From Prison To Power: Rise Of The War Goddess
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.
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Chapter 4
Scarlett was about to dodge-
When suddenly-
A hand caught her wrist.
Before she could react, an arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her hard against someone's chest.
Her forehead hit something solid.
Warm.
Firm.
A man.
Her eyes darkened instantly.
She moved to break free-
But the arm around her tightened, pulling her even closer.
Her expression turned cold.
Was this guy seriously trying something?
Her hand slid to her waist, fingers closing around the hilt of a hidden blade-
But before she could strike-
He let go.
Scarlett stepped back immediately, every nerve on alert as she looked up-
And froze.
For a split second, her pupils shrank.
The man standing in front of her was striking.
Sharp features, as if carved from stone. Strong brows, a straight, defined nose, and thin lips that naturally carried a hint of severity.
There was an effortless elegance about him-
The kind that couldn't be faked. The kind that came from power, from upbringing, from standing at the very top.
But what caught her off guard the most-
Was how much he resembled the boy.
Father and son?
While Scarlett studied him-
He studied her.
Carefully.
Silently.
Behind his back, his fingers brushed lightly together-the same hand that had just been around her waist.
His dark eyes stayed fixed on her.
Unblinking.
Then-
The boy ran over on unsteady legs and threw his arms around Scarlett's leg, clinging to her like he never planned to let go.
"Mommy! Mommy! I finally found you!" he cried, tears streaming down his face.
Mommy?
Theron's expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
His gaze flicked between Scarlett and the boy.
Looking closer-
There really was a resemblance.
Could it be...
That night, five years ago-
Was it her?
His eyes sharpened slightly as his gaze moved to the corner of her eye.
Nothing.
No mark.
That night, his mind had been clouded, his memory incomplete-but one detail had stayed clear.
The woman had a small red mark near her eye.
Scarlett didn't.
Her skin there was flawless.
And besides-
He had found the child abandoned in a trash bin.
What kind of mother would do that?
Someone capable of that kind of cruelty...
Couldn't be the same woman who had just risked everything to protect a child.
No.
It wasn't her.
Scarlett looked down at the boy, his face streaked with tears. She frowned slightly and wiped them away.
"Hey. Easy," she said, her voice gentler now. "You don't have to cry like that. If you're hurt, deal with it-but don't fall apart over it."
"O-Okay..." the boy sniffed, trying hard to hold it together. "Theo will be good... I'll listen to Mommy..."
His eyes were still glassy, trembling with tears he refused to let fall.
He was scared-
That if he cried, she wouldn't like him anymore.
Scarlett paused.
"You said your name is Theo?"
The boy nodded quickly.
"Yeah! Theo is my nickname. My full name is Theodore Cross!"
He looked up at her, hopeful. Expectant.
Still calling her Mommy.
Strangely-
Scarlett didn't mind it.
Every time he said it, something in her chest softened.
It felt... natural.
Familiar.
Almost like-
He really belonged to her.
"Listen," she said, her tone gentler now. "I'm not your mom. If you don't believe me... ask your dad."
As she spoke-
Theron had already walked over.
Scarlett straightened and faced him. "He's probably just shaken up and confused me with someone else."
"He doesn't have a mother," Theron said calmly, his gaze steady.
Scarlett raised a brow.
And why was he telling her that?
Before she could ask-
His voice lowered slightly, smooth and controlled.
"You saved my son."
A brief pause.
"I owe you. Name your price-whatever you want."
"I don't need anything," Scarlett replied without hesitation. "I helped him because I wanted to."
Theron studied her for a moment.
That confirmed it.
A woman like her-
Calm. Decisive. Protective-
There was no way she was the one who had abandoned this child.
"Saving him makes you someone I owe," he said. "I'll repay you. No matter what it takes."
Scarlett frowned, a flicker of impatience crossing her face.
"I said-I don't want money."
Theron went quiet for a few seconds.
Then slowly-
A faint smile touched his lips.
His gaze locked onto hers.
"What about me?"
"...What?" Scarlett blinked, caught off guard.
She stared into his eyes-
Dark. Focused. Entirely on her.
Like nothing else existed.
Before she could respond-
He added, just as calmly,
"If you don't want money... then I'll repay you with myself."
Scarlett stared at him, momentarily speechless.
So that's what he meant.
Even Howard looked stunned. He'd been with Scarlett for years-this was the first time he'd ever seen someone come at her like this.
