Best Modern Novels

I spent three years being the perfect, quiet wife to Julian Sterling, dimming my own light to fit into his cold Manhattan penthouse. On our anniversary, I sat in the dark with a secret that would change our lives forever—I was finally pregnant with the heir he always wanted. But Julian didn't come home to celebrate. He threw divorce papers on the table and told me his first love, Harper, was dying of stage four cancer. "It is her last wish," Julian said, his voice cold and detached. "She wants to be Mrs. Sterling before she dies. It is the only thing she has ever wanted." I signed the papers and walked away without taking a dime of his billions, but fate wasn't done with me. A few days later, our paths crossed in a crowded hospital lobby. Julian, blinded by his need to protect Harper from the paparazzi, saw me as an obstacle in their way. To clear a path for her, he shoved me aside with enough force to send me flying. I hit the sharp corner of a marble desk and collapsed. As I lay on the floor, I watched Julian hesitate for a fraction of a second before choosing to comfort a wailing Harper instead of helping me. He held her hand while I bled out on the cold stone, losing the child he never even knew I was carrying. In the operating room, the truth finally came to light: Harper wasn't dying. She was faking her symptoms with bribes and stage makeup, and Julian had sacrificed his own son’s life for a performance. When he showed up at my bedside crying and begging for a second chance, I realized that the woman he married was gone. I pulled off my platinum wedding ring and dropped it onto the metal tray with a hollow clink. "Take it," I whispered. "It is too heavy. I cannot carry it anymore." Julian thinks he has lost a wife, but he has actually created a storm. I am no longer the quiet girl he broke; I am a Vanderbilt, and I am going to burn his entire world to the ground for what he did to my baby.

My fiancée sacrificed five years of her life to save my family, falling into a deep coma. But when she finally woke up, I didn't greet her with love. I greeted her with pure hatred. Convinced by my mistress, Hailie, that Ericka was a traitor faking her illness for sympathy, I became her tormentor. When she told me she had stage four cancer, I laughed and accused her of manipulation. I locked her in a freezing safe house. I forced her into a sauna until her skin blistered, then doused her failing lungs with ice water. I dragged her out of the hospital to kneel in the rain until she collapsed. Even when she fell from a balcony, broken and bleeding, I let my men beat her. I watched her waste away, believing every one of Hailie's lies over Ericka's desperate truths. It wasn't until I saw her cold, blue body on the rocks below the cliffs that the truth finally shattered me. The autopsy confirmed the cancer I mocked was real. A hidden recording revealed Hailie had framed her all along, admitting she treated me like a dog on a leash. I realized I had tortured the woman who saved my life until she bought her own grave just to escape me. I burned Hailie alive at Ericka's funeral, but death was too easy a punishment. I lived in agony, a scarred monster praying for the end. But when I finally closed my eyes in the fire, I didn't die. I heard a beep. I opened my eyes, and the date on my phone was three years ago. The day Ericka woke up.

I stared at my phone, the harsh blue light illuminating my face in the dim morning light of our bedroom. Three years of marriage, and this was how Ryan chose to commemorate it. The email notification glared back at me, mocking what should have been a day of celebration. "Reservation canceled: Le Bernardin, 8:00 PM." Directly below it sat another message—a forwarded invitation to Amber Walsh's birthday party at Eleven Madison Park. The timestamp showed he'd canceled our anniversary dinner mere minutes after accepting her invitation. My fingers tightened around the phone as I scrolled through the details: "Black tie optional. Gifts welcome." I placed the phone down carefully, like it might shatter under the weight of my barely contained rage. Three years of pretending to be less than I am. Three years of playing the role of the modest marketing coordinator who earned just enough to contribute her "fair share" to this farce of a marriage. Ryan emerged from the bathroom, his $300 haircut still damp, adjusting his Rolex—a watch I knew for a fact he couldn't actually afford.

The fluorescent lights of the conference room buzzed overhead as I stared at the contract terms for what felt like the hundredth time. Eight hundred million dollars. The biggest deal Russell Industries had ever landed, and it was finally within reach. I glanced at my watch—2:17 AM. My eyes burned from exhaustion, but I couldn't stop now. Not when we were so close. "The liability clause needs to be tighter," I murmured, making another notation in the margin. "And the payment terms should favor us more in quarter three." My team had gone home hours ago, but I stayed, refining every detail. This contract would transform Russell Industries from a promising startup into a major player. And it was my negotiation skills that had brought us here.

