From Prison To Power: Rise Of The War Goddess
Scarlett Hayes thought marrying James Whitmore would finally make her family see her as more than a burden.
Instead, it destroyed her life.
Framed for crimes she didn't commit, betrayed by the people she trusted most, and sentenced to prison while pregnant, Scarlett lost everything in a single night.
Then came the cruelest blow of all.
After giving birth in chains, she was told her baby had died.
The people responsible believed she would spend the rest of her life rotting behind bars.
They were wrong.
Five years later, Scarlett returns.
No longer the discarded daughter of the Hayes family. No longer the broken woman they left behind.
Now she is Commander Scarlett Hayes-a decorated war hero, the unseen force behind a global intelligence empire, and a woman powerful enough to make governments tremble.
She comes back for one reason only: revenge.
Her ex-husband, the stepsister who stole her life, and the family who buried her alive are about to learn exactly what happens when a woman with nothing left to lose takes back everything they stole.
But as Scarlett tears through the secrets of her past, one truth threatens to change everything-
the child she mourned for years may not be dead.
And the mysterious man connected to the night that changed her life has been watching from the shadows all along.
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Chapter 6
Theo lay unconscious in the hospital bed, his small face flushed with fever. An IV line ran into his arm, the steady drip the only sign of control in an otherwise worsening situation.
When Rhys stepped inside, he immediately felt it-
The tension.
Theron sat beside the bed, silent, still, but the pressure around him was suffocating.
"Sir," Rhys said quietly.
Theron stood without a word and walked out. Rhys followed, and the door clicked shut behind them.
"Any update on Nyx?" Theron asked.
"We reached him," Rhys said carefully. "He refused."
The air shifted.
Rhys didn't pause.
"But I tracked his movements. He's heading to the capital-someone important is here. He's already booked a flight. Arrival should be tomorrow afternoon. I'll have people waiting at the airport."
"No."
Theron's voice cut clean through the hallway.
"I'll go."
Rhys blinked, then nodded. "Understood."
Theron didn't explain.
He didn't need to.
If Nyx was as difficult as they said-
Sending someone else wouldn't be enough.
Monroe Residence
Dinner had just ended when Howard returned.
Scarlett set her glass down.
"Mom, Louie-I need to step out for a bit. Something came up."
Amy looked concerned, but didn't stop her. Louie just gave a small nod.
Outside, Scarlett didn't waste time.
"Well?"
Howard's expression darkened. "I found out who did it."
A pause.
"It was Colin Drake."
Scarlett's eyes went cold.
"Why?"
Howard hesitated, just for a second.
"Louie's fiancée thought he wasn't good enough for her. She got involved with Colin. Louie caught them together... confronted him."
He exhaled slowly.
"It turned into a fight. Colin had his guys step in. They broke Louie's legs... then wrecked the yard."
Silence.
"And now," Howard added, "she's engaged to Colin."
A sharp crack echoed as Scarlett's fingers tightened into a fist.
The air around her seemed to shift.
"Where is he?"
"At a club."
Scarlett got there fast.
Too fast.
Inside the private room, Colin Drake was exactly where you'd expect him to be-sprawled across a couch, surrounded by women.
One draped over his left arm. Another leaning into his shoulder.
He laughed, careless, indulgent.
"Oh, you're awful," one of them teased, pressing closer.
"Yeah?" Colin smirked. "You like that, don't you?"
He leaned in for another kiss-
The door slammed open.
Hard.
The entire room went still.
Colin turned, annoyed-
Then froze.
His gaze locked onto Scarlett.
And shifted instantly.
Interest. Sharp. Unfiltered.
"Well... now this is new," he said, pushing the women aside as he stood. "Who are you?"
Scarlett didn't react.
"Are you Colin Drake?"
"That depends," he said lazily. "Who's asking?"
But his eyes stayed on her.
A woman like that didn't walk in by accident.
And she definitely didn't walk in for someone else.
Howard stepped forward slightly, already reading the look on his face. If Scarlett hadn't stopped him earlier, Colin would already be on the floor.
