He chose my stepsister. I chose his rival
Scarlet's world shattered the night she discovered her husband in her bed with her own sister.
The betrayal was brutal. The humiliation, unforgivable. And what hurt the most? Neither of them felt a single ounce of remorse.
Within months, her husband divorced her and married the very woman who helped destroy her life, her sister.
They thought she would break. They thought she would disappear quietly.
They were wrong.
Ryan Marchetti-cold, calculating, and dangerously powerful, has spent years waiting for the perfect chance to destroy his business rival. Marrying that rival's ex-wife is the ultimate move. Strategic.
For Scarlet, marrying Ryan isn't about love. It's about revenge.
A calculated alliance. A public statement. A promise that she will rise from the ashes they left her in. Together, they become the scandal that shakes empires.
But revenge is never simple.
Because behind Ryan's icy control lies a secret, one tied to her past, to her ex-husband, to the very marriage that ruined her life. A truth so explosive it could unravel everything she thought she knew.
Was she just a pawn in Ryan's war from the very beginning?
Or is the man she's slowly falling for capable of betraying her too?
In a game fueled by vengeance, power, and buried truths, Scarlet must decide:
Will she let betrayal destroy her again...
Or will she risk her heart for the one man who might truly love her?
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Chapter 5
"Did anything you just said make any sense to you at all?" I asked with a look of disbelief on my face.
"What part doesn't make sense to you?" he responded.
I scoffed.
"Are you trying to pretend like you don't see anything wrong with what you just said? What do you mean by saying you want to use me? How did that sentence even make any sense to you?" I retorted, wondering if he was stupid or just pretending to be.
He mentioned that he wanted me to use him for my revenge and that he'd use me as well, and never in my life had I heard a statement that confusing.
"I can see why you would think that, but allow me to explain," he replied, not wanting me to think he was a weird man. "Don't ask me how, but I know everything that happened between you and your ex-husband Henry, and I also know that you want nothing more than to have your revenge. Now, as someone who sympathizes with you, I want to help you get your revenge," he explained, and I brows furrowed in confusion.
"Let me get this, Mr. Marchetti. You're saying that you sympathize with me, and you wish to help me get revenge? Me?" I inquired, trying to make sense of his words.
"That is exactly it. I'm someone who likes to be straightforward, so I'm going to be very direct with you. I understand that you feel a certain way about your sister and ex-husband getting married, and I would like to help you get rid of the anger you have in you, but of course, I also have my reasons for wanting to help you," he explained, and strangely, I was starting to find this conversation interesting.
I became curious to understand the thought process behind why he thought I could be of any help to him, and I also wanted to understand why he even intended to help me get revenge on Henry.
"I'm going to be honest with you; the more you say things, the more confused I get. I mean, I have an idea, but I'm curious to understand where you're getting at. Don't get me wrong, though; this doesn't mean I have any interest in going along with whatever crazy idea you have, but I do want to hear you out," I replied.
"That is understandable. I'm just telling you directly that I would like to help you get your revenge on Henry and Emily; that is, of course, if you'd like me to help."
"And why do you think that I want revenge on them? What made you think that I'd be interested in getting back at them?" I asked.
He sighed. "I'm not somebody who makes such moves without properly investigating the people involved, and knowing the kind of person you are, I think it's most likely that you'd want to get your revenge. I'm just offering you a perfect opportunity to do just that," he responded, and I could tell by his tone that he was confident.
"Hmm, interesting. What if I don't want to? What if I'd just prefer to move on with my life?"
"No offense, but if you had any intentions of just moving on with your life and pretending like nothing happened, you wouldn't have foolishly come here," he replied.
I initially wanted to be offended that he had indirectly called me foolish, but knowing that he had a point, I decided not to be.
"Listen, I know my approach is quite unusual, and it's understandable if it makes you uncomfortable, but I can assure you that I don't mean any harm, and I'm just offering a way for both of us to help each other," he added.
"And how would I be of help to you? Why would you want to help me take revenge on Henry?" I asked.
"I have scores to settle with your ex-husband, and I intend to use you to settle those scores. To put it more bluntly, your anger towards Henry is beneficial to me, and as the saying goes, there's nothing more dangerous than a scornful woman," he responded, and I didn't know when I let out a dry, bitter laugh.
I may not have been offended when he called me foolish earlier, but it certainly did not feel good to hear him refer to me as a scornful woman. It felt as though he just stepped on the last bit of pride I had left.
"You know, we just met today, and you've already referred to me as a foolish person and a scornful woman. Don't you think your use of words is a little extreme?" I complained.
"I'm sorry if my words offended you, but I'm just trying to be as honest as possible because I don't like to beat around the bush. Henry is a thorn in my flesh, and there is nothing that I want more than to get rid of him. I also know that you would like to get back at him for what he did to you, which is why I want you to accept my offer," he explained.
I could tell that his tone changed when he mentioned Henry's name, and that confirmed to me that he and Henry must not get along because he sounded pissed just by mentioning his name.
I wasn't surprised that Henry had many enemies because he was not exactly the best at making friends and being polite. I was also curious to know why Ryan disliked him so much and what he could have done to get him to hate him to the point where he approached his ex-wife for a revenge collaboration.
"So, are we going to be like a Henry Jones hate club or something?" I questioned, and he chuckled, showing off a smile for the first time since I met him.
'Oh, the man is gorgeous!' I thought to myself, as his strong facial features almost made me forget that I was still an angry, bitter divorcee.
"Hate club? I don't think so. I'd like to think we'd just be two people putting an undeserving bastard in his place," he responded, and I almost chuckled at how silly his response was.
"I can understand why I'd want revenge, but how can I decide to work with you when your reason still isn't clear?" I pointed out.
"Henry and I are rivals. We're both in the same line of work, and that gives me more than enough reason to have a problem with him. I'll admit, though, that I do have a specific reason why I suddenly want to get rid of him, but for confidentiality reasons, I can only give you the full details if you agree to my request," he explained, and I couldn't argue with that since it was understandable.
"So, let's say I agree to your request. How exactly are you going to help me get revenge?" I asked.
"First things first, we'd get married," he responded, and that had to be the most unexpected response I had ever received to a question.
I was not expecting him to suddenly mention anything about marriage, especially since he knew that I only recently got divorced and the last thing I would be interested in was getting married again.
"Was that a joke?" I asked, hoping that it was.
"I don't make such expensive jokes. I know you were not expecting that reply, but hear me out. There is a lot I can't explain right now, but if you agree to partner up with me, you and I will get married first, which would be my first step in helping you. I am a man with an impeccable reputation and, status-wise, I am superior to Henry. Wouldn't marrying me also make you superior to him and your family?" he responded, and I was shocked.
I was still and quiet for a while because I didn't know how to respond to that. True to his words, he was superior to Henry in both looks and status, and marrying a man like him would put me way up there on the social ladder.
Ryan was a freaking billionaire, a man who looked and smelled like money, and having such a man as my husband would make me an object of pure envy. Now, as good as that sounded, I wasn't interested in being on top of the social ladder. I had never liked to be the center of attention, and I didn't think I could deal with always being in the public eye.
"Is that superiority going to help me ruin the people who betrayed me?" I retorted.
"What do you think? Is there anything you can do to get back at them in your current state? Won't marrying me make you powerful enough to pull them down?"
"Fair enough," I responded, understanding where he was coming from.
"I won't pressure you into accepting my request because I know it's a difficult decision. I'll give you time to think things over, and when you finally make up your mind, kindly let me know, and we'll proceed immediately," he said, handing me his business card, and I simply stared at it.
I wanted revenge against Henry and Emily, but just like Ryan had said, there was nothing I could do on my own, and he was currently the only way available to achieve what I wanted.
Now the question was, can I marry a stranger who regards me as nothing but a spiteful ex-wife?
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7.1
Aria Graves was the perfect Luna.
After seven years of a marriage built on lies, She didn't break when the truth surfaced-she burned. Her revenge was clean and her rejection final.
But fate wasn't done with her.
To protect his own secrets, her father used her mother's life as leverage and forced Aria to take her sister's place, sending her to the Silverfang Pack as a living offering to their ruthless Alpha King, Damien Rothwell.
Cold, commanding, and scarred by war, Damien should have killed her. Instead, he claimed her.
Yet the King is not the only one who wants her.
His half-brother, Ethan Rothwell, once the blind boy Aria taught to read, now returns a man who sees her more clearly than anyone else.
Now Aria stands between two brothers-one bound by duty, the other by love.
In a world where loyalty bleeds and desire burns, she must choose: the Alpha King who could ruin her, or the brother who would burn the world to save her.
7.7
The Cameron family clinic smelled like lemon polish and impending death. For three years, I'd been a vessel in a cold, forced marriage to Underboss Kade Cameron. But today, the doctor's words would shatter everything.
"No heartbeat," Dr. Finch declared, then, "Stage IV gastric cancer. Terminal." A double death sentence. As the world tilted, a news alert flashed: Kade, my husband, parading his mistress, Carla Shaw, across Europe-"a love that defies family lines."
Dying and carrying his dead child, I overheard nurses gossip Kade wanted me gone for his "true love." I chose to feel the D&C agony, cleansing him from my soul. Stumbling out, Kade accused me of killing his child, then rushed Carla, feigning illness, to OB/GYN, ignoring my bleeding and dying state.
Back at the mansion, I vomited blood, my body failing. Kade watched with disgust, dismissing my terminal diagnosis as a "performance." He called me "collateral," a "debt payment," then left me for his mistress. The last shred of loyalty shattered, replaced by chilling clarity.
I signed the divorce papers he dismissed as a "tantrum," leaving his ring. No longer a Cameron, no longer his possession. With Fluffy, I made one call, choosing to die on my own terms, finally free.
9.2
For four years, I was the Silvercrest Pack's biggest joke—a scentless, wolfless Omega who somehow became the Alpha's Luna.
I thought I was just naturally defective, until our fourth anniversary, when I overheard my husband Adrian talking to his Beta.
"I’ve been having the kitchens slip a silver-based compound into her meals since the day I marked her."
He confessed the poison was meant to suppress my inner wolf and keep my womb permanently barren. He only married me as a power play to make his highborn mistress, Seraphina, jealous. While I wept over my empty cradle and apologized to his family for my broken body, he was using pack funds to buy her custom luxury goods, tossing me the leftover wrapping paper. When I finally confronted him about the silver and tried to leave, he flew into a feral rage. He violently smashed my head against the marble vanity, leaving me bleeding on the floor, and locked the bedroom door behind him.
I lay there in the cold, staring at the pool of my own blood. My entire life, my endless pain, and my unborn pups were nothing but a cruel, calculated joke to the man who was supposed to be my Mate.
But Adrian didn't know I wasn't just a brainless Omega.
I wiped the blood from my face, climbed down the balcony trellis into the freezing rain, and pulled out an encrypted burner phone.
"The cage is broken. Initiate Phase Two."
7.3
I was never supposed to step into his world.
I was just a daughter trying to survive the wreckage of a father's mistakes. A quiet girl living a small, careful life-until one night shattered everything I thought I knew about fear, power, and possession.
They say the mafia doesn't forgive.
They say debts are paid in blood.
They never warned me that sometimes, the price is a woman.
Luciano De Luca.
The name alone makes men lower their voices and avert their eyes. A king without a crown. A devil in a tailored suit. He rules the underworld with calculated brutality, commanding loyalty through fear and obedience through bloodshed. To him, mercy is a weakness-and love is a lie told by foolish men before they die.
Luciano is not a man you reason with. He is power, violence, and control wrapped in a deadly calm. A mafia king who destroys without mercy and takes without permission.
When my father fails to pay his debt, Luciano takes me instead.
I become his collateral.
His punishment.
His possession.
Trapped in his world of blood and secrets, I am nothing more than a reminder of betrayal-kept under his watch, bound by his rules, and stripped of every illusion of freedom. Luciano made it clear from the start: I am not his guest. I am not his lover. I am not free. I am his possession. He watches me like a predator studying prey-cold, assessing, waiting for me to break. He expects fear to reduce me to nothing. He expects me to beg. To submit.
But I don't.
And that defiance ignites something far more dangerous than hatred in him.
But somewhere between the locked doors and the whispered threats, I realize something dangerous: the man who owns me is far more broken than he wants the world to know.
Luciano De Luca is ruthless-but he is not heartless. He is controlling-but barely. And every time I challenge him, every time I look him in the eyes without flinching, something dark and volatile stirs beneath his calm exterior.
Luciano doesn't love. He claims. He controls. He owns.
Yet the more he tries to crush my spirit, the more obsessed he becomes. His protection turns violent. His control turns suffocating. His eyes follow me like a promise and a threat all at once.
He says I am his weakness.
His mistake.
His curse.
Yet when enemies circle too close, it is Luciano who shields me with his body. When danger threatens, it is his voice that growls warnings, his hands that tighten possessively, his presence that promises violence to anyone who dares touch what is his.
Because once a mafia king decides you belong to him...
escape is no longer an option.
I am trapped in a golden cage built from power, luxury, and danger-but the greatest threat isn't the guns, the blood, or the men who would kill for him.
It's the way Luciano looks at me when he thinks I'm not watching.
The way his control fractures when I'm hurt.
The way his name feels dangerous on my lips.
Because loving a mafia king is not a fairy tale.
It's a war.
A war between survival and desire.
Between freedom and obsession.
Between the girl I used to be and the woman his darkness is shaping me into.
The deeper I fall into his world, the more I uncover secrets buried beneath his cruelty-betrayals that made him this way, scars that never healed, enemies that would destroy us both if given the chance. And as the line between captor and protector blurs, I'm forced to face a devastating truth:
The man who owns my body may soon own my heart.
But loving Luciano De Luca comes at a cost.
Because in his world, love is a liability.
And the moment he chooses me...
is the moment he paints a target on my back.
Will I escape the man who claims to own me?
Or will I surrender to the darkness that refuses to let me go?
In a world ruled by blood, power, and betrayal, one innocent woman will discover that the most dangerous thing of all...
is being loved by a ruthless mafia king.
7.7
Reborn: Lord of the Undead Dominion
Tagline: When a legendary necromancer returns to his childhood, the world that betrayed him will kneel.
Once a peerless human powerhouse on the cusp of ascending to the 12th Rank, Royan met a brutal end at the hands of treachery during his final transcendence. But fate granted him a second chance-he awakens in his five-year-old body, with a century of arcane wisdom, mastery of necromancy and alchemy, and the burning fire of vengeance in his veins.
In the magical world of Amelia, where races rise and fall by a millennium-old cycle, humans defied destiny to claim dominance. Now reborn, Royan hides his ancient soul behind a child's facade, wielding unmatched spiritual power and forbidden knowledge to rewrite his fate. He'll protect his family from the shadows, gather loyal warriors and fearsome undead companions, and unearth the conspiracy that cut his first life short.
From summoning skeletal legions to forging legendary artifacts, from outwitting scheming nobles to challenging the gods of old-Royan's path is paved with blood, bone, and unyielding ambition. The world thought him fallen, but the Necromancer Lord has returned. This time, he won't just survive-he'll conquer the dominion that was stolen from him, and reign over Amelia as its undead sovereign.
If you crave fast-paced action, epic world-building, and a protagonist who turns weakness into strength with wit and overwhelming power, this dark fantasy saga is for you. Dive in and witness the rise of a rebirthed legend-where death is just the beginning of conquest.
9.5
On her second wedding anniversary, Andrea Reed discovers the ultimate betrayal.
Her husband wants a divorce. Her stepsister is his mistress.And the family empire she protected is nothing more than a prize they've been plotting to steal. Before she can fight back, Andrea is pushed off a cliff-pregnant, broken, and filled with regret.
But death isn't the end. She wakes up five years in the past. Her father is alive. Her inheritance is still in her hands. And the man who killed her is smiling like he's in love.
This time, Andrea won't be naive. She plays the perfect fiancée while secretly collecting evidence, turns traps into public humiliation. She lets her enemies destroy themselves from within.
And when a powerful, dangerously enigmatic billionaire-Samuel Kingswell-crosses her path again, Andrea realizes something even more terrifying than betrayal: In her first life, she chose the wrong man.
In this life, she will choose power and revenge, make them beg before they fall. Because this time, the woman they tried to kill is no longer a victim.
She is the hunter.