The champagne flutes chimed like warning bells. From my vantage point near the French doors, the sound was sharp enough to cut through the hazy, golden afternoon light of our Malibu estate. I adjusted the throw blanket over my legs, a reflex born of shame rather than cold. It was seventy-five degrees, but the phantom ache in what remained of my limbs always flared when the air grew thick with pretense. Priscilla stood in the center of the living room, a vision in cream silk that clung to her post-pregnancy curves. In her arms, she held the boy. *Leo.* A name that roared, unlike the silence that had filled my womb for seven years. "He has the Cruz eyes," a woman whispered near the buffet. I didn't need to turn my wheelchair to know it was Mrs. Gable from the club.

The notification sound from my phone cut through the quiet of my Seattle apartment just after eleven on Tuesday night. I'd been curled on the couch for hours, laptop balanced on my knees, finally wrapping up the quarterly reports for work. My stomach gurgled softly—a familiar reminder of the ulcers that had become my constant companion since the crash diet Reid had inspired years ago. I ignored it, reaching for my phone instead. The video played automatically. Skye Bennett's manicured fingers filled the frame, holding something small and pink between her thumb and forefinger. Hamlet. The hand-stitched piglet ornament I'd spent weeks making for Reid last Christmas, carefully embroidering his initials on the little hooves. I remembered the way my fingers had cramped, how I'd stayed up past midnight for a week to finish it in time. 'Does this thing even have a name?' Skye's voice, smooth and bored, carried through my phone speakers as she dangled Hamlet over a wastebasket.

Frances survived a horrific car crash, only to return to a suffocating life. Her wealthy husband, Baron, and his domineering mother were now relentlessly pressuring her to adopt a "poor, distant relative" named Jagger as the heir to their billionaire empire. But on her way to sign the adoption papers, a violent vision flashed in her mind. The crash wasn't an accident. She saw her car in flames, while Baron watched with cold, calculating eyes. Beside him stood an older Jagger, who calmly muttered the chilling truth. "The problem is solved." A private investigator soon confirmed her worst nightmares. Jagger wasn't a charity case; he was Baron's illegitimate son. The family had been illegally funneling offshore money to fund his elite lifestyle. Worse, Baron's ultimate plan was to label Frances mentally unstable, lock her away in a Swiss sanatorium for life, and bring in Jagger's biological mother to take her place. For years, Frances had played the perfect, obedient wife in their corporate marriage contract. How could they be so ruthlessly evil, plotting her agonizing death just to legitimize their dirty bloodline and steal her trust fund? But she was no longer the fragile puppet they thought she was. At the high-stakes board meeting, with all eyes expecting her to submit, she put the expensive pen down. "I refuse." Instead of adopting their bastard son, she slammed down an SEC whistleblower threat, forced a new will, and introduced her own handpicked heir. The war had just begun.

"Do you like it when I touch you like this?"Professor Derrick's thumb circles her most sensitive spot as his other hand silences her moans. Eliana has never felt pleasure this intense, this forbidden.After a messy breakup, 20-year-old Eliana promised herself no more men just focus on her literature studies. But her gorgeous, older professor has other plans.What starts as extra tutoring sessions quickly becomes stolen moments in his office. Secret touches. Heated glances. Until one night, all her walls come crashing down.Now she's addicted to his touch, even though dating him could destroy everything her scholarship, her future, her heart. But when her jealous ex returns and a vengeful classmate threatens to expose their affair, Eliana must decide:Is the best sex of her life worth risking it all for the one man she's not supposed to have?

