. I loved him clearly, and I wanted to leave him with no questions left. The old housekeeper was still there. Every detail of my life was a lie. Everyone knew about them except for me. I placed the photo of the fake marriage certificate on the table. “Why?” Why stay with me? Why not just tell me the truth? Why kill our child? Why let Jade poison me with those flowers? Dominic’s pupils shrunken. He didn’t expect me to find out. His fingers curled into a fist. “You were a perfect wife,” he said. “But I wanted Jade to be a princess. I wanted her to never have to worry about anything. During that year we were ‘fighting’ in college, she was the one comforting me, giving me ideas on how to win you back. The flowers, the jewelry, the sweet talk… she taught me all of it.” “She told me she loved me, but she was too ashamed because her father had sold her to a club to pay off his debts. On our wedding night, when I told you I was ‘busy’ at the office? I was at the club, buying her out. She’s cleaner than you, Sloane. She doesn’t throw herself at men like you did.” “And that divorce agreement? I slipped it into the paperwork when we ‘sold’ the house. You’ve already signed it.” Nausea surged in my gut. I remembered the night we eloped. He had cried, promising me everything. He bought me a diamond ring with his last cent. I thought I saw love in his eyes back then. I looked at him, my voice a mere whisper. “You’re disgusting.” Dominic sighed and tried to take my hand. “Sloane, you’ve always been sensible. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.” But all I got from him was pain, lies, and betrayal. This man I had lived with for fifteen years… his face was warping into a monster before my eyes. I pulled my hand back and turned to leave. I was done. Dominic stood up, looking frustrated. He grabbed my wrist with bruising force. “Who are you putting on this ‘victim’ act for? Do you think I don’t know what you were doing behind my back?” He threw a stack of photos in my face. I looked down at them. My face had been crudely photoshopped onto various bodies in compromising positions. “You were sleeping around while we were fighting in college! If Jade hadn’t shown me these, I’d still be in the dark! I loved you enough to marry you despite your filth!” I started to laugh. It was so absurd it was hysterical. I had wasted two matches on this man. I had let my mother suffer through cancer twice for this piece of trash. “Dominic,” I said, my voice steady. “You aren’t a fool, and neither am I. You could have hired a pro to check those photos. You could have called the cops. But you didn’t. You wanted me to be ‘guilty’ so your own disgusting behavior would seem justified. You wanted to be the hero in your own twisted story.” My phone rang. It was the nurse, her voice frantic. “Miss Whitmore! Come quickly! Miss Jade came into the room, and your mother has gone into shock!” I violently shook off Dominic’s grip. He grabbed me and shoved me toward his car. “You want to wait for an Uber? Your mother doesn’t have that kind of time!” I didn’t argue. My heart was thundering. I pushed open the hospital door to find Jade kneeling on the floor, looking terrified. “Sloane! I just tried to talk to her, and she started calling me a homewrecker! She tried to hit my stomach!” I walked past her, desperate to reach my mother. “Liar! A patient with stage four pancreatic cancer doesn’t have the strength to hit anyone!” Jade collapsed, clutching her belly, her face pale. Before I could say another word, a stinging pain exploded across my cheek. Dominic’s voice was lethal. “You couldn’t keep your own brat because of your lifestyle, so now you want to kill mine?!” I had just walked past her. But because it was Jade, it was my fault? The heart monitor let out a long, flat drone. Terror paralyzed me. I watched as Dominic scooped Jade up and ordered all the doctors to follow him. I stood in his way. “My mother is dying! Move! She took care of you for years! She cooked for you, she cleaned for you! She’d wake up at 2 AM just to make you soup when you were hungry!” Dominic looked at the bed, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. Jade let out a pained whimper in his arms. “The baby… is he okay?” Dominic signaled a doctor to take her. Then he turned to me. “Sloane, your mother’s cooking was trash. I never needed her help. A mother who raises a daughter as loose as you… she’s probably rotten to the core anyway.” The world turned into a blur of static. The doctors ignored my mother to follow him. My mother’s line stayed flat. I couldn’t stand. I fell to my knees. My hands were shaking as I pulled out the final match. The lighter flickered, but my tears kept dousing the flame. Finally, it caught. A sharp pain erupted on my scalp as someone grabbed my hair. “Miss Jade almost lost her baby because of you! Mr. Blackwell said to give you a lesson!” I didn’t fight back. I just watched the match burn on the floor. From the room next door, I heard Jade’s voice, thick with flirtation. “The doctor says the baby is stable now… we can celebrate, honey. I want you.” “Don’t you think it’s more exciting with Sloane and her dead mom listening next door?” Rage boiled over. I kicked the person holding me and grabbed a paring knife from the fruit basket. I didn’t think. I lunged. Dominic was there, his shirt unbuttoned, his chest marked with her hickeys. Jade gasped. Dominic instinctively moved to shield Jade. The blade sank deep into his chest. As Jade’s screams filled the room, the match in my hand burned down to my fingers. “Dominic,” I whispered. “I’m the one who controls the clock. This time, let’s go back to before we ran away.” Dominic’s face went white, his eyes wide with disbelief as the fire consumed the room.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480742”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 My long-distance boyfriend’s distant tone suddenly shifted. When I complained about the heat, he told me to shave my head. Asked about his post-grad plans, he said he wanted to see me in a sailor uniform in an empty classroom. I thought grad school stress had brought out a playful side. Walking in nervously, the lights snapped on. Asher’s lab partner Chloe yanked off my wig, revealing my buzz cut. The room exploded in laughter. “She actually shaved it!” Chloe shrieked. “Is that a sailor suit? Take off the jacket!” Camera flashes blinded me as phones recorded my humiliation. Then it hit me—for three years, those sweet messages weren’t from Asher. They were from Chloe. Tonight’s setup was just a bet to see how long it took me to notice. Asher looked disappointed in me. “Lab work’s exhausting. I let Chloe reply to keep you quiet,” he sighed. “How did you not realize it wasn’t me?” Something in me broke. The boy who once froze on his balcony fighting mosquitoes just to talk to me was gone. Our dream of studying abroad together died too. I’d have to chase it alone. “Evelyn, this has nothing to do with Chloe,” Asher continued, his voice void of any warmth. “You’re the one who needs to reflect on your absolute lack of common sense.” Using every ounce of strength I had, I clutched my jacket tightly across my chest and tried to push past the laughing crowd toward Chloe. Asher, who had been standing casually with his hands in his pockets, immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. “I gave Chloe my phone. I specifically asked her to reply to your messages,” he stated firmly. “As for the sailor outfit and the buzz cut…” His brow furrowed in absolute disgust. “It was an incredibly obvious joke. I can’t believe you were stupid enough to fall for it.” My knuckles turned white as I gripped the fabric of my jacket. My throat completely closed up. I couldn’t force a single syllable out of my mouth. Three years of long-distance. I was studying in Chicago, and he was in Boston. A thousand miles apart. I had been entirely consumed by the illusion of a devoted boyfriend who always texted back immediately. How was I supposed to magically guess that the person on the other end of the screen wasn’t him? Seeing me trembling violently under the blinding flashes, Asher let out an annoyed sigh. He pulled off his varsity jacket and draped it over my shoulders. “Let’s go. Stop embarrassing yourself.” I took a step back, dodging his touch. His annoyance instantly deepened. “What? Are you enjoying having everyone stare at you?” Standing safely behind him, Chloe suddenly burst into a bright, innocent giggle. “Wow, Asher! It looks like your girlfriend really loves the kinky games I came up with! She wants to stay here and play with you.” “But honestly, I get it,” she smirked, her eyes glinting with malice. “Considering she almost got assaulted by her older cousin when she was little…” Chloe deliberately paused. The crowd instantly gasped, their eyes widening with morbid, excited curiosity. My blood ran completely cold. “Asher!” I stared at him, my voice cracking in absolute horror. “You… you told her about that?” My entire body shook uncontrollably. Yet, he just shrugged, completely unfazed. “Chloe wanted to win the bet, so she scrolled through our chat history to learn your texting style.” “I was just following the rules of the game. Are you seriously blaming me for that?” Chloe dramatically covered her mouth, feigning shock. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I totally forgot that was a deep, dark secret between you two.” “But hey, you know what they say. Flies don’t swarm a seamless egg. If you respected your own body, things like that wouldn’t happen to you. Just look at you right now…” She narrowed her eyes, scanning me up and down. “You’re clutching that jacket so tight. Do you even have clothes on underneath that sailor uniform?” The crowd, eager for more drama, instantly began jeering. “Yeah! If you’re wearing normal clothes, why are you so terrified to open the jacket?” “If you’re playing these freaky games in public, please don’t use our golden boy Asher as your backup plan.” Asher, who had defended Chloe seconds ago, remained completely silent. He stared down at me. The look in his eyes was unmistakable. He was questioning my loyalty over the last three years. I couldn’t endure the suffocating humiliation for another second. I aggressively ripped the zipper of my jacket all the way down. Asher panicked, lunging forward with his own coat to cover me. “Evelyn, stop throwing a tantrum!” But I wasn’t naked. I wasn’t wearing a sailor uniform. I reached inside my jacket and pulled out a small, warm paper bag of roasted chestnuts. The exact brand he casually mentioned he was craving a few days ago. A thousand miles. A five-hour flight. I had kept the bag pressed against my chest the entire trip so it wouldn’t get cold. Looking back now, Asher had always hated snacks. His sudden craving for roasted chestnuts was probably just another one of Chloe’s sick pranks to make me run like a dog. Beneath my jacket, I was wearing a perfectly ordinary, oversized t-shirt. My eyes stung with unshed tears. I met Asher’s completely stunned gaze. “I’m so sorry to disappoint you.” I shoved past him and bolted out the door. I wandered aimlessly through the massive campus for three hours. My best friend, Maya, called me from her dorm in London. “So? How did it go? Was the great golden boy absolutely shocked that you locked down two fully-funded PhD spots in Europe?” “I’ve got the champagne ready for when you guys get here!” I swallowed the massive lump in my throat and cut her off. “Maya. He’s not coming.” “What?! What did that bastard do?!” After I choked out the story, Maya exploded on the other end of the line, cursing him out. “You worked yourself to the bone for three years to build a future for both of you, and he’s playing psychological games with some little bitch?!” “Does he have any idea what you sacrificed to get two full rides?!” I took a deep, shaky breath. The tears finally spilled over. Right before my flight, the Dean of my university had called me into his private office. “If you go to Europe alone for your PhD, the university will cover all expenses and issue you an additional hundred-thousand-dollar educational grant.” “If you insist on bringing your boyfriend, you forfeit the grant and cover his tuition entirely out of your own pocket.” The Dean slid two acceptance letters across his desk, looking at me with deep sympathy. “Evelyn, I know you and your boyfriend grew up in poverty