The Jilted Bride's Billion Dollar Revenge
On our wedding night, celebrating a billion-dollar family merger, my new husband Coleton stepped out of the shower.
Suddenly, his phone rang. It was his dead brother's widow, Hana, crying that her five-year-old had a fever.
Without hesitation, Coleton shoved me hard into the wall to get out the door.
"Are you seriously jealous of a sick five-year-old kid?" he spat.
He abandoned me in the bridal suite. I immediately filed for divorce and leaked it to the press.
To save the merger and their stock prices, both our families rushed in to force me to back down.
My own father raised his hand to slap me for my "petty female jealousy."
Coleton's grandfather brutally beat him with a heavy wooden cane right in front of me, trying to use a twisted debt of honor to guilt-trip me into staying.
Through a hidden dumbwaiter shaft, I overheard their secret meeting. They were plotting to use Coleton's bloody photos to paint me as a cold-hearted villain to the media, trapping me in the marriage through public shame.
My own brother nodded along to this plot just to secure his CEO bonus.
Coleton only begged for my forgiveness because he was terrified of losing his trust fund to an illegitimate heir.
In their eyes, my dignity was just a cheap commodity with a price tag.
But I am a Pennington, raised in a world where trust is a liability.
I calmly saved the audio recording of their plot, packed my Hermes suitcase, and emailed the most ruthless divorce litigator in Manhattan.
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Chapter 6
Adelbert's eyes hardened. The demotion hadn't moved Katrina at all.
He turned his head slightly and locked eyes with Alistair, the head butler. "Bring me the blackwood cane."
Coleton's breath hitched. His face went completely white. He knew exactly what that meant. It was the ancient, brutal method of physical discipline reserved for the worst offenses in the Meyer family.
Coleton scrambled onto his hands and knees. He crawled toward Katrina, his bloody face twisted in panic. "Katrina, please! Tell him to stop! Please!"
Katrina took a step back. She turned her head, looking out the large window into the pitch-black night. She offered him nothing but absolute, freezing indifference.
Alistair walked back into the room. He held a heavy, dark wooden cane in both hands. The tip was capped with solid brass. He handed it to Adelbert with a solemn bow.
Adelbert gripped the cane. He looked down at Coleton. "On your knees. In the center of the room."
Coleton's legs shook violently. He shook his head, trying to back away. Rocco stepped forward, his massive frame casting a shadow over Coleton. The unspoken threat of violence was enough.
Coleton swallowed a sob and sank to his knees on the rug.
Adelbert didn't hesitate. He raised the heavy blackwood cane high above his head. The wood whistled as it cut through the air.
THWACK.
The brass tip slammed into the center of Coleton's back.
Coleton let out a blood-curdling scream. His entire upper body collapsed forward, his hands slapping the floor as he gasped for air.
Brandin stood to the side, watching. A cruel, satisfied smirk formed on his lips.
Jovani squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away, unable to watch the brutal physical punishment.
Adelbert raised the cane again. He looked directly at Katrina. "Look closely, Katrina! This is how the Meyer family answers an insult! I will keep striking him until I am satisfied that the debt of honor is paid in full!"
Katrina's pupils contracted. The trap was instantly clear to her.
This was a vicious, calculated psychological game. If she begged for mercy, she was accepting his apology and staying in the marriage. If she didn't, they would paint her as a cold-blooded monster to the press.
Katrina took a slow, deep breath. Her spine straightened. She refused to play her assigned role in this sick script.
She walked over to a plush, French velvet armchair. She smoothed the fabric of her skirt and sat down gracefully.
She crossed her legs. She folded her hands neatly in her lap. She looked up at Adelbert with a chillingly calm expression.
"Please," Katrina said softly. "Continue until you feel your honor is restored."
Adelbert's arm, still raised in the air, twitched. He stared at her, genuinely shocked by the absolute ice in her veins.
But he had made the grand declaration out loud. To lower the cane immediately after just a few strikes would make his 'debt of honor' look incredibly cheap in front of both families. He was riding a tiger and couldn't get off.
Adelbert gritted his teeth and swung the cane down again.
The second strike hit Coleton's shoulder blade. Coleton rolled onto his side, violently thrashing against the floor. Tears and snot ran down his face.
The third strike tore through the expensive fabric of Coleton's shirt. A thick, angry red welt swelled instantly against his bare skin.
Eleanor screamed. She slapped both hands over her mouth, her body trembling violently as she backed into the wall.
Delmus frowned deeply. He stared at his daughter, searching her face for a single flinch, a single tear.
Katrina didn't blink. She slowly lifted her left wrist. She glanced at the diamond-encrusted Patek Philippe watch.
She looked back up at Adelbert. "How much longer is this medieval theater going to take? I have a schedule to keep."
Coleton lay on the floor, gasping for air. He looked up at Katrina through his tears. His eyes were filled with the shock of total betrayal. He couldn't believe she was letting this happen.
Jovani couldn't take it anymore. He dropped to his knees right at Katrina's feet. "Katrina, please! Have some mercy! You're going to let him kill him!"
Katrina looked down at Jovani. Her face was a mask of stone. "Adelbert is holding the cane. I am not forcing his hand."
Adelbert's face flushed with pure, humiliated rage. He raised the cane and brought it down for a fifth, devastating strike.
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7.2
Betrayed by her sister. Killed by her husband.
Reborn, Sarah returns with one goal-revenge.
This time, she won't be the fool.