"Gloves," he said quietly.
Scarlett took them without looking.
Slid them on.
Then raised her eyes.
Cold. Focused.
Something about it made Colin pause.
"Alright," he said, a little less relaxed now. "What do you want?"
Scarlett tilted her head slightly.
"Louie Monroe is my brother."
The shift was instant.
Recognition hit.
"...Scarlett?"
His eyes widened slightly.
"Scarlett Hayes. Right?"
A slow grin spread across his face.
"I thought you were still locked up. What, they let you out early?"
Scarlett didn't answer.
Colin let out a short laugh, the mockery clear.
"What, you here to stand up for him?" he said. "Your brother picked a fight he couldn't win."
He leaned back, tapping his cheek.
"Go ahead. Take your shot."
His grin widened.
"I won't even move."
Scarlett looked at him for a second.
Then-
"Your call."
She moved.
Fast.
Too fast for him to react.
CRACK-
The sound echoed through the room.
Colin's head snapped to the side as his nose shattered on impact. The force sent him flying backward, crashing hard onto the floor.
A beat of silence-
Then-
"AAAH-!"
He screamed, clutching his face, blood pouring between his fingers.
"You-!" His voice broke into a roar. "I'll kill you!"
Scarlett walked toward him, unhurried.
"Oh?" she said calmly.
Her foot came down-
CRACK-
The sound was worse this time.
A scream tore out of him, raw and uncontrolled.
"Stop-!"
Too late.
She pressed down harder.
Bone gave under pressure.
Another scream. Louder. Desperate.
She didn't rush.
Didn't hesitate.
By the time she stepped back-
Both legs were destroyed.
Colin lay there shaking, his face drained of color, his body barely responding to the pain.
Scarlett looked down at him.
Unmoved.
"Now we're even."
He glared up at her, hatred burning in his eyes-
But he didn't say another word.
He couldn't.
Right then, Brielle rushed in.
She stopped cold at the sight.
"Honey?!"
Her voice cracked.
She stared at Colin, broken on the floor, panic flooding her face.
"What happened?! Who did this?!"
"I did."
Scarlett's voice cut through the room.
Brielle snapped her head toward her.
"Scarlett?!"
Shock turned to anger almost instantly.
"What is wrong with you?!" she snapped. "You're insane! You should've stayed in prison!"
Scarlett didn't react.
"Whether I belong there isn't your concern," she said evenly.
Her gaze sharpened.
"I broke his legs because he broke my brother's."
A beat.
"You knew that."
Brielle didn't hesitate.
"He deserved it."
The temperature in the room dropped.
Scarlett's expression hardened.
"Deserved it?"
Her voice was quiet.
Controlled.
"He worked himself to exhaustion for you," she said. "Gave you everything he had."
Her eyes locked onto Brielle's.
"And that's what you call deserving it?"
Brielle let out a short, dismissive laugh.
"He had nothing," she said coldly. "No money. No future. Did he really think that was enough?"
Scarlett let out a quiet laugh.
Her gaze lingered on Brielle for a moment.
Pretty, sure.
But compared to Louie?
Not even close.
That wasn't bias.
It was fact.
She didn't deserve him.
"What's so funny?" Brielle snapped. "Am I wrong?"
She lifted her chin, smug.
"A guy who can't even make three grand a month thinks he can marry me?"
"My fiancé's different. He's got money. He runs his own company. He actually knows how to treat me."
"If I want a designer bag, I get one. Your brother? He'd have to kill himself just to afford it."
Every word dripped with contempt.
Scarlett drew in a slow breath, holding her temper in check.
Her eyes flicked briefly to the women huddled in the corner-
Then back to Brielle.
"You see this?" she said evenly. "You're engaged to him, and he's still hooking up with other women."
"What's that got to do with you?" Brielle shot back. "I don't care. I want him."
But that wasn't true.
Not completely.
No one was that indifferent.
She just chose not to look too closely.
Money.
Status.
The life she wanted.
