The Beggar Who Would Be Emperor

Exiled for her family's crimes and abandoned by her husband, a mother discovers her son has been replaced by a body double. System notifications reveal her husband sent their real child into luxury while leaving her with a 'cannon fodder' fate. However, the child before her is actually the orphaned crown prince. This action-packed fantasy novel follows her journey as she defies her tragic script to raise the future emperor and reclaim her stolen life.

Chapters

Chapter 1

When my son and I were exiled for my family's crimes, my husband shoved divorce papers into my hands and cut all ties. I pulled my nine-year-old close and swore I would protect him no matter what. However, at dawn, when we were supposed to leave, I found a different child in his place.

Panic flooded through me. Then, strange text flickered into view: [The male lead paid 50 silver for a street boy who looks vaguely similar. He sent his real son to live in luxury with his beloved!]

[This cannon fodder ex-wife will waste her life searching for her real son, who'll only resent her for ruining his comfortable new life.]

[Once the lead couple rises to power, she'll conveniently 'fall ill' and die. Tragic, really.]

[Wait. That street boy is the deposed crown prince's orphan. The future emperor!]

I stood there for a moment, taking it in. Then, I crouched down and held out my hand to the scarred child trembling before me. "Come with mom, little one. It's time to go."

The child froze. His eyes reddened as he cautiously took my hand.

"Mother?"

I gripped his cold fingers and offered no explanation. The strange text flickered before my eyes again.

[Why isn't this cannon fodder ex-wife following the script? Shouldn't she be making a scene about finding her real son?]

[They only look 50% alike. She really doesn't realize it? What an idiot!]

[No wonder the male lead divorced her. She's completely oblivious!]

I lowered my gaze. My chest felt like it was being carved open with a dull blade.

How could I not recognize the son I raised for nine years? However, if my husband and son had both chosen the path of wealth and comfort, what right did I have to force them back?

A year ago, my father was still the prime minister. He fell from grace when he insisted on defending the deposed crown prince, enraging His Majesty. He was stripped of his title and exiled 3,000 miles north.

His Majesty had only meant to punish him, but my father refused to stay quiet even in exile. He sent three petitions begging for the crown prince's reinstatement.

The Emperor's fury knew no bounds. An imperial decree followed. I was to take my son and join my father. As a mercy, I was permitted to travel freely without chains.

That same night, my husband, Minister Roland Sacchetti, handed me divorce papers. "Elise, my career has been without blemish. You can do nothing for me now. Don't drag me down with you."

Every word was ice. Every syllable cut to the bone.

I turned and went back inside to heat water and wash the child.

He was filthy. Beneath his threadbare clothes, his ribs showed clearly. New and old scars crisscrossed his back in a shocking web of pain.

Strings of words appeared once again:

[This boy is the deposed crown prince's orphan! His name is Adrian Powell!]

[Before the crown prince was imprisoned, he entrusted a loyal aide to smuggle the child out. The aide was killed. The boy ended up a beggar on the streets. His life has been hell!]

My breath caught. Then, I smoothed my expression and continued my work, dressing him in old clothes my son Theodore had left behind.

They were slightly too large, but better than the rags he had been wearing.

I studied him. Though his features were gaunt, I could see that he resembled my son Theodore by about half.

At dawn, I led Adrian to the city gate. The donkey cart was already waiting. There, of all the wretched luck, stood the people I least wanted to see.

Roland wore a brand-new embroidered coat. He stood beside an ornate carriage. Next to him stood Lady Quincey Spencer, draped in jewels. Theodore clutched the hem of her skirt, hiding behind her.

He did not even glance at me.

When Roland saw me, he frowned and stepped forward.

"Elise, I see you know what's best for the boy. Good. Don't make trouble. Go quietly to your exile, and everyone will be better off."

My nails dug into my palms.

I looked down at Adrian beside me and smiled gently. My voice was soft. "Come, little one. Time to go."

Behind me, Theodore's clear voice rang out. "Mother!"

I stiffened. Then, I realized he was not calling me.

"Mother, when are we going to the jeweler's?"

He was calling Lady Quincey.

I did not turn around. I only tightened my grip on Adrian's hand. He looked up at me without speaking and squeezed my hand even harder.

Continue to next part

My fiancé always told me he loved me. But not long after our engagement, I woke up suffocating in the dark. He was pressing a pillow over my face, his eyes cold and dead, while my half-sister stood by watching with fake pity. They had orchestrated everything just to steal my trust fund. It all started with a massive hotel scandal. They had drugged me, thrown a cheap escort into my bed, and brought a mob of paparazzi to ruin my reputation. When my fiancé broke through the crowd, playing the heartbroken victim, he knelt down with a massive diamond ring. "I know things have been hard, but I love you. If you come home with me, I will forgive all of this." In my past life, I cried tears of gratitude and let him slide that ring onto my finger. That ring sealed my death warrant. I lost my company, my dignity, and eventually, my life. Until my lungs burned and my heart stopped, I didn't understand. How could the people I trusted most plot my murder so ruthlessly? Why did they have to tear my entire life apart? Opening my eyes again, I was back on the morning of the hotel scandal, exactly one year ago. But the man lying bare-backed in my bed wasn't a random escort. It was Johnathan Chase, my family's biggest corporate rival and the most ruthless predator on Wall Street. Listening to the paparazzi pounding on the door, I smiled coldly.

