Zhi Yao
10 Published Stories
Zhi Yao's Books and Stories
No Longer April Mayo: Heiress Returns
Billionaires For seven years, I gave up my life as a corporate heiress for a modest house with the man who saved me and our son. I chose love over an empire.
That choice shattered the night he came home smelling of another woman' s perfume. He called his affair a "business merger," but the headlines told the real story. He was choosing power over his family.
His mother summoned us to the family estate only to announce his mistress was pregnant with the "only legitimate heir." In front of everyone, she offered me a job as a maid and said my son could stay on as an adopted orphan.
My partner, the man I gave up everything for, stood by her side and said nothing as his mother publicly erased us from his life.
My five-year-old son looked up at me, his voice trembling, and asked a question that destroyed the last piece of my heart.
"Mommy, if she' s having a baby… then what am I?"
But the final blow came on his birthday. His mistress tricked us into attending their engagement party, where he pushed our son to the floor and denied him. As his family attacked me, my son begged him for help, calling him "sir."
In that moment, the woman he knew died. I took my son' s hand, walked out of that life forever, and made the call to the empire I had abandoned. It was time for the world to remember my real name. The Billionaire's Deadly Embrace
Romance My marriage to Kameron Stephens was perfect. He was handsome, powerful, and utterly devoted to me. Everyone said I was the luckiest woman in the world, and I believed them.
One afternoon, I went to pick up my best friend’s son from kindergarten. But I froze when I saw my husband, Kameron, kneeling to tie the little boy's shoe.
"Daddy, can we get ice cream?" the boy asked.
The word slammed into me. Then a beautiful woman—an old friend he swore was just like family—walked up and kissed his cheek. Kameron wrapped an arm around her waist. A perfect family. My perfect husband, with his perfect secret son.
The timeline clicked into place with cold precision. He had gotten her pregnant years ago, right after I caught them kissing and he begged me to take him back.
All those years I pleaded for a baby, he put me off with sweet excuses, saying he wanted me all to himself. It was all a lie. He already had an heir. I was just a placeholder, a beautiful doll to show off to the world.
That night, I hid in the shadows of our home and heard him on the phone with her.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice cold. "I'll never let Hailey have a child. The Stephens' fortune will all be for Leo."
My world shattered. He had stolen my chance at motherhood and built a family with another woman, while I was left with nothing but a hollow marriage and a legacy of lies. When Obedience Becomes Enslavement
Romance My wedding day was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, a celebration of Mark and me, successful professionals building our dream home.
But the nightmare began the moment his mother, Eleanor, stopped us with a prenuptial agreement none of us had ever discussed.
This wasn't just about assets; it was a contract of enslavement: unconditional obedience to her, living under her "guidance," every penny of Mark's income going to her, and his loyalty to her always, always coming before me.
I looked at Mark, expecting him to laugh, to tear up the papers, to tell her she was insane, but he just stood there, weak and pleading, signing away our entire future.
The joy of the day evaporated, replaced by a cold, heavy dread.
Our honeymoon was miserable, and when we returned, the reality hit me: Eleanor had taken over my master bedroom, the one I designed, and announced she was giving us a measly allowance for our "little expenses."
The mortgage on my house, the one I fully paid for, was over three thousand dollars a month.
That was it.
"You will not control my life. You will not control my finances. And you are not the head of this household," I declared, walking out the door.
I returned to constant oppression, her early morning demands, her judgments about my career, her attempts to control my meals.
Mark, the man I married, just withered under her shadow, a pathetic puppet on his mother's strings.
He didn't defend me, he didn't take a side; he only ever chose her.
The final straw came when Eleanor, in a deranged attempt to secure her grandson' s future (which meant MY house), demanded Mark and I legally adopt my destructive nephew.
She wanted to erase me completely and hand over my future, my property, my identity.
"No," I said, my voice dangerously quiet.
Her face contorted with rage. "I am the head of this family! My son will do as I say, and as his wife, you will too! We are doing this! I've already told Brenda!"
That was the unforgivable line.
I pulled out the divorce petition from my briefcase.
