One Kiss Less

His Cruelty, Her Ruin

My home, once a sanctuary, became a nightly carnival as my husband, Ethan, turned it into a themed party house, leaving me a ghost in my own life. Just as I believed my pregnancy might bring change, Ethan demanded I shave my head to "amuse" Chloe, a sick child he sponsored, whose hair had fallen out from treatment. My long hair, once cherished by him, fell in clumps to the floor. Then, on our fifth anniversary, he forced me, pregnant and a professional snowboarder, to be Chloe's "human cushion" on a snowy slope. The impact was brutal, resulting in a devastating stillbirth. He blamed me, accusing me of lying as he walked away, comforting Chloe while I bled on the snow. Ethan's cruelty escalated, turning my grief into a public spectacle. His friends bet on my child's life, Chloe confessed to intentionally causing my miscarriage, and Ethan, in a fit of rage, destroyed my deceased brother's grave. Why did he hate me so much? What had I done to deserve such unending torment? Why was I, his wife, subjected to such monstrous acts while a manipulative girl held all his empathy? The pain became a dull throb, and I sought refuge in numbness, deciding to end it all. A desperate plan formed, a final act of agency in a life consumed by his cruelty.

The Perfect Lie: A Wife's Awakening

My marriage to Liam was supposed to be a dream, a glossy magazine cover come to life. He was the charming tech CEO, I, the brilliant data scientist. But behind the facade of our perfect life, three years passed without him ever touching me, a supposed victim of extreme OCD. Then, at his company gala, a spilled champagne tray revealed the monstrous truth: he didn' t pull me to safety. He shoved me. My head hit the marble, and as I lay dazed, he frantically wiped a champagne drop from his suit, feigning concern that painted him a tortured husband, not the brutal one. The real horror unfolded when I woke, drugged and paralyzed, to his casual laughter just outside the door. He hadn' t panicked; he' d deliberately pushed me. And then, the names: Jake, Ben, and finally, Chloe-my best friend. "Why do you think I married Ava in the first place? It' s the only way to stay in Chloe' s orbit." Every lie, every excuse, every moment of his supposed suffering, shattered into dust. I wasn't his wife; I was a pawn in his sick game, drugged and left vulnerable for his friends' crude "entertainment." How could I have been so blind, so naive, to give my heart to a monster who used me for sport? The sheer audacity, the cold calculation of it all, burned through me. I had to escape this gilded cage, expose the man who had turned my life into a cruel joke. I needed to reclaim my life, and I knew exactly how to dismantle his.

Reborn: A Love For Herself

The small, intricate knot of red silk and jade dangled from David Chen' s fingers. He was about to hand it to me, just like he always did. This was the moment that began a lifetime of misery in my first life. "Sarah," he began, his voice the same smooth tone that once soothed me. But this time, I pushed his hand away, a sharp, instinctive motion. His gentle look vanished, replaced by confusion, then irritation. He turned, and without hesitation, offered the charm to my stepsister, Chloe. I watched Chloe' s triumphant little smile, the memory of my death fresh in my mind. My sweet dog, Lucky, had died. My husband, David, had then lost his mind. He' d claimed Chloe looked just like my dead dog and brought her to our friends' gathering. "Sarah, let' s get a divorce," he' d shrieked, eyes wild. "I want Chloe to be my wife." He then killed me, and took his own life before my fading eyes. His obsession wasn't with a woman; it was with a ghost. And now I was back, at the charity gala meant to celebrate our arranged engagement. The outcome was supposed to be set in stone, a merger of families and fortunes. But this time, I had changed the script. I would not ignore Mark Evans. This time, I would live for myself.

The Wedding Night Bite

The rented cabin was supposed to be my honeymoon suite, the culmination of years of devotion to Jocelyn. But on our wedding night, my bride, dressed in white, sat on the bed wearing a red bandana over her mouth. She tearfully confessed it was to honor her first kiss, shared with her ex, Ryan Blakely, insisting she preserve that memory. When I gently tried to remove it, she flinched, then bit my hand, screaming I was disrespectful and only wanted what I wanted, before storming out. The next morning, she posted a picture with Ryan on social media, implying I gave her the silent treatment and calling him a "real friend." Years of sacrifice-a football scholarship, a dream business, my friends-all for her, felt like a lie. I looked at the bite mark, a small wound that felt like a gaping chasm in our entire relationship, and knew something was fundamentally broken. The old Caleb would have chased her, begged for an apology, desperate to fix things. But this time, something snapped, and I called my friends to officially start the hunting guide business I had abandoned for her. My life with Jocelyn was over, and I was finally going to live for myself.

