The Scar He Left: Finding True Love

For three years, I was Colton’s hands and feet. I wiped the sweat from his brow and taught him to walk again after the accident that nearly killed him. He promised me a future. But the moment his ex-girlfriend, Charlie, returned from Paris, I became nothing. "She was just the crutch I needed to walk to you," I heard him tell her. At his recovery party, Charlie shattered his late father’s cherished wooden puzzle box and blamed me. She shrieked that I had poisoned her soup out of jealousy. Colton didn't hesitate. He didn't check the security footage. He didn't ask for the truth. He gripped my jaw, his fingers digging into my cheeks, and forced the scalding broth down my throat. "Eat it! Prove you're not crazy!" He roared while I choked on blood and blisters, the hot liquid searing my skin. He chose the woman who abandoned him over the woman who saved his life. I took the severance check, deleted every photo, and vanished into the night. Six months later, I was accepting an award for my new rehabilitation clinic in Australia, wearing a diamond ring given to me by a man who treats my scars like gold. Colton stood in the back of the auditorium, looking like a ghost. He had finally discovered that Charlie was a fraud who faked her "spiritual journey" to get illegal plastic surgery. He came to beg for forgiveness. But when our eyes met, I didn't feel anger. I didn't feel love. I turned my back on him and walked into the light.

Chapters

Chapter 4

Aminda POV

The overhead fluorescent lights were aggressive, searing against my retinas.

I sat perched on the edge of the hospital bed, a bandage wound tight around my head. My suitcase sat by the door, a silent sentinel.

Jayden had retrieved it for me. My flight was in four hours.

The door clicked open.

I braced myself for a nurse.

Instead, it was Colton.

He was still wearing his tuxedo, though the tie was undone-a rare sign of disarray. He didn't look worried. He looked irritated.

"You're causing a scene," he said, shutting the door firmly behind him. "Leaving in the middle of the night? Really?"

I stared at him. My head pounded in rhythm with my heartbeat.

"I'm not on your payroll anymore, Colton. I don't answer to you."

He stepped closer, and his scent-sandalwood and expensive scotch-flooded the small, sterile room. It used to be my favorite smell. Now, it made my stomach turn.

"Charlie is distraught," he said. "She thinks you hate her."

"I don't hate her," I said, my voice flat. "I don't care enough about her to hate her."

"She sent you this." He gestured to a styrofoam bowl on the tray table. "Gourmet broth. Straight from the hotel chef. She wanted to make peace."

"I don't want it."

"Stop acting like a child," Colton snapped. "She didn't have to do this, especially after you tried to drag her into the pond."

"I didn't-" I started, then stopped. What was the point? He had already rewritten history in his head to protect his perfect reunion.

The door swung open again.

Charlie breezed in, looking immaculate. Not a hair out of place.

"Colty," she whined, latching onto his arm. "Is she accepting my apology? Even though she was the one who terrified me?"

She looked at me, her gaze sliding to the soup. "Oh, you haven't touched it. Are you afraid I poisoned it?"

She let out a giggle that sounded like shattering glass.

"She's just being stubborn," Colton said, dismissing me.

Charlie wandered over to the bedside table. "And look, I brought back the little wooden box you left in the cottage. The one Colton's dad made?"

She held up the intricately carved box. It was the only thing Colton had left of his father. I had spent months carefully humidifying the wood to keep it from cracking.

"Oops," Charlie said.

She opened her hand.

The box hit the linoleum floor.

It shattered into three distinct pieces.

"No!" I gasped, instinctively reaching out.

"You clumsy bitch!" Charlie shrieked, pointing a manicured finger at me. "You knocked it out of my hand!"

It was a lie so blatant, so stupid, I couldn't believe anyone would buy it.

Colton stared down at the broken wood. His face went pale, then flushed a deep, angry red. That box was sacred to him.

"I didn't touch it," I said, panic rising in my voice.

"She did!" Charlie cried, tears instantly welling in her eyes. "She slapped my hand! And she told me she hoped the soup was poison so she could sue us!"

Colton looked at me. His eyes were black holes.

"You broke my father's box?" His voice was a low, dangerous growl.

"Colton, she dropped it. She's lying."

