Best Romance Novels

The ninety-ninth time Jax Little broke my heart was the last time. We were the golden couple of Northgate High, our future perfectly mapped out for UCLA. But in our senior year, he fell for a new girl, Catalina, and our love story became a sick, exhausting dance of his betrayals and my empty threats to leave. At a graduation party, Catalina "accidentally" pulled me into the pool with her. Jax dove in without a second's hesitation. He swam right past me as I struggled, wrapped his arms around Catalina, and pulled her to safety. As he helped her out to the cheers of his friends, he glanced back at me, my body shivering and my mascara running in black rivers. "Your life isn't my problem anymore," he said, his voice as cold as the water I was drowning in. That night, something inside me finally shattered. I went home, opened my laptop, and clicked the button that confirmed my admission. Not to UCLA with him, but to NYU, an entire country away.

Eliana Rivera is the firstborn daughter of business tycoon Cassian Rivera. When her father's company falls into debt, he marries her off to the arrogant and ruthless billionaire, Alexander Grayson, as part of a business contract and under the threat of blackmail. Alexander, the billionaire CEO, never planned to marry, but the pressure of blackmail forces him into a union with a woman he barely knows. Although Eliana doesn't see Alexander as her ideal partner, she agrees to the marriage out of a sense of duty. Once engaged, however, he barely acknowledges her presence and harbours disdain for her because of her father's actions and their relationship. But as they navigate their newfound relationship, the unexpected desire for each other's touch ignites-a twist neither of them planned, leading them toward an unforeseen love.

One night, all they shared was one night, but it led to the single lie that destroyed her life. Sarina Dawson was nothing more than a forgotten half-breed until the night she was framed, drugged, and thrown into the bed of the most powerful Alpha alive, Alpha Leonard Kane. He believed she had schemed to trap him so he cast her aside without a second glance and by morning, she had lost everything. Banished, broken and alone. But Sarina didn't leave empty-handed, she carried a secret. A child with silver-grey eyes... the heir of the Alpha who despised her. Two years later, she's built a quiet life far from the pack, hiding among humans, determined to protect her son at all costs until fate drags him back into her world. Alpha Kane arrives closer than ever, more dangerous than ever and this time, he's searching for a wife... and an heir, and she is determined to keep her child away from him. But secrets don't stay buried forever. And before he can lose her for eternity, will he claim her as his mate, or destroy her all over again?

My husband, Dante Moretti, the feared Underboss, signed the divorce papers I slipped him without a glance. Too busy texting his true love, Sofia, he was blind to the annulment decree ending everything. The Reaper couldn't see the death of his own marriage. For three years, I was Elena, his silent wife, the "Caged Canary," cleaning his messes while meticulously planning my escape from our loveless world. He dismissed me for Sofia's every whim, publicly shaming me after a past love letter was read, then abandoning me again for her fake crisis. That night, he violently shoved me against a wall, leaving me bleeding and concussed, rushing instead to protect Sofia. Discarded and injured, my invisible love became a weapon against me. His crushing blindness, the cold realization I was a mere placeholder, fueled a profound injustice. How could he be so lethal, yet oblivious to his wife, favoring the one who betrayed him? With chilling resolve, I uploaded Sofia's confession, initiated a massive financial transfer dismantling his empire, and staged my own death. Under a new identity, I fled to San Francisco, ready to build my power, far from his bloody, deceitful world.

My love. My ruin. Ashton Hampton saved me from my mother's scandal. I gave him my whole heart. Then he told me he was marrying another woman for business. My role? His hidden mistress. At our engagement party, his new fiancée accused me of ruining her brooch. Ashton didn't question it. He demanded I apologize. The crowd attacked. He watched. I climbed onto a helicopter and disappeared. Eighteen years later, I saw him on a park bench—broken, hollow, begging for one more word. I gave him two: “No comment.”

The day I found out I was pregnant, I also learned my entire three-year relationship was a lie. The man I loved, the father of my child, was actually a master manipulator orchestrating a cruel revenge plot. He and his twin brother had shared my bed, my life, and my heart, all to destroy me. Erica, an ER nurse, was overjoyed with her pregnancy, believing she'd found true love and stability with corporate heir Anthony Holden. But this joy shattered when she overheard Anthony and his twin, Emmanuel, revealing their relationship was a "farce"—a three-year revenge plot against her for a forgotten college slight. The man in her bed was Emmanuel. Her grandmother then died due to Anthony's cruel refusal of medical aid. They locked Erica in a dark closet, attempted to poison her, and Anthony stomped on her wrist, stealing her EpiPen. This relentless abuse led to the ultimate loss of her unborn child. Lying in agony, Erica realized this was systematic annihilation. What monstrous secrets fueled such calculated savagery? From the ashes, a terrifying resolve ignited. The naive nurse died on that blood-soaked floor. Erica, now utterly devoid of emotion, would forge their gilded cage into a weapon and burn their entire empire to the ground.

