From Abandoned Stand - in to Triumphant Star
Anna Bruce, a struggling actress, meets William Hank, who offers her a deal: in exchange for her companionship, he'll provide her with acting opportunities.
Anna accepts, and over five years, they grow close, but William's long - lost love, Elizabeth, returns.
He abandons Anna, and Elizabeth frames her, ruining her career.
Anna goes abroad, works hard, and becomes successful.
William discovers Elizabeth's betrayal, tries to win Anna back.
After returning to her home country, Anna exposes Elizabeth, clears her name, and resumes her career.
In the end, while Anna forgives William, she decides to end their relationship......
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Chapter 1
In the presidential suite of a seven-star hotel one morning, Anna Bruce lazily stretched her hand out from under the covers and groped towards the bedside.
The sunlight was streaming onto her at that moment, highlighting her shapely curves in a way that was simply enchanting.
She was like a nymph in the jungle, both alluring and full of vitality. But the spot beside her was already cold.
She sat up abruptly and scanned the room.
There, by the floor-to-ceiling window, stood William Hank.
The morning light outlined his sturdy and tall back as he methodically fastened the buttons of his dress shirt.
"Awake?" William Hank turned around, his voice deep, and his gaze landed on Anna Bruce lying on the bed.
He reached into the inner pocket of his suit, took out a check, and casually tossed it onto the bed.
The amount on it was an astonishing thirty million dollars.
Then he took out a document.
"This is the resource for the S-class project. It's the one you've always wanted to star in, and now it's yours."
Anna Bruce pulled up the quilt that had slipped off her shoulder. When she saw the check and the document, a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes.
She knew that William Hank had a place for her in his heart.
He had always been providing her with resources and money, which had helped her become quite successful in the entertainment industry. She picked up the check, hesitated for a moment, and then gently placed it back on the bed.
"William Hank, you've already given me so much. I want to earn this resource on my own this time."
Upon hearing this, William Hank crossed his arms over his chest and let out a soft chuckle, his tone tinged with a bit of disdain.
"What's this, my little canary? Now you want to rely on yourself? Hmph! Don't come crawling back to me when you end up getting your ass kicked."
Anna Bruce bit her lower lip, a sense of defiance still lingering in her heart.
She said stubbornly, "I want to give it a try. And this time, I believe I can win the lead role with my own strength."
A complex emotion flashed across William Hank's eyes, vanishing in an instant.
He was silent for a moment, and his voice gradually turned cold.
"Take it. You might not get another chance like this."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Anna Bruce's heart tightened, and she stared at him in confusion.
"The person I love is back," William Hank said nonchalantly, but his eyes avoided Anna Bruce's.
"As of now, our relationship as bed partners is over."
Anna Bruce's head buzzed, and her eyes widened in shock.
Her hands unconsciously clenched the quilt.
Her lips trembled, and it took her a while to choke out a sentence. "William Hank, aren't we... lovers? In the past five years, haven't you had the slightest bit of real feelings for me?"
Her eyes fixed on him, full of expectation.
Unfortunately, reality dealt her a harsh blow.
William Hank methodically adjusted his cufflinks.
He sneered, "Lovers? What, do you still have the delusion of becoming the young mistress of the Hank family?!"
Suddenly, he turned and stepped closer, his eyes like icy blades sweeping across her face.
He raised his hand and roughly grabbed her chin.
"Look at yourself! Do you really think you're good enough?"
Anna Bruce's eyes instantly welled up with tears, and her nails dug deep into her palms.
"William Hank, you said you loved me. You were the one who came onto me in the first place..."
William Hank's gaze slowly examined her face, as if recalling something.
Suddenly, he turned away.
His voice was icy cold as he said, "I said, it's over."
With that, he headed towards the door.
When he reached the door, he paused but didn't turn around.
"From now on, take care of yourself..."
Anna Bruce slumped down on the edge of the bed, tears silently streaming down her face.
A chill spread throughout her body.
She looked out the window at the falling leaves.
"Am I really that stupid to fall in love with someone who was never going to give me a future? He's the Mr. Hank who can manipulate everything in the entertainment industry. And what am I? If I hadn't met him five years ago, I might have been dead by now..."
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9.7
On my seventh wedding anniversary, my husband, Camden, publicly announced his affair with his much younger personal trainer, Kai. The video went viral before I even woke up.
But the real betrayal wasn't the affair. It was the sudden, horrifying realization that two years ago, he forced me to terminate our long-awaited pregnancy because it was "bad timing" for his new relationship with Kai.
He and Kai humiliated me in my own home, shattering the glass sculpture I'd spent months creating for our anniversary. "It's just glass," Kai sneered. "Easily replaceable." Camden then tossed the broken pieces into the trash, along with the last of my love for him.
Years of swallowing his betrayals, of enduring his cruelty, finally came to an end. The woman who once crumbled at his feet was gone, replaced by a cold, profound emptiness.
I watched him stand there, smug and triumphant with his new lover, completely oblivious to the storm he had unleashed. He thought he had broken me, but he had only forged me into something new, something unbreakable.
"Fine," I said, my voice a calm whisper that cut through his arrogance. "Divorce me."
This wasn't just the end of a marriage. It was the beginning of his ruin.
8.6
One touch, and I was lost."'
His voice was a whisper against my ear, his breath hot on my neck.