"Why would she break it?" he roared. "You're the one who's jealous! You're the one trying to ruin tonight!"

He grabbed the bowl of soup. It was steaming hot.

"You think this is poison?" he yelled, looking completely unhinged. "You think Charlie is the villain? Eat it!"

"Colton, don't." I shrank back against the pillows.

"Eat it!"

He grabbed my jaw with one hand, his fingers digging brutally into my cheeks, forcing my mouth open. With the other hand, he rammed the spoon into my mouth.

The soup was scalding.

It burned my tongue, searing the roof of my mouth. I choked, coughing violently.

He didn't stop.

He shoved another spoonful in. "Swallow it! Prove you're not crazy!"

Liquid splashed onto my chin, dripping down my hospital gown. It blistered my skin on contact.

I gagged, flailing my arms, trying to push him away. My head wound throbbed, sending spikes of white-hot agony through my skull.

I couldn't breathe. I was drowning again, but this time in heat and humiliation.

He finally let go.

I collapsed forward, coughing up broth and blood. The hot liquid had blistered my lip.

Colton stood back, breathing hard, the spoon still clutched in his hand. He looked down at me with unadulterated disgust.

"You're pathetic," he spat. "You're not the woman who helped me heal. You're a monster."

"Colty, let's go," Charlie whispered, tugging at his arm. A smirk played on her lips, visible only to me. "She's dangerous."

"You're right," Colton said. He turned to me. "Get out of my city. If I see you again, I'll ruin you."

He turned to leave.

The door burst open.

Jayden and Isaias stood there.

They took it all in. The broken box. The soup soaking my gown. The blood dripping from my lip where the spoon had cut me.

Jayden's face went deadly, terrifyingly calm.

"What did you do?" Jayden asked, his voice trembling with suppressed rage.

Colton straightened his jacket, composing himself.

"I taught her a lesson."

Continue to next part

I spent forty hours hand-beading a gown for a woman who was currently sleeping with my husband. My fingers were raw, my vision blurred, and the needle had just driven deep into my index finger, leaving a drop of blood on the silk. Braxton walked into our penthouse, rain dripping from his suit, and didn't even look at me. But the scent hit me instantly—Bulgarian rose and white musk. It was the custom perfume Griselda, my own sister, commissioned in Paris. I had spent three years as a ghost in my own marriage, sewing costumes for the woman who had haunted my vows since day one. Braxton didn't bother to hide it anymore; there was a smudge of her coral lipstick on his collar. He didn't offer an explanation, only a command to finish the gown for the Met Gala so I wouldn't embarrass them. My mother called moments later, her voice sharp with the usual dismissal. She didn't care that I was bleeding or that my husband was cheating with my sister. She only cared that I was "falling behind" on Griselda's gown. I sat in the silence of that cold, marble cage, staring at the needle in my hand. For years, I had swallowed every insult and stitched every lie, believing I was the capable one who had to make them happy. But as the clock ticked, a door inside me finally clicked shut. I wasn't just tired; I was finished. I set the needle down, picked up my phone, and dialed my sister’s number to tell her she’d have to find someone else to bleed for her.

Horror Modern Romance

7.8

Bound by the Alpha's Curse

7.8

Nara has spent her whole life at the bottom of the pack. The weak wolf. The girl no one defends. The one everyone believes will never shift, never matter, and never belong. All she wants is to live quietly and survive another day without being beaten or humiliated. But the Moon Goddess has a different plan. During a rogue attack, Nara crosses paths with Alpha Kael Draven-a powerful, ruthless leader known for his strength... and his curse. The moment their eyes meet, the mate bond snaps into place with a force that shocks them both. Kael rejects her instantly. A weak mate is the last thing he wants. But as he walks away, the bond does not break. Instead, it burns. Soon, strange things begin happening around Nara-her wounds heal too fast, shadows move when she panics, and wolves who once mocked her now fear her. Whispers spread. Someone demands her capture. And Kael, the Alpha who tried to reject her, suddenly can't stay away. As an ancient prophecy resurfaces, Nara learns she is the last descendant of a lost bloodline-one powerful enough to break Kael's curse... or unleash a darkness even he cannot control. Now hunted by enemies, betrayed by those she trusted, and torn between the Alpha who wounded her and the destiny she never wanted, Nara must rise from weakness to strength. Because Kael's life is tied to hers. Her power is awakening. And the bond that was meant to be broken might be the one thing that saves them both- or destroys their entire world.