Jaclyn woke up in the sterile hospital room after falling down the stairs. The nurse delivered the devastating news: she had bled heavily and lost her baby. But before she could even cry, her trusted cousins, Katelyn and Cherri, locked the door and revealed the horrifying truth. "It wasn't an accident," Katelyn smirked, pinning Jaclyn's arm down. "The lubricant on the top step was a very deliberate choice." They needed her broken and unstable. They had forged her signature, draining her massive trust fund to save their uncle's bankrupt business. What shattered Jaclyn's world was the fresh hickey on Cherri's neck. Her lover, Bradford, had helped plan the entire murder. When Jaclyn tried to scream, they smothered her with a pillow, framing her as a lunatic having a mental breakdown. Two weeks later, when she confronted them, Bradford violently shoved her through a second-story glass window to silence her forever. As she fell to her death, the husband she had spent her life hating—the ruthless billionaire Gaines—burst through the doors. He threw himself forward, his face filled with pure terror, desperately trying to catch her. When her body hit the stone patio, Gaines fell to his knees in her blood, weeping and begging her not to close her eyes. Until her last breath, Jaclyn was consumed by suffocating regret. Why did she trust the monsters who killed her, and hate the only man who truly loved her? Opening her eyes again, she was back in the penthouse, exactly one month into her marriage with Gaines.

“You think I wanted you?” Sebastian’s voice was cold, his blind eyes fixed on her trembling form. “You bought me,” Anastasia whispered, her heart cracking. “You married me only to punish me.” His lips curved into a cruel smirk. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re nothing but a substitute, a stand-in for the woman I truly love.” Her hand shook as she clutched the ring he forced onto her finger. “Then why bind me to you at all?” “Because I’d rather rot in hell with a stranger than beg for scraps from the woman who betrayed me.” ****** Anastasia never dreamed her life would end up like this. Married to Sebastian, the ruthless billionaire heir whose world was ripped apart the night an accident left him blind and abandoned by his fiancée. To save her sick mother, Anastasia agreed to his cruel bargain: be his substitute wife, his shield in public, and his prisoner in private. But Sebastian is not a man who forgives and he never forgets. Every touch he denies and every word he spits is a reminder of the vow he made to destroy the woman bound to him. When the torment becomes unbearable, Anastasia makes the most painful choice of all. She divorces him and vanishes without a trace. What Sebastian never discovers is the truth she carries with her. His children. Not one, but four lives growing inside her. The quadruplets who become her greatest secret and her greatest strength. Years later, when fate forces their paths to cross again, Anastasia is no longer the weak woman he once broke. Winning her back will take more than apologies, more than confessions, and more than promises he failed to keep. But can a broken marriage and a hidden family survive the fire of betrayal? Or will the truth destroy them once more when Sebastian discovers that the children he never knew are his own?

His fingers slid into my hair, tugging just enough to tilt my head back and expose my throat to him. My pulse thrummed wildly beneath his mouth as he trailed heated kisses along my neck. Each brush of his lips left my skin tingling. "We shouldn't be doing this, Mr. Turner," I breathed, my voice breaking on a gasp as he found a sensitive spot just beneath my ear and sucked lightly. His growl was low and primal, vibrating through my skin as he pressed his body against mine. I felt every hard line of him, his heat bleeding through my clothes. "Why not?" he murmured, his voice rough with restrained need. I swallowed hard. "You're... you're my ex-fiancé's father." He paused. For a moment, everything stilled... his breath against my throat, the air between us, even the rain outside seemed to hesitate. Then he lifted his head, and our eyes locked. His were a stormy blue, intense and unwavering. "No one has to know, Catherine," he said quietly, his voice was like a dark promise wrapped in silk. Then he leaned in with his lips brushing the shell of my ear. "I can be your dirty secret." A shiver ripped down my spine. His words settled deep in my gut, awakening something dangerous. I bit my lip. Every cell in my body screamed for me to walk away but I didn't. Instead, I gripped the front of his shirt, pulled him down, and kissed him hard. Desperately. He rumbled low in his chest, kissing me back with equal hunger, his hands roaming my body like he already knew every curve. When he finally broke the kiss, I was breathless. Then he dropped to his knees between my legs, with his eyes darker now, almost black with want. Lightning caught in the sharp line of his jaw, and a wicked smirk tugged at his lips. "I'm going to show you the world," he said. "If you'd let me."

A man like Travis Sinclair wants nothing more than a woman who matches his sexual prowess and is used to getting everything he wants. A cold-hearted billionaire ,he lives by one rule — love, no commitment. Ayanna Davies isn’t looking for a relationship. She’s focused on her work and the financial security it brings. As a high end escort, her client is full of filthy rich men who are willing to pay handsomely for her services. But when Travis Sinclair becomes one of her clients, she begins twice about mixing work with pleasure. Not knowing that he is an old acquaintance whom she despises.