But the happiest one-
Was Theo.
He grabbed Scarlett's hand with one hand, Theron's with the other, his face lighting up.
"This is perfect! I have a mommy now! I have a real family!"
Scarlett looked at his bright, hopeful smile-
And for once...
She couldn't bring herself to break it.
But then-
Theo's eyes suddenly rolled back.
His body went limp.
"Theo!"
Scarlett reacted instantly, catching him before he hit the ground. His face was flushed. She pressed a hand to his forehead-
Burning.
"He's got a fever," she said sharply, looking up at Theron.
Theron took the boy from her arms.
After a couple of steps, he stopped-and turned back.
"You're not coming with us?"
Scarlett's gaze lingered on Theo for a moment before she looked away.
"Like I said, I helped because I wanted to. I don't need repayment-especially not... that."
Theron's brows drew together slightly.
When he spoke, his voice was calm-but absolute.
"I don't go back on my word."
A beat.
"I said I'd repay you with myself. I meant it."
His eyes held hers.
"Wait for me. I'll come find you."
And just like that-
He turned and walked away, long strides carrying him to the car, Theo still in his arms.
The car pulled off.
Scarlett stood there, watching the taillights disappear into the distance.
"...Whether you keep your promise or not-what does that have to do with me?" she muttered under her breath.
Then she turned and got back into her own car.
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7.4
In a city where data is power and truth is a weapon, some secrets are worth killing for.
Mara Quinn is a ghost in the system, an underground journalist known only as Cipher, feared by corporations and hunted by those with everything to lose. When she breaches a classified network inside Axiom Industries, she uncovers something no one was meant to see: ORACLE, a predictive AI capable of shaping human behavior on a global scale.
She expects retaliation. She doesn't expect Kael Draven.
Cold, brilliant, and untouchable, Kael is the architect behind Axiom's empire, and a man who doesn't make threats he can't execute. Instead of silencing Mara, he offers her a choice: work under his watch, or disappear from existence entirely. Trapped inside his glass fortress known as The Spire, Mara is pulled deeper into a world of surveillance, manipulation, and power plays that stretch far beyond anything she imagined.
But ORACLE isn't just a tool, it's already been used. Governments have fallen. Empires have shifted. And someone else is pulling the strings.
As a rival syndicate closes in and a hidden war erupts across the city, Mara and Kael are forced into an uneasy alliance, one built on intellect, suspicion, and a dangerous, undeniable pull neither of them can ignore.
Because in a world where every move is predicted...
the only thing more dangerous than control is feeling.
And the system is already watching.
7.7
Rory stood on the witness stand, forced by her father into an impossible choice: secure her dying mother's medical funding, or save her innocent boyfriend.
She looked Corbin right in his trusting eyes and lied to the court, testifying that he was the one driving the car during the fatal hit-and-run, sending him to a maximum-security prison for ten years.
The betrayal destroyed him. Corbin's father died of a heart attack upon hearing the guilty verdict. Six years later, Corbin returned as a ruthless billionaire and systematically blacklisted Rory from every job in the city. He cornered her into singing at his private club, humiliating her by forcing her to drink scotch—knowing she was severely allergic—and making her throw away his promise ring just to earn a stack of cash.
"Remember this moment. This is only the beginning."
She endured his cruel revenge because she was hiding a desperate secret: she was raising his five-year-old daughter, Willa. But when Willa's congenital heart defect suddenly worsened, requiring an impossible one-million-dollar surgery, Rory realized Corbin's calculated blockade had left her completely trapped with no way to save their child.
Staring at the sterile hospital walls, the last shred of her guilt burned away, replaced by a cold, hard resolve. He had destroyed her career and backed her into a corner, but he was the only one with the money. Wiping her tears, Rory turned and headed straight for Vance Tower.
9.6
My world revolved around Jax Harding, my older brother's captivating rockstar friend.
From sixteen, I adored him; at eighteen, I clung to his casual promise: "When you're 22, maybe I'll settle down."
That offhand comment became my life's beacon, guiding every choice, meticulously planning my twenty-second birthday as our destiny.
But on that pivotal day in a Lower East Side bar, clutching my gift, my dream exploded.
I overheard Jax' s cold voice: "Can't believe Savvy's showing up. She' s still hung up on that stupid thing I said."
Then the crushing plot: "We' re gonna tell Savvy I' m engaged to Chloe, maybe even hint she' s pregnant. That should scare her off."