Scarlett's gaze hardened.
"Good," she said quietly.
"Then stick with that choice."
There was a weight behind her voice now.
A promise.
"You're going to regret it."
"Everything you said. Everything you chose."
At first, she'd only planned to teach Brielle a lesson.
Now?
That felt like a waste.
No-
She wanted something else.
Something lasting.
Not pain.
Regret.
The kind that stayed with you.
The kind that didn't fade.
"Let's go," she said, turning to Howard.
She walked out without another glance.
Behind her, Brielle's voice cut through the room-
"Stop right there, Scarlett! You think you can just walk away after this? I'm calling the police! I'll send you back to prison!"
Scarlett didn't slow down.
Didn't even turn.
She was already gone.
Howard lingered for half a second, glancing back at Brielle.
Amused.
Calling the police?
That was cute.
If she thought that would work-
She had no idea who she was dealing with.
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8.7
Bloodhoundhearts
8.7
Aiden is the Bloodhound the Council's most feared assassin, a vampire prince whose soul has been hollowed out by centuries of shadow and state-sanctioned slaughter. Elena is a Seer of the Vance line a woman of the mountain whose silver flame was meant to heal, not to spark a revolution. When their paths collide in the high spires of a corrupt capital, they don't just find love; they ignite a war that spans from the depths of the Sunken Vaults to the spectral currents of the Forbidden Coast.
Now, fleeing the ruins of a broken empire, they carry the ultimate secret: Caelum, a child of the Harmony. Born during a solar eclipse, he is the Third Way a hybrid heir with the power to either unite the warring forces of light and dark or become a beacon of chaos that levels the continent.
With the mechanical genius of a mad inventor, the iron will of a blacksmith's son, and the cryptic guidance of a five-hundred-year-old Oracle, Aiden and Elena must protect their son from enemies both ancient and new. From the obsidian breach-engines of the Council to the void-stained magic of Lyra, the first fallen Seer, the hunt is on.
In a realm where blood defines destiny, can a monster become a father? Can a healer survive the abyss? And when the choice comes to sacrifice half of his soul, will the Child of the Harmony have the strength to forge a new dawn?
9.5
Alina was the eldest daughter of the prestigious Padilla family, but everyone mocked her as a defective dud who couldn't cast a single spell.
The moment she woke up, her father and younger sister Karina barged into her room, demanding she sign a transfer agreement to the Aethelgard Order-the most brutal faction on the continent.
It wasn't just a transfer; it was a legal disownment. In her past life, Alina didn't realize Karina was also reborn. She had dropped to her knees and begged to stay. Her reward? Her magic was violently drained from her veins by her own family. Her fiancé drove a blade through her chest, and her sister stood over her bleeding body, smiling. She had ruined her hands making potions for them, only to be discarded like trash.
The phantom pain of her chest being ripped open still burned behind her ribs. Looking at the hypocritical family waiting for her tears, she felt nothing but exhausting disgust. Why should she ever be their stepping stone again?
"For the honor of the family, you leave today."
Her father sneered as she calmly bit her thumb and pressed her bloody fingerprint onto the contract. This time, Alina didn't cry. She packed a single bag and walked out the door, heading straight for the deadly Aethelgard Order to show them what a true monster looked like.
8.4
"I'm not scared of you, Tyler."
Erika's voice trembled, not with fear but with the force of instinct, adrenaline, and something deeper.
"You should be," Tyler growled, blood staining his knuckles and rage glinting in his eyes.
"Because if they touch you again, I won't stop. Not until the ice runs red."
Erika stepped forward anyway, chin lifted. "Then let it. Because I'm not leaving you."
Even with a target on her back and the league closing in, the omega who once hid behind textbooks now stood toe-to-toe with the alpha the world feared.
After a brutal on-ice collision throws omega student Erika into the path of disgraced alpha hockey star Tyler Wood, neither of them expect the fallout to spiral into threats, secrets, and a bond neither can control. As Erika's heat awakens something primal and dangerous Tyler must confront his violent past before those hunting them destroy everything they're fighting for.