Warning : 21+ Nina Meiyer considers herself an unattractive 32-year-old woman after failing to get her husband, Simon Meiyer, to spend more time with her, even though everyone around her considers her a stunningly beautiful woman with a sensual body. The shadow of her past as a 'naughty nurse' makes her suspect that Simon may have discovered her dark secret, a fear that makes her increasingly wary of the women around Simon who could replace her as Mrs. Meiyer. Her life, already filled with fear and anxiety, changes when Pierre Alexander, a jenius doctor, Xavier Evans, her husband's business rival, Jake Andrew, an adult site star, and Leonardo Salviero, a super hot mechanic, begin approaching her in sometimes unreasonable ways. Nina, who has tried to be a faithful wife for seven years, seems unable to maintain her loyalty when the four young men offer her wild fantasies from her past that she can't resist.

The shipping center was nearly empty when I arrived, just a few people scattered across the lobby, waiting for their packages. I'd come here on a whim, after receiving a notification that something had arrived for me. Probably another script delivery or some industry magazine subscription. "Name?" the clerk asked, barely looking up from his computer. "Alexandra Ellis," I replied, sliding my ID across the counter. He typed something, frowned slightly, then walked to the back. I waited, absently twisting my wedding ring around my finger—a habit I'd developed whenever I felt restless. Seven years of marriage to Nathaniel, and still that platinum band felt like both a promise and a shackle. The clerk returned with a small box. "Here you go, ma'am." I thanked him and took the package, noticing immediately that it felt lighter than I expected.

The day I found out I was pregnant, I also learned my entire three-year relationship was a lie. The man I loved, the father of my child, was actually a master manipulator orchestrating a cruel revenge plot. He and his twin brother had shared my bed, my life, and my heart, all to destroy me. Erica, an ER nurse, was overjoyed with her pregnancy, believing she'd found true love and stability with corporate heir Anthony Holden. But this joy shattered when she overheard Anthony and his twin, Emmanuel, revealing their relationship was a "farce"—a three-year revenge plot against her for a forgotten college slight. The man in her bed was Emmanuel. Her grandmother then died due to Anthony's cruel refusal of medical aid. They locked Erica in a dark closet, attempted to poison her, and Anthony stomped on her wrist, stealing her EpiPen. This relentless abuse led to the ultimate loss of her unborn child. Lying in agony, Erica realized this was systematic annihilation. What monstrous secrets fueled such calculated savagery? From the ashes, a terrifying resolve ignited. The naive nurse died on that blood-soaked floor. Erica, now utterly devoid of emotion, would forge their gilded cage into a weapon and burn their entire empire to the ground.

Betty would do anything for her family even if it was at the cost of her own happiness but then what happens, when she is to sleep with her sister's husband, to bear a son in her stead? Her sister's husband had always been her crush and when she thought he finally reciprocated the forbidden feelings, he pulled the plug and crushed her heart. Now she was back for revenge.

The fluorescent lights of the hospital corridor buzzed overhead like angry wasps, casting harsh shadows that seemed to mirror the chaos in my chest. Three weeks had passed since the accident—three weeks of sitting beside Luca's hospital bed, holding his hand while he slept, whispering stories of our life together, hoping something would spark recognition in those beautiful brown eyes I'd fallen in love with years ago. But when he finally woke up fully, when the doctors declared his physical recovery miraculous, the man who looked back at me was a stranger wearing my fiancé's face. "I'm sorry," Luca said, his voice clinical and distant as he adjusted his hospital gown. The same hands that had traced my face with such tenderness now fidgeted with the blanket edge, avoiding any contact with mine. "I know you've been here, and I appreciate that, but I need you to understand—I don't remember us. I don't remember... whatever we had." The words hit me like physical blows. Whatever we had. As if five years of love, laughter, and dreams could be reduced to something so dismissive, so insignificant.

Owen, the wealthy heir once said to be on his last legs, spent a fortune to marry Anna, a girl thought to lack wits. Their social circle loved to joke that the pair made the "perfect" couple. After the wedding, however, Owen's health quickly returned, and Anna shattered every rumor about her being simple-minded. A powerful figure fiercely protected her, and a hacker group called her boss. The design world looked up to her, and assassins followed her word. Even the business world saw her as a force to be reckoned with. They only realized then, Anna was no ordinary woman, and Owen truly adored her with all his heart forever. Owen wrapped her in his arms, his gaze so tender it felt almost unbearable. "I've known all along. I chose to be the sword in your hand." As her façade crumbled, Anna confessed, "I'm sorry for using you."