together. I know you view yourselves as childhood sweethearts fighting against the world.” “When you started grad school, you drained your entire savings account to send him to a prestigious ivy league, while you settled for a lower-tier program just because it offered a full ride.” “You finally secured this incredible opportunity. Some paths are meant to be walked alone. You’ll move much faster without the dead weight.” Sitting on a cold bench in the middle of campus, I finally understood what the Dean meant. “My flight is tomorrow at noon. I’m going alone.” After hanging up with Maya, I walked into a 24-hour print shop. I filled out the solo acceptance form, scanned it, and emailed it directly to the Dean. The moment I stepped out of the shop, I ran straight into Asher and Chloe. Asher instinctively reached out and grabbed the handle of my rolling suitcase. “The guys took the joke too far. I already scolded Chloe.” “Stop being mad, okay?” I looked up. Right on his collarbone, peaking out from his shirt, was a dark bite mark smeared with red lipstick. He noticed my gaze and casually rubbed his neck. “I lost a drinking game. It was just a tiny penalty.” Chloe stepped forward, pouting playfully as she twirled her car keys. “I’m really sorry, Evelyn.” “Grad school is just so boring and stressful. I just wanted to find a little entertainment. I didn’t mean any harm by it.” “Asher was just sacrificing his dignity to boost the team’s morale. Seriously, don’t overthink it.” I calmly pulled my suitcase out of his grip. “Why would I?” Asher glanced at his expensive watch. “It’s getting late. I’ll drop you off at your hotel so you can rest, and then Chloe and I are heading out for a lab dinner.” Realizing how that sounded, he quickly added, “It’s just a bunch of people you don’t know. You’d feel awkward and out of place.” Chloe smoothly looped her arm through his. “Yeah, Evelyn. It’s kind of an exclusive department thing. It’s not really appropriate to bring outsiders. I promise I’ll return Asher to you later tonight.” I smiled. But my lungs felt like they were being crushed in a vice. A few hours ago, I was surrounded by a mob of his friends, photographed, and treated like a circus animal for their entertainment. He didn’t think twice about my feelings then. But a simple dinner? Suddenly, I was an outsider. “No need.” “Asher. We’re done.” Under the pale streetlights, Asher’s footsteps abruptly stopped. He turned around. He looked at me, then glanced at the glowing screen of my laptop in my bag, where the sent email was still visible. He reached out and fondly ruffled my buzz-cut hair. “Are you really this jealous?” “It’s your last night here. I’ll come back to the hotel as soon as the dinner is over.” “Then we’ll pack our bags and fly to Paris together for our PhDs. No more long-distance, I promise.” He firmly believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that I would happily surrender my pride and abandon my dignity, just to stay by his side. Just like I always did. Without waiting for my response, and with Chloe tugging impatiently at his sleeve, he hailed a cab for me. “Go to the hotel. I’ll bring you takeout. If you’re tired, just go to sleep. Be good.” I didn’t get into the cab he hailed. I took my suitcase and caught a different ride directly to the airport hotel. After checking in, I had just finished my shower when my phone buzzed. It was a video from Asher’s number, followed by an emoji of a cat sticking its tongue out. I didn’t need to guess who actually sent it. I tapped play. The video showed Asher sitting at a crowded bar. His face and ears were flushed red from the alcohol. A group of his lab mates were surrounding the table, hyping him up. They were clearly playing Truth or Dare. “Come on, Ash! Tell the truth! Have you ever actually caught feelings for our little Chloe?” “You’re always protecting her in the lab. There’s no way there isn’t a spark there!” Under the intense peer pressure, and with Chloe staring at him with wide, adoring eyes, the untouchable, perfectly composed golden boy smiled. His voice was incredibly soft, dripping with indulgence. “Maybe… if Evelyn wasn’t in the picture… I would have fallen for Chloe.” He reached out and gently patted her head. “Chloe, once I’m not here to watch your back, you have to be more careful. Stop being so reckless.” “If you get stuck on a project, or if you’re just having a bad day, you can call me anytime.” He spoke every word with absolute, unwavering sincerity. The last time he looked at someone like that was during our senior year of high school. He had sat beside me, patiently explaining every single math problem on my practice test. “Evelyn, don’t rush through the equations. If you’re stuck, just ask me. I’m going to pull you forward, and we’re going to make it out of here together.” The golden sunset had spilled across our cheap wooden desks. The promises of youth were always so incredibly fierce. Back then, I genuinely believed we would conquer the world together. The crowd in the video erupted into applause. “Asher! What a gentleman!” Someone, fueled by liquid courage, screamed over the music. “Don’t leave any regrets! Kiss her! Kiss her!” Chloe, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, shyly stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips directly against Asher’s. After a second of absolute silence, the bar exploded. The guys screamed, their faces red with excitement. The person holding the phone was jumping up and down so hard the footage blurred. Chloe collapsed happily into Asher’s chest. “Asher, you promised to take me stargazing.” “Can we go tonight? Please?” In the final second of the video, Asher’s soft, barely audible response pierced straight through my chest. “Okay.” I clicked on Asher’s profile for the very last time. Delete. Block. Clean and simple. The next morning, I sat in the airport terminal, my suitcase by my side. An unknown number called me. It was Asher. “Evelyn. We drank way too much last night.” “Okay.” “I didn’t sleep with Chloe.” “Alright.” Asher’s tone instantly shifted to deep irritation. “What I mean is, we didn’t cross any lines. So why did you launch a malicious attack to destroy her life?” “Someone forwarded a video of the classroom incident to the HR department of her internship.” I paused. “Did it actually impact her job?” I could hear Chloe sobbing hysterically in the background. Asher’s voice was lethal. “What do you think?” “Evelyn, when did you turn into such a toxic, vindictive person?” “First of all, I didn’t send any video to anyone.” “Second, what exactly am I ‘turning into’?” The sheer audacity of his accusation was absurd. But Asher sounded like he had been holding this in for years. He unloaded on me without taking a breath. “You’re petty. You throw tantrums. You hold grudges.” “Ever since you landed in Boston, you’ve been acting bizarre. Like the entire world owes you an apology.” “You are going to withdraw that complaint from her internship right now, and you are going to issue a public apology to Chloe!” For the first time in my life, I felt absolute, crystal clarity. The final glowing ember of my love for Asher completely extinguished. “And if I refuse?” “Then I’ll use the exact same tactics to completely destroy your academic transcript.” “You can kiss your PhD in Paris goodbye, Evelyn.” A bitter, hollow laugh escaped my lips. From a tiny, broken-down elementary school in the mountains to standing in this international airport. No one knew exactly how much blood, sweat, and tears I sacrificed to get here better than Asher. And now, over a pathetic girl and an imaginary crime, he was threatening to burn my life to the ground. I shook my head at the absolute absurdity of it all. Asher wasn’t bluffing. He would absolutely try to ruin me. Unfortunately for him, the Dean had finalized the transfer of my academic records to the European university database last night. My silence only enraged him further. He gritted his teeth, delivering his ultimate ultimatum. “If you don’t fix this, I am going to Paris alone. You will never see me again.” “Are you absolutely sure you want to push me this far, Evelyn?” The intercom crackled, announcing the final boarding call for my flight. I stood up and walked toward the gate. “I am absolutely sure.” “Asher. I hope I never see your face again.” “Fine! Don’t you dare come crawling back tonight begging—” I hung up the phone before he could finish. Standing in the lab, Asher stared at his dark screen, a terrifying rage igniting in his chest. Chloe was weeping so hard she was hyperventilating. She aggressively stomped her foot and slumped into a chair. “It was just a harmless prank! Why is she trying to ruin my life?!” “It’s over! Now that HR has this complaint, no reputable firm is ever going to hire me!” Asher quickly wrapped an arm around her, typing frantically on his laptop. He was sending an urgent email to his faculty advisor, begging him to intervene and save Chloe’s internship. Three seconds later, the advisor replied with a single URL link. Suspected female grad student mercilessly bullies classmate; secretly recorded by janitor. Video goes viral. In the video, I looked utterly terrified and helpless, surrounded by a mocking crowd. Chloe’s arrogant, vicious face was in perfect focus. The internet was out for blood. Netizens were bombarding the university with thousands of formal complaints. A voice memo from his advisor played out loud, his tone dripping with absolute fury. “A janitor walking by filmed the whole thing and posted it on TikTok! The internet is furious. We’ve received over three hundred emails demanding disciplinary action!” “With this level of viral outrage, losing an internship is the least of Chloe’s problems.” “I heard the victim is your girlfriend. Asher, you better fix this disaster before the university gets involved.” Hearing the audio, Chloe immediately stopped crying. A look of massive relief washed over her face. “Asher, this is perfect!” “Just force her to film a clarification video. Make her tell everyone it was just a staged skit for a project!” Asher stared at the viral video playing on his laptop screen. The shaky, blurry footage made the reality of the situation painfully clear. It looked exactly like a pack of wolves cornering a wounded animal. The laughter echoing from the speakers suddenly sounded incredibly cruel. For some inexplicable reason, for the very first time in his life, a cold spike of pure panic pierced his heart. A flicker of genuine guilt flashed in his eyes. But Chloe was relentlessly tugging at his sleeve, demanding he act. He picked up his phone and dialed my number again. But this time, he was met with a cold, mechanical voice. “The number you have dialed has been disconnected…”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480758”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

