I Fell Where His Love Favored Another
Half a month into our cold war, I, Claire Parker, found an abortion procedure slip tucked inside Daniel Carter's suit pocket.
The patient's name belonged to the fragile little childhood sweetheart he had always protected so fiercely-Sophie Bennett.
I folded the paper calmly and slipped it back where I had found it.
Daniel noticed the movement immediately. His eyes flicked toward me through the rearview mirror, resignation coloring his voice.
"What are you overthinking now? Sophie was just keeping a friend company at the hospital. She accidentally left it there."
I turned toward the window and said nothing.
This was Sophie declaring war on me, yet the man who could crush competitors without mercy in the business world believed her completely.
The silence inside the car grew suffocating until Daniel finally stopped outside an upscale jewelry boutique.
He reached over and ruffled my hair with easy familiarity, his tone indulgent and affectionate.
"Come on. Pick out a ring. Your birthday's next month anyway, so we might as well register our marriage too."
I bit down hard on my lip as tears fell soundlessly onto the back of my hand.
What he still didn't know was that I wouldn't live long enough to see next month.
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Chapter 4
When I returned to the mansion, I dug a few cardboard boxes out of the storage room.
Then I began sorting through the things that belonged to me, one item at a time.
There really wasn't much.
Every corner of this house carried traces of Daniel and Sophie.
Sophie's favorite throw pillows were scattered across the couch. Imported snacks she liked sat casually on the coffee table.
As for me, it felt as though I had never truly existed here at all.
I folded the cheap everyday clothes from my closet and packed them neatly into the boxes.
Then I tossed my toothbrush and towel from the bathroom counter straight into the trash.
Finally, I opened the drawer and took out the plastic bag containing the plain ring band.
I placed it squarely on the center of the coffee table, impossible to miss.
The sound of the keypad lock echoed from the front door.
Daniel walked in with his tie loosened slightly, exhaustion clinging faintly to his face.
In his hand was the bag of chestnut cakes I had refused earlier.
The moment he noticed the boxes scattered across the floor, he stopped dead in his tracks. His grip around the paper bag tightened instantly.
"It's getting colder. Makes sense to reorganize your clothes for the season." He tugged at his tie and forced out a strained smile before reaching for the packing tape in my hand. "Leave it alone. We can have the housekeeper deal with it tomorrow."
In the past, whenever he offered me even the smallest olive branch, I would end up throwing myself into his arms with tears in my eyes.
But this time, I didn't even pause my packing.
The tape ripped apart with a harsh tearing sound, sharp enough to feel like the final thread between us snapping clean in two.
Avoiding his hand, I said quietly, "Daniel, let's cancel the marriage registration next month."
His fingers curled sharply in midair.
For the first time, a flicker of panic surfaced in those always-confident eyes.
"Claire..." His voice came out hoarse, even trembling slightly, though he still struggled to maintain the composure and authority he was so used to. "Don't joke about something like this. I've had a long day."
"I'm not joking." I looked at him calmly. "And one more thing. I can't eat chestnut cakes with peanuts in them. I'm allergic."
The color drained from Daniel's face instantly.
He drew in a deep breath, walked over to me, and pulled an unlimited black card from his wallet before placing it on top of the box beside me.
"Claire, throwing a tantrum has its limits. Take the card. Go buy yourself something you like. Stop taking your anger out on yourself just to upset me."
I stared at the black card while violent cramps twisted through my stomach hard enough to leave a sheen of cold sweat across my skin.
Then I lifted my head and smiled at him with impossible gentleness. "Daniel, you don't need to spend money buying yourself peace of mind anymore. For the past three years, I've been the one constantly backing down. I'm tired of climbing down from that ledge over and over again. From now on, I won't put you in a difficult position anymore."
Daniel's pupils constricted sharply, but within seconds, he tightened his jaw and forcibly shoved every surging emotion back down.
"Fine. Claire, if you insist on leaving, I won't stop you. Starting today, your card access is suspended." He straightened his suit jacket with his back facing me, his voice lowered almost to a whisper. "When you've calmed down and thought things through, come back to me."
At the doorway, his hand clenched around the handle so tightly that his knuckles turned ashen.
After several long seconds of silence, he finally said without turning around, "I'll wait for you to come back."
But his tone stayed cold and unyielding, as though he was simply waiting to see how long I could keep this up without him.
A second later, the front door slammed shut with a violent bang.
I remained standing where I was as cold sweat slid from my face and dripped onto my collar.
My stomach churned violently, and this time, I couldn't hold it back anymore.
A thick metallic sweetness surged straight up my throat.
I doubled over suddenly and vomited a mouthful of blood onto the carpet.
My body collapsed helplessly to the floor, fingers digging desperately into the thick fibers beneath me.
Yet as I stared at the shocking splash of crimson spreading across the carpet, a relieved smile slowly curved across my lips.
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7.7
Not only was I drugged, blinded and assaulted. I was deceived into carrying a baby by a stranger I never knew. Then he appeared and took my child away.
I was sent to a militia by the father of my child. I thought I was rescued but I was recruited to be a weapon for killing. Who was manipulating me, I didn't know. The answers were far from what I knew.
Forced to blend into the world that I could never believe I would be to, a place where brutality reigned, kill or be killed was the only language. I have survived but he has to pay for everything he did to me, because I believed every phase of my life was set by him and him alone. Have I really survived?