Evelina Barrett was the legitimate daughter, yet she was framed for a disgusting sex scandal, expelled from the Ivy League, and locked out of her late mother's massive trust fund. While she was thrown out to rot on the streets with a jagged, hideous red scar covering half her face, her father and step-family were throwing a lavish charity gala to celebrate her total ruin. They laughed as they officially published her disownment notice in the Times to cut her off forever. "Without the school halo, that ugly freak will be begging on the streets by tomorrow," her sister Aspen sneered. Her stepmother Annabella toasted to taking out the trash, perfectly happy to steal Evelina's inheritance while ignoring the fact that Evelina knew exactly how they had murdered her mother. For years, Evelina had been locked in a dark basement, abused by bodyguards, and treated worse than a stray dog. Why should she, the true heir, suffer in the gutter while the leeches who destroyed her life enjoyed the wealth that rightfully belonged to her? She refused to be their victim anymore. Washing away her fake scar to reveal her true, breathtaking face, Evelina blackmailed New York's most lethal billionaire into marriage to secure the ultimate shield. Then, she put on a black mourning dress, ordered a dark web ghost crew, and climbed into a heavy semi-truck. At exactly 6:00 PM, she smashed through the iron gates of her family's elegant gala, delivering three pure black coffins directly to the lawn.

Sienna woke up in a hospital room, her body screaming from a severe car accident. Through the glass, a man paced with violent rage, a dark shadow she felt absolutely nothing for. Her friend Julia burst in, eyes bloodshot, dropping a bomb: "He didn't even try to help you." Dante, Sienna's fiancé, had protected another woman, Valeria, in the crash, leaving Sienna to burn alive. Her past life unspooled – seven years sacrificed, an architecture degree abandoned, all to serve Dante. Her phone was a shrine to him: his photos, his "taboos," and even "Valeria's preferences," with no trace of Sienna herself. But amnesia brought no heartbreak, only a cold, calculating fury. She felt disgust for the "idiot" she'd been, stripped of dignity. The memory loss was a release, a blank slate. With chilling resolve, Sienna deleted every trace of Dante. Ripping out her IV, she declared, "The wedding proceeds." Not for love, but as a weapon: "I need to take back everything that belongs to me before I disappear."

Scarlett Hayes thought marrying James Whitmore would finally make her family see her as more than a burden. Instead, it destroyed her life. Framed for crimes she didn't commit, betrayed by the people she trusted most, and sentenced to prison while pregnant, Scarlett lost everything in a single night. Then came the cruelest blow of all. After giving birth in chains, she was told her baby had died. The people responsible believed she would spend the rest of her life rotting behind bars. They were wrong. Five years later, Scarlett returns. No longer the discarded daughter of the Hayes family. No longer the broken woman they left behind. Now she is Commander Scarlett Hayes-a decorated war hero, the unseen force behind a global intelligence empire, and a woman powerful enough to make governments tremble. She comes back for one reason only: revenge. Her ex-husband, the stepsister who stole her life, and the family who buried her alive are about to learn exactly what happens when a woman with nothing left to lose takes back everything they stole. But as Scarlett tears through the secrets of her past, one truth threatens to change everything- the child she mourned for years may not be dead. And the mysterious man connected to the night that changed her life has been watching from the shadows all along.

The biopsy report slid across the cold metal desk, stamped with a brutal death sentence: advanced gastric cancer. Aretha had exactly ninety days left to live. It was her twenty-sixth birthday, but her phone only rang with a furious call from her husband, Anders. "Do you have any idea how much of a joke you made this family look like today? Post a public apology to Kelli right now." He had completely forgotten her birthday, only caring that she skipped her adopted sister's yacht party. When Aretha dragged her failing body back to the family estate, her biological mother slapped her across the face just for looking pale and embarrassing them in front of guests. Seeing Aretha wasn't submitting to the usual abuse, Kelli deliberately threw herself down the stairs, playing the innocent, depressed victim. Anders rushed in and shoved Aretha brutally against the wall to protect Kelli, while her biological father delivered his ultimate threat. "I am freezing your trust fund. Get on your knees and apologize to Kelli right now, or you won't see another dime." A massive, suffocating sense of absurdity washed over Aretha. She had spent six years lowering her head and begging for their approval, only to be treated like a disposable placeholder. Why should she spend her final days enduring this agonizing torture for people who didn't even care if she breathed? Aretha wiped the blood from her chin and laughed. She publicly severed all ties with her family, whipped the signed divorce papers directly at Anders's face, and walked out into the freezing storm—ready to fight for her own life.