I was supposed to be the happiest bride in the world. Instead, my groom died on our wedding day. For an entire month, I drowned in my own tears. In a haze of grief, I accidentally dialed his old iCloud account on FaceTime. He rarely used it when he was alive, but leaving voicemails there had become my pathetic way of coping with the silence. It rang twice. Then, the video actually connected. The face that appeared on the screen did not belong to my dead fiancé, Blake. It was a little boy, maybe seven or eight years old. “Hi there! Are you looking for my dad?” The boy had bright, expressive eyes. He proudly held up an elegant, handwritten card to the camera. “Look what my dad wrote! ‘Happy 2033, baby. Happy seventh anniversary.’ My dad just ran out to get my mom’s gift!” I froze. 2033? My brain stalled, then violently rebooted. The person on the other end of this call was seven years in the future. I forced down the bitter shock clawing at my throat. I tried to rationalize it. Maybe the carrier recycled the number. Maybe it was just a bizarre glitch. I managed a stiff, painful smile. “I hope your mom and dad are very happy.” But the next second, the boy excitedly spun around, waving the phone. The camera panned across the wall behind him. Hanging right in the center was a massive, framed wedding portrait. The moment it came into focus, the blood in my veins turned to ice. The woman in the white dress was Audrey. My ride-or-die best friend. And the man standing next to her had Blake’s face. I stared unblinking at the screen, my chest heaving. It wasn’t a lookalike. Even the tiny mole under his left eye was perfectly captured in the high-resolution print. Blake was not dead. Seven years from now, he wasn’t just alive. He was married to Audrey. Why would they lie to me? A deafening ringing filled my ears. My hands started to shake uncontrollably. I pulled up Audrey’s text thread on my other phone. Our last conversation was from a month ago. I had texted her, bursting with excitement, to tell her I was getting married. She replied with a long voice memo. Her tone had been thick with melancholic regret. “Stella, I am so happy for you. I just landed in Europe. I’m helping my first love sort out some messy business. I’m so sorry, but I won’t be able to make it to your wedding.” I had felt so bad for her at the time. I knew Audrey had a first love she could never get over. She used to get blackout drunk and cry over him. I even comforted her. “If you love him that much, go win him back.” She had laughed bitterly. “I dumped him because I was petty. I made too many mistakes. He’s literally about to get married. He would never forgive me.” Looking back on it now, the way she looked at me that day wasn’t regret. It was victory. “He came to say goodbye,” she had told me later. “He said he was tying the knot. I couldn’t hold back. I hugged him and told him I was done running. I told him, ‘You took ninety-nine steps toward me. I’ll take the last one.’” So her first love, the man who was about to get married… was Blake. My hands were freezing. I turned around and tore into the cardboard box of Blake’s belongings I had just packed away. At the bottom, buried inside a vintage leather cigar box, I found an old Polaroid. I had never seen it before. It was Blake and Audrey in high school. Audrey had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and they were smiling brilliantly at the camera. They had been together all along. When Blake and I first started dating, Audrey constantly talked trash about him. She said he had a terrible temper. She said he was selfish and incapable of empathy. I thought she was just being protective of me. Now the ugly truth stared me in the face. They were toxic exes. They resented each other, couldn’t let each other go, and used me as a pawn in their twisted game of jealousy. What was I to them? Just collateral damage? A tool to trigger their reunion? Another memory hit me like a physical blow. Six months ago, Blake came back from a “business trip” in Europe. I noticed deep, red scratch marks on his neck. When I asked about them, his eyes darted away, but a smug, lingering smirk played on his lips. “A stray cat in London,” he had said. “Claws were incredibly sharp.” I believed him. Now I knew exactly who left those marks. “Miss? Are you okay? Are you crying?” The boy’s voice drifted from the phone, pulling me out of the nightmare. I looked up at his face. This was Blake and Audrey’s son. He had Blake’s eyes and Audrey’s mouth. I swallowed the metallic taste of blood in my throat and forced my voice to work. “Hey, buddy. Could you tell me a little bit about your parents? I think I might know them.” The boy tilted his head. “You know my mom and dad?” I nodded. “Are your parents Blake and Audrey? We went to college together.” The boy’s eyes lit up with pure joy. “Oh wow! Then do you know Stella?” I froze. Stella. That was my name. I dug my fingernails into my palms, forcing my voice to remain completely steady. “Why do you ask about her? Is she someone special?” The boy looked down, fiddling with a plastic toy, his voice dropping to a whisper. “She was a really good friend of my mom and dad. But she died seven years ago.” “Died?” I repeated, the word tasting like ash. “Yeah. They tell me stories about her all the time. Every year, they go to the cemetery and cry in front of her grave. They say they are so, so sorry and that they regret everything.” I felt like I had been plunged into an ice bath. Seven years ago. That meant 2026. That meant this year. Blake fakes his death, betrays me with Audrey, and then I die? My entire body trembled with rage and terror. I clenched my jaw. “How did she die?” The boy shook his head. “Dad won’t let me ask. Miss, did you know her?” I dodged the question. “Do your parents love each other a lot?” The boy nodded enthusiastically, his bubbly energy returning instantly. “My dad is obsessed with my mom!” He started listing off their perfect moments like he was reciting a fairy tale. “When Mom was pregnant with me, she craved those artisan donuts from the bakery all the way across town at midnight. Dad didn’t even blink. He drove an hour just to get them, and he brought them back in a heated box so they were still warm.” “Mom hates the rain. So Dad hired an architect to build this massive custom glass conservatory in our backyard. Now, when it storms, Mom can sit inside surrounded by flowers and not a single drop touches her.” “Oh, and one time Mom accidentally broke this cheap plastic hair claw she had since she was a teenager. She cried for hours. Dad tracked down the original manufacturer and paid a ton of money to have it perfectly restored. He keeps it locked in his safe now!” Every word the kid spoke drove the knife deeper into my ribs. I thought about how Blake treated me. Once, I was burning up with a 103-degree fever in the middle of the night. I called him, begging him to come over. He told me he was too busy with a pitch deck and told me to just drink some water and go back to sleep. I found out later that Audrey had gotten blackout drunk at a club that night, and Blake had spent hours driving around the city to pick her up. I always dreamed of buying a house with a backyard. He shot it down immediately, calling it a total waste of money and completely impractical. Yet he turned around and built a luxury glass conservatory for Audrey. And that hair claw. I recognized it. Audrey bought it at a dollar store in high school. But the leather wallet I spent three sleepless nights hand-stitching for Blake’s birthday? He tossed it in the back of his desk drawer, and a month later, threw it in the trash because it was “taking up space.” “I don’t really use stuff like this,” he had told me. “It looks cheap.” The camera shifted again, giving me another glimpse of that massive wedding portrait. Seeing their faces side-by-side, another memory surfaced. Sophomore year of college. I was practically glowing when I introduced my handsome new boyfriend to my best friend. We were sitting at a four-top table in the dining hall. I was holding Blake’s hand. Audrey sat across from us. I was so blinded by love that I entirely missed the toxic undercurrent flowing between them. Audrey had “accidentally” knocked her water glass over, spilling it all over Blake’s pristine white button-down. Blake was a notorious germaphobe. Usually, if someone even brushed against him, he would go home to change. But that day, he just stared at Audrey. He didn’t lose his temper. He even picked up a napkin and gently wiped the water off the table in front of her. I was so naive. I actually thought he was just trying extra hard to be polite to my best friend. Looking back, the signs were blindingly obvious. The boy shoved the phone closer to his face. “Look, Miss! My parents even have a shared TikTok account! It has all their videos!” The screen got close enough for me to read the handle. @QueenAudrey I grabbed my other phone. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely type the letters into the search bar. The profile popped up immediately. I tapped into the account. The very first video was uploaded way back in high school. The quality was grainy. It was Blake and Audrey in their school uniforms, running across the football field, holding hands in the back row of a classroom. I scrolled down. Suddenly, the uploads stopped. There was a massive three-year gap. The exact three years Blake and I were together. Then, exactly two months after Blake’s “death”, the uploads resumed. The comeback video featured Blake on the deck of a luxury yacht, down on one knee, slipping a massive diamond ring onto Audrey’s finger. The caption read: After all the detours, I’m so glad it was always you. I scrolled mechanically. Video after video. The comments section was a mix of congratulations and pure vitriol from people who knew the truth. One comment stood out. Wait, wasn’t Blake engaged to Stella? Why is he with her best friend? Absolute garbage humans. Right below it, pinned to the top, was a reply from Blake’s personal account. Audrey is the only woman I have ever loved. Everyone else was just a mistake while I figured things out. In a love triangle, the one who isn’t loved is the real homewrecker. The one who isn’t loved is the real homewrecker. I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted copper. For three years, I wasn’t his fiancé. I was his trial run. A placeholder while he figured out his own toxic feelings. I kept scrolling. They went snowboarding in the Alps. Scuba diving in the Maldives. Skydiving over Dubai. In every video, Audrey laughed like she owned the world, and Blake looked at her with a sickening level of devotion. And me? During those three years, I worked three different part-time jobs to help fund Blake’s tech startup. To save up enough money to buy him a tailored suit for his first investor meeting, I ate instant ramen for a month straight. Then I noticed a link pinned in the bio. It was titled Confessions. It linked out to an anonymous blog post formatted like a short story. But my gut told me it was about me. I clicked it. It detailed the tragic end of a character named “S”. It described the events that were supposed to happen in my timeline, just a few months from now. In the story, S discovers the fake death. She tracks them down and demands answers. In their twisted perspective, S was the crazy stalker who lost her mind. So they retaliated. They completely destroyed her career. When S’s mother went to Blake’s corporate office to beg for mercy, she was run over by a sports car driven by one of Blake’s rich frat brothers. Her legs were permanently crushed. The diary read: Her mother didn’t survive the surgery. S went completely insane. The final entry described a stormy night. S stepped off the edge of a 28th-floor balcony. The concluding sentence read: She died, and we were finally free. But sometimes, looking back, we wonder if she really deserved to die. I stared at the glowing screen as hot tears spilled over my eyelashes and dripped onto my knuckles. “Miss? Why are you crying again? Are you okay?” The boy’s worried voice brought me back. I wiped my face aggressively with the back of my hand and forced a wide smile. “I’m totally fine. Just got some dust in my eye.” I took a deep breath. “Hey, when are your mom and dad getting back?” “Dad is just picking up a custom necklace for Mom. He’ll be back any minute. Mom is pregnant with my baby sister, so the doctor said she has to stay on bed rest in her room.” Pregnant again. A perfect family of four. Living a fairy-tale life built directly on top of my mother’s crushed bones and my shattered skull. I gripped the edge of the table to stop my body from trembling. “Hey, buddy. When your dad gets back, could you use this phone to call me back on FaceTime? I really want to give him a surprise.” The boy beamed. “Okay! I promise!” I smiled at him and ended the call. The second the screen went black, my bedroom door opened. My mom walked in, carrying a thermos of hot soup. Her eyes were still red from crying over my dead fiancé. Looking at my mother, standing there alive, healthy, and walking on two functioning legs… I lunged forward, wrapped my arms around her waist, and sobbed hysterically. My mom thought the grief of losing Blake was finally breaking me. She rubbed my back, whispering soothing words. “It’s okay, Stella. Let it out. He’s gone, but you have to keep living. You have to look forward.” I buried my face in her shoulder, my tears soaking her sweater. “Mom. I don’t love him anymore.” I made a vow right there in the dark. This time, I would absolutely destroy anyone who tried to touch my family. After my mom left the room, I wiped my face and picked up my phone. I dialed Audrey’s number. It rang three times before she picked up. Audrey’s lazy, satisfied drawl came through the speaker. “Hey, Stella. What’s up?” “Audrey, Blake is gone. I’m sitting in my apartment alone and I just feel so lost.” Audrey let out