Action Modern Romance

8.7

He Abandoned Our Foster Daughter for His Mistress, So I Replaced Him with My First Love

8.7

On the morning of Sophie's final adoption hearing, Ryan strolled into court with his pregnant assistant and branded the seven-year-old "damaged," then demanded his wife walk away. She chose the girl instead. With her accounts frozen, she fled to her hometown and into a struggling bookstore run by Caleb, the first love Ryan once forced her to abandon. But Ryan isn't done. His new sponsors crave a flawless family portrait, so he wants Sophie back—and he will tear them apart to get her. Standing beside Caleb, she vows to drag Ryan's counterfeit life into the light, even if it costs her everything she has left.

Action Modern Mystery Romance

8.7

Escaping The Ruthless Don's Golden Cage

8.7

I stood at the gala, draped in diamonds worth millions, playing the role of the perfect Mafia wife. But the illusion shattered when his mistress walked in wearing a necklace identical to mine—a cattle brand dipped in gold. When I confronted them, Liam didn't defend me. He shoved me aside to protect her. I hit the floor, and as my blood soaked into the white stage, I realized he had killed our unborn child. But the nightmare didn't end there. I woke up to find that Liam had ordered me sedated to "manage my hysteria." The complications from his control and the trauma had forced an emergency hysterectomy. He hadn't just killed his heir; he had stolen my future. Yet, he still tried to lock me in his estate, convinced he could force me to love him again if he just kept me hidden long enough. He thought I was broken. He thought I was his property. He was wrong. With the help of a doctor who had loved me from the shadows for years, I faked my death and vanished. Six months later, the great Don found me in a small-town bookstore, falling to his knees to beg for a second chance. I looked at the man who destroyed me and handed him a single dollar bill. "Loyalty is the only currency, Liam," I said, quoting his own vow back to him. "And you are bankrupt."

Action Mafia Romance

8.3

I Terminated My Very Much Alive Family's Identities

8.3

After her family fakes their deaths in a typhoon to test her greed, a young woman dies from the resulting exhaustion of paying their debts. Reborn at the moment of their departure, she refuses to play their game. Instead of mourning, she secures massive insurance policies and officially registers their deaths while they are still missing. As she claims a hundred-million-dollar payout, she ensures that this time, their disappearance from her life is permanent and legally binding.

Action Modern Mystery Young Adult

8.5

Lethal Captivation: You Can Never Escape

8.5

Two years ago, Chloe watched a mafia execution in a desolate Vegas alley and survived by pretending to be blind, clinging to the boss's leg and calling him "Uncle." Now her best friend is kidnapped, and she is blackmailed into serving drinks in a VIP suite. There she faces Axel Stone, the billionaire crime lord who instantly recognizes his "blind" rabbit. When a rival moves to strike her, Axel stops him with brutal force and claims her as his own. Desperate, Chloe forges an HIV-positive report and shoves it at him, praying he'll finally let her go. Instead, he pins her down with a punishing kiss and a dark vow: even if she's rotting, she's his—and he'll follow her to hell.

Action Billionaire Horror Mafia Modern Mystery Romance

8.9

Mistaking The Ruthless CEO For An Escort

8.9

Ava Kidd just wanted to escape her abusive stepmother when she got drunk at a high-end club and stumbled into the wrong hotel room. She woke up the next morning in a luxury penthouse, lying naked next to a terrifyingly handsome man covered in her scratch marks. Recalling rumors of the hotel's secret underground concierge, she immediately assumed she had accidentally slept with an elite male escort. Desperate to settle the bill, she offered him her only debit card with a pathetic $1,800. But the man, who was actually Garrison Terry, the ruthless billionaire CEO, was deeply insulted by the cheap plastic. He trapped her against the bed, coldly demanding a half-million-dollar service fee. When Ava frantically offered her dead mother's tarnished locket as collateral, he cruelly dismissed it as worthless junk. Ava was humiliated, her heart pounding with absolute terror. She didn't understand why this arrogant gigolo was acting like a deranged extortionist, demanding a fortune from a broke girl who had clearly made a mistake. Furious and refusing to cower, she sneaked out, put on his oversized designer shirt, and aggressively ate his $800 truffle breakfast. Having no money left, she grabbed her cheap red lipstick, wrote a defiant IOU on his expensive linen napkin, and fled the hotel. She thought she had escaped a criminal, but upstairs, the billionaire traced her lipstick-stained name with a predatory smile. "Ava Kidd, I will absolutely find you."

Action Billionaire Modern

The Beggar Who Would Be Emperor

Chapter 1

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