Who would have thought, he existed twice in the same world? Do I really know who I should take revenge on? Him or the person I would sacrifice everything for?
Was my mother the one who orchestrated everything? What kind of pawn am I?
7.6
Johana walked half a mile through a brutal blizzard just to secure a tutoring job with the elite Black family.
But the very night she was hired, she received a terrifying call from the ER—her quiet roommate, Hazelle, had been drugged and severely traumatized at a Hamptons party.
When Johana rushed to the hospital, she didn't find the police. Instead, she found a team of ruthless billionaires erasing the crime.
Leading them was Dalton Black, the cold, arrogant older brother of her new student.
Within minutes, Dalton's fixers wiped the hospital's security footage, deleted all digital evidence, and forcefully transferred Hazelle to a locked private psychiatric facility.
"We are ensuring her privacy."
Dalton's voice was devoid of emotion, treating the horrific assault like a minor PR glitch.
His friends mocked Johana's powerlessness, while Dalton authorized a blank check to pay for the private ward, effectively burying the scandal and buying their silence.
Johana stood in the sterile hallway, trembling with a mix of despair and absolute rage.
How could they destroy an innocent girl's life and simply pay to make it disappear? Why was the truth so easily erased by money?
She had no wealth, no connections, and no proof, but she refused to be a victim of their cover-up.
Staring directly into Dalton's intimidating, icy blue eyes, Johana made a vow.
"I don't want your money. I will find out what you monsters did to her."
She thought the billionaire heir would crush her on the spot, but instead, he watched her walk away and quietly ordered his assistant: "Find out everything about Johana Neal."
9.6
She was sold as a broodmare. He was a warrior with no memory. Together, they'll burn down the world.
Lyra has been called many things: half-blood, mongrel, dirty blood. Rejected by every pack she's approached, she's given one final chance-as a bride to Ronan, the cruel Alpha of Red River Pack. But when her wedding night becomes a nightmare, she stabs her new husband and flees into the frozen wilderness.
Stellan remembers nothing. Not his name, not his past, not the ancient tattoos covering his body. He only knows that when he sees a terrified woman falling from a cliff into an icy river, he must save her-even if it kills him.
On the run from a vengeful Alpha and his army of hunters, Lyra and Stellan discover an impossible bond growing between them. The moon has chosen them as mates. But Stellan's memories are returning, and with them, a devastating truth: he's not just any wolf. He's the Alpha of the North Star Pack. And a half-blood can never be his Luna.
Now Ronan's brother has sworn revenge, an ancient prophecy awakens, and three packs prepare for war. Lyra must prove that bloodlines mean nothing-and that the most powerful bond of all is forged in ice and fire.
He lost his memory. She lost her freedom. Together, they'll find everything.
8.4
On the night before her wedding, Navia Harrison discovers her fiancé in bed with her step-sister-and worse, the two of them are already planning how to get rid of her after the marriage.
Humiliated and consumed by hatred, Navia exposes their affair during the wedding ceremony itself, destroying both families' reputations in a single move.
Then, she meets him.
Leonel Crawford - the cold and dangerously powerful head of the Crawford family. Untouchable. Ruthless. A man no woman has ever been able to keep close.
He's also her ex-fiancé's uncle.
One impulsive proposal changes everything.
"If you need a wife... marry me instead."
"Honestly... we'd make a pretty good match."
8.9
The mangled car teetered on the cliff's edge, my leg crushed, gasoline fumes thick in the air. My husband, Holden, stood safe on the highway, directing the rescue – but not for me. He was saving her, the woman in the passenger seat, leaving me and our unborn child to the ocean below.
I woke trapped in the crushed Maybach, leg pinned. The cliff loomed; the driver's seat was empty.
Holden, safe outside, directed paramedics past me to Giana, his "most valuable asset," ordering her rescue first.
I watched him comfort Giana, oblivious, as the car slid. My baby barely viable. Holden offered a black card for silence; Giana gloated.
Ten years of devotion, a cruel lie. Rage fueled me: how could he abandon his wife and child?
I swore a venomous oath: never again an accessory. I flicked his card away, shielded my pregnancy, and promised my baby escape.
8.2
After an accident left me blind, I spent six months trapped in darkness, relying entirely on my devoted fiancé and my caring adoptive sister.
But when my vision miraculously returned one morning, the first thing I saw was the two of them tangled in my guest room bed.
"As soon as that blind bitch signs the marriage proxy, the money defaults to my control."
I kept my eyes unfocused and played the fool. I watched as they forged my signature to drain my thirty-million-dollar trust fund. My adoptive parents even demanded I surrender my company shares because a disabled woman was a liability. When I refused, they went completely insane. Under the guise of a family dinner, they locked me in a VIP room with a grotesque Wall Street vulture, planning to sell my body to save their bankrupt business.
I had given this family everything, yet they were dissecting my life like vultures, convinced I was just a helpless, blind toy they could easily throw away.
But they had no idea I had already hired a supposedly homeless man to be my proxy husband to protect my assets. And they certainly didn't know this "beggar" was actually the ruthless, hidden billionaire heir of the Sweeney family. Gripping the hidden knife inside my dress, I dropped the blind act. It was time to burn them all to the ground.