And with the Knox, the most dangerous man by her side...
she'll ruin them all, and take back everything that belongs to her.
Promotional line: They killed me once. This time, I'll destroy them first.
8.3
My husband watched as my skin melted, scalded by boiling soup, yet his hands were busy comforting my attacker. Five years of marriage, built on a foundation of my family's power, crumbled with a single, brutal act of betrayal. He bought me off with a penthouse and a trust fund, but I tore out my IV and threw his charity back in his face.
It was our fifth anniversary, but my husband, Ethan, remained distant, avoiding any talk of Chicago or the mafia protection my family once offered him. He then pushed a black velvet box across the table.
Inside was a Separation and Property Division Agreement, not a diamond. He told me to sign for Ilene's security, offering millions. When I refused, Ilene hurled boiling soup. Ethan shielded her, not me, as the scalding liquid melted my dress.
With second-degree burns, he blamed me, ordering me from our home for Ilene’s comfort. My family saved him, yet he sacrificed my body and marriage for another woman.
The love I felt turned to ash. What kind of debt demanded my flesh and marriage?
I ripped the IV from my arm, hurling his "charity" keys back. My diamond ring placed on the agreement, I walked away. From today on, Ethan, you and I are dead to each other.
9.2
Clara was drowning in student debt and barely making rent when she downloaded a fantasy mobile game to escape reality.
Inside the game, an exiled prince named Alex was freezing to death. Pitying him, she spent her last few dollars on microtransactions to fix his shelter and cure his poison.
But the game was far too real.
Every time she paid, the prince reacted. When she complained aloud about going broke, the in-game army suddenly halted, as if the prince had heard her voice.
Then, the terrifying real-world consequences hit.
Clara woke up to find her water glass and a box of Kleenex had vanished from her locked bedroom overnight.
She frantically searched the tiny apartment, her heart pounding in her chest.
She thought she was losing her mind. Had she thrown them out in her sleep? Was there a stalker hiding in her home?
How could physical objects just disappear into thin air behind a deadbolted door?
Until she looked at her nightstand.
Sitting exactly where her missing items used to be was a glowing, weightless crystal cup that defied all logic.
And on her laptop screen, the exiled prince was carefully holding her Kleenex box, offering a mountain of real gold on an altar.
She hadn't just downloaded a mobile game; she had opened a cross-dimensional trade route with a desperate future king.
8.3
EDEN
8.3
Elianila, an AI Architect, is part of an elite team tasked with designing a global system meant to prevent threats, manage disasters, and distribute resources to vulnerable regions. After five years of tireless work with her colleagues, she uncovers disturbing anomalies, code-named, X-variables, that flag individuals according to criteria she never programmed.
As Elianila digs deeper to understand what the X-variables measure and where their origin, she finds herself in direct conflict with the authorities. Soon, the System marks her and her daughter as threats - targets to be eliminated.
With a small band of colleagues and dissidents, Elianila goes on the run, hiding in places beyond the Systems reach. As they evade surveillance, they race against time to warn others, expose the truth, and fight back against the omnipresent authority of the System.
8.6
Today was my father's grand second wedding, but for me, it was the anniversary of my mother's death.
My new stepmother, Marley, who was only four years older than me, cornered me. To establish her dominance as the new Luna, she ordered her servants to force me to my knees and violently ripped my late mother's necklace from my neck.
It was the only memento my mother had left me. Marley sneered, threw it to the ground, and shattered the gems. When I scrambled to pick up the broken pieces, she dug her high-heeled shoe into the back of my hand, mocking me as dirty trash. No one stepped in to help. My father was too busy celebrating his new marriage under the dazzling lights, completely erasing my mother's memory and leaving me to be abused in my own pack.
My heart was full of grievance and despair. Why did my mother's lifelong devotion end with her grave desolate and her daughter humiliated? I swore I would never become a weak, discarded she-wolf whose life depended on a man.
Desperate to escape the suffocating wedding, I ran outside and stumbled right into the chest of a terrifying stranger.
"No one should ever touch what is precious to you."
His golden eyes blazed with fury as sparks instantly shot through my veins. He was Kade Blackwood, the ruthless Alpha of the feared Blood Moon Pack—and my fated mate.
9.7
Gemma expected the tearing agony of the bullet wound that had just ended her life.
Instead, her trembling fingers met the cool, smooth friction of heavy silk.
She stared into the mirror. Her face was flawless, completely devoid of the jagged scar that had marred her cheek for the last five years.
It was exactly ten years ago. The day of her engagement party to the ruthless billionaire, Brion Hubbard.
In her past life, her "best friend" Katelyn convinced her to run away with a scheming scumbag.
Katelyn claimed Brion was a heartless tyrant who would ruin her. Gemma had foolishly believed those fake tears.
That choice led to her family's bankruptcy, her brutal disfigurement, and ultimately, a fatal bomb explosion.
The only person who tried to save her was Brion, his blood-soaked body shielding hers from the blast.
She even realized too late that the strawberry cream cakes she always made for him were full of dairy.
He wasn't leaving to cheat on her. He was locking himself in a medical bay, fighting fatal allergic shock, just to accept a tiny scrap of her affection.
Gemma had been so incredibly blind. Why did she trust the venomous snakes who destroyed her, while hating the man who died for her?
Hearing Katelyn frantically knocking on the dressing room door, urging her to run away again, a towering hatred surged through Gemma's veins.
This time, she wasn't going to run.
She was going to expose the traitors, take back her family's wealth, and claim the tyrant for herself.