"Here," I said, my voice ringing with authority, "Read this."
Mark's face went pale as he read "PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE."
"Divorce?" he whispered.
"Yes, Mark." I looked at him, at Eleanor, at Brenda. "I am divorcing you. I am done with this family. I am done with your mother's insanity. And I want all of you out of my house. Now."
I walked out of my house, the feeling of liberation washing over me, ready to fight for my freedom. The 21st Birthday Loop
Fantasy For sixteen years, I was a phantom in the Miller house, my entire existence centered on raising Caleb.
My destiny was sealed: on his 21st birthday, I was to become his wife, a debt my family couldn't pay.
In my first agonizing life, that wedding day led to a decade of imprisonment in their dark basement, then a horrific sale to the depraved Scrap Yard Joe, who brutally murdered me and my two young daughters.
But then, a miracle: I jolted awake, it was Caleb' s 21st birthday party again. I was back.
This time, I vowed to escape, coldly telling Caleb the "deal was off." His fury, fueled by his new girlfriend Chloe, erupted. They dragged me to their root cellar, where Chloe actively tried to crush me with cinder blocks.
Escaping a terrifying encounter with Scrap Yard Joe, Chloe's eerie accomplice from my past, I returned to the party only to be publicly framed.
A panicked confrontation led to the tragic, accidental death of Caleb' s mother-a death later revealed to be orchestrated by Chloe' s slow poison. I was beaten, battered, and finally, locked in the basement again as Chloe set it on fire, intending to burn me alive.
Lying amidst the flames, every fiber of my being screamed. Why had my attempt at freedom only resulted in such a brutal, fiery trap? Was this wretched family, and the ghosts of my past, truly inescapable?
Yet, fate had a cruel twist. I miraculously survived, forcing Caleb to believe me dead, consumed by guilt.
He began a meticulous, horrifying revenge on Chloe, mirroring the torment I endured.
Then, in the climax of his depravity, just as he raised a hunting knife over Chloe' s pregnant belly, a scarred, living ghost walked into the room: Me. And his world shattered. The Billionaire Surgeon's Deadly Secret
Sci-fi My wedding was just around the corner.
Instead, I was in a hospital watching my mother, Eleanor, fight for her life.
She'd suffered a massive heart attack, triggered when she found my fiancé and best friend, Sarah, together in my bed.
Doctors said she needed a new heart; I, a perfect match, gave mine without a second thought.
But my mother died, despite my sacrifice.
I woke up with a state-of-the-art artificial heart, enduring a dull, persistent ache that became my constant shadow for seven agonizing years.
Julian, the renowned cardiothoracic surgeon who performed the transplant, became my 'savior' and then my husband, showering me with concern.
Then, a whispered conversation cut through the silence of his study, turning my world upside down.
I overheard Julian confessing everything: he orchestrated my mother's illness and death to steal my healthy heart, not for her, but for his beloved stepsister, Chloe.
He even admitted he saw me as a mere 'vessel,' a backup plan for Chloe's well-being.
The woman now living with my original heart, Chloe, later gleefully admitted she was the one who engineered my mother's heart attack.
The realization was a punch to the gut, a burning injustice that consumed me.
My seven years of suffering, my mother's death, my shattered life – all for a manipulative scheme.
My body was failing, but my spirit, fueled by rage and a cold, clear determination, ignited.
I would not just survive; I would expose them, reclaim my life, and ensure they paid for every single beat of pain they had inflicted. The Betrayed Heiress's Comeback
Fantasy I woke up with a gasp on the day of my debutante ball, the most anticipated event of the Texas social season.
My eyes snapped open to the familiar silk canopy, but a strange, phantom pain still clung to my last breath.
My custom-designed gown, perfected over months with the couturier, was gone from its stand.
This void, this seemingly small act, brought a cold dread, sharp and entirely too familiar.
Because in my previous life, this "missing" dress was the very first tiny crack, the prelude to a cascade of betrayals.
I remembered Savy' s brazen appearance, her stolen spotlight, her smug face, Brent' s weak compliance, Grayson' s cruel dismissal.