a soft, breathy chuckle. “Oh, Stella… I probably won’t be back in the States for a while. Actually, I forgot to tell you. I just eloped with my first love. We signed the papers today.” She immediately launched into a sickening monologue, bragging about her perfect life. “He treats me like absolute royalty. Whatever I want, I get.” After she finished gloating, she threw me some fake sympathy. “Stella, you really shouldn’t be too heartbroken. Honestly? Blake wasn’t even that great of a guy. He was cold, calculated, and totally selfish. Maybe it’s a blessing he died early, so he couldn’t drag you down for the rest of your life.” Listening to her viciously insult the man she was currently sleeping with, I felt a wave of pure nausea. “Is that right?” I asked, my voice dropping to a dead, icy calm. “Who exactly is this first love of yours? Where are you guys right now?” Audrey’s voice stiffened. She clearly hadn’t expected me to press for details. “Just… a guy. You don’t know him.” Right then, I heard the rustling of bedsheets through the receiver. “What are you doing?” I tightened my grip on the phone. “Nothing… just resting,” Audrey’s voice suddenly turned breathy and soft. Then, a horribly familiar male voice bled through the background audio. “Audrey, you’re distracted. Someone needs to be punished.” It was Blake. My blood ran cold. My stomach churned with disgust. “Stella, I’ll come visit you when I’m back. I gotta go!” Before the call abruptly disconnected, I clearly heard the crash of ocean waves and the cry of seagulls. I knew exactly where they were. The famous cliffside oceanfront properties just outside the city limits. Blake had once brought me architectural blueprints for a villa out there. He promised me, looking me dead in the eyes, that it would be our dream home. Except he built it for her. And on the exact day we were supposed to get married, the day he supposedly died in a car crash on his way to the venue… he was out there marrying her. I gripped my phone until my knuckles turned white. Perfect. I grabbed my car keys, walked out the door, and got into my car. By the time I reached the cliffside villa, the sun had fully set. The sprawling manicured lawn was blindingly bright, lined with hundreds of fairy lights and imported white roses. An incredibly lavish, intimate outdoor wedding was in full swing. I stood completely still in the shadows, watching the stage. Blake was wearing a perfectly tailored white tuxedo, gazing deeply into Audrey’s eyes, delivering a tear-jerking speech. “Audrey, I finally made you my wife.” His voice actually cracked with emotion. “I have waited a lifetime for this exact moment.” A massive LED screen behind them played a slideshow of their relationship. I recognized every single photo. But in every group shot, my face and body had been violently cropped out. To them, I was never a fiancé or a best friend. I was an annoying background extra they finally managed to edit out of their movie. In this three-person tragedy, I was the punchline. The crowd erupted into applause. Right as the officiant grabbed the microphone to announce the ring exchange, I stepped out of the shadows and walked straight down the center of the white floral aisle. “Blake!” Every single head snapped toward me. “What the hell are you doing here?!” Blake’s eyes went wide with pure, unadulterated panic. I walked right up to the altar and let out a sharp, mocking laugh. I reached into my designer purse and pulled out the crisp, official document. I slammed it against his chest. “I’m just here to attend my legal husband’s wedding.” The marriage license fluttered to the ground, the official state seal catching the stage lights. Our names and faces were printed clearly in black and white. The wealthy guests gasped. A tidal wave of frantic whispering swept through the crowd. Audrey’s face turned beet red. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes. She rushed forward, playing the victim perfectly. “No! Stella, please let me explain! I was the one Blake loved first! I’m not the homewrecker! You were the one who forced your way between us!” I raised my right hand and slapped her across the face with everything I had. She screamed, stumbling backward in her massive designer gown and collapsing onto the grass. “That slap is for years of your disgusting, manipulative gaslighting!” Blake snapped out of his shock. He lunged forward, shielding Audrey behind his body, and raised his hand. A heavy, stinging slap landed square on my cheek. “Are you insane, Stella?!” He pointed a shaking finger at my face, his eyes totally unhinged. “Security! Drag this crazy bitch off my property!” Three massive men in black suits rushed the stage to grab me. But before they could touch me, a team of uniformed police officers stormed up the aisle. “Which one of you is Blake?” The lead officer stepped onto the stage, flashing his badge. “We received a verified tip with hard evidence. You are under arrest for forging a death certificate, committing massive life insurance fraud, and bigamy. Turn around and put your hands behind your back.” At that exact second, my phone started vibrating violently in my pocket. The distinctive FaceTime ringtone pierced through the chaotic silence of the wedding. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. On the screen, the seven-year-old boy’s face was flashing. The future was calling.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480743”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 On our wedding anniversary, my husband did something incredibly rare. He brought home a bouquet of flowers. The second he walked through the door, he didn’t even take off his coat. He went straight for a glass vase, carefully filling it with water and patiently arranging the stems. “What put you in such a good mood today?” I asked, a genuine smile touching my lips. “Amanda bought them,” he replied with a light chuckle. “She told me she’d kick my ass if I let them die. How could I not take this seriously?” Amanda. His female childhood best friend. I froze. My mind violently drifted away to a memory from just two weeks ago. It was my birthday. My parents, who had lived frugally their entire lives, walked halfway across the city to a premium florist just to buy me a beautiful bouquet as a gift. But when Wesley came home that night, his first reaction was to snatch the flowers off the dining table and toss them onto the messy shoe rack right in front of my parents. “They take up too much space on the table,” he had muttered. “Don’t bother with this kind of stuff anymore. It’s just a hassle.” My parents’ faces flushed with deep embarrassment, but they kept their mouths shut, terrified of making things difficult for me. It took me far too long to finally understand. The flowers were never the hassle. I was the hassle. Since that was the case, I no longer needed to harbor any expectations. My gaze lingered on Amanda’s pristine flowers for only a fraction of a second before I turned around and walked back into the kitchen. A slow-roasted tenderloin, two elegant side dishes, and a creamy bisque sat on the marble counter. I had been slaving away over the stove since four in the afternoon for this anniversary dinner. Looking at the food that had gone completely cold, I silently picked up the plates and shoved them into the microwave. This was the third time I had reheated our dinner tonight. Wesley usually got off work at six. I had timed everything perfectly. But by eight o’clock, he still wasn’t home. I called him. The background noise on his end was a chaotic blur of loud chatter. “What is it?” he answered, his tone laced with blatant impatience. I purposely didn’t mention our anniversary. I just asked what time he would be home. Wesley stayed silent for a long, agonizing moment before finally speaking. “Give me about half an hour.” I started to tell him to drive safe, but the line went dead before I could finish the sentence. It wasn’t until ten o’clock at night that I finally heard the turn of the deadbolt. Wesley walked in, a faint, lingering smile painted across his handsome face. “Hey honey, I’m home. Sorry to keep you waiting.” The moment the apology left his mouth, he completely ignored me and started fussing over his precious flowers. He ordered premium plant food on his phone. He called a florist buddy to ask about the exact sunlight requirements. Another half hour vanished into thin air. He had completely forgotten that today was our anniversary. He had also forgotten that he was the one who suggested we stay in and cook a nice dinner tonight. I didn’t reheat the food a fourth time. I didn’t call him over. I simply sat alone at the dining table, quietly chewing the meal I had spent hours perfecting. By the time I finished washing my plate and wiping down the sink, Wesley finally remembered I existed. “Honey, didn’t you say you were cooking tonight? I’m starving.” His tone was incredibly casual, acting as if nothing was wrong. When I didn’t immediately respond, his brow furrowed, and he raised his voice. “Audrey? What’s wrong with you? Did you not cook? Ugh, whatever, I’ll just order some takeout.” There was a very obvious trace of disappointment in his voice when he said that. But it only lasted a second. As he turned his head to admire the meticulously pruned flowers, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled upward. Right at that moment, his phone vibrated on the counter. I glanced over and caught a clear view of the caller ID. Amanda. Followed by a bright red heart emoji. An inexplicable memory from last week crashed into my mind. I had borrowed his phone to check the tracking on an Amazon package. Whether it was in his call log or his messaging app, I was saved under my full legal name. Audrey Davis. I had actually picked a fight with him over it. And Wesley had expertly produced an excuse to shut me up. “I have to hand my phone to my coworkers to check files all the time. I don’t want them seeing cheesy nicknames. It’s unprofessional. Besides, our relationship is our business. I call you ‘honey’ when we’re alone, don’t I?” I believed him. It wasn’t until this exact second that the brutal truth slapped me in the face. I had been lying to myself this entire time. Right before we got married, Wesley mentioned he had a childhood friend living in Europe. He told me that if Amanda ever moved back to the States, he had to look out for her. I didn’t think much of it back then. I had guy friends I grew up with too. But slowly, the boundaries began to blur into something toxic. No matter what Wesley was doing, a single text from Amanda was enough to make him drop everything and run. My birthday happens to be on the exact same day as Amanda’s. Wesley always celebrated with her first. I had cried. I had screamed. I had thrown things. And all it ever earned me was a cold glare and him telling me I was acting like a crazy person. I remained completely silent in the kitchen. Wesley’s sharp eyes suddenly caught the stack of clean, empty plates on the drying rack. “You did cook? Why didn’t you wait for me?” “Since when did you become so selfish, Audrey? Seriously, that’s just petty.” The insult slipped off his tongue effortlessly. It was basically muscle memory. It was as if, deep down in his core, he truly believed I was a vindictive, terrible wife. I didn’t even bother lifting my head. My voice was a flat, hollow line. “I did tell you.” “The second you walked in, I told you dinner was ready.” “But you were too busy babying your flowers and texting your phone to even look at me.” Wesley choked on his words. A heavy silence suffocated the room for a long time before he finally cleared his throat. “I guess I didn’t hear you,” he said, his tone defensive. “You know how I get. I can’t multitask when I’m focused on something.” I kept my eyes on the floor, letting out a silent, self-deprecating laugh. That was a blatant lie. Six months ago, I accidentally slipped with a kitchen knife and sliced my finger open. Thick, dark blood immediately began pouring into the sink. Hearing my gasp, Wesley rushed into the kitchen to wrap my hand in a towel. But his phone was pressed against his ear. He was on a call with Amanda. “You’re a grown woman, how are you this clumsy?” he scolded me harshly. “Thank God you didn’t hit the bone, otherwise I’d have to waste my night dragging you to the ER. Do you know how annoying that is?” He had always been like this. Even his version of caring felt like a verbal beating. I had swallowed the pain, opening my mouth to assure him I was fine. But Amanda’s voice blasted through the speakerphone first. She sounded frantic and incredibly annoyed. “Ugh! I can’t find my AirPods again! I tore the whole apartment apart! I’m so mad, you gave those to me!” Wesley didn’t even look up at my bleeding hand, yet he answered her without missing a beat. “You dummy, didn’t you say you were using them in bed? Check under your pillows.” She had randomly mentioned her headphones in passing hours ago. I had absolutely no memory of it, yet Wesley had filed that tiny, useless detail away in his brain. A few seconds of rustling echoed through the phone before Amanda squealed with joy. “Found them! Look at you, Wes, paying such close attention to everything I say. I owe you a fancy dinner for this!” Wesley actually laughed at her teasing. “Deal. We’re going to that Italian place you love.” Standing in my own kitchen, dripping blood onto the floor, I felt like a trespasser watching two lovers through a window. Even then, I stupidly brushed it off. It took me until tonight to connect the dots. He didn’t have an attention problem. He just never cared enough to listen to a single word I said. I pulled myself out of the suffocating memories. “If you’re hungry, order something yourself,” I said coldly. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed.” I turned to walk down the hall, but Wesley suddenly grabbed my wrist. He stayed quiet for a second, his tone softening considerably. “Honey, are you actually mad?” “I didn’t forget our anniversary. I really wanted to come home early to be with you, but Amanda insisted on buying me dinner. I couldn’t just brush her off. That’s why I’m late.” “And I swear I didn’t hear you call me for dinner. Please stop being mad, okay? I’ll clean the kitchen. You go rest.” He glanced past my shoulder at the empty plates and let out a soft sigh. “Don’t cook such a massive meal next time. We’ve been married for years, we don’t need all this romantic fluff. It’s too much work.” It was incredibly rare for Wesley to willingly offer an explanation, but it only made my chest feel tighter. Six years of marriage. For the first few years, he was constantly flying across the country trying to build his firm. Then Amanda moved back. We had barely celebrated a single anniversary properly. This time, he was the one who specifically asked for a nice, home-cooked celebration. So I spent hours prepping the food and decorating the living room with candles. And my reward was him telling me my efforts were a chore. It was utterly pathetic. I walked into the master bedroom and laid on top of the covers. The walls in this house weren’t completely soundproof. Through the drywall, I could hear Wesley’s low, relaxed laughter. “Don’t worry about the flowers, I’ll keep them alive.” “It’s supposed to pour tomorrow, don’t forget your umbrella.” I didn’t need to guess who was on the other end of the line. Amanda must have said something demanding, because Wesley let out a helpless, indulgent chuckle. “Fine, fine, I’ll pick you up from your office, happy now? You really treat me like your personal butler.” It was past one in the morning when he finally walked into the bedroom. Without asking if I was asleep, he slid into the sheets and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist from behind. “I’ll come home early next time, honey. I promise.” He didn’t specify what the “next time” was for. But I knew the absolute truth. There wasn’t going to be a next time. I used a bit of force to pry his fingers off my stomach. Wesley’s body stiffened in surprise. “What’s wrong?” I have suffered from severe insomnia since I was a teenager. I physically could not fall asleep unless I was holding onto something. After we got married, Wesley memorized this habit. No matter how late he worked, he always made sure to hold me until I drifted off. I had grown completely dependent on his warmth. But tonight, the feeling of his skin pressing against mine literally made my stomach turn. “I want to sleep alone.” “Because I have no idea what time Amanda is going to call you next, and I don’t want to be woken up again.” The mattress violently shifted. Wesley sat bolt upright, ripping the blanket off himself. “What is your problem tonight? Do you really have to speak to me with such venom?” “I’ve explained my relationship with Amanda a thousand times! Why are you always making up these delusional scenarios in your head?” “I don’t want to fight with you, but you are being completely unreasonable today.” I had heard this exact speech so many times I could recite it backwards. Every single massive blowout we ever had was about Amanda. It always ended with me breaking down in tears. And Wesley would offer a half-hearted pat on the back, followed by his favorite critique. “You really need to fix your temper, Audrey. Who else could put up with you but me?” “You’re constantly acting crazy and paranoid. No wonder Amanda doesn’t want to be friends with you.” Yet, if Amanda threw a tantrum? He offered endless comfort. He never raised his voice. And he certainly never blamed her. Seeing me lay there in silence, Wesley’s temper flared. “Audrey, if you have a problem, just say it. Stop making me guess your mood!” “I work like a dog all day, and I come home just to walk on eggshells around you. I’m a human being. I get tired too.” I kept my mouth shut. A memory from just last week abruptly surfaced in my mind. Wesley had been stuck at the office finalizing a massive merger until 3 AM. He came home with dark purple bags under his eyes and passed out on the living room sofa with his shoes still on. But the second his phone rang and Amanda’s name flashed on the screen, he shot up like a soldier. “What? Your hallway light bulb burned out? Okay, I’m coming over to fix it right now. Don’t be scared.” He was running on zero hours of sleep, yet the word “tired” never left his lips. Amanda lived on the south side of town, a solid forty-minute drive from our house. I couldn’t bear to watch him exhaust himself, so I suggested Amanda call the building super, or at least wait until the sun came up. Wesley immediately snapped at me. “Are you insane? Amanda is terrified of the dark. Having no lights is torture for her.” “Besides, she’s a woman living alone. You want her letting a random maintenance guy into her apartment at 3 AM? What is wrong with you?” He grabbed his car keys and slammed the front door without looking back. I was left standing in the foyer, completely paralyzed. I was terrified of the dark, too. Once, I had to work late at the office until midnight. The subway was sketchy, so I called Wesley and asked if he could pick me up. His response? “It’s your own fault for not managing your time better.” “You’re a grown woman. Can you seriously not take an Uber home by yourself? Stop being so dramatic.” His blatant double standards weren’t a new development. I was just too incredibly stupid to accept reality until now. I let out a bitter, raspy laugh, pulling myself out of the memory. “Are you done talking? If you’re not going to sleep, get out. I’m tired.” Wesley stood over the bed, looking down at me with absolute disgust. “You are completely irrational.” He turned on his heel and stormed out. The bedroom door slammed shut so violently the picture frames on the wall rattled. The very last thread tethering my heart to this marriage snapped. Any trace of sleep vanished from my system. I picked up my phone and opened a chat with an old college friend who worked in family law. [Draft a divorce agreement for me. Make it as fast as humanly possible.] The next morning, a sharp ringing jarred me awake. But I never expected the name flashing on the screen. It was Amanda. “Are you free this afternoon? We need to talk.” I was about to tell her to go to hell, but she hung up before I could get a word out. After debating it for a few minutes, I grabbed my coat and headed to the address she texted me. When I walked into the upscale cafe, Amanda was already sitting in a corner booth, sipping a latte. “I honestly thought you wouldn’t have the guts to show up.” I didn’t take the bait. I sat across from her and cut straight to the point. “What do you want?” Amanda took a slow, deliberate sip from her mug. Her tone was smug and relaxed. “Nothing much. I just noticed Wes was in a terrible mood this morning. I figured you two got into another fight, so I came to check on the situation.” She spoke about my husband as if he belonged to her. As if she possessed the ultimate authority to monitor his moods. “If you have something to say, say it. Drop the passive-aggressive act.” She intentionally asked me out, intentionally used the pet name ‘Wes’ right to my face. She wanted to see me lose my mind. She wanted me to scream and make a scene. When I remained perfectly calm, the smugness melted off her face, replaced by a cold sneer. “You know, you’re a really fascinating person, Audrey.” “Every time Wes takes me out, you must be dying of jealousy on the inside, right? Yet you sit here pretending you don’t care at all.” My heart skipped a beat. She knew. She knew everything. When I first noticed the red flags between them, I sat Wesley down. “Don’t you think Amanda is crossing the line?” I had pleaded. “She knows you’re a married man, but she inserts herself into every single detail of your life.” “Are you sure you guys are just friends?” Before I could even finish the sentence, Wesley aggressively cut me off. “You’re delusional.” “Amanda’s entire family is in Europe. I’m the only person she knows in this city. Isn’t it normal that we talk a lot?” “Besides, I’ve known her since we were wearing diapers. If there was ever going to be something between us, do you really think I would have married you?” “Amanda is innocent and sweet. Stop projecting your dirty thoughts onto her. You’re going to end up hurting her feelings.” Maybe Wesley was so deep in denial that he couldn’t even hear himself. Every single word out of his mouth was designed to protect her. I never brought it up again after that day. But sitting across from Amanda now, it was glaringly obvious. She knew exactly what she was doing. The silver lining was that it simply didn’t hurt anymore. I casually picked up my own coffee cup and took a sip. “You’re giving yourself too much credit,” I said smoothly. “When I loved Wesley, he was worth something to me. Now that I don’t give a damn about him, he’s basically garbage.” “If you have a fetish for digging through the trash, be my guest. I’m officially handing him over to you.” My voice was deadpan. Amanda’s face instantly hardened. She stopped talking, glancing quickly down at her phone. A wicked, calculated smile crept onto her lips. “Tell me, Audrey. If you and I got into a physical altercation right now, whose side do you think he would take?” Before my brain could even process her words, Amanda lunged across the table, grabbed my full cup of iced coffee, and dumped it directly over her own chest. She let out a piercing, theatrical scream. Right on cue, a familiar voice roared from the entrance. “Amanda!” She looked at me, coffee dripping down her ruined designer dress, and smiled wickedly. “You lose.” A split second later, her face twisted into a mask of pure terror and heartbreak. She covered her mouth, fake sobs tearing from her throat. “Audrey, why did you do that?! I only came here to apologize to you! Why would you throw your drink at me?” Wesley practically sprinted across the cafe. Without asking a single question or letting me speak, he glared at me with eyes full of absolute venom. “Audrey. Apologize to her. Now.” I stared at the two of them, thoroughly amused by the absolute absurdity of the situation. I raised my hand and flagged down a waiter. “Can I get a refill on the iced coffee, please?” The moment the waiter placed the fresh glass on the table, I picked it up and hurled the dark liquid directly into both of their faces. “Take a good look, Wesley,” I said coldly. “That is what it looks like when I actually do it.” Wesley stood there, dripping wet, staring at me like I was a monster. He didn’t say another word. He frantically grabbed napkins to wipe Amanda’s face and ushered her out of the cafe to get her changed. I watched their retreating figures, a bitter, hollow laugh escaping my lips. It was finally time to kill this rotting marriage.

