cast away real story

For eighteen years, I, Althea Quinn Calder, wanted nothing more than torn shorts, hiking boots, and a detector in my pocket. My family was known across the stars as a glamorous treasure-hunting team, but what most people never knew was that our real fortune came from finding alien artifacts hidden inside ancient ruins. At a charity gala on Sobek Space Station, I was forced into an elegant dress and high heels, only to discover that the night was not just another social event. Our old rival, Alistair Draven, appeared again, watching us like a predator and hinting that he already knew about the secret mission my father had planned. Even worse, my father had hired a new intern without telling me. His name was Kaelan Frost, a brilliant student with green eyes, a Capellan accent, and the most dangerous effect on my concentration. I hated the idea of adding anyone to our team—until he joined our next expedition to New Haven, where a dive into the wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge led me to a hidden metal box, a ruby ring, and a cipher connected to the lost lover of the infamous space pirate Edward Teach. The clue pointed us from a sunken ship to a protected estate, then to a secret garden where another message revealed something far bigger: Teach had hidden not only pirate treasure, but the missing fortune of a destroyed Spanish treasure fleet. Every clue brings Kaelan and me closer, but it also brings Alistair closer to us. He has followed every expedition we ever took, and this time, if he discovers what I am carrying, the next treasure we uncover may become the one that gets us killed.

Framed, betrayed, and seconds away from a bullet to the head, Detective Jake didn't find death—he found the Karma System. Suddenly, the untouchable elites of the city aren't so untouchable anymore. Through the System's eyes, their fatal weaknesses, offshore bank accounts, and darkest secrets are downloaded directly into Jake's retinas. But tearing down a corrupt empire takes more than one man. Jake builds the ultimate "Fixer" syndicate from the ashes of society's outcasts: a ruthless psychological profiler, a cyber-ghost hacker who can breach any firewall, a lethal military veteran, and a Wall Street predator who weaponizes financial ruin. They don't just assassinate their targets; they dismantle them. From sadistic prison wardens to untouchable military-industrial CEOs, the Syndicate strikes where it hurts the most. They will expose your crimes on global streams, drain your bank accounts to zero in seconds, and leave you begging for a mercy they don't possess. The elite thought they owned the world. The Syndicate is here to collect the debt.

Edwin Cole has kept himself invisible, living quietly on the margins, drawing no attention. Then word comes that his younger sister has been seized by Tyler Thorne, a brutal criminal lord operating out of a foreign nation. The police need someone inside. He says yes. What follows is a tightrope walk through a den of violence: Edwin earns Tyler's trust inch by inch, deflecting tests and power plays from suspicious lieutenants while building a case from the inside out. His only lifeline is a police informant codenamed Rose, and together they chip away at the organization's foundations by dismantling cells, neutralizing enforcers, and surviving confrontations with genuine killers. He never loses his line. No matter how deep the cover, how high the stakes, how brutal the world he's navigating, the mission stays the same, to tear it all down, get his sister back, and make sure no one else's family ends up where his did.

"Once the undisputed king of the Northlands underworld, Leon Hart has long retired and now lives as a pork seller. When street thugs try to extort him, his former subordinate Damon steps in. Leon reveals his reason for walking away—to keep his son, Felix, far from violence.That peace ends with a sudden phone call. Three hours earlier, Felix and his childhood friend Lillian are harassed at a bathhouse by Casper, the spoiled son of Damon. To Felix's shock, Casper's girlfriend is his own fiancée, Tamara, who openly abandons and humiliates him. For amusement, Casper locks Felix and Lillian inside a high-temperature sauna, intending to kill them. Leon arrives in time, defeats Casper's men, and breaks them out. Desperate, Casper pulls an illegal gun and forces a game of Russian roulette.As the trigger is about to be pulled, Damon bursts in with armed men, shouting at his son to stand down. In the grip of the gun's silence, the storm long buried beneath the surface finally erupts."