It was city gossip that Aiden Elliott, a powerful figure, was old, hideous, and close to death. For money, Millie's greedy father, sly stepmother, and jealous stepsister forced her into marrying this so-called dying man. Refusing to give in, Millie rebelled by spending the night with a male escort-only to find out later he was the very man she was set to marry, the rumored tyrant himself. "I'm old and ugly?" "Impotent?" "You want a divorce?" Aiden wouldn't let her go. From then on, Millie became his cherished wife, pampered and protected, envied by everyone.

Plot. Synopsis. Liora could never belong. The daughter of an extramarital affair, she had lived in the shadows, cut off from the rest of the family, and learned to fend for herself while surviving. Stripping gave her life now, but everything changed one wild night. Two days before his wedding, Darius entered her club, craving for the last taste of bachelorhood, he pays Liora for a special dance which led to a one-night stand. Neither of them expected to see each other again or that Liora's long lost sister, Selene, was the bride waiting at the altar. The one-night stand becomes a dangerous truth that must be hidden. Lies never remain hidden, however, and when Liora learns she is pregnant with Darius's child, silence may be not be an option for her. Exposition. Liora, a daughter born as a result of her father's infidelity with a maid, which resulted in the divorce that separates her from her big sister. Due to the family's financial difficulties faced while growing up and the consequent death of her father, Liora eventually becomes a stripper to put food on her table. Unknown to her at the time, she carried the hidden omega bloodline from her father's alpha lineage, suppressed by years away from the pack. Inciting incident. One night, she is hired by a man who is getting married in just two days and wants to enjoy his last moments of bachelorhood. She ends up having a one-night stand with him. The moment they touched, an undeniable mate spark ignited between them-raw, electric, and impossible to ignore-but neither understood its full power yet. When Liora returns home that same night, she encounters an old man who introduces himself as the butler of the Blackwood family, tells her she has been invited to the wedding of her sister. This comes as a shock-Liora grew up knowing she had a sister, but Harlan never allowed them to meet. He carried that secret to his grave, and after his death, Liora stopped thinking about it. Despite her hesitation and doubts as to if they got the wrong person, she agrees to attend. Rising action. She arrives the night before the wedding , finds out she has been a daughter of the well known Blackwood family all along and learns the truth: it was her stepmother, not Harlan, who had always been against their meeting. The stepmother is currently serving time in jail for a minor business-related crime and her elder sister, Selene had her research done to find her because she wanted to reconcile with her younger sister and what better opportunity than a wedding. Liora also discovers that Selene is a sweetheart who had longed to meet her, but had been forced to stay away because of Ravenna's influence. But then, another huge blow hits-Liora finds out that the man she was with last night, the one she slept with, is the man Selene is set to marry, Darius. She holds this secret to herself, haunted by the mate pull that now torments her every thought. The marriage happens, and it all goes well. After that, Selene gives Liora a new path, far from her old job. She brings her into her home and starts to look after her. But soon, Liora finds out she is going to have a baby. With fear and shame, she hides this news. Climax. When Ravenna is released from prison, she is furious to find Liora living with her family. She makes it clear that she does not accept her, resenting her existence as a reminder of Harlan's infidelity. A few days later, Selene announces that she is pregnant too. Ravenna immediately becomes protective of her "real" daughter, which only deepens Liora's insecurities. She considers leaving before her secret is exposed. But fate intervenes. An accident happens, and they find out Liora was pregnant. Since she was once a stripper, no one talks about the dad. But Darius, who knows they share risky secret, sets up a secret meeting for them to talk. He wants to know if he is the dad, and Liora says yes-but she will keep it quiet and plans to leave soon. In their tense exchange, the mate bond flares again, confirming what they both sensed that first night. Ravenna,who happens to be at the wrong side at the right time ,overheard part of their talk. With doubts in her mind, she quietly does a DNA test between Darius and Liora's unborn baby. The results confirm he is the father. Seeing her chance to drive a wedge between the sisters, she keeps the secret until the gender reveal party for both daughters. There, in front of everyone, she exposes the truth. The revelation makes headlines. Selene feels utterly betrayed-by both her husband and her sister. She leaves Darius's house with Ravenna and sends divorce papers days later. Liora feels destroyed, her betrayal now public, and her pain is doubled when she learns Selene has lost her baby and is battling ovarian cancer, which requires an urgent bone marrow transplant. Through her best friend, Dr. Thorne, Liora learns this. She gets tested and finds out she is a match , but her unborn baby stops her. Darius knows she got test

