

Chloe was preparing to marry Kyle, her fiancé of five years, when she caught him sleeping with an intern. Heartbroken, she got drunk at a bar and spent a passionate night with a cold, handsome stranger, then fled the next morning. Three days later, Chloe joined Vance Group, one of Manhattan’s top corporations. At the orientation, she discovered that the stranger was Alexander Vance, the ruthless billionaire CEO rumored to have avoided women for ten years. Alexander recognized her immediately. Instead of firing her, he made her sign a six-month contract to pose as his girlfriend and help him deal with his family’s pressure to marry. Just then, Kyle appeared as the company’s new director. In front of her shocked ex-fiancé, Alexander pulled Chloe into his arms and publicly announced that she was his girlfriend. Thus began their dangerous cohabitation and unexpected romance.

All because I talked to a girl from school, my parents decided I was too young to date and sent me to a behavioral correction camp over winter break. I spent 14 days there before they came for me. When Mom reached for my backpack, I flinched and dropped to my knees. "Mom, I'm sorry. I'll carry my own things. Please don't touch me. You're the opposite sex." Her expression soured. "I told you to watch out for girls out there, not treat your own mother like one of them." I kept my head down and said nothing, because responding to the opposite sex was also a violation. On the drive home, Dad noticed me sitting rigid and perfectly still. He laughed, pleased. "Look at him. He's so well-behaved now." "It worked even better than I expected. We'll have our family dinner tonight and send him back in the morning. They need to straighten him out for good." I said nothing. I just turned and looked out the window. There would be no tomorrow. Tonight was my farewell gift to them.

I was born with a built-in fortune system. Whenever I'm happy, everyone around me makes money. To keep me in a good mood, my billionaire father takes me out on adventures every single day, showering me with limited-edition sneakers, private yacht charters, and one-of-a-kind luxury items. It all comes down to one thing: the Connolly Group's luck is tied directly to my emotional state. As long as I'm laughing hard enough to snort, the stock price climbs and the money pours in. The moment my mood tanks, the losses start. At worst, the whole thing goes bankrupt. Take last month. One of the cleaning staff accidentally tossed out half a macaron I'd left sitting on the counter, and I was mildly annoyed for about a second. The next day, the Connolly Group's West Coast division posted a hundred-million-dollar loss. Dad spent the entire night buying up ten gourmet bakeries and terminating the cleaning company's contract just to smooth things over. After that, nobody in Manhattan's upper-crust social scene dared so much as look at me sideways. That was, until Dad flew out to Los Angeles on business, and Isabella, the long-lost biological daughter who'd just been found, walked into my room. "You've been leeching off this family for years," she said, looking down at me with pure contempt. "Did you actually think draining the Connolly name dry made you the real heiress? I'm the one with Connolly blood. Now that I'm back, it's time for you to crawl out of my house." I didn't react. She picked up the black coffee sitting nearby and poured it straight onto my keyboard. I watched the screen go dark, and something hollow opened up in my chest. "Get on your knees and clean it up." I wiped the coffee off my face. The air had gone cold. The Connolly Group was about to implode, and I found myself wondering whether Dad, thousands of miles away in LA, was already reaching for his heart medication as he watched billions evaporate off the ticker.

To fund her mother's grave, Selena decided on a flash marriage, inadvertently marrying James Monroe, who was also in a rush and suffered from pollen allergy. They agreed to divorce in two years. As the term neared, Selena interned at James's company, and after an unexpectedly intimate encounter, they realized their mutual affection. Upon discovering her pregnancy, Selena found out her boss was her husband. James, realizing she was his wife, pursued her passionately. At their wedding, Selena marveled at the transformation from boss to husband.

On the day Erin moves into the family’s new home, she discovers that the three bedrooms have already been assigned—to her parents, her brother, and their adopted daughter Sophie. Only Erin’s name is missing. Ten years earlier, Sophie’s father, Thomas, drowned on the same day Erin’s brother Ryan fell into the water. Their mother, Helen, has always believed that Thomas died saving Ryan, and from that moment on, she demanded that the entire family spend the rest of their lives repaying that debt. For ten years, Erin has given up her room, her parents’ attention, and her brother’s protection for Sophie. Even Ethan, the boyfriend she has been dating for three years, has gradually grown used to putting Sophie first. The final blow comes when Erin discovers that her parents, Ryan, Sophie, and Ethan all belong to a group chat called “Sophie’s Family”—a family group that includes everyone except her. When Ryan tells her, “If you don’t want to help repay what we owe her, then get out,” Erin finally gives up on them completely. Without telling anyone, she leaves for New Mexico to join a five-year aviation meteorology research program. Only after Erin is gone does the truth about the accident ten years ago finally come to light: Thomas was never the person who saved Ryan. The Carter family is devastated to realize that, in trying to repay a life-saving debt that never existed, they drove their own daughter out of the family with their own hands. Five years later, Erin returns to Portland as the leader of the research project. Faced with her remorseful family and Ethan’s desperate request for another chance, Erin chooses neither revenge nor reconciliation. She simply walks away. At last, Erin understands that a life truly belonging to her was never something anyone else needed to make room for.