Their collective treachery had led to my father' s "accidental" death, my shocking disinheritance, a hellish rehabilitation facility, and my own lonely, mysterious end.
They thought they had won; they thought they had erased me for good.
The sheer, agonizing injustice of their victory, the vivid memories of my suffering, burned hotter than any fire.
How could I have let them destroy my family, my legacy, my very self, without a fight?
But they didn't know I was back.
I had reawakened on this pivotal morning, carrying every single agonizing memory of their deceit and my demise.
This time, there would be no panic, no helplessness, only a chilling, absolute resolve to reverse my tragic fate.
I was Aurora Sterling, and I was taking my life back, one strategic move at a time. The Price of Ambition
Modern Seraphina Vance, a brilliant CEO, seemingly had it all: a thriving biotech AI company, Aethelred Innovations, and a profound partnership, personal and professional, with Elias Thorne, her innovative CTO. They were Silicon Valley' s golden couple, their shared dream, "Project Chimera," almost like their child.
But a brutal corporate storm threatened everything. A hostile takeover loomed, only to be miraculously averted by Julian Croft, a charismatic consultant who resurfaced from Seraphina' s past.
Overwhelmed by gratitude, Seraphina succumbed to Julian' s elaborate deception: a tearful confession of a fake terminal illness. To repay this manufactured debt, she embarked on a horrifying charade, feigning a breakdown. She sidelined Elias, abandoned their "child" project, and cruelly tormented her loyal assistant, Ms. Albright, all to appease Julian.
Elias, her genius partner, watched, heartbroken, as the woman he loved became a cold stranger, destroying their shared legacy. How could she so easily sacrifice their trust, their vision? Why this sudden, brutal detachment? The betrayal cut deep.
Then, he overheard her: her "breakdown" was an act, her cruelty a calculated deception for Julian. The truth was a physical blow. The next morning, a resignation letter on her desk, Elias vanished, leaving Seraphina to face the shattering collapse of her empire, and the love she' d so carelessly discarded. The Billionaire's Bet
Romance Scarlett Morgan, a college student, lived paycheck to paycheck, working miserable jobs.
For a year, she played the ultimate fangirl, utterly devoted to arrogant football captain, Blake Cunningham.
Every demeaning errand, every public snub, she accepted with a forced smile.
It was all part of a twisted, high-stakes bet against her childhood rival, Julian Vance.
The Christmas Gala, the bet's deadline, had arrived.
Scarlett, homemade cake in hand, prepared for the final act: a public "love" confession to Blake.
But an enraged Tiffany Hayes, Blake's childhood friend, suddenly attacked.
Tiffany, seeing Julian's protective move, smashed a cake onto his face.
As the university clock chimed midnight, shattering the ballroom's silence, Scarlett's control snapped.
A year of feigned adoration and silent suffering boiled over.
The carefully constructed "simp" mask crumbled.
This was now about every insult, every patronizing glance, every humiliation she had endured.
How dare they treat Scarlett Anastasia Morgan, a hidden heiress, with such contempt?
Fueled by simmering fury, Scarlett unleashed a shocking public retaliation.
The game was over, but the real reckoning had just begun. The Last Call: From Star to Scapegoat
Sci-fi My life was a blueprint for success.
Ethan Miller, a rising star in architecture, about to claim the American Horizon Architectural Prize, surrounded by my loving sister Ashley, my beautiful fiancée Victoria, and even my adopted brother Jason.
But one call, one dark warehouse, shattered it all.
Ambushed, my hands crushed, my career obliterated, I woke to a nightmare.
My own sister and fiancée, the women I trusted most, confessed to orchestrating the brutal attack to clear the path for Jason’s success.
They abandoned me in an earthquake, then left me for dead on an exploding yacht, all while publicly slandering my name to cover their tracks.
The betrayal was a pain far deeper than any broken bone, a horrifying injustice that twisted my soul.
Why them? Why Jason? Why this absolute destruction of my life?
But just as despair threatened to consume me, a mysterious offer emerged: "reforging" through Phoenix BioGenesis.