8.7
He needed to stop. This wasn't why he'd followed her. He had only wanted to finally speak with her about their arrangement. But his body wouldn't let him– her flushed face sent ripples of hot need coursing right through him. A moan escaped her, shattering what little self-control he maintained.
------
Six years ago, Gabrielle walked away from Edward Harrington with nothing but a broken heart and a secret growing inside her.
Now she's back- not for love, not for forgiveness, but because she has run out of choices.
With a daughter to protect, a mother slipping away, and poverty closing in, Gabrielle steps into a world she no longer recognizes: Edward's world. A world of wealth, power, quiet cruelty, and memories that refuse to stay buried.
Edward is no longer the boy who once loved her.
He is colder. Sharper. Untouchable.
And he knows exactly how much power he holds.
As past desire collides with present resentment, Gabrielle must survive a house where she doesn't belong, a society that judges her at a glance, and a man who wants control more than reconciliation.
But the most dangerous truth of all?
Their past never ended.
And their daughter is standing right between them.
Love. Power. Humiliation. Desire. Revenge.
In the Harrington estate, nothing is gentle-and nothing is free.
7.8
I had exactly forty-five minutes to get married, or I would lose the voting shares needed to stop my father from laundering millions through our family foundation. Everything was riding on this one legal signature at the City Clerk’s office.
But just as I reached the front of the line, my phone buzzed with a high-definition photo of my fiancé, Preston, tangled in sheets with a junior associate at a SoHo hotel. The man I was about to tie my life to was a fraud, and my deadline was ticking toward zero.
When I shoved the evidence in his face, he didn't even flinch. Instead, he gripped my wrist until the bone ground together, whispering that I was just a "junkie" fresh out of a Swiss clinic and that no one else would ever marry a liability with a personality disorder. My father was already standing by with a fraudulent medical affidavit, ready to force me into a conservatorship and strip me of my freedom the moment the clock hit 5 PM.
They had spent years using my fake "instability" as a leash, treating me like a broken doll while they bled the company dry. I was the only one with the evidence to take them down, yet I was being discarded like a sunk cost by the very men who were supposed to protect me.
I looked at Preston’s smug face and realized I didn't need a husband; I needed a predator. I scanned the room and spotted Dominik Mack, the "Vulture of Wall Street," a man who specialized in hostile takeovers and stripping men like my father of everything they owned.
I walked straight up to the most dangerous man in New York and offered him a business transaction.
"Do you want to get married?" I asked.
He looked at my trembling hands, then at the man chasing me, and adjusted his collar with clinical detachment.
"Deal," he said.
I didn't just find a groom; I found an accomplice. This wasn't a wedding anymore—it was a declaration of war.
9.0
Carli followed an anonymous text to a dark garage, only to find her fiancé of seven years tangled with another woman in his Porsche.
She smashed his window, threw her engagement ring at his face, and walked away.
But the betrayal didn't stop there. Her own family sided with the cheater. Her father slapped her across the face so hard she bled, demanding she hand over her late aunt's trust fund.
"If you don't do exactly as you're told tonight, I will freeze every credit card in your name," her father roared.
Forced to attend the exclusive Gutierrez family gala, Carli watched her ex-fiancé parade his cheap mistress to humiliate her, while her stepsister tried to publicly ruin her.
Suddenly, a violent screech echoed as the massive crystal chandelier above them snapped from the ceiling.
In a split second of pure instinct, Vaughn shoved his mistress to safety and threw himself to the ground, completely abandoning Carli to be crushed.
Staring up at the plummeting glass, Carli felt the crushing reality that her entire life had been surrounded by monsters.
But the fatal impact never came.
A massive force yanked her into a hard chest, shielding her body entirely from the explosive shrapnel.
Carli opened her eyes to find Fletcher Gutierrez—the ruthless billionaire king of Wall Street and the masked stranger from her reckless one-night stand—bleeding heavily over her.
Feeling his warm blood on her hands, Carli knew the game had just changed.