My Sweetest Escape

My last breath was a ragged gasp at 48, my heart giving out from sheer exhaustion. The final image burned into my mind: my husband, Matthew, laughing at a lavish birthday party with Stella, his mistress, who had gotten rich from a real estate boom built on my stolen money. Then, I woke up, 23 again, weeks before my wedding to that very man. In my first life, I was a trusting fool, sacrificing everything for a man who drained me dry and used my inheritance to fund his mistress's rise. I realized the cruel irony: his opulent life was built on my hidden sweat, my endless labor, while I toiled for a family that wasn't even truly mine. This time, things would be different. This time, I would protect what was mine and claim the life they stole.

The Discarded Woman's Rise

I was just a paralegal, Ava Miller, trapped in a life I didn't choose, yet owed everything to Ethan Vance. He' d swooped in years ago, paying off my crushing student loans and mom's medical bills, making me his "savior." My job at his company and the lavish apartment he provided were constant reminders of my dependence, a gilded cage I' d willingly entered. Then, the termination letter landed on my desk. Fired. Effective immediately. No warning, just a cold "restructuring." But I knew the truth: his ex, Chloe Davenport, the one he never got over, was back in town. It felt like a deliberate, cruel punch, a betrayal so sharp it knocked the air out of me. Just hours after I learned Chloe was back, my entire life was snatched away, leaving me adrift. When I tried to return the money he'd "invested" in me, hoping for a clean break, his eyes glinted: "You belong to me." Chloe's friends attacked me, but Ethan, blind and infatuated, only asked me not to "cause trouble for Chloe's sake." His family's texts sealed my humiliation, confirming I was "that paralegal," easily replaced by "the right kind of girl." The injustice burned, a white-hot fury against the man who claimed to save me, only to hold me captive. How could I be so good at my job, so dedicated, and it meant nothing against his obsession and control? I was trapped, owned, facing physical illness exacerbated by stress, while he paraded his new life with Chloe. But as I watched Ethan plan his public proposal to Chloe, a cold, clear resolve hardened inside me. He wouldn't let me walk away clean, so I would find another way, a way that would make him regret ever thinking he owned me. The game had changed, and Ava Miller was about to change the rules, orchestrating a final, devastating farewell.

Once The Bride He Discarded, Now The Love He Can't Forget

Five years of devotion ended when Brynn was left at the altar, watching Richard rush to his true love. Knowing she could never thaw his cold heart, Brynn walked away, ready to start over. After a night of drinking, she woke beside the last man she should ever cross-Nolan, her brother's arch-enemy. As she tried to escape, he caught her, murmuring, "You kissed me all night. Leaving isn't an option." The world saw Nolan as cold and distant, but with Brynn, he indulged her every desire. He even bought her a whole village and held her close, his voice low, deep, and endlessly tempting, his robe falling open to reveal his toned abs. "Want to feel it?"

The Scars Behind My Golden Dress

I spent four hours preparing a five-course meal for our fifth anniversary. When Jackson finally walked into the penthouse an hour late, he didn't even look at the table. He just dropped a thick Manila envelope in front of me and told me he was done. He said his stepsister, Davida, was getting worse and needed "stability." I wasn't his wife; I was a placeholder, a temporary fix he used until the woman he actually loved was ready to take my place. Jackson didn't just want a divorce; he wanted to erase me. He called me a "proprietary asset," claiming that every design I had created to save his empire belonged to him. He froze my bank accounts, cut off my phone, and told me I’d be nothing without his name. Davida even called me from her hospital bed to flaunt the family heirloom ring Jackson claimed was lost, mocking me for being "baggage" that was finally being cleared out. I stood in our empty home, realizing I had spent five years being a martyr for a man who saw me as a transaction. I couldn't understand how he could be so blind to the monster he was protecting, or how he could discard me so coldly after I had given him everything. I grabbed my hidden sketchbook, shredded our wedding portrait, and walked out into the rain. I dialed a number I hadn't touched in years—a dangerous man known as The Surgeon who dealt in debts and shadows. I told him I was ready to pay his price. Jackson and Davida wanted to steal my identity, but I was about to show the world the literal scars they had left behind.