My adopted sister won the Elixir Challenge by stealing my potion. To her shock, she was informed that the event was a selection event for the future wife of the Serpentkins' future head—the same heir who was infamously impotent, barbaric, and hideous. When the Serpentkins sent over a proposal letter, demanding her hand in marriage, my fiance panicked and promptly took my adopted sister away for a quick marriage and even consummated. Once the deed was done, she returned triumphantly, showing off the mark on her lower back. "Well, what are you going to do now, Winnie?" she gloated. "Your fiance is mine now, and you'll be twenty-five in three days. If no one comes to pick you up, you'll just be dumped into the hands of some wife-beating Rogue who is ageing and unwanted…" Actually, she was wrong—I had a choice. I went to the parlor where my parents—who were busy fixing the mess my adopted sister made—were, announcing, "If she refuses to marry the future head of the Serpentkins, I will!"

In a frozen apocalyptic wasteland, Elara harbors a deadly secret: her blood runs like liquid fire, making her the world's last living heat source. Kael, the Citadel's most lethal and emotionless cryo-assassin, is sent to eliminate her. But a desperate struggle permanently binds their fates, injecting her burning blood into his icy veins.Now, a lethal curse forces them together—if they step more than ten meters apart, his system will combust and she will freeze to death. To survive, this ruthless killing machine must do the unthinkable: keep his prey dangerously close.As the freezing nights force them into intimate, skin-to-skin embraces, Kael's cold survival instinct morphs into a dark, irresistible fever. He was built to feel nothing, but as he strips away his armor to absorb her heat, he realizes he would burn the entire world down just to keep her safe. She was his target, but now, she is his only cure.

My adopted sister won the Elixir Challenge by stealing my potion. To her shock, she was informed that the event was a selection event for the future wife of the Serpentkins' future head—the same heir who was infamously impotent, barbaric, and hideous. When the Serpentkins sent over a proposal letter, demanding her hand in marriage, my fiance panicked and promptly took my adopted sister away for a quick marriage and even consummated. Once the deed was done, she returned triumphantly, showing off the mark on her lower back. "Well, what are you going to do now, Winnie?" she gloated. "Your fiance is mine now, and you'll be twenty-five in three days. If no one comes to pick you up, you'll just be dumped into the hands of some wife-beating Rogue who is ageing and unwanted…" Actually, she was wrong—I had a choice. I went to the parlor where my parents—who were busy fixing the mess my adopted sister made—were, announcing, "If she refuses to marry the future head of the Serpentkins, I will!"

Stella Hart, once a wealthy heiress, is lost and taken in by her foster mother, Serena Cook, who arranges a betrothal between her and her son, Jason Vale. After Jason suffers an accident, Stella sells herself to a childless couple to save him. However, once the couple adopts her, they later have twins and decide to abandon her. Stella’s grandmother, unable to bear her suffering, takes her in and cares for her with great love, leading a life of mutual dependence. Meanwhile, Jason and his mother work tirelessly to find Stella, and eventually, Jason becomes the president of a publicly listed company. On the other hand, Stella faces a series of misfortunes, including betrayal and mistreatment by a man she thought she loved. When Jason finally finds Stella, the person he has cherished since childhood, he vows to make up for all her suffering. As their story unfolds, Stella’s true identity gradually reveals itself, and they eventually reunite, with true love prevailing in the end.

Anne Cooke is about to get married when she discovers her fiance has been cheating. With her mother gravely ill and five years of love too heavy to just drop, she swallows it, until the sleeplessness becomes unbearable and she wanders into a traditional medicine clinic. There she meets James Young,and something shifts. On impulse she propositions him. Just one night. What she doesn't know is that James already knows exactly who she is, and has quietly decided to help her find her way back to herself. Through carefully prescribed remedies and steadier conversations, he walks beside her as she slowly remembers she has a spine. On her wedding day, she exposes her fiance in front of everyone and walks away with her head up. By then the feelings between Anne and James have long stopped being subtle, and the revelation that he comes from money and that his mother once knew hers feels less like a plot twist and more like something that was always going to happen. He proposes in the same clinic where they first met.

Eight years after a one-night stand, Sophie Archer raises son Jack alone until he's diagnosed with leukemia requiring a rare blood-type donor. Doctors suggest a million-dollar imported medicine to buy time. While struggling financially, Sophie becomes Caleb Johnson's secretary, unaware he's Jack's father. Meanwhile, Caleb and his grandmother Kate meet Jack by chance and confirm paternity through DNA testing. As Sophie and Caleb develop feelings and she becomes pregnant again after another encounter, Sophie saves enough for Jack's treatment, only for rival Chloe Bradford to destroy the medicine. Kate intervenes, recognizes Sophie and Jack as family, and tells Caleb to marry Jack's mother, not realizing he's already falling for Sophie. When Caleb discovers Sophie is Jack's mother, they commit to each other. At their wedding, Sophie reveals she has no blood relation to the Archers, and learns she's actually the biological daughter of the Bradfords couple, whom she refuses to forgive. The story ends with Sophie giving birth to twins and living happily with Caleb, Jack, Kate and their growing family.