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480759”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 The company was conducting a strict audit on workplace relationships, and my boyfriend’s name was on the review list. He hurried over to my desk, his voice a frantic whisper. “Make sure absolutely no one finds out about us. If they catch us, one of us will have to pack our bags. You don’t want to lose your job, do you?” He had no idea that I already had a safety net. If push came to shove, I could simply reveal that I was the Chairman’s daughter. Who would dare fire us then? But the very next morning, the audit results were posted. I was about to call in a favor to clear his name, but when I reached the bulletin board, I froze. On the official list of couples caught violating company policy, the name next to his was not mine. … The corridor was packed with employees, all murmuring and pointing at the board. “My god, Marcus and Audrey? They kept that incredibly quiet!” “No wonder they were always staying late and leaving together. It makes perfect sense now.” “Since HR posted it, it’s a hundred percent official.” Everyone was enjoying the gossip, but I stood there, cold to the bone, feeling like the biggest fool in the room. I turned around, determined to confront Marcus. As soon as I raised my head, I saw him rushing toward me. Before I could say a word, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the emergency stairwell. I stared at him, suppressing my fury and heartbreak, waiting for a logical explanation. Instead, he looked at me and issued a flat command. “Vivian, you need to go to the department manager right now and clear this up.” My voice was icy. “Clear what up?” He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Tell the manager that HR made a mistake. Tell her that you are my actual girlfriend, not Audrey. After you tell her, hand in your resignation and leave.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A tremor of pure rage shook my voice. “On what grounds? The bulletin board clearly states that Audrey is your girlfriend! Why should I take the blame, and why should I be the one to leave?” He didn’t show a single hint of remorse. “Audrey just graduated. She has no experience, and if she gets fired for a policy violation, she’ll never find another decent job. You’re different. Your sales numbers are excellent and your resume is stellar. Even if you resign, you’ll land on your feet in no time.” With those words, the last lingering trace of affection I had for him vanished. From beginning to end, he hadn’t considered my feelings for a second. His entire mind was consumed with protecting Audrey, making sure she was safe and secure. I looked him in the eye, my voice trembling with indignation. “Let’s put the resignation aside for a moment. Don’t you think you owe me an explanation about what exactly is going on between you and Audrey?” He knitted his brows, his tone turning dismissive. “There’s nothing to explain. The system made a mistake. It’s a glitch.” A bitter laugh escaped my throat. “A glitch? The company doesn’t put names on that board unless they have undeniable proof of intimacy. Why on earth would they randomly name Audrey as your partner?” Marcus’s face turned white, and then he flared up in anger, trying to cover his guilt. “Why is your mind so toxic? Must you always assume the worst?” “You were the ones caught behaving inappropriately,” I countered, refusing to back down. “Instead of apologizing to me, your first instinct is to force me out of the company to clear her path.” “If you two are as innocent as you claim, why are you risking your own career to shield her?” My words hit their mark, leaving him completely speechless. He let out a frustrated growl. “We’ve been together for two whole years! Do you really have this little trust in me?” I watched his defensive, angry face, and my heart turned entirely cold. I knew him well enough to recognize that he only became this hysterical when the truth was laid bare. The betrayal was real, clear and undeniable. Without a trace of hesitation, I spoke in a quiet, firm voice. “Don’t try to use our two years together to guilt me. I am not going to the manager, and I am not resigning. The person leaving this company won’t be me.” “I’d like to see just how deep your devotion goes, and which one of you will volunteer to walk away first.” Marcus glared at me, his eyes burning with resentment. “Vivian! If you don’t clear this up today, don’t you dare come crawling back to me. I will never speak to you again!” I didn’t waste another second. I pushed the heavy door open and walked out. At the morning meeting the following day, the department manager, Evelyn, stood at the podium. Her eyes immediately locked onto me. “Vivian, stand up.” I stood, a sudden sense of foreboding tightening in my chest. “Following an internal review,” Evelyn announced coldly, “the company has decided to terminate your employment effective immediately due to ethical misconduct.” My ears rang, but I forced my voice to remain steady. “On what grounds are you firing me?” Evelyn’s expression was blank. “We have received a formal statement indicating that you intentionally instructed your boyfriend, Marcus, to pursue Audrey in order to use her as a scapegoat for your own workplace relationship.” “And where is your proof?” My voice shook with a mix of anger and disbelief. “The couple on the bulletin board was caught in a clear compromise. Now you’re trying to pin the blame on me?” I stared directly at her, and the conference room erupted into frantic whispers. Marcus suddenly stood up, looking like the victim of a grave injustice. “I am the proof!” he called out, his voice echoing in the room. “When the audit began, I wanted to resign to protect Vivian. But she refused. She repeatedly ordered me to get close to Audrey, even threatening to break up with me if I didn’t comply.” “I thought it was strange at the time, but now I see she wanted a shield. Vivian, how could you be so malicious? I must have been blind to stay with you for two years!” Audrey stood up next, her eyes rimmed with red. “Vivian, I always looked up to you like an older sister. How could you use me to save yourself?” She looked entirely fragile and betrayed. The whispers in the room turned into a wave of quiet condemnation. “I can’t believe Vivian would do something like that. She’s so manipulative.” “She always seemed so capable, but to do something this low behind the scenes…” “Poor Audrey, she’s just a new hire and got dragged into this mess.” The accusations came from every corner of the room. I looked at Zach. I was the one who had hired him, guiding him through his first projects and taking him out for dinner when clients yelled at him. Yet, his voice was currently the loudest in the chorus of disapproval. I looked at Brenda. Last year, when her low performance put her on the chopping block, I had handed her a major account to save her job. Now, she was looking at me with nothing but disgust. The other junior colleagues, whom I had mentored from their internship days, simply kept their heads down, refusing to meet my eyes. I ignored the rest of the room and looked back at Evelyn. “The company policy states that when a relationship is discovered, the team votes on who should leave. Why am I being terminated directly without a vote?” Evelyn let out a dry, dismissive laugh. “Because we just conducted the vote. It was a unanimous decision for you to leave.” I stared at the familiar faces around me, completely stunned. For two years, I had gone out of my way to help almost everyone in this room. Yet, in my moment of need, not a single person was willing to speak for me. “Why?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. “What did I ever do to any of you?” Marcus stepped forward, his tone dripping with mockery. “You really want to know why? Because you’re the top sales representative, and you think that makes you better than everyone else. You’ve been ordering us around for years, and we’re tired of it!” “I was trying to teach you how to handle clients so we could all reach our targets!” I argued, my anger finally breaking through. “Nobody wanted your charity! Stop acting like a saint!” he barked back. I took a deep, steadying breath, letting my gaze sweep over the room one last time. “Fine. If this is what you’ve decided, I’ll go.” I picked up my notebook from the table, speaking clearly. “I will remember today. I look forward to our next meeting.” I walked back to my desk and began packing my personal belongings into a cardboard box. Before I could finish, the sharp click of high heels approached. Audrey stood beside my desk, looking down at me with an unmistakable air of triumph. “I’m so sorry, sister,” she whispered, her voice too low for the others to hear. “But you lost.” “Your boyfriend is mine, and your job belongs to me now, too.” I kept packing, ignoring her completely. Seeing that she couldn’t bait me, she leaned down, her lips brushing my ear. “Marcus was tired of you a long time ago. He complained to me every day about how domineering and rigid you are. He said you have absolutely no warmth. He wanted to break up months ago, but he just didn’t want to deal with the drama.” My hands paused for a fraction of a second. Domineering? When he was pursuing me, he had praised my independence and strong-willed nature, calling me a breath of fresh air compared to the clingy women he usually met. Now, the very qualities he claimed to admire were the reasons he despised me. I pushed the hurt aside, picked up my box, and walked toward the exit. At the end of the hallway, Marcus was waiting. He took a quick step forward, reaching out to take the heavy box from my arms. “Let me help you carry that to your car.” I looked at him, my eyes cold. “Get lost.” The gentle expression on his face instantly vanished, replaced by an ugly scowl. “Don’t act so high and mighty! Fine, we’re done! I’ve had enough of your terrible attitude anyway!” “You’re a controlling, cold woman who doesn’t know how to treat a partner! I’m the only guy who would have tolerated you for two years! Any other man would have dumped you on day one! With your personality, you’re destined to end up completely alone!” I watched his bitter tirade in silence. This was the man I had loved for two years, the man I had planned to protect by revealing my identity to my father. And now, he was throwing dirt on my name to make himself feel better about his own betrayal. I didn’t waste my breath arguing. I walked past him and left the building. When I arrived home, my father was sitting on the sofa reading the financial section. He looked up, surprised. “Back early today?” “I was fired,” I said quietly. The paper slipped from his hands, clattering onto the coffee table. He stared at me in disbelief. “Who dared fire you? Didn’t they know who you are?” “No one