Marked for Vengeance: Back to the Cold Grave

Marked for Vengeance: Back to the Cold Grave

Lian Lian

5.0
Comment(s)
355
View
11
Chapters

"Mark, we're over." The words, simple and clean, were the hardest I' d ever spoken, yet they carried the sweet taste of freedom. After a lifetime of his smooth, confident voice, it was over. My hands trembled as I hung up, staring at my reflection in the cheap motel window-pale and thin, but with a light in my eyes I hadn' t seen in a decade. Because this wasn' t the first time I' d lived this nightmare. In another life, just days after my brother David' s tragic death, Mark had delivered the second crushing blow: my university admission, my future, was gone. He' d proposed amidst my grief, a manipulative anchor to a broken woman. For ten years, he' d used children and false promises to keep me trapped, extinguishing my spirit until I withered and died at 32, a ghost haunting my own life. Then, I witnessed him standing over my grave, a strange relief on his face, boasting that he' d traded my life and my brother's legacy for Emily White. Emily, who got my university slot, Emily, who built an empire on David' s invention. He never loved me; I was just a transaction. Now, I was back, reborn in this dingy motel room, the memory of that cold grave clinging to me. Mark's frantic calls and aggressive banging shook the door. He was no longer smooth, but raw, demanding. He thought I was his grieving, pliable fiancée, to be managed. But I crushed that old fear. I locked him out, confronting him through the chain with a truth that stunned him. My brother was dead, and I was finally thinking clearly. He' d given Emily what was mine? It was time for him to pay. This wasn' t an act of petulance; it was a promise. This time, I would save myself.

Introduction

"Mark, we're over." The words, simple and clean, were the hardest I' d ever spoken, yet they carried the sweet taste of freedom. After a lifetime of his smooth, confident voice, it was over. My hands trembled as I hung up, staring at my reflection in the cheap motel window-pale and thin, but with a light in my eyes I hadn' t seen in a decade.

Because this wasn' t the first time I' d lived this nightmare. In another life, just days after my brother David' s tragic death, Mark had delivered the second crushing blow: my university admission, my future, was gone. He' d proposed amidst my grief, a manipulative anchor to a broken woman. For ten years, he' d used children and false promises to keep me trapped, extinguishing my spirit until I withered and died at 32, a ghost haunting my own life.

Then, I witnessed him standing over my grave, a strange relief on his face, boasting that he' d traded my life and my brother's legacy for Emily White. Emily, who got my university slot, Emily, who built an empire on David' s invention. He never loved me; I was just a transaction.

Now, I was back, reborn in this dingy motel room, the memory of that cold grave clinging to me. Mark's frantic calls and aggressive banging shook the door. He was no longer smooth, but raw, demanding. He thought I was his grieving, pliable fiancée, to be managed.

But I crushed that old fear. I locked him out, confronting him through the chain with a truth that stunned him. My brother was dead, and I was finally thinking clearly. He' d given Emily what was mine? It was time for him to pay. This wasn' t an act of petulance; it was a promise. This time, I would save myself.