Ava Montague was once the most beloved heir of the powerful Montague family. But after her father, Gabriel, vanished with no memory of who he was, Ava was betrayed by her stepmother Regina and her stepbrother Kieran. Framed as unstable and dangerous, she was locked away in a prison isolation cell and treated like a psycho. She lost her voice. She was beaten, broken, stripped of her dignity. Even her last meal became another weapon used to humiliate her. Then, after four years missing, Gabriel suddenly returned, and pulled Ava back from the brink of death. But the girl he saved was no longer the naive daughter she used to be. Haunted by what she endured, Ava sets out to reclaim her inheritance and destroy everyone who betrayed her. Yet no amount of revenge can erase the darkness the isolation cell left behind. And then a man enters her life, dangerously handsome, sharp enough to see through every mask she wears. He touches the wounds she’s spent years trying to bury. But can the part of Ava that once believed in love, the part she thought died long ago, ever come back to life?

Josie is the daughter of Chief Commander Choi, and her husband, Gordon Hodges, hails from the Snoylor tribe. Their marriage was only a ceremonial affair—no formal paperwork was ever signed. Shortly after the wedding, Gordon returned to the military camp, and Josie's pregnancy news was delivered to him by letter. Seven years passed without the couple ever reuniting. That is, until their son, Freddie, cried out, desperate to see his father. Josie, determined to fulfill her son's wish, decided to take him to visit Gordon. But when they arrived at the military camp, Josie was shocked to find that Gordon had remarried. Labelled as a "homewrecker," Josie and her son were brutally beaten. In that desperate moment, Josie shouted her father's name. Her father's men immediately rushed her and her son to the hospital, while he went to seek out the Commander. At the hospital, Gordon's new wife, Claire, feigned stomach pains. Gordon, cold-hearted and furious, dragged the doctor away to attend to Claire instead. Tragically, Freddie died on the operating table. When Josie's parents arrived, Gordon and Claire were thrown into prison. But Gordon escaped, and in a fit of madness, he mercilessly shot and killed Claire's mother, Marsha...

Josie is the daughter of Chief Commander Choi, and her husband, Gordon Hodges, hails from the Snoylor tribe. Their marriage was only a ceremonial affair—no formal paperwork was ever signed. Shortly after the wedding, Gordon returned to the military camp, and Josie's pregnancy news was delivered to him by letter.Seven years passed without the couple ever reuniting. That is, until their son, Freddie, cried out, desperate to see his father.Josie, determined to fulfill her son's wish, decided to take him to visit Gordon. But when they arrived at the military camp, Josie was shocked to find that Gordon had remarried. Labelled as a "homewrecker," Josie and her son were brutally beaten. In that desperate moment, Josie shouted her father's name. Her father's men immediately rushed her and her son to the hospital, while he went to seek out the Commander.At the hospital, Gordon's new wife, Claire, feigned stomach pains. Gordon, cold-hearted and furious, dragged the doctor away to attend to Claire instead. Tragically, Freddie died on the operating table.When Josie's parents arrived, Gordon and Claire were thrown into prison. But Gordon escaped, and in a fit of madness, he mercilessly shot and killed Claire's mother, Marsha...

Sarah Young had a crush on Zain Xavier for seven years. Unexpectedly, she became his wife, and everyone laughed at her for going from rags to riches. However, she ignored them and only cared that Zain was finally hers. When they got married, she didn't care if he didn't love her now. She was confident he would fall in love with her in the end. However, it soon became boring as Zain was never interested. Sarah felt that she was rich, pretty, and had amazing curves. Why should she waste her time on a cold robot like Zain? Immediately after coming to her senses, she slammed the divorce papers before Zain. After that, they would both go on different paths. Zain could hit the high road while she had fun with young, handsome men. After the divorce, Zain often found his ex-wife's scandals on the trending list. Last night she was captured having dinner with the new rich in xx tech company, and today she was building a new "love nest" with a handsome internet celebrity??? Zain threw his phone away and cursed, "Fuck with this love nest! That's my woman!" To that, Sarah, who was enjoying life, replied, "Sir, who are you?" 