"He cannot touch you the way I do, Bella. He does not know your body like I do. You are mine. Every inch of you, every hidden place, every moan you make. And nothing, not even your mother, will keep me from owning this pussy."
His words burn against my skin, like a promise and a threat at the same time.
"You're mine. And I don't share."
*******
Isabella Moretti made one mistake.
One night that should have stayed buried.
One moment with the man she was never supposed to want; her stepfather, Damian Blackwell.
She runs to New York. A fresh start. A shot at her journalism career and a life where she can forget the way his hands felt on her body.
But Damian doesn't believe in letting go. Not when it's what he wants.
When her mother announces Isabella's engagement to her friend's son and asks her to come home to meet her new husband, she thinks maybe she's finally escaped. Until she sees her stepfather-to-be's face.
It's him. Damian Blackwell
Damian isn't just the man whose body she wants; he's hiding something dark enough that could actually launch her career into the world. Or destroy everything she's ever loved.
Now Isabella's trapped between impossible choices:
Her mother's approval, love and a "perfect" future
The man who owns every forbidden part of her soul
But some fires don't just burn.They consume everything.
A dark stepfather romance where the lines between ambition and desire blur beyond recognition.
8.5
I was cheated on by my scumbag boyfriend.
On the night I got blackout drunk, I married a stranger, and when I woke up, I only found a marriage certificate and a black card.
He took care of my scumbag ex for me, gave me a canary diamond ring, but refused to show his face-he only called me baby on video calls.
I ran to my best friend's house to hide, only to find that the billionaire next door, who made my heart skip a beat, had the exact same scent as him.
My best friend cried and begged me: "He's Augustus, a tyrant who eats people alive!"
But only I knew that the man who pressed me against the terrace railing, leaned down to kiss me, and whispered "I'll protect you" softly.
Fifty thousand dollars to sneak photos of his private office? I'll go.
Not for the money, but to ask him to his face-
Gus, how many secrets are you hiding? And how long have you been craving me?
7.8
I was the orphan Marcus Thorne took in. He was my guardian, my savior, and the man I foolishly fell in love with.
But when he caught me sketching his portrait, he didn't see devotion. He saw a mess.
He called my feelings "inappropriate" and told his fiancée I was just a "minor household issue" before shipping me off to Italy to get rid of me.
He thought I would pine for him. Instead, I erased him.
I blocked his number, deleted his photos, and sent him a check for every single cent he spent on me with two words: *Debt paid.*
Three years later, Marcus showed up in Florence. He looked wrecked, desperate, and furious that his "property" had walked away.
He tried to order me home. He tried to claim he finally loved me.
He expected the girl who used to worship him to fall into his arms.
But I looked at the man who broke my heart and felt absolutely nothing.
"You don't love me, Marcus," I said, stepping back into the arms of a man who actually valued me.
"You just hate losing."
And for the first time, I watched him crumble while I walked away.
9.7
After eight years of marriage, Claudia sacrificed her own treatment and gave up her dance career to save Dylan, leaving her with a permanent leg injury-and ultimately becoming a gilded bird confined beneath his wings.
She felt trapped like a cherished, yet confined trophy, enduring the cold intimacy of her husband, unaware that the man she spent blindfolded nights with was a beggar's stand-in. Dylan remained faithful to Nora, his true love suffering from a terminal illness.
Upon becoming pregnant, Claudia stumbled upon the truth. She discovered she had been deceived, and that her unborn child's umbilical cord blood was coveted for its potential life-saving properties. This revelation sparked her awakening.
With her father by her side, she embarked on a path of revenge, exposing Dylan's deception and the dark secrets of his company, leading to the freezing of his assets.
During this journey, Claudia reclaimed her passion for dance, underwent professional rehabilitation, and uncovered the truth behind Nora's feigned illness and her conspiracy to have Dylan harmed in the past.
As Dylan faced betrayal from all sides, his company went bankrupt, and he eventually lost his sanity. Nora ended up in prison, paying the price for her actions.
Claudia not only returned to the stage, shining brighter than ever, but also found unwavering support and true companionship with Greg.
Once deceived and hurt, she broke free from her shackles, experiencing a rebirth and renewal in both her career and personal relationships, opening a new chapter in her life.
9.4
I spent the night with a stranger...
Who got me pregnant...
And turned out to be my boss...
Whoops, sorry, did I say "boss"? I meant a MOB boss.
To be fair, I didn't know he was my boss when I slept with him.
I thought he was just the kind stranger offering me a place to stay.
But one night in Misha Orlov's hotel room got me way more than I bargained for.
It got me champagne that tasted like starlight.
Satin sheets as soft as a dream.
And a man with silver eyes who showed me how it felt to come undone.
And then, in the morning...
He was gone.
That's I needed to get my life together anyway.
After all, my ex-not-quite-husband (it's a long story) just emptied all our bank accounts and disappeared, taking my home and my money and my job with him.
So I'm starting from a blank slate.
I find myself a new apartment.
A new job.
And I put both Misha and my husband behind me.
At least, I thought I did.
Until Day 1 of orientation.
When I learn that Misha Orlov is my new boss.
That's bad enough.
What's worse is what came next.
A car crash.
A doctor's appointment.
And two pieces of unsettling news.
Congratulations, the doctor says. You're pregnant.
Congratulations, Misha says. You and I are getting married.