Blaire woke up in a Manhattan penthouse, her body covered in bruises and her innocence stolen. Before she could process the terror, her adoptive sister Danita burst in, acting heartbroken and accusing Blaire of shamelessly seducing the powerful Kamryn Lane. Kamryn threw a one-million-dollar check at Blaire's bleeding face, calling her a calculating gold digger. That night, Blaire overheard a conversation in the family study that shattered her entire reality. "Once she gives birth to the Lane family's seed, we'll stage an accident, drain her blood, and transplant her healthy heart into your chest." Her adoptive mother and Danita were celebrating the success of their trap. She wasn't an adopted daughter; she was a living organ bank and a disposable surrogate. Even her adoptive brother, Calhoun, knew everything, trapping her in the dark hallways with a sick, possessive obsession to ensure she never escaped. The horrific truth suffocated her. The family that had taken her in had raised her like livestock for slaughter. How could they smile at her every day while planning to carve out her heart? Terrified but burning with a desperate will to survive, Blaire swallowed a Plan B pill to ruin their surrogate plot and fled the estate. To get the money and power she needed to crush her adoptive family, she pulled out Kamryn Lane's business card. This time, she would make a deal with the devil.

The gravel crunched beneath my tires as I guided my car down the familiar, overgrown lane toward Grandma's farmhouse. Afternoon sunlight filtered through the branches of the massive oak that had stood sentinel over the property for generations. I parked beside it, just as I always had during those childhood summers when this place had been my only real home. My fingers tightened around the steering wheel. I wasn't ready for this—to face the emptiness, to acknowledge that she was truly gone. The modest white farmhouse with its wraparound porch looked exactly as it always had, deceptively unchanged. Only I knew what secrets it held beneath its weathered clapboards: the hidden communications hub of Safe Harbor, the classified intelligence operation I managed remotely for Homeland Security. I took a deep breath, steeling myself. This was supposed to be a solemn day of preparation—arranging Grandma's memorial service, honoring her with the dignity she deserved. That was the only promise that mattered now.

I was forty-eight hours into my shift, smelling of stale sweat and clutching a red-stamped bill for my mother's life support. As a scholarship intern, I was a ghost in the hospital, working myself to the bone just to keep her ventilator humming. Then Dr. Thorne shoved a metal clipboard into my chest and ordered me to perform a surgical prep on a VIP patient for a circumcision. But the moment the cold betadine touched the man's skin, he lunged at me like a predator, his hand crushing my wrist until the bone nearly snapped. "I'm here for a kidney stone. What kind of incompetent butcher shop is this?" He wasn't a patient; he was Conrad Marks, a lethal billionaire, and Thorne had intentionally set me up to assault him. Within minutes, a five-million-dollar lawsuit was filed, and the Dean ordered security to shred my license and throw me out of the building. My phone buzzed with a final notice: the facility was stopping my mother's meds at midnight because my payment had failed. I was a doctor who had just been framed and a daughter about to watch her mother die. I didn't understand why Thorne would ruin me so casually, but with my mother's life on the line, I had nothing left to lose. I slipped past the guards and back into the billionaire's suite with a set of silver needles and a desperate bargain. I stopped his agony in seconds, and when he looked at me with those cold, lethal eyes, I offered a trade: I would be the fake girlfriend his family demanded if he would save my mother and bury the lawsuit. "Deal," he said, his grip on my waist tightening with dark possession. I signed the contract, realizing I hadn't just saved my career-I had sold my soul to the most dangerous man in New York.

Naomi Ray would do anything to prevent her mother from dying in the hospital even though it involves stealing A fifty million dollars worth cufflinks from her best friend boss. What happens when this man turn out to be someone more dangerous than she thought. Enzo Vitale is a ruthless billionaire boss, who doesn't show mercy and he is the talk of the town. Everyone says he is dangerous, and had never seen him up close before. Until Naomi Ray made the most terrible mistake stealing from him.