knew,” I replied, shaking my head. After a brief silence, I looked at him. “Dad, about taking over the family business. I’ve made up my mind. I’ll take the position starting next Monday.” My father’s face relaxed into a proud, satisfied smile. “Excellent. I’ve been waiting to hear those words for a long time.” By the time Monday morning arrived, I was ready. I walked through the lobby of the corporate tower. Near the elevators, I ran into Audrey and Marcus. Audrey stopped in her tracks when she saw me, then immediately nudged Marcus with her elbow. Marcus looked at me, his lip curling into a sneer. “Well, look who it is. Trying to pull off cheap knock-offs to look professional?” “Did you come back to beg for your job back after getting kicked out by a unanimous vote?” Audrey covered her mouth, let out a high-pitched laugh. “Vivian, if you had just swallowed your pride and apologized earlier, you wouldn’t have been humiliated like this.” She smirked. “Though, I suppose it’s not too late. If you ask me nicely, I might speak to Evelyn and see if we can get you an entry-level internship so you can pay your rent.” I ignored them, walking toward the secure gates of the office. Before I could scan my pass, Evelyn rushed out from her office, blocking my way. She looked me up and down, her voice sharp. “What are you doing here? This is private property!” “The new Group President is arriving for an inspection today! The entire executive team is waiting! We don’t have time to deal with disgruntled ex-employees!” “You’ve been terminated. Leave immediately before I have security throw you out!” She raised her voice, calling out to the lobby. “Security! Get over here and escort this woman out of the building!” She turned back to me, her tone mocking. “If I were you, I’d leave on my own. Even if you get down on your knees and beg, I am not hiring you back!” Evelyn’s voice grew louder, bordering on a screech. “Security! Where are you? Get her out of here!” Just then, the heavy glass doors of the main lobby opened. Arthur Henderson, the Chief Executive Secretary of Kensington Enterprises, walked in with a measured, confident stride. Evelyn’s hostile expression vanished instantly, replaced by a fawning, obsequious smile as she rushed to greet him. “Mr. Henderson! You’re here! Is the new President on their way? We are fully prepared to receive them!” Marcus and Audrey also stepped forward, bowing politely. “Good morning, Mr. Henderson! Thank you for coming!” The rest of the staff lined up, eager to make a good impression. But Arthur Henderson ignored them completely. He walked straight through the crowd of executives, stopping right in front of me. The entire lobby went dead silent. In the next second, Mr. Henderson bowed deeply to me. “Good morning, Ms. Kensington. I am terribly sorry for the delay. The traffic on the bridge was awful, and I’ve kept you waiting.” The smiles on everyone’s faces froze instantly, their eyes widening in complete shock. “Who… who did you call her?”

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480744”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel

1 My fiancé forced me through painful fertility treatments to bear him eight children, all for his first love who could never conceive. At the banquet for my eighth pregnancy, Ken stroked my belly, smiling. “The doctors say Sally needs a big family to cure her depression,” he murmured. “Deliver this last one, Sylvia, and I’ll give you the grand wedding you deserve.” His friends laughed and placed bets on how much I would ask for this child. Every previous pregnancy, I demanded half a million dollars. This time, I pushed his hand away. “Keep your wedding, Ken. We are done.” He gripped my chin, eyes full of mockery. “You sell your body for cash, so stop pretending. Is the price too low?” Stacks of bills hit my face, the edges cutting my skin. Everyone expected me to crawl for the money. Instead, I took off his ring and dropped it. He did not know my mother had lost her battle with cancer last night. I no longer needed his money or to be the mother for his precious Sally. “Looks like Ken didn’t write a big enough check, and now his girl is pulling a stunt,” someone snickered from the crowd. “Half a mil for the final brat isn’t enough? What, she wants a cool million now?” “Never seen a woman so utterly greedy. Only Ken would put up with her.” The sarcastic whispers buzzed in my ears like poisonous flies. Ken’s brow furrowed tightly. He grabbed another heavy brick of cash and threw it hard against my chest. “Throwing a tantrum again? Take this. A million in total. Is that enough to shut you up?” His freezing tone dragged me violently back to a rainy afternoon eight years ago. That was the day I first found out Ken was giving our baby to Sally. I had a complete mental breakdown, smashing every piece of glass in our penthouse. I even stood outside Sally’s corporate headquarters with a megaphone, screaming that she was a homewrecker stealing my child. In the end, Ken dragged me away and locked me in a private psychiatric facility. “Think about your dying mother in that hospital bed, Sylvia,” he had whispered coldly before walking out. “Stop throwing these childish fits.” He used to love me so deeply. When my mom first got sick, he canceled a multi-billion dollar international merger, took his private jet back overnight, and personally vetted every specialist in the state for her. But the very man who once promised to shield me from the world ended up using my mother’s life as a weapon against me. Seeing me stand completely still, he assumed I was holding out for more. A sneer twisted his handsome face. “I gave you too much credit, Sylvia. At the end of the day, you’re just a woman who put a price tag on seven of her own flesh and blood.” “Fine,” he sighed, adjusting his expensive cuffs. “I’ll tell the doctors to resume your mother’s experimental targeted therapy.” “You refused to apologize to Sally last week. I couldn’t bear to punish you, so I had to let your mother take the fall.” My entire body went rigid. The blood drained from my face. I stared at him, utterly horrified, as hot tears spilled down my cheeks. “Just because I wouldn’t get on my knees and beg Sally for forgiveness, you secretly cut off my mom’s life-saving medication?” “Do you even know she passed away last night?” My voice violently shook, escalating into a broken scream. A brief flicker of hesitation crossed his face, but it vanished in a split second, replaced by a cruel smirk. “There’s no need to use your mother to emotionally blackmail me, Sylvia. I visited her yesterday. She was perfectly fine.” “She even asked when we were getting married. I told her the wedding is on, right after you pop out this final baby.” A laugh clawed its way out of my throat, but it sounded worse than a sob. When the hospital called with the news, I couldn’t even make it in time to see her take her last breath. Her greatest regret was watching me waste eight years of my youth on Ken Sinclair, living as his dirty little secret without a ring or a marriage certificate. She died without ever seeing her daughter walk down the aisle. My eyes were bloodshot. The pure devastation radiating from me must have been too heavy to ignore. Ken’s expression softened, a flash of guilt finally breaking through his arrogant facade. He reached out, wanting to pull me into his arms. But Sally stepped delicately between us. “Sylvia, I know you hate me,” she said, her voice dripping with practiced fragility. “But you really shouldn’t lie about your poor mother dying just to get pity.” “Ken loves you so much. Why do you have to invent such cruel lies to break his heart?” The crowd erupted in sneers. The socialites began whispering, claiming the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. They mocked how my father had abandoned my mother, saying we were both pathetic women who used victimhood to trap men. The laughter made my skin crawl. It felt like needles piercing my lungs with every breath I took. Right then, the five-year-old boy in Sally’s arms raised his cup of fruit punch and hurled the red liquid directly at my white dress. “Wicked witch! You always make Daddy and Mommy Sally sad! Why don’t you just die!” This was the child I had carried for nine agonizing months. The ballroom fell dead silent for a heartbeat before erupting into roaring laughter. “Even her own biological son hates her guts. She really hit rock bottom.” “That’s karma for selling your kids to the highest bidder.” “A toxic woman left with nothing. Poetic justice.” The boy squirmed out of Sally’s arms, glaring at me. “You sold my brothers for money! Get out of here! I only want Mommy Sally!” My heart was brutally squeezed. How could a child so young speak words so venomous? Tears completely blurred my vision. Years ago, desperate to scrape together the astronomical fees for my mother’s surgeries, I signed a contract with Ken. Voluntarily carry the children. Hand them over to Sally’s custody. Receive half a million dollars per child. Ever since then, my oldest son, who was now seven, threw things at me whenever I visited. “Wicked witch! You didn’t want us! Stop acting like you care!” Even the youngest ones were carefully groomed by Sally to spit on my shoes and call me a monster. And Ken’s response was always a dismissive sigh. “They’re just kids, Sylvia. Don’t be so sensitive.” My hands shook violently as I pulled out a tissue, trying to wipe the sticky red juice off my dress. But the moment I moved, Ken instantly stepped in front of Sally and the boy, shielding them as if I were an armed threat. “Let’s get one thing straight, Sylvia,” he warned, his voice laced with venom. “Sally is gentle and kind. She would never teach a child to say those things. This is a result of your own toxic nature. Do not take your misplaced anger out on my son.” He looked at me like I was a feral dog. Watching my fiancé fiercely protect another woman and the children I birthed broke something fundamental inside me. The agony lodged in my throat, choking the air out of my lungs. I couldn’t stomach the sight of them for another second. I turned on my heel and walked out of the banquet hall. The mocking voices followed me out the door. “Doesn’t even care about her own kids. What trash.” “She’s just putting on a show. She’ll come crawling back when it’s time to cash in on the new baby.” I tightly clutched my slightly swollen stomach, feeling the faint, fragile fluttering inside. I promised this baby, right then and there. I will never leave you behind. Not long after leaving the hotel, I opened my phone and saw Sally’s latest post. It was a picture of her holding the boy, her other arm linked intimately with my fiancé. They looked like the perfect, happy family. From the very beginning, I was nothing but an incubator. An outsider. The tears I had been holding back crashed down like a heavy storm. I booked a flight for the next morning. I was going to pack my bags and disappear from their lives forever. But the moment I pushed open the door to my bedroom, my blood ran cold. The room was completely trashed. Drawers were pulled out, clothes shredded. My seven-year-old son, Oliver, stood in the center of the wreckage, staring at me with pure hatred. “Wicked witch! You made Mommy Sally cry at the party! This is your punishment!