After the one-night stand with a man who refused to tell her his name, Charlotte would figure out on TV that the man she had s*x with the previous night was the heir to a billionaire empire. At the same time, Jace Norman-the infamous playboy heir-faces a public scandal that threatens his inheritance. To protect the family empire, his ruthless father forces him into an immediate contract marriage. And just like that Charlotte would get married to the spoiled, reckless son of the most powerful billionaire in the city. That One night, Room 55 and Five thousand dollars she desperately needed would change her life forever. Weeks later, Charlotte discovers she's pregnant. But before she can process the truth, her manipulative boyfriend claims the child is his and begins blackmailing her. As their fake marriage becomes dangerously possessive, secrets begin to spiral. An ex-boyfriend demanding money. Jace's jealous college lover is determined to destroy Charlotte. Charlotte's sister is hiding betrayal behind sweet smiles. And a billionaire father who will eliminate anyone to protect the Norman name. When a forged DNA test claims the baby isn't Jace's, the empire turns on Charlotte. But the truth is far darker than any of them realize. Because someone has been orchestrating every lie from the beginning. And when Jace finally discovers the baby is his... He will have to choose between his father's empire- Or the woman carrying his heir.

Nelson Smith has been struggling for survival due to kidney failure. Without a transplant, he has less than four months to live. No one in his family matched after tests were done. Not even his siblings, parents or cousins, except for one person, Janice Capuno, his wife. Janice used to be the darling of a wealthy Dynasty, until she hid her identity and married the man she loves, Nelson Smith, against her parent's wishes. Instead of getting love, she was treated like a servant by her mother-in-law, mocked as a gold-digger by her sister in-law, but for her husband, his love towards her remained unshakable. He'd never ceased defending and protecting her from his family, that's why when the doctors confirmed her to be a match, she didn't hesitate to get herself cut open to save Nelson's life. **** There was barely thirty minutes to the surgery, and Janice was already in her hospital gown, waiting to get cut and her kidney given out to save her husband's life, when the reality of everything she had believed in came changing in her eyes. "Babe....my phone...switch it off...battery." Nelson pointed to his bag weakly before the sedative took full action on him. Just before she'll put the phone off, a WhatsApp notification suddenly popped up. It was from Tricia, his University ex-girlfriend. "Baby, has the fool gone into the theatre yet? I can't wait for this to be over. Once you get the kidney, we're done with her." The message read.

Elliana sat on the cold marble floor, staring at the two pink lines on the pregnancy test. Overjoyed, she went to her husband Garrett’s study to surprise him. But the room was empty. On his iPad, she accidentally opened a muted security video from the night before. As a graphic novelist trained in facial anatomy, she easily read Garrett’s lips as he spoke to their housekeeper. "Increase the hallucinogens and the birth control. Let her become a complete lunatic." The truth shattered her reality. Her three years of inexplicable exhaustion and mental collapses were orchestrated to keep her away from her ex-fiancé, who was now married to Garrett’s sister, Cristina. The nightmare worsened during a horrific highway crash. As their SUV flipped and caught fire, Garrett ruthlessly abandoned a pregnant Elliana in the crushed backseat. He dragged Cristina to safety, leaving Elliana to burn. She survived, but her right hand—her drawing hand—was permanently destroyed. Lying in the hospital with her career ruined and her intellectual property stolen by the husband who forged her signature while she was drugged, a freezing void of hatred consumed her. She was nothing but a sedated decoy to hide Garrett's twisted, incestuous obsession with his own sister. When Garrett knelt by her hospital bed with fake tears, Elliana didn't scream or expose him. Instead, she forced a pathetic, dependent smile, playing the perfect broken wife. She was going back to his penthouse to steal his encrypted files, ready to feed him to Manhattan's most cutthroat divorce lawyer and watch his empire burn.