Fantasy Horror Werewolf

7.6

Breaking The Billionaire's Golden Cage

7.6

I spent three years as the hidden mistress of Wall Street tyrant Damon Vaughn. Our no-strings arrangement meant I was his to command, a secret he kept locked away in the dark. Then I saw the Instagram post. It was Damon, raising a champagne glass with his perfect high-society fiancée, the caption hinting that wedding bells were just around the corner. I ended it that night, leaving his black card on his nightstand and blocking his number for good. But a man like Damon doesn't accept being told no. He retaliated by buying the entire building my tech startup was in. He cornered me on the street, slamming his fist into my car's hood, his face a mask of terrifying rage. He was a possessive monster, planning his perfect marriage while refusing to release me from my cage. The humiliation of being his disposable secret burned hotter than my anger. To finally break him, I lied about having a blind date. But the lie became a terrifying reality when my mother forced me into that exact date. Now, Damon has kidnapped me, and as he shoves me out of his car in front of the restaurant, his voice is a low, dangerous whisper meant only for me. "Remember who you belong to."

Billionaire Horror Romance

8.3

Burned by Poison, Saved by the Devil

8.3

My cousin Hailey paid a dock worker to assault me just to ruin my engagement. To survive the military-grade aphrodisiac she poisoned me with, I stumbled into a walk-in freezer and threw myself onto the only source of cold I could find-a man paralyzed by unnatural hypothermia. It was a desperate, primal exchange of my heat for his ice just to keep my heart from stopping. But when Hailey threw open the heavy iron door, leading my fiancé and the entire Bolton family to witness my "shame," her triumphant grin instantly vanished. She hadn't caught me with a low-life thug. She had caught me straddling Demetrius Maddox, the ruthless Iron King of Chicago. The air in the room dropped to absolute zero. My grandmother screamed in horror, and my father turned the color of ash. Hailey, blinded by jealousy, tried to double down. She pointed a manicured finger at the deadliest man in the city and called him a "nameless muscle" I picked up to defile the family name. She didn't realize she had just signed her own death warrant. I didn't cower. I realized this was the only chance to survive the family that wanted me dead. I walked up to the Devil himself, my body still humming with the poison, and looked him in the eye. "Kill me, and the cold inside you wins," I whispered, knowing he was dying from the inverse of my own poison. "I am the only doctor who knows how to cure you." Demetrius tightened his hand around my throat, his dark eyes assessing my worth. "Prove it," he growled. I turned back to my trembling cousin and signaled the enforcer to hand me the whip.

Adventure Horror Modern

7.6

Delicious Reptilian Meat

7.6

Have you ever eaten "Reptilian" meat? My grandfather said he had. Creatures that looked exactly like us on the outside, but were fundamentally different on the inside. Extremely dangerous, yet incredibly delicious. Before he died, my grandfather left behind a notebook. The first page read: "Reptilian look exactly like humans, but human instinct can tell them apart." The moment my cousin Braden returned for my grandfather's funeral, my gut told me: he wasn't human!

Action Horror Modern Sci-Fi

9.3

His Political Lie, My Shattered Love

9.3

My husband, a rising political star, begged me to reconcile. I thought our love story was real. It was a lie, a public spectacle designed for his political gain and my systematic destruction. On our anniversary, I found a group chat on his tablet. He and his mistress were laughing about how predictable I was, calling me a "naive fool" for believing his promises. The cruelty escalated from there. He poisoned my food, publicly humiliated me at a charity auction that left me bankrupt, and even had me whipped in his family's basement as a twisted form of punishment. The final blow came when I overheard him plotting my murder. He planned a "tragic hiking accident" at a remote cliff during a storm, a perfect crime to make me disappear forever. But I turned his murder plot into my own escape. I faked my death and started over as a baker in a quiet town. A year later, he found me, haunted by regret, but his final act of redemption-and the true cost of my freedom-was something I never saw coming.

Horror Mystery Romance

The Scar He Left: Finding True Love

Chapter 4

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