I accepted, not for healing, but for a chilling rebirth, returning as a ghost of my former self, a silent observer ready to meticulously dismantle the lives of those who thought they had won.
This time, the masterpiece would be my revenge. Taste The Flavor Of Love: You Bring Out The Best In Me
Romance He grew up without knowing how food tastes like, but a dish changed his life forever. As the flavor of her cooking spread in his mouth, his heart started to beat for her as well. He had secretly harbored feelings for this lady, and for the past three years, had watched her bloom into a wonderful actress. However, he just watched silently as the woman he adored, fell in love with another man. In a twist of fate, an agreement bound them together. Was this pure coincidence, or was this written in the stars? As their paths inevitably intertwined, would she turn a blind eye to his love, or would she realize that her heart longed for his? You might like
I Slapped My Fiancé-Then Married His Billionaire Nemesis
Jessica C. Dolan Being second best is practically in my DNA. My sister got the love, the attention, the spotlight. And now, even her damn fiancé.
Technically, Rhys Granger was my fiancé now-billionaire, devastatingly hot, and a walking Wall Street wet dream. My parents shoved me into the engagement after Catherine disappeared, and honestly? I didn't mind. I'd crushed on Rhys for years. This was my chance, right? My turn to be the chosen one?
Wrong.
One night, he slapped me. Over a mug. A stupid, chipped, ugly mug my sister gave him years ago. That's when it hit me-he didn't love me. He didn't even see me. I was just a warm-bodied placeholder for the woman he actually wanted. And apparently, I wasn't even worth as much as a glorified coffee cup.
So I slapped him right back, dumped his ass, and prepared for disaster-my parents losing their minds, Rhys throwing a billionaire tantrum, his terrifying family plotting my untimely demise.
Obviously, I needed alcohol. A lot of alcohol.
Enter him.
Tall, dangerous, unfairly hot. The kind of man who makes you want to sin just by existing. I'd met him only once before, and that night, he just happened to be at the same bar as my drunk, self-pitying self. So I did the only logical thing: I dragged him into a hotel room and ripped off his clothes.
It was reckless. It was stupid. It was completely ill-advised.
But it was also: Best. Sex. Of. My. Life.
And, as it turned out, the best decision I'd ever made.
Because my one-night stand isn't just some random guy. He's richer than Rhys, more powerful than my entire family, and definitely more dangerous than I should be playing with.
And now, he's not letting me go. Craving The Wrong Brother
Elysian Sparrow She spent ten years chasing after the right brother, only to fall for the wrong one in one weekend.
~~~
Sloane Mercer has been hopelessly in love with her best friend, Finn Hartley, since college. For ten long years, she's stood by him, stitching him back together every time Delilah Crestfield-his toxic on-and-off girlfriend-shattered his heart.
But when Delilah gets engaged to another man, Sloane thinks this might finally be her chance to have Finn for herself. She couldn't be more wrong.
Heartbroken and desperate, Finn decides to crash Delilah's wedding and fight for her one last time. And he wants Sloane by his side.
Reluctantly, Sloane follows him to Asheville, hoping that being close to Finn will somehow make him see her the way she's always seen him.
Everything changes when she meets Knox Hartley, Finn's older brother-a man who couldn't be more different from Finn. He's dangerously magnetic. Knox sees right through Sloane and makes it his mission to pull her into his world.
What starts as a game-a twisted bet between them-soon turns into something deeper. Sloane is trapped between two brothers: one who's always broken her heart and another who seems hell-bent on claiming it... no matter the cost.
CONTENT WARNING:
This story is strongly 18+.
It delves into dark romance themes such as obsession and lust with morally complex characters.
While this is a love story, reader discretion is advised.
The Discarded Heiress: Marrying My Lethal Husband
Xiao Wang The rain in Detroit was slick with grime when my family finally came to fetch me. They didn't want a reunion; they wanted a sacrificial lamb to marry into the Kaufman empire to save their failing business.