I go into business with my childhood friend, Ian Ziegler. The business is a success, earning 1.2 million dollars in profit. Ian gives me my share—a whopping 5,000 dollars. Noticing my dissatisfaction, Ian puts his arm around my girlfriend, Nina Foster, and tosses the keys to his Bentley onto the table. "What, is five grand too little for you? Fine. Since you're so broke, I'll give you a chance to turn things around for yourself. There's going to be a soccer game tonight. We're both going to place our bets. If you win, you can get all 1.2 million, plus my car. "But if you lose, your girlfriend's mine. You'll also have to get on your knees and lick my shoes right here in front of everyone." Everyone else in the room cackles gleefully, eager to watch me humiliate myself. Smirking, I nod. "Sure. I'll take that bet." These people have no idea that five years ago, I'd single-handedly taken down the Northwest Aravian illegal soccer betting circuit. I'd set a trap for a match-fixing syndicate, beating the crooks at their own game. I'd walked away from that life after that. But now, Ian has seriously decided to challenge me to a soccer bet?

Tansy West, the eldest daughter of the West family, escapes her political engagement to Edric Byrd, the eldest son of the Byrd family, by running away during the engagement party and disguising herself as a man. In her escape, Tansy accidentally becomes Edric's bodyguard. As they spend time together, they develop feelings for each other. However, Edric, originally biased against his fiancee, mistakenly believes he has fallen for his male bodyguard, causing much humorous confusion. Tansy helps Edric deal with his malicious stepmother and his scheming younger brother. She attends a gathering in her female guise, where her brother and parents recognize her. To ensure the couple's marriage proceeds smoothly, both sets of parents knock them out and send them to the wedding venue. The male lead's younger brother is captivated by Tansy's beauty and wishes to marry her himself. During another escape attempt, Tansy and Edric discover each other's true identities. Edric begins to acknowledge his feelings for Tansy, and they confess their love for each other. With her help, Edric successfully defeats his father, regains control of the Byrd Group that rightfully belongs to his mother, and lives happily ever after with Tansy.

Four years of marriage. One signature—his own—that set me free, though he never realized what he was signing. I was Sophia Moretti, the invisible wife of James Moretti, heir to the city’s most powerful mafia family. But when his childhood sweetheart, the dazzling and privileged Vicky, returned, I finally understood: I had always been temporary. So I played my final move. I slid the papers across his desk—divorce disguised as routine university forms. James signed without a second glance, his fountain pen scratching across the page as carelessly as he'd treated our vows, without noticing he was ending our marriage. But I walked away with more than my freedom. Beneath my coat, I carried his unborn heir—a secret that could destroy him when he finally realized what he'd lost. Now, the man who never noticed me is tearing the world apart trying to find me. From his penthouse to the underworld's gutters, he's turning over every stone. But I'm not some trembling prey waiting to be found. I rebuilt myself beyond his reach—where not even a Moretti can follow. This time, I won't be begging for his love. He'll be begging for mine.

Three years ago, Jenny's mother passed away after a serious illness. On her deathbed, she entrusted Jenny to her best friend Mia, who was the richest person. Under Mia's arrangement, Jenny entered into a flash marriage with Mia's son Charles. Right after the marriage, Charles went abroad for work. Three years later, Charles returned home. He mistook Jenny for someone else and accused her of infidelity. Jenny, having waited for her husband in vain for a long time, also felt resentful towards him. Charles hired a detective to investigate Jenny, and by a strange twist of fate, Jenny herself was the one who took on the investigation assignment. During their work interactions, the two developed admiration for each other. Persuaded by Mia, Jenny also rekindled her hope for her husband. However, they missed the chance to clear up misunderstandings at a family gathering. Charles mistakenly thought Jenny was late, left in a fit of pique, and insisted on getting a divorce. Later, Jenny was framed by Jennifer and Johnson. At the critical moment, Charles arrived and rescued her. In an attempt to bring the two together, Mia arranged a bidding conference. At the conference, Charles made a high-profile bid to humiliate Jenny's ex-boyfriend. But due to another misunderstanding, the two missed the opportunity to recognize each other once again...