an optimist's guide to heartbreak

Charles Levi becomes a vegetable after an accident, forcing Daisy Greg to marry Charles in place of her sister Ina Greg. On the eve of their wedding, Daisy learns that her mother's death was caused by Ina and vows to seek revenge by assuming Mrs. Levi's identity. However, on the first night of their marriage, Charles suddenly awakens, only to fall into a critical condition afterwards... Daisy is then driven out as if she's a jinx.

Yvonne was a neglected heiress of a powerful family. Framed by her sister's staged kidnapping, she was detained. Her father called her a disgrace, her mother branded her vicious, and her brother said she deserved it. Heartbroken,she cut ties with them and met Hover's top rich boy, Simon. Simon warmed her with love. In Simon's world, she was his one and only...

Simon was the son of Fletcher and Yvette, but his birth resulted from Fletcher's drunken one-night stand. From the moment Simon was born, Fletcher treated him coldly and showed clear favoritism toward his first love's son, Richard. This ongoing discrimination caused great pain for both Simon and Yvette, which eventually led Yvette to leave with Simon. After leaving, Yvette met Simon's cello teacher,Matthew,who gave Simon a fatherly love he had never known before.The three of them supported each other closely.Meanwhile,Fletcher, having realized his past mistakes, could only silently watch as Simon thrived under Matthew's care, bearing alone the pain caused by his own wrongdoings.

Valentina, an American girl who just graduated from college, thought she could start a new chapter in her life, but she didn't expect to find disaster for the whole family because of her brother's gambling debts. They have offended the mafia Romano family. In order to prevent her brother from being killed by the mob, Valentina has to agree to marry Alessandro, the head of the Romano family. After a dramatic wedding, Valentina is placed in Romano's mansion as a "canary", but she is always looking for a chance to escape. After receiving a death threat, a terrified Valentina makes a secret escape plan with the help of Alessandro's cousin, but even she doesn't realize that she's fallen in love with Alessandro.

Top engineer and designer Edwin Stanford learns his son Mason has been framed by wealthy businessman Robert Jasper and imprisoned in “Bridgewell Prison”—a facility Edwin himself designed. To save his son, he endures humiliation and enters the prison as an inmate. Inside, he uses his intelligence to gain the trust of crime boss Dave while secretly leveraging his intimate knowledge of the prison’s structure to execute his plan. He must not only break his son out of this steel cage but also exploit Robert’s greed and paranoia to set the ultimate trap—turning this symbol of absolute control into the judge’s own tomb. This is a father’s revenge executed through knowledge and patience, the ultimate counterattack against evil and betrayal.

Laura is the only daughter of the commander at Silverwood Aviation Base. In an effort to let her son meet his father, Richard Jones, she took the child to her husband's workplace—only to discover that Richard had already remarried someone else in Silverwood. Laura's arrival provoked a fierce reaction from his new wife's family, the Smiths, who not only humiliated her but also severely beat her son Nick, leaving him in a vegetative state. Faced with Richard's attempts to shift all the blame onto her, Laura decides to fight back and make sure the scumbag and his mistress get what they deserve.

While helping her sister Liza Seatter escape an abusive relationship, Zoey Seatter encounters mercenary Adrian Morris and his brother Franklin Morris.Zoey has a one-night stand with Adrian and discovers she’s pregnant a month later. Just as she’s about to terminate the pregnancy, Adrian appears and proposes marriage, bringing both Zoey and Liza home to live with them. Under the same roof, Zoey gradually wins over Adrian’s heart, while Franklin slowly falls for Liza. After surviving a jewelry store robbery, attending prenatal classes, and dealing with Liza’s abusive ex, the four of them finally find their happily ever after.

When single mom Diana starts working as an air traffic controller, she hears her ex-boyfriend Anthony’s voice over the radio. Since Diana broke up with him for the sake of his captain dreams, she’s grateful her sacrifice wasn’t in vain, and keeps hiding that he’s the father of her daughter. But she doesn’t know Anthony is actually the new billionaire CEO of their airline!

In her previous life, when Marlene's son falls ill, she calls her husband Wesley Hoffman for assistance, hoping he can contact their family doctor. However, Wesley claims that his best friend's son is also sick, and the doctor is attending to that child. As a result, their own son dies due to delayed medical treatment. When Marlene finds herself reborn to the time before her son's illness, her first action is to divorce that guy.

To repay the kindness of her savior Trevon, Anya Sharp agrees to a mysterious old gentleman's request: to work as a live-in maid for six years, caring for Blake Huber and his young son. During those six years, Anya quietly endures the Huber family's cold treatment and the constant scheming of Blake's ex-wife, Keira. She keeps her head down, waiting patiently for the agreement to end. But when Keira suddenly returns, the favoritism and betrayal from both father and son shatter Anya's resolve. Heartbroken and disillusioned, she walks away the moment her contract ends—and reunites with Trevon who has finally recovered. Only after losing her does Blake realize what she truly meant to him. But by then, it's too late. When the long-buried truth finally comes to light, Blake suffers a life-threatening injury protecting Anya. In the end, Anya chooses to move forward with Trevon, leaving the pain of the past behind.