Finley was forced by her dying grandfather to marry Haiden Mitchell, a ruthless corporate executive, just to secure the family's billion-dollar empire. But right after their humiliating wedding, she discovered a sickening secret: he was hiding a dying mistress and a little boy who called him "Daddy." Desperate to escape the marriage, she recorded them at the hospital and showed the evidence to her grandfather, begging for an annulment. Instead, her grandfather coldly replied that loyalty was a luxury for the poor. As long as Haiden kept the stock prices high, he didn't care if the man had ten hidden bastards. To silence her, her grandfather froze all her trust funds, confiscated her phone, and abandoned her, leaving her entirely under Haiden's absolute control. Haiden even brought the illegitimate boy into their penthouse, pinning her against the wall with a ruthless threat. "You will act as his mother in public, or you will have absolutely nothing." Finley was completely trapped, stripped of her freedom and humiliated. She had always thought Haiden was just a greedy parasite waiting to drain the Blackwell fortune dry. That was until she found a highly confidential fax hidden under his coffee table. It bore an ancient, gothic crest—a lion holding a sword—a symbol far more terrifying and powerful than anything in the New York corporate world. Her blood ran cold. Who exactly was she married to?

Isabella Hart was the faithful Luna of Shadowfang Pack and the gifted healer of the pack. Upon the death of the Alpha's ill mother that was under her care, Isabella anticipated grief. She did not expect betrayal. Being accused of murder, rejected by her mate, and condemned by the council, Isabella has lost everything in one night. Her own closest friend even testified against her. Being taken to the dungeon when pregnant, the world of Isabella collapsed even more when she was informed that her baby was born dead. But fate had other plans. The night before her execution, Lucien, the Lycan king of rogues had raided the pack and captured her. Rather than killing her, he gave her a deal- assist him to destroy the Alpha that betrayed her and he would grant her the revenge that she deserved. Together, Isabella and Lucien gradually destroyed Shadowfang pack. However, when secrets start to reveal themselves, Isabella finds out the truth regarding her child, her betrayal and the man she believed she knew. She has now to choose who is her real enemy and who is the real owner of her heart. Since the Lycan king did not simply take the Alpha Luna's. He even might have stolen her destiny.

On Valentine's Day, love is in the air-but so is danger. At 30,000 feet, trainee captain Jane Harley proves she's more than just a rising pilot when she navigates a terrifying turbulence that leaves passengers shaken and lives hanging by a thread. Calm under pressurej and fiercely capable, Jane becomes the unexpected hero of Flight 423. But while she's saving lives in the sky, fate is already setting something far more complicated in motion. Among the passengers is the powerful and ambitious mother of Jayden-Aurelia Air's largest shareholder-whose midair health crisis is only the beginning of a chain of events. Grateful and intrigued, she sets her sights on Jane... not just as a hero, but as a future daughter-in-law. Jayden, a grounded pilot with a sharp mind and guarded heart, has no interest in his mother's schemes-until one unexpected name changes everything. In a world of wealth, expectations, and high-altitude emotions, two lives are about to collide. Love, ambition, and fate take flight in Falling at 30,000 Feet.

Julian Laurent was known as the most notorious playboy in Rivermont, changing girlfriends as often as he changed his clothes and treating marriage like a joke. Clara Sterling, on the other hand, had always been the most quiet and obedient daughter of the Sterling family. Raised as the heir since childhood, she had been flawless in every word and every gesture. A family-arranged marriage forced these two complete opposites into the same life. On their wedding night, Julian openly made out with a young model at a nightclub. For the first time, Clara cast aside her propriety, slapping him and demanding a divorce on the spot. But before the next day was over, their families had forced them to remarry. This time, Julian managed to stay faithful for a month before he cheated again. Clara filed for divorce once more, cutting ties with him completely. However, that very same day, it was revealed that Clara was not the real daughter of the Sterling family, and she was thrown out. At her lowest point, Julian found her and solemnly promised to protect her from then on. They remarried again, and from that day forward, the scandals surrounding Julian ceased. Everyone said Clara was lucky. Even her best friend insisted that Julian had truly settled down, and Clara believed it. Until she saw him in a hospital corridor, holding her best friend's hand, his voice strained with deep emotion, "I never liked her. You're the one I've always loved!" It turned out all of his tenderness had been a lie. This time, she walked away and never looked back. And the man who had once treated her as disposable only realized after she was gone that he had long since drowned in her quiet love, unable to escape.