My gift, my future, slipped from my numb fingers.
I fled into the cold New York rain, devastated by betrayal.
Later, Jax introduced Chloe as his "fiancée" while his bandmates mocked my "adorable crush"-he did nothing.
As an art installation fell, he saved Chloe, abandoning me to severe injury.
In the hospital, he came for "damage control," then shockingly shoved me into a fountain, leaving me to bleed, calling me a "jealous psycho."
How could the man I loved, who once saved me, become this cruel and publicly humiliate me?
Why was my devotion seen as an annoyance to be brutally extinguished with lies and assault?
Was I just a problem, my loyalty met with hatred?
I would not be his victim.
Injured and betrayed, I made an unshakeable vow: I was done.
I blocked his number and everyone connected to him, severing ties.
This was not an escape; this was my rebirth.
Florence awaited, a new life on my terms, unburdened by broken promises.
8.4
Kenzie, the former leader of the Aegis Alliance, opened her eyes to find herself reincarnated as a freezing, abandoned infant in a wet cardboard box.
She was rescued from the rain by Devin Ayers, a ruthless billionaire, and rushed to a private hospital, but a deadly threat was already waiting for her.
The ER doctor, Desiree Dillon, approached her with a syringe. Through a sudden burst of telepathy, Kenzie read the doctor's dark thoughts. Desiree wasn't trying to cure her fever. She deliberately ignored the safe dosage, drawing a lethal amount of Diazepam to permanently silence the crying baby and disguise it as sudden infant death.
"This will make it all go away," Desiree smiled gently, the needle glinting as it moved inches from Kenzie's arm.
Trapped in a weak, paralyzed three-month-old body, Kenzie couldn't run, fight, or even speak. She could only watch the poison inch closer.
How could she survive death only to be assassinated in a hospital bed by a corrupt doctor? She used to command armies. The sheer injustice and terror of dying completely helpless in this tiny body ignited a blinding rage inside her.
Refusing to be a victim again, Kenzie pushed her newborn brain to its absolute limit and unleashed a desperate telepathic scream directly into the billionaire's mind.
"Poison! She's trying to kill me!"
Devin, who had been looking away, suddenly froze, his icy gray eyes locking onto the doctor's wrist.
7.7
Five years ago, Zaria Blackthorne lost everything. Framed as a traitor's daughter, she watched her parents die, was betrayed by her fated mate, Callum Nightbane, and cast into prison-only to be saved by a monster who wanted to ruin her. That night, she should have died. But fate had other plans.
Now, she's back. No longer the naïve girl who once begged for mercy, she has been reborn as Celeste Draven, the temptress of Nightbane Academy. With a new identity, a rare bloodline that makes her irresistible, and a body forged for seduction, she is ready to dismantle the lives of those who betrayed her-one sinful encounter at a time.
But revenge comes at a cost.
Three powerful men are obsessed with her and they are a tool in her revenge games and then she realised the deeper she played, the harder it becomes to keep the men in control.
And what do you think will happen when the truth comes to light, and she discovered she was being played herself? Will she sacrifice her love for vengeance or allow her enemies to burn and claim the throne for herself?
Dive into this story of betrayal, revenge, reverse haram, and obsession, where no man actually owns Zaria Blackthorne.
9.3
WARNING!! THIS STORY CONTAINS A LOT OF MATURE THEMES, ELEMENTS OF HARDCORE BDSM, PRAISE KINKS, SLUT-SHAMING KINKS, AND DEGRADATION KINKS. READ WITH CAUTION.
(BOOK ONE OF THE DELUCA KINGS SERIES)
Serena would do anything to uncover the death of her parents, including sleeping with the most dangerous man in New York, Nero DeLuca. And he knows this, so he strings her along so he can see how far she's willing to go.
***
"Get on your knees," Nero said.
"Excuse me-"
"You're my submissive, and you exist for the sole purpose of my pleasure. I don't tolerate defiance. When I say get on your knees, you get on your knees."
"Yes," I replied as I got on my knees, hating how much his commanding tone turned me on.
He put his finger under my chin and lifted it so I could look at him.
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good girl. Now get on the bed and show me that beautiful cunt. I want to see what it looks like before I destroy it with my cock. Tonight, the whole of New York will know you belong to me. I'll not take anything less than you screaming my name, and by the time I'm done with you, you'll feel me between your legs for a week."