Scars of Betrayal: The Heiress They Tried To Erase

Kelsie's biggest regret in life was getting involved with Judge, the icy Captain. She pursued him for three years, married him for two, thinking she'd warmed a stone, only to be met with nothing. Her mother-in-law disliked her, her husband was indifferent, and a fragile "white moonlight" would occasionally try to get her attention. Until she witnessed Judge and Angelique meeting secretly at a hotel, her heart shattered, and then she discovered she was pregnant. Kelsie sneered, threw down the divorce papers, and decisively ran away, disappearing without a trace. When they met again, she was a successful single mother, surrounded by suitors. In the pouring rain, the once aloof man humbly stopped her car, pleading in a hoarse voice, "Kelsie, come home with me." The car window rolled down, and a little boy, nine-tenths like him, coldly warned in a cute but fierce tone, "Want to date my mommy? Ask me first!"

One Night With My Billionaire Boss

I woke up on silk sheets that smelled of expensive cedar and cold sandalwood, a world away from my cramped apartment in Brooklyn. Beside me lay Ezra Gardner—my boss, the billionaire CEO of Gardner Holdings, and the man who could end my career with a snap of his fingers. He didn’t offer an apology for the night before; instead, he looked at me with terrifying clarity and proposed a cold, calculated business arrangement. "Marriage. It stabilizes the board and solves the PR crisis before it begins." He dressed me in archival Chanel and sent me home in his Maybach, but my life was already falling apart. My boyfriend, Irving, claimed he had passed out early, yet his location data placed him at my best friend’s apartment until three in the morning. When I tried to run, I realized Ezra was already ten steps ahead, tracking my movements and uncovering the secret I’d spent twenty years hiding: my connection to the powerful Senator Grimes. I was trapped between a CEO who treated me like a line item on a quarterly report and a boyfriend who had been using me while sleeping with my closest friend. I felt like a pawn in a game I didn't understand, wondering why a man like Ezra would walk up forty flights of stairs on a broken leg just to make sure I was safe. "Showtime, Mrs. Gardner." Standing on the red carpet in a gown that cost more than my life, I watched my cheating ex-boyfriend’s face turn pale as Ezra claimed me in front of the world. I wasn't just an assistant anymore; I was a weapon, and it was time to burn their world down.

His Unwanted Wife, The World's Coveted Genius

Rumors said that Lucas married an unattractive woman with no background. In the three years they were together, he remained cold and distant to Belinda, who endured in silence. Her love for him forced her to sacrifice her self-worth and her dreams. When Lucas' true love reappeared, Belinda realized that their marriage was a sham from the start, a ploy to save another woman's life. She signed the divorce papers and left. Three years later, Belinda returned as a surgical prodigy and a maestro of the piano. Lost in regret, Lucas chased her in the rain and held her tightly. "You are mine, Belinda."

The $300 Husband Is A Zillionaire

I woke up in a blindingly white hotel penthouse with a throbbing headache and the taste of betrayal in my mouth. The last thing I remembered was my stepsister, Cathie, handing me a flute of champagne at the charity gala with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Now, a tall, dangerously handsome man walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips. On the nightstand sat a stack of hundred-dollar bills. My stepmother had finally done it—she drugged me and staged a scandal with a hired escort to destroy my reputation and my future. "Aisha! Is it true you spent the night with a gigolo?" The shouts of a dozen reporters echoed through the heavy oak door as camera flashes exploded through the peephole. My phone lit up with messages showing my bank accounts were already frozen. My father was invoking the 'morality clause' in my mother’s trust fund, and my fiancé had already released a statement dumping me to marry my stepsister instead. I was trapped, penniless, and being hunted by the press for a scandal I hadn't even participated in. My own family had sold me out for a payday, and the man standing in front of me was the only witness who could prove I was innocent—or finish me off for good. I didn't have time to cry. According to the fine print of the trust, I had thirty days to prove my "rehabilitation" through a legal marriage or I would lose everything. I tracked the man down to a coffee shop the next morning, watching him take a thick envelope of cash from a wealthy older woman. I sat across from him and slid a napkin with a $50,000 figure written on it. "I need a husband. Legal, paper-signed, and convincing." He looked at the number, then at me, a slow, crooked smile spreading across his face. I thought I was hiring a desperate gigolo to save my inheritance. I had no idea I was actually proposing to Dominic Fields, the reclusive billionaire shark who was currently planning a hostile takeover of my father’s entire empire.