I was bound by blood to a mysterious cloaked male named Rafe to secure a vital alliance. I was supposed to be the new Luna of the Nightfall Pack. But the moment I arrived, I was stripped of my expected title and forced to be a mere personal assistant to the brutally handsome Alpha Kaelen. My fated mate never even showed up. Alpha Kaelen treated me with icy disdain. He even dragged me to a high-end jewelry store to pick out a mating gift for his "future Luna." When the shop owner assumed the gift was for me, Kaelen coldly humiliated me in public. "She is just my assistant." Yet, when a rival Alpha tried to lay a hand on me at a summit, Kaelen nearly started a war. He shielded me with his body, his eyes blazing with furious possessiveness. "She is mine." I didn't understand. If I was nothing but a discarded political pawn, why did Kaelen's touch send electric sparks straight to my core, exactly like my fated mate? Why was he fiercely protective of me one second, only to treat me like absolute garbage the next? Staring at the moonstone necklace he forced me to carry for his "real mate," the fragile hope in my chest finally died. I wouldn't wait for a phantom husband anymore; I was going to uncover Kaelen's secret, and then, I would leave this pack for good.

For four years, I was the Silvercrest Pack's biggest joke—a scentless, wolfless Omega who somehow became the Alpha's Luna. I thought I was just naturally defective, until our fourth anniversary, when I overheard my husband Adrian talking to his Beta. "I’ve been having the kitchens slip a silver-based compound into her meals since the day I marked her." He confessed the poison was meant to suppress my inner wolf and keep my womb permanently barren. He only married me as a power play to make his highborn mistress, Seraphina, jealous. While I wept over my empty cradle and apologized to his family for my broken body, he was using pack funds to buy her custom luxury goods, tossing me the leftover wrapping paper. When I finally confronted him about the silver and tried to leave, he flew into a feral rage. He violently smashed my head against the marble vanity, leaving me bleeding on the floor, and locked the bedroom door behind him. I lay there in the cold, staring at the pool of my own blood. My entire life, my endless pain, and my unborn pups were nothing but a cruel, calculated joke to the man who was supposed to be my Mate. But Adrian didn't know I wasn't just a brainless Omega. I wiped the blood from my face, climbed down the balcony trellis into the freezing rain, and pulled out an encrypted burner phone. "The cage is broken. Initiate Phase Two."

I sold myself to a paralyzed billionaire to pay for my mother's life support. But my step-sister staged a photo of me with another man, making my new husband think I was a cheating gold-digger. In a jealous rage, Curtis locked me in a dark panic room. While trapped, my step-mother sent a picture of her hand on my mom's ventilator plug, forcing me to sneak out to a black-market clinic. There, they forcibly drained 800cc of my blood to sell. Half-dead and in severe shock, I dragged myself back home, only for Curtis to confront me with another staged photo of my ex grabbing me outside the clinic. Believing I had snuck out to see a lover, he ordered his guards to throw my blood-drained body into the freezing wine cellar. "Please, don't put me down there! I'll die!" I begged and clung to his wheelchair, but he just kicked my hand away in absolute disgust. In the pitch-black, 55-degree room, my organs slowly shut down. I didn't understand why I had to endure this hell, or why he was so blinded by his own fragile ego that he never even noticed how chalk-white my face was. Hours later, his precious sister needed an emergency transfusion, and they dragged my icy body out to drain me again. But when the doctor rolled up my sleeve and exposed the horrific, bruised puncture wound, Curtis finally realized the truth. As he stared at my arm in absolute, paralyzed terror, the EKG machine attached to my chest flatlined.

For three years, I scrubbed tables as a "wolfless runt," hiding my identity as the Lycan King's daughter. It was a test for my fiancé, Alpha Connor. I wanted to see if he loved the girl, or just the crown. He failed spectacularly tonight. His mistress, Jaden, deliberately knocked a tray of drinks onto me during the dinner rush. The liquid wasn't alcohol. It was concentrated silver. My flesh hissed and bubbled as the poison ate through my skin, blocking any ability to heal. I fell to the floor, clutching my melting hand, while Jaden faked tears and claimed I attacked her. When Connor finally answered the video call, he saw my mangled hand. He smelled the burning flesh. He knew it was silver. But he didn't help me. He looked at his watch, annoyed that I was interrupting his business meeting with investors. "Apologize to Jaden," he ordered, using his Alpha Command to crush me into submission. "On your knees. Now." The pain was blinding, but the betrayal cut deeper. He was forcing his Fated Mate to bow to the woman who tried to maim her. My knees bent under the pressure, but my Royal blood refused to break. I looked straight into the camera lens. "No," I whispered. I reached into my apron, bypassing the notepad, and pulled out a black satellite phone I hadn't touched in years. "Code Black," I said to the King on the other end. "Send the Guard." Connor thought he was disciplining a waitress. He didn't know he just declared war on the Royal Family.