I thought I was just being sold off, but the limo ride ended under a dark overpass where six hired thugs were waiting with chains. My own sister had ordered them to "break my spirit" so I’d be a shaking, pathetic mess by the time I reached the altar.
They called me "Detroit trash" and sprayed air freshener when I sat on their leather seats. My stepmother wanted a video of me begging for my life, and my father was ready to trade me like a used car to a man everyone called a "vegetable." They expected a submissive country girl, unaware that I was a high-level "cleaner" who could snap a radius bone before they could even scream.
When I finally reached the Kaufman estate, I found my fiancé, Barron, slumped in a wheelchair, drooling and silent. But as soon as the doors closed, the "invalid" grabbed my wrist with a grip of iron and whispered a command that changed everything.
I didn't understand why my own blood was so desperate to see me destroyed. What had I ever done to deserve a hit squad and a forced marriage to a man they thought was a corpse?
But Barron isn't a vegetable, and I'm not a victim. We just touched down at the Moon family gala in a matte-black helicopter, and as the doors slide open, the "broken" bride is about to show them exactly what happens when you throw away the wrong daughter.
"If we're going to crash a party," Barron whispered, his eyes burning with lethal clarity, "we should make an entrance." SCORNED EX WIFE : Queen Of Ashes
Annypen Camille Lewis was the forgotten daughter, the unloved wife, the woman discarded like yesterday's news. Betrayed by her husband, cast aside by her own family, and left for dead by the sister who stole everything, she vanished without a trace.
But the weak, naive Camille died the night her car was forced off that bridge.
A year later, she returns as Camille Kane, richer, colder, and more powerful than anyone could have imagined. Armed with wealth, intelligence, and a hunger for vengeance, she is no longer the woman they once trampled on. She is the storm that will tear their world apart.
Her ex-husband begs for forgiveness. Her sister's perfect life crumbles. Her parents regret the daughter they cast aside. But Camille didn't come back for apologies, she came back to watch them burn.
But as her enemies fall at her feet, one question remains: when the revenge is over, what's left?
A mysterious trillionaire Alexander Pierce steps into her path, offering something she thought she lost forever, a future. But can a woman built on ashes learn to love again?
She rose from the fire to destroy those who betrayed her. Now, she must decide if she'll rule alone... or let someone melt the ice in her heart.
Sexy Behind The Mask
Ellie Wynters She hides behind ugly suits and fake names. He's done trusting women. When they meet in a masked sex club, neither realizes they've been fighting each other across boardroom tables for eighteen months. At Taylor Industries, she's Joy Smith-the frumpy CFO who drowns her curves in shapeless polyester and wearing a wig. At home, she's the forgotten wife of a cheating lawyer who hasn't touched her in so long she's starting to wonder if she's broken. When she finds hot pink lace panties stuffed in her couch cushions...definitely not hers, it's not heartbreak she feels. It's freedom. Grayson Taylor doesn't do relationships anymore. Not after walking in on his actress fiancée with another woman. Now he channels everything into hostile takeovers and board meetings, especially the ones where his overcautious CFO fights him on every goddamn acquisition. Joy Smith is brilliant, infuriating, and funny when he pushes all her buttons. But Honey is tired of being invisible. Tired of never having felt real pleasure. So, when her best friend gives her the details of The Velvet Room-Manhattan's most exclusive masked club-she promises herself just one night. One night to find out if her husband's right, if she really is frigid, or if she's just never been touched by the right hands. She doesn't expect the masked stranger who claims her the second she walks in. Doesn't expect the chemistry that ignites between them, the way he makes her body sing, or the orgasms that leave her shaking. Doesn't expect him to hand her an email address with one command: "Only me. No one else touches you." The Sterling Scandal: Married To The Uncle
C.D I was at my own engagement party at the Sterling estate when the world started tilting. Victoria Sterling, my future mother-in-law, smiled coldly as she watched me struggle with a cup of tea that had been drugged to ruin me.
Before I could find my fiancé, Ryan, a waiter dragged me into the forbidden West Wing and locked me in a room with Julian Sterling, the family’s "fallen titan" who had been confined to a wheelchair for years.