Continue Reading

Other books by Lian Lian

More
The Alpha's Regret: Rejecting His True Luna

The Alpha's Regret: Rejecting His True Luna

Werewolf

5.0

I sat in the Alpha suite, convincing myself I had done the right thing. I had just rejected Alex, my fated mate. She was a weak Omega, and my pack needed a strong Luna like Iliana. But then, I overheard my twin children whispering in the backseat of the car. "My tummy hurts, Kenny," my daughter whimpered. "It's the special juice Auntie Iliana gave us. It tastes like fire." My blood ran cold. I demanded a toxicology report immediately. The results nearly brought me to my knees: Wolfsbane. The woman I had placed on a pedestal, the woman I broke my bond for, had been slowly poisoning my heirs to clear her path to power. I executed Iliana’s punishment and immediately turned the convoy around, racing toward the Silver Moon territory where Alex had taken refuge. I clutched the old silver engagement ring in my sweating palm. I was the Alpha. We were fated. I could fix this. She would forgive me once she knew the truth. But when I arrived, I didn't find a broken woman waiting for her savior. I found a Goddess. Alex stood on the dais, her skin glowing with the legendary bioluminescence of the White Wolf bloodline. Standing protectively beside her was Daniel Sosa, the most ruthless Alpha in the region. I rushed forward, falling to my knees and holding up the ring. "Alex, please! I made a mistake! Come home!" The crowd went silent. I waited for her to cry, to run into my arms. Instead, she looked at me with eyes devoid of love. "You didn't just break my heart, Gavyn," she said coldly. "You broke the sacred law." Then, she turned to Daniel. "Watch, Gavyn," she whispered, her voice carrying on the wind. "This is what real love looks like." She pulled Daniel down and kissed him, and the world exploded in silver light, sealing a new bond right before my eyes.

From 104 Degrees to Triumph: The Wife They Tried to Kill

From 104 Degrees to Triumph: The Wife They Tried to Kill

Romance

5.0

My husband, Matthew, was on a ski trip with his mistress, and his assistant, Stella, sweetly told me the Henderson project needed sorting, fever or not. When I tried to call in sick, Matthew scoffed, dismissing my 104-degree fever as "drama." After eight years of being treated like dirt, humiliated and controlled by him, I calmly told him I wanted a divorce, but he only laughed, reminding me he paid for my ailing father' s expensive medical treatments. Minutes later, a company-wide Slack poll popped up: "Is Gabrielle's divorce threat for real this time?" Matthew voted "Fake," and my colleagues piled on with ridicule. When I typed "It's real. I've hired a lawyer. And I quit," I knew my life was about to explode. Still reeling, I went to the office to deliver my resignation, only to be met by Stella. In a horrifying live company video call with Matthew, she had maintenance workers dump buckets of ice water on me, drenching my feverish body. I collapsed, hitting my head on a glass table, and the world went black. Waking in the ER with a concussion, Matthew stood over me, fuming about the cost and the "scene" I'd made, completely devoid of concern. Then came the news: my father's life-saving procedure had been cancelled while I was unconscious. It was Stella, who had used my phone to cancel it and steal the $50,000 bonus Matthew had promised me, gloating that she was Matthew' s ultimate problem-solver. My father was gone. Killed by their casual cruelty. But as the raw agony tore through me, I realized something cold and clear: they had pushed me too far, and now, they would pay. I would take nothing from Matthew but my freedom, and then I would watch their carefully constructed world burn.

You'll also like

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Flash Marriage To My Best Friend's Father

Madel Cerda
5.0

I was once the heiress to the Solomon empire, but after it crumbled, I became the "charity case" ward of the wealthy Hyde family. For years, I lived in their shadows, clinging to the promise that Anson Hyde would always be my protector. That promise shattered when Anson walked into the ballroom with Claudine Chapman on his arm. Claudine was the girl who had spent years making my life a living hell, and now Anson was announcing their engagement to the world. The humiliation was instant. Guests sneered at my cheap dress, and a waiter intentionally sloshed champagne over me, knowing I was a nobody. Anson didn't even look my way; he was too busy whispering possessively to his new fiancée. I was a ghost in my own home, watching my protector celebrate with my tormentor. The betrayal burned. I realized I wasn't a ward; I was a pawn Anson had kept on a shelf until he found a better trade. I had no money, no allies, and a legal trust fund that Anson controlled with a flick of his wrist. Fleeing to the library, I stumbled into Dallas Koch—a titan of industry and my best friend’s father. He was a wall of cold, absolute power that even the Hydes feared. "Marry me," I blurted out, desperate to find a shield Anson couldn't climb. Dallas didn't laugh. He pulled out a marriage agreement and a heavy fountain pen. "Sign," he commanded, his voice a low rumble. "But if you walk out that door with me, you never go back." I signed my name, trading my life for the only man dangerous enough to keep me safe.

Chapters
Read Now
Download Book