Camille Sloane discovers while reapplying for her marriage certificate that she's still legally unmarried—her husband Malcolm Rourke's actual registered wife is his assistant Sierra Lowell. Shocked and heartbroken, Camille learns everything was orchestrated by Malcolm and witnesses him flirting with Sierra at the office.She decides to apply for immigration to leave him forever. Though Camille wants to leave peacefully, Sierra refuses to let her go, provoking her at Camille's birthday banquet and even self-harming to frame her. Camille fights back, but Malcolm wavers and repeatedly hurts her for Sierra's sake.Completely heartbroken, after receiving immigration approval, Camille prepares to leave but is kidnapped by Sierra's scheme and subjected to ninety-nine lashes by Malcolm, who doesn't know the truth. In her fading consciousness, Camille discovers her parents' deaths hide deeper secrets, and she vows to make Malcolm and Sierra pay the price.

Jess Willis gets sucked into a novel set in the 1980s where she's the villainous ex-wife of a disabled big shot who dies early. She's stuck with a "villain system" that says she has to stir up drama and be awful to everyone before she can go home. Jess's like, "Play the villain? Hell no!" But then she's like, "Actually, you know what? Villains have way more fun!"She rolls up her sleeves and starts living her best chaotic life—except she doesn't know her whole family can hear her thoughts. The family grows closer than ever, and even her disabled husband recovers and becomes completely devoted to her!

Jess Willis gets sucked into a novel set in the 1980s where she's the villainous ex-wife of a disabled big shot who dies early. She's stuck with a "villain system" that says she has to stir up drama and be awful to everyone before she can go home. Jess's like, "Play the villain? Hell no!" But then she's like, "Actually, you know what? Villains have way more fun!"She rolls up her sleeves and starts living her best chaotic life—except she doesn't know her whole family can hear her thoughts. The family grows closer than ever, and even her disabled husband recovers and becomes completely devoted to her!

Grace Smith's father, Lucas Brown, brings his illegitimate daughter Sophia Brown into the Smith family using a fake paternity test and falsely claims that Grace is not their biological daughter. Grace's birth mother, Helen Smith, never doubts this deception and even tortures and mistreats Grace for Sophia's sake. Sophia schemes to have Grace sleep with a homeless man, but unexpectedly, Grace encounters Eric Moore, a powerful figure in the city. When Grace has nowhere to turn, she seeks Eric's help after discovering she is pregnant with his child. They have a flash marriage, and from then on, Grace enjoys a life of being doted on by her wealthy in-laws while getting revenge on those who wronged her.

Clarissa Yowell once saved Julian Slater's life. In return, he promises that if he ever becomes emperor, he'll make her his empress. Now that he has finally ascended the throne,everyone is eager to know who the new empress will be. Clarissa is certain it's her—how could it not be? But in the end, she's the last to find out that the woman Julian chooses is his childhood sweetheart, Sophia Lynch.

Madelyn, leader of the world's top assassin organization Vermilion Order, discovers she's the long-lost daughter of Southhaven's powerful Randall family. She returns home pretending to be a poor girl from the slums, hiding her true identity. While her family showers her with love, her Uncle Louie plots to seize power, teaming up with the mafia to expose her past. Meanwhile, old enemies from the Darkscale Union seek revenge.Madelyn joins forces with her once-hostile stepsister Britney and reconnects with Jeffrey Hudson—secretly the head of the Duskthorn Order. With her strength and her family's support, Madelyn defeats the threats and secures her place in both the family and the underworld.

In their previous lives, the empress and the consort spent their whole lives locked in a bitter rivalry. It wasn't until their deaths that they uncovered the truth—they had both been pawns in the emperor's game. Their children were used to turn them against each other, and their families had all perished at the emperor's hands. Reborn, the empress returns to the very day the emperor falsely accused her of causing the consort's miscarriage. This time, she does everything she can to protect her former enemy. But before she can offer an explanation, she discovers that the consort has been reborn as well. Once they confirm their shared secret, the two women turn from rivals to allies, determined to take down the unfaithful emperor together. In their previous lives, the emperor's power was still shaky at this point, and he relied heavily on the political influence of both women's families. This time, the empress uses his greed against him and brings him to his own downfall. At the story's close, the consort embraces a life of peace while the empress ascends the throne with grace. For once, the women of the imperial harem live peacefully, free of rivalry. Who says a woman can't wear the crown?

Olivia Turner loved Zacharias Larson for nine years, but in the tenth year, she found herself imprisoned by Zacharias's own hands. Falsely accused of her grandfather's death and giving birth to another man's child, Olivia faced a wrongful sentence. The true culprit behind the conspiracy was her sister, mistakenly raised by the Turner family and later recognized into the affluent Larson family. Deception, identity substitution, and framing orchestrated Olivia's downfall. It wasn't until the brink of death that Olivia discovered the truth. Yet, Zacharias, the one person she needed to believe her, remained skeptical. Only upon witnessing her lifeless body did he descend into madness.