The door burst open to a frenzy of camera flashes and theatrical screams. Victoria framed me as a seductress caught in the act, and Ryan didn't even try to listen to my pleas, calling me "cheap leftovers" before walking away with his pregnant mistress. When I turned to my own family for help, my father signed a document severing our relationship for a five-million-dollar payout from Julian. They traded me like a commodity without a second thought.
I didn't understand why my own parents were so eager to sell me, or how Ryan could look at me with such disgust after promising me forever. I was a sacrifice, a pawn used to protect the family's offshore accounts, and I couldn't fathom how every person I loved had a price tag for my destruction.
With nowhere left to go, I married Julian in a bleak ceremony at City Hall. He slid a heavy diamond onto my finger and whispered, "We have a war to start." That night, inside his secret penthouse, I watched the paralyzed man stand up from his wheelchair and activate a screen filled with the Sterling family's darkest secrets. The execution had officially begun. Marrying My Runaway Groom's Powerful Father
Temple Madison I was sitting in the Presidential Suite of The Pierre, wearing a Vera Wang gown worth more than most people earn in a decade. It was supposed to be the wedding of the century, the final move to merge two of Manhattan's most powerful empires.
Then my phone buzzed. It was an Instagram Story from my fiancé, Jameson. He was at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris with a caption that read: "Fuck the chains. Chasing freedom." He hadn't just gotten cold feet; he had abandoned me at the altar to run across the world.
My father didn't come in to comfort me. He burst through the door roaring about a lost acquisition deal, telling me the Holland Group would strip our family for parts if the ceremony didn't happen by noon. My stepmother wailed about us becoming the laughingstock of the Upper East Side. The Holland PR director even suggested I fake a "panic attack" to make myself look weak and sympathetic to save their stock price. Then Jameson’s sleazy cousin, Pierce, walked in with a lopsided grin, offering to "step in" and marry me just to get his hands on my assets.
I looked at them and realized I wasn't a daughter or a bride to anyone in that room. I was a failed asset, a bouncing check, a girl whose own father told her to go to Paris and "beg" the man who had just publicly humiliated her.
The girl who wanted to be loved died in that mirror. I realized that if I was going to be sold to save a merger, I was going to sell myself to the one who actually controlled the money.
I marched past my parents and walked straight into the VIP holding room. I looked the most powerful man in the room—Jameson’s cold, ruthless uncle, Fletcher Holland—dead in the eye and threw the iPad on the table.
"Jameson is gone," I said, my voice as hard as stone. "Marry me instead." I'm Divorcing with You, Mr Billionaire!
The Wine Press I received a pornographic video.
"Do you like this?"
The man speaking in the video is my husband, Mark, whom I haven't seen for several months. He is naked, his shirt and pants scattered on the ground, thrusting forcefully on a woman whose face I can't see, her plump and round breasts bouncing vigorously. I can clearly hear the slapping sounds in the video, mixed with lustful moans and grunts.
"Yes, yes, fuck me hard, baby," the woman screams ecstatically in response.
"You naughty girl!" Mark stands up and flips her over, slapping her buttocks as he speaks. "Stick your ass up!"
The woman giggles, turns around, sways her buttocks, and kneels on the bed.
I feel like someone has poured a bucket of ice water on my head. It's bad enough that my husband is having an affair, but what's worse is that the other woman is my own sister, Bella.
************************************************************************************************************************
"I want to get a divorce, Mark," I repeated myself in case he didn't hear me the first time-even though I knew he'd heard me clearly.
He stared at me with a frown before answering coldly, "It's not up to you! I'm very busy, don't waste my time with such boring topics, or try to attract my attention!"
The last thing I was going to do was argue or bicker with him.
"I will have the lawyer send you the divorce agreement," was all I said, as calmly as I could muster.
He didn't even say another word after that and just went through the door he'd been standing in front of, slamming it harshly behind him. My eyes lingered on the knob of the door a bit absentmindedly before I pulled the wedding ring off my finger and placed it on the table.
I grabbed my suitcase, which I'd already had my things packed in and headed out of the house.