Eliana, once a billionaire heiress, had given up everything to become the perfect ordinary wife for Dustin, meticulously erasing her elite past for him. She cooked, cleaned, and mastered the art of espresso, pouring all her energy into their quiet life. But as she brought him his coffee, she found a bottle of bright pink nail polish and a delicate shark-bone bracelet on his desk, jarringly out of place, instantly shattering her carefully constructed world. Dustin’s cold dismissal stung, yet her corporate upbringing kept her questions silent. Then, her phone buzzed with an anonymous text: "He likes my taste," followed by a photo. It was a woman's pink-nailed hand, intimately on Dustin's thigh in his car, his Patek Philippe watch with its tell-tale scratch mocking her—a watch she had nearly ruined her health to buy him. The elaborate birthday dinner she’d spent hours preparing burned, filling the kitchen with acrid smoke as her marriage turned to ash. Slumped on the freezing floor, a chilling clarity replaced her despair. She clutched the unopened pregnancy test, once a symbol of hope, now a cruel joke. Then, from Dustin's study, came a rare, indulgent laugh. He was on speakerphone with his mistress, Jami, promising her the bracelet, and then, the poisoned blade: "Her? She can't even remember what date it is. She just sits at home all day studying broken recipes." Today was Eliana's 30th birthday, forgotten and weaponized against her. The sorrow evaporated, replaced by cold, absolute resolve. Eliana stepped out from the shadows, her hand flat against the heavy wood, and shoved the mahogany door open with a resounding thud. "Is that so? I didn't realize my recipes were so boring."

To save her dying mother, Adaline walked into the Waldorf Astoria to deliver a shirt to her fiancé. She didn't know her stepsister, June, had swapped her keycard. Adaline stumbled into a pitch-black suite and was brutally assaulted by a stranger in the dark. The nightmare didn't end there. June paid off the only bone marrow donor for Adaline's mother to flee the city, and stole Adaline's fiancé. Bankrupt and desperate, Adaline was forced to sell herself into a loveless marriage with the ruthless billionaire Ferris Finch just to secure a medical team. But when Ferris saw the dark, violent bruises covering her body, his eyes filled with absolute disgust. "You make me sick. Pack up your cheap tricks." He mocked her, calling her a filthy woman who couldn't even wash her lover's marks off before crawling into his house. Adaline swallowed her pride and endured his cruel humiliation. When June publicly taunted her about the hotel assault, Adaline finally snapped, ending up handcuffed in a freezing police cell. She thought she was completely out of moves, waiting to rot in prison while her new husband despised her. But back at the estate, Ferris had just pulled the hotel's security footage. Staring at the screen, the arrogant billionaire's face turned completely ashen. He finally realized that the innocent woman he had destroyed in the dark that night, and the wife he was currently torturing, were the exact same person.

Alaia Dudley spent her life playing the devoted partner, completely unaware that her fiancé Austen was sleeping with another woman. She thought the worst he could do was break her heart, until she found herself pinned to a cold operating table. Austen held her down with a cruel smirk while a scalpel sliced through her sternum. They cracked her chest open while she was still fully conscious. The agonizing pain of her heart being cut out burned into her nerve endings. She realized then that to him, she was never a lover—just a spare organ, a boring piece of wood to be discarded the second his true love needed it. She died in excruciating agony, choking on her own blood while the man she loved walked away with her heart. Until her last breath, she didn't understand why she had to suffer so brutally. Why did she waste her life begging for a monster's attention? Why did they get a happy ending while she was carved up like an animal? But then, ice-cold water flooded her lungs, and Alaia violently broke the surface of her bathwater. Her trembling fingers touched her smooth, flawless chest. No scars. Her heart was still beating. The date on her phone glared back at her: it was exactly five years ago. Tonight was the exact night Austen first took his mistress to a hotel room. This time, she wouldn't just expose them. She would use Wall Street's most terrifying tyrant as her personal weapon to strip them of everything they had.