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the only surviving photograph I had of my mother and me. Right in front of my eyes, he ripped it into tiny pieces and let them flutter to the floor. “You even lied about Grandma dying. You’re a liar! You should go die with her!” Uncontrollable tremors wrecked my body. I bit down on my lower lip so hard that the metallic tang of blood flooded my mouth. I remembered when Oliver was born. He was so sickly, so fragile. I stayed up for weeks nursing him, keeping him close to my chest. When Ken forced me to give him up, Oliver was just old enough to understand. He had gripped the hem of my shirt so tightly his knuckles turned white. He cried, begging me not to leave. He had even run miles in the dark, stumbling from Sally’s mansion all the way back to my small apartment. Back then, I foolishly believed that the bond of blood could survive anything. But it only took a few years for them to turn him into a stranger who hated the very ground I walked on. “Haha! The wicked witch is crying! Serves you right for abandoning me!” Oliver let out a cruel, triumphant laugh and reached for a glass vase on my vanity. Something inside me snapped. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I stepped forward and slapped him hard across the cheek. He froze in absolute shock. A second later, he let out an earsplitting wail. “The bad woman hit me!” The emergency alert on his smartwatch beeped. Seconds later, the heavy oak doors crashed open, and Ken stormed in. Without a word, he grabbed my shoulder and shoved me violently away. I lost my footing. My lower back slammed brutally against the sharp corner of the mahogany desk. “Sylvia! You embarrass Sally at the party, and now you come home to abuse a child?” “When exactly is this psychotic episode of yours going to end?” His eyes darted to the shredded photograph on the carpet. A flicker of hesitation crossed his features, but his tone remained sharp. “It’s just a piece of paper. We can print another one. No matter how angry you get, you do not lay your hands on my son.” Sally rushed into the room right behind him, sweeping the crying boy into her arms. She looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. “Sylvia, I know you resent handing the kids over to me.” “But the children are innocent. You shouldn’t take your bitterness out on them.” “If you hate it so much, I’ll just give them back to you.” The five-year-old hiding behind Sally’s leg and the seven-year-old in her arms shouted in unison. “We don’t want the wicked witch! She only pretends to be sad! She’s mean to us!” I swallowed the bitter ash in my throat and let out a broken, hollow laugh. These were the children I had bled for. The children I spent years desperately trying to hold onto. I blinked away the last of my tears. My heart was utterly, irreversibly dead. Suddenly, Oliver pointed a trembling finger at my legs, screaming in horror. “The wicked witch is bleeding!” I looked down. A sickening wet heat soaked through my dress. Thick, bright red blood was trailing rapidly down my thighs, pooling on the floor. A tearing, agonizing pain ripped through my abdomen. My knees buckled. I looked up at Ken, completely breaking down. “My stomach. It hurts so much. Please. Take me to the hospital!” His face paled. He instinctively reached out to scoop me into his arms. But Sally instantly threw herself in front of his chest, her voice trembling, fragile, and terrified. “She’s just trying to scare us with fake blood because we yelled at her.” “You know I have severe trauma regarding the sight of blood, Sylvia. Why would you trigger me on purpose?” She clutched her head, her knees giving out as she swooned into Ken’s chest. Ken’s grip on me vanished. I collapsed heavily onto the hard floor. He wrapped his arms tightly around Sally, barking orders at the staff in the hallway. “Get the car! We’re taking Sally to the ER right now!” My vision darkened at the edges. I dragged myself toward his tailored shoes, my voice a ragged, desperate rasp. “Ken. I’m not faking. It hurts. The baby. Please…” He glared down at me, his eyes devoid of any warmth. “I know you have a vendetta against Sally. I already promised you I’d marry you after this baby is born. Why do you have to stoop to such disgusting tactics to terrorize her?” “You used to be so kind. When did you turn into such a monster?” He snatched my phone from my trembling hand and walked out the door. The sound of the deadbolt locking clicked ominously in the silent room. His final words drifted through the heavy wood. “I’m giving you twenty-four hours to lock yourself in there and reflect on your behavior.” “Don’t force me to get rough with you, Sylvia. You know I’ve always hated hurting you.” I bit entirely through my lower lip. The taste of copper flooded my tongue. The blood beneath me spread wider, a dark crimson puddle. Using every last ounce of my fading strength, I dragged myself to the door and pounded on it. Eventually, the darkness swallowed me whole, and I slumped lifelessly against the wood. Right before my consciousness faded completely, I heard the muffled, panicked screams of the estate butler from the hallway. When I finally forced my heavy eyelids open, I was staring at a sterile white ceiling. The smell of hospital antiseptic burned my nose. Ken was sitting at my bedside. Seeing me wake, a look of genuine heartache washed over his face. He scooped up a spoonful of white porridge, blew on it softly, and offered it to my lips. It took a long time before he finally spoke. “Sylvia. I’m sorry. I just checked with the doctors. I didn’t know your mother passed away.” “I’ve already arranged for a massive, dignified funeral. The best money can buy.” His voice was thick with guilt. I remembered when we first started dating. He had knelt beside my mother’s cramped hospital bed and sworn on his life that he would protect me from the world. He didn’t just break that promise. He was the one who killed her. Just a second of recalling that memory sent a fresh wave of silent tears down my cheeks. “This porridge is from that little bistro downtown you love. Eat something. Warm up your body.” I kept my mouth shut. I just stared at him with cold, dead eyes. Waking up in this hospital bed finally gave me absolute clarity. I was never going to swallow his toxic scraps of affection ever again. My hand instinctively moved down to my stomach. It was completely flat. My heart flatlined. Boiling tears slipped past my lashes as a ragged sob tore from my throat. “Ken… where is my baby?” “The baby is gone.” Those four casual words shattered whatever was left of my soul. I threw my head back and let out a guttural, agonizing scream, sobbing uncontrollably. Seeing my hysteria, he pulled a tissue and impatiently dabbed at my wet face. His tone was irritatingly calm. “Alright, enough. The kid is gone, but your health is what matters. As long as you’re okay, we’re fine.” He pushed the spoon against my lips again. I violently smacked his hand away. The ceramic bowl shattered, splashing hot porridge all over his expensive suit. “I gave you eight of my children, Ken Sinclair! What more do you want from me?” “Get out! I never want to see your face again as long as I live!” After my mother died, this unborn child was the only anchor keeping me tethered to this earth. Now, my very last sliver of hope was butchered. Watching my absolute meltdown, Ken’s brow knitted together in deep annoyance. “It’s just one lost pregnancy. We can easily have another one. Is there really a need to act like a lunatic?” “Your mother is dead. You’re a woman who has been pregnant eight times. If you leave me, who else is going to want you?” He reached out to touch my shoulder. I used every drop of strength in my battered body to shove him away. “I will never marry you!” The air in the room turned to ice. Ken’s eyes flared red. He raised his hand and slapped me brutally across the face. “We have been together for eight years, Sylvia! You think you can just walk away?” “If you dare leave this hospital, you will refund every single penny I ever spent on you!” He roughly grabbed the jade pendant resting on my collarbone and violently yanked. The chain snapped. This necklace was my mother’s only heirloom. Years ago, I pawned it to pay for her chemo. Ken found out, bought it back, and fastened it around my neck himself. He had held me so tenderly that night. “Don’t carry the weight of the world on your own, Sylvia. Learn to lean on me.” The jade shattered into jagged green pieces across the linoleum floor. I sat frozen on the hospital bed, staring blindly at the wreckage. Seeing the fight completely leave my body, his tone softened slightly, though the arrogant command remained. “I told you yesterday to reflect on your actions.” “If you’re dead set on leaving, I will have your mother’s casket dug up from the cemetery and tossed into a mass grave.” “You owe me your life. And you will pay me back.” My soul had already turned to ash. His threats meant absolutely nothing to me anymore. I gave a slow, mechanical nod. Seeing my submission, he coldly delivered his final orders. “Your little stunt yesterday triggered Sally’s PTSD. Her condition has worsened.” “Her therapist said she needs a public gesture of security. The wedding is tomorrow. You will attend, and you will stand at the altar and tell the press that you voluntarily surrendered the children to her.” “Once you do that, we’ll go get our marriage license next month.” I gave another mechanical nod. Satisfied with my absolute defeat, he adjusted his ruined suit. “Don’t overthink this. I’ll compensate you tenfold.” “Sally and I are just putting on a show for the media. Once this is over, the whole world will know you are the real Mrs. Sinclair.” He didn’t know I had already lost the will to breathe. The flight ticket on my phone had expired. And I no longer needed to run away. After he left, I stared at the chat history with my mom for a long, long time. I typed out one final message. [Mom. I’m coming to keep you company.] Dragging my hollow, bleeding body out of the sheets, I stumbled step by step toward the hospital window on the tenth floor. I pushed it open and closed my eyes against the biting wind. I opened Ken’s contact and sent one last text. [Ken Sinclair. Meeting you was the biggest regret of my life.]

🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “480760”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel