He Helped Me Fail 99 Times

After an explosion claims her parents and their legacy, Emma is left with nothing but untapped patents. Billionaire Alex Ross steps in as her savior and husband, yet five years later, the truth emerges. Emma discovers Alex has intentionally sabotaged ninety-nine of her business filings to steal her intellectual property for his former flame, Lily. Caught in a web of corporate theft and cold-blooded revenge against his own father, Emma realizes her marriage was merely a trap to strip her of her brilliance.

Chapters

Chapter 1

The explosion wiped out my parents—and their company.

All I had left was some insurance cash and a pile of patents nobody cared about. I begged their old partners to back me. Crickets.

Then Alex Ross strolled in, played the hero no one asked for, and proposed.

Five years deep into our marriage, after my 99th FDA rejection, I finally cracked. I was in the garage when I heard his phone on speaker.

Mark's voice came through: "Dude, you're still handing Lily Emma's blueprints before she even files? How many times has she flopped now? Girl's relentless, huh?"

Alex? Straight-up ice.

"Ninety-nine. She'll quit soon."

"You're really tanking your wife to boost Lily's brand? Worth it?"

"Lily's launching her new product tomorrow at the Boston Medical Summit. Patent number 100. Watching her blow up from nothing... makes me proud."

"But it's all Emma's stuff. Your dad made you marry her for her brain, didn't he?"

"Don't bring up my father." His voice turned sharp. "He forced me to dump Lily. I just played along."

I sank into the driver's seat, frozen.

I wasn't a partner. Just a pawn—revenge bait for his dad and backup fuel for his ex.

Alex stole my work 99 times to make his girlfriend famous.

What he didn't know? The girl he worshipped killed my parents. And the one who saved his life when he was circling the drain? Yeah—that was me. The same girl he wrecked for five straight years.

***

Mark wouldn't drop it. "Emma's actually a good person. Don't you feel even a little guilty?"

"Guilty?" Alex started the car. "I gave her a cushy life. She should be grateful."

"Lily blew you off when you tried to help her before, and now she's making bank off stolen tech. You really think she loves you? She's going after Emma on purpose."

"Shut up!" Alex slammed the brakes. "She only said no to save face. Now we're equals. When the timing's right, I'll ditch Emma and go public with Lily."

Mark shot back, "And Emma? You nuked five years of her life. She'll fall apart."

"She won't know," he said, all calm now. "I've got it mapped out. After the divorce, I'll throw her enough cash to coast.

"In the end, it was just a trade. She got security. I got to tick off my dad's box."

The engine quieted. I sat there in the dark, vision swimming.

Five years ago, I was kneeling by Mom's hospital bed when the monitor flatlined. The blast took her. Dad didn't last much longer.

Then Alex showed up. All soft words and perfect timing.

"Marry me," he said. "I'll take care of you."

I thought it was love. Turns out, it was a setup.

And me? I handed him everything like a total idiot.

My phone buzzed. Alex:

[Darling, there's a charity dinner tonight. Wear that blue gown. I'll pick you up at seven.]

I stared at the screen, hands heavy. Then typed:

[Okay.]

***

Twenty minutes later, Alex's Bentley pulled up.

He clocked my puffy eyes and frowned. "Crying again? FDA said no?"

I looked away.

He sighed and reached in for a hug. I flinched.

His hand hovered, confused.

"I... I'm just tired," I said, forcing a smile. "Think I'll skip it tonight."

"You can't," he said, soft.

"Big medtech names will be there. Could help your project."

Help Lily Hartway line up her next partner, more like.

Still, I got in the car.

***

At the dinner, I spotted Lily.

White gown. Flashbulb smile. Investors buzzing like flies. Media swarming—"rising star," "youngest female founder."

"Emma." She drifted over, champagne in hand. "FDA said no again? Brutal."

"Yeah." I kept my cool.

That smug little twitch hit her lips. "Don't quit. Startups aren't for everyone."

"You're right." I clinked her glass. "Good luck at your launch tomorrow."

She blinked. Just for a beat. Then the fake-sweet grin snapped back. "Thanks."

I left early. Said I didn't feel great.

Back home, I passed the living room and stopped at the one door I never opened.

Alex's study. Off-limits, always.

"Important docs," he'd said. "Stay out."

For five years, I did.

Not tonight.

I grabbed the handle. The keypad lit up.

I took a breath and punched in a date—not our anniversary, not my birthday, but hers, Lily’s.

Beep. Unlocked.

I smirked, opened the door, and stepped into a room that felt way too familiar—and totally wrong.

Continue to next part

After eighteen years of sacrifice, Melanie Sutton discovers her life was a cruel experiment. Her best friend Helen faked her death, leaving Melanie to raise her son Aidan in poverty while she lived as a billionaire's heiress. When Aidan turns on Melanie to side with his biological parents, the shock kills her. Reborn on the day of Helen's labor, Melanie realizes the truth behind the betrayal. She must now navigate a web of lies to reclaim her future and outmaneuver those who exploited her loyalty.

Action Billionaire Modern Mystery Romance Young Adult

8.9

Destroyer of the Dao

8.9

The Divine Dao has manipulated the universe for eons, enforcing cycles of rebirth and ruin to prevent a prophesied threat. This celestial tyranny ignores the lives of trillions, all to stop a single man from the lower realm. Jhi Chen is that man. Armed with a blade capable of piercing the heavens and splitting the earth, he declares war on the heavens. Whether facing gods, demons, or the Dao itself, Jhi Chen vows to bring justice to all living beings by destroying the very fabric of the established order.

Action Adventure Fantasy

8.1

He Called Off Our Forever

8.1

Tonight, my boyfriend of seven years, Benjamin Kane, was supposed to propose. Our future was a perfect picture, planned down to the last detail. But a single phone call shattered it all. A mysterious voice convinced him I was a gold digger who would ruin him, and that another woman, Jenna Christian, was his true soulmate. He called off our engagement on the spot. That was only the beginning of my nightmare. I was stalked by a man obsessed with Jenna, a confrontation that ended with me falling from a rooftop and shattering my arm. Then, I was kidnapped by a shady agency, trapped by a contract Jenna had signed in my name. I was living the horrific fate that was meant for her. Benjamin, the man who promised me forever, abandoned me to suffer while defending the very woman who orchestrated my torment. Lying in a hospital bed, I received an acceptance letter for a design scholarship in Paris. It was my only escape. I took it, leaving behind the man who broke me and the life he destroyed.

Action Modern Romance

8.9

HOW TO TRAP A MAFIA BOSS

8.9

In the dangerous underworld of organized crime, a cunning protagonist embarks on a high-stakes mission to ensnare a powerful mafia leader. This intense romantic action story follows a calculated game of deception where every move could be fatal. As the pursuit intensifies, the lines between the hunter and the prey blur, leading to a volatile collision of passion and betrayal. Survival depends on wit in this gripping tale of love and power.

Action Mafia Romance

9.2

Just A Placeholder: Dying For His Mistress

9.2

I stood on the tarmac clutching white magnolias, watching the man I loved hand his loyalty to the woman born to destroy me. Dante Cavallaro, the Ruthless Underboss, didn't just leave me for Sofia Moretti. He revealed that for two years, I wasn't his lover. I was a human shield. The heavy iron bangle he forced me to wear wasn't a gift for my protection. "It's a Malocchio anchor," he sneered as I lay paralyzed on the floor. "It drains the wearer's luck to keep Sofia healthy. You are just the filter." My body began to rot from the inside out, my nerves dying one by one. When I was finally on my deathbed, unable to move or speak, Dante didn't cry for me. He cried because his tool was broken. He forced the cursed bangle onto his own wrist, begging the universe to keep me alive so I could continue to suffer in Sofia's place. "Please," he sobbed into my sheets. "Don't leave me alone with the bad luck." I used my last breath to make a wish—not for him, but for my freedom. I closed my eyes and died. Exactly one hour later, Dante's phone rang. It was his father. "Sofia just collapsed," he said. "Her heart just stopped." I was the vessel. And now that I was gone, the poison had come home to the King.

Action Mafia Romance

7.2

Just A Vessel: The Surrogate's Escape

7.2

I went to the bank to set up a trust fund for my twins, only to have the manager look at me with pity. "Mrs. Dunlap, the trust requires the *biological* mother's signature." I froze. I *was* their mother. Or so I thought. That day, I learned my husband, the most powerful Mafia Don on the coast, had used his ex-lover’s frozen eggs. For six years, I wasn't his wife. I was just the incubator. When his "true love," Iliana, returned from exile, my life disintegrated. My children, poisoned by her lies, pushed me down the stairs and called me "just the nanny." Gavyn didn't help me up. He stepped over my bleeding body to take his "real family" out for ice cream. But the ultimate betrayal happened on a windswept cliff. Staged by Iliana, we were both tied up, allegedly rigged to explode. Forced to choose who to save, Gavyn didn't hesitate. He cut Iliana loose. "You did this to yourself, Alex," he said, driving away with the children, leaving me to die. He thought he was leaving behind a corpse. He didn't know I had skimmed ten million dollars from the household accounts. "Cut me loose," I told the hitman, transferring the money. "And tell him the ocean took me." Two years later, the Don is on his knees in my garden, begging for a second chance. Too bad he has to get through my new fiancé first—the head of the rival cartel.

Action Mafia Romance

He Helped Me Fail 99 Times

Chapter 1

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