Six years ago, heiress Milo left penniless Asher to save her failing family, keeping her pregnancy a secret. Now a ruthless tech billionaire still bitter about the past, Asher reunites with Milo at a gala — she's now a desperate single mom, scrambling to pay for their son Leo's life-saving heart surgery. As the truth of her sacrifice unfolds, a guilt-stricken Asher sets out to win her back, secures top care for their son, brings the real culprit to justice, and earns his second chance at love...

Ten years after Yancy Stuart vanished in a tragic hiking accident, her brother Jeffery finally found her, only to learn she had no memory of him. When Jeffery rescued Yancy from an abusive boyfriend, they agreed to reconnect despite her lost memories. Driven by guilt for not protecting her before, Jeffery worked to improve her life, but rebuilding their bond proved challenging. As they grew closer, Jeffery discovered they weren't biologically related. Embracing his feelings, he confessed his love. Together, they overcame adversaries, media scrutiny, and personal struggles, ultimately forming a strong and loving family.

Lucine and her husband, Cheney, were in a devastating car accident that took Cheney's life. Lucine survived but lost her memory. When the powerful Sterling family learned she was carrying Cheney's only child, they sent his twin brother, Noah, to bring her home and ensure her safety. At first, Noah saw it as a duty, but as he cared for the vulnerable and lost Lucine, an unexpected bond began to form. Amidst fierce family struggles, kidnappings, a heartbreaking miscarriage scare, and ruthless outside schemes, their connection deepened—until neither could deny the pull between them.

The night I died, my whole family was busy celebrating my twin sister Elena's eighteenth birthday. Everyone thought Elena was going to die the next day. We're elves. My father worked as a clan guardian, and after Mom gave birth to Elena and me as twins, she stopped working altogether. We should have been a happy family. But from the moment we were born, Elena and I were bound by a witch's curse. Because Elena came into the world one minute before me, she took the full weight of it onto herself. She was never supposed to live past eighteen. From the day we were born, Elena was the family's treasure. Mom and Dad treated me like I owed her something. New toys went to her first. New dresses were always her pick. Every night, Mom would sit in Elena's room for at least an hour before she'd turn off the light. I always fell asleep alone. One night I had a nightmare and ran barefoot to find Mom. She was holding Elena and didn't even look up. "Go back to bed. Stop making a fuss." I kept telling myself: she's dying, of course they're kind to her. But every time I let something go, that splinter in my chest pushed a little deeper. Then the day the curse was supposed to take effect finally came, and naturally, that was the day my stomach cramped so badly I could barely stand. Mom and Dad didn't hesitate. They shoved me into the cellar and locked it from outside. I crouched on the stone floor with the smell of mildew everywhere and knocked on the door over and over. "Mom... Dad... my stomach really hurts, I can't even stand up... let me out, please..." One sentence came back through the door. "Your sister is dying tonight! Can you just give us one day? One day!" "But... Mom... I'm scared..." Nobody answered after that. The cellar went quiet. My eyelids grew heavy. My last thought was: if I were the one dying of a curse, would they come hold me too.

The night I died, my whole family was busy celebrating my twin sister Elena's eighteenth birthday. Everyone thought Elena was going to die the next day. We're elves. My father worked as a clan guardian, and after Mom gave birth to Elena and me as twins, she stopped working altogether. We should have been a happy family. But from the moment we were born, Elena and I were bound by a witch's curse. Because Elena came into the world one minute before me, she took the full weight of it onto herself. She was never supposed to live past eighteen. From the day we were born, Elena was the family's treasure. Mom and Dad treated me like I owed her something. New toys went to her first. New dresses were always her pick. Every night, Mom would sit in Elena's room for at least an hour before she'd turn off the light. I always fell asleep alone. One night I had a nightmare and ran barefoot to find Mom. She was holding Elena and didn't even look up. "Go back to bed. Stop making a fuss." I kept telling myself: she's dying, of course they're kind to her. But every time I let something go, that splinter in my chest pushed a little deeper. Then the day the curse was supposed to take effect finally came, and naturally, that was the day my stomach cramped so badly I could barely stand. Mom and Dad didn't hesitate. They shoved me into the cellar and locked it from outside. I crouched on the stone floor with the smell of mildew everywhere and knocked on the door over and over. "Mom... Dad... my stomach really hurts, I can't even stand up... let me out, please..." One sentence came back through the door. "Your sister is dying tonight! Can you just give us one day? One day!" "But... Mom... I'm scared..." Nobody answered after that. The cellar went quiet. My eyelids grew heavy. My last thought was: if I were the one dying of a curse, would they come hold me too.