once upon a time the stranger

In a snowbound train, Shirley flees her wedding. Under the influence of medication, she spends a night with a stranger and gets pregnant. Ten months later, she enters a marriage of convenience with the third son of the Lowe family—unaware that the family's formidable head, Henry,is the man from that fateful night. Believing himself infertile due to a misdiagnosis, Henry treads a torturous path between abstinence and longing, secretly shielding Shirley while concealing his own devotion. What began in that snowstorm is a bond he would defy any taboo to protect. He thought himself an isolated island in winter,until she became the only warmth capable of melting his ice—the one he wished to claim forever.

The world freezes overnight. Ice swallows cities, and the dead begin to walk. In my first life, I survive on 100 tons of coal won at a company raffle, until a jealous coworker has me killed. Now I’m back, on the same raffle day, with every memory intact. This time, I pick a motorhome. I fortify it into a mobile fortress, awaken a mysterious vehicle system, and set out across the frozen apocalypse. Last time, I barely survived. This time, I intend to thrive.

To save her father's life, Alicia Bennett is forced into a dangerous game of deception, swapping places with Sabrina Knight to "pretend" to be intimate with Sabrina's powerful husband, Ethan Clark. What begins as a desperate bargain to secure money for surgery soon spirals into a deadly web of secrets and manipulation, with Alicia trapped as a pawn in the ruthless Knight family's control. By day, she's Ethan's dutiful assistant; by night, she's a "stranger" in his bed, caught in a whirlwind of passion, power, and betrayal. As their complex, forbidden connection deepens, Alicia is drawn into a world where nothing is as it seems—until the shocking truth is finally exposed… Will Alicia escape the tangled web she's been caught in, or will the Knight family's plans destroy everything she's fought for?

Six years ago, Fred Steel, once the president of the World Neurology Association, walked away from invitations from the world’s top medical circles to live incognito in River City. His only mission: to ensure the awakening of one man—a man whose salvation he regarded as the crowning achievement of his life. That man is Felix Quaid, CEO of Peak Group, who has remained unconscious in a top-tier medical ward for six years. Now, the very man who reshaped the world six years ago is about to wake, and his return will once again send tremors across the globe.

The world freezes overnight. Ice swallows cities, and the dead begin to walk. In my first life, I survive on 100 tons of coal won at a company raffle, until a jealous coworker has me killed. Now I’m back, on the same raffle day, with every memory intact. This time, I pick a motorhome. I fortify it into a mobile fortress, awaken a mysterious vehicle system, and set out across the frozen apocalypse. Last time, I barely survived. This time, I intend to thrive.

Five years ago, a car accident left Hansel blind in Emerald Town, where he assumed the identity of Hans. He met the kind-hearted Joyce (Lily), and they fell in love. After an accident, Joyce selflessly donated her cornea to restore Hans's sight. Upon recovery, Hans regained his true name, Hansel. Due to blindness and pregnancy, Joyce was married to him by her family with a three-million-dollar dowry. Unaware of each other's identities, they faced misunderstandings and barriers. Joyce gave birth to their daughter, Star, whom Hansel misunderstood due to infidelity suspicions. In a touching moment before Star's death from leukemia, she donated her cornea to restore her mother's sight. Full of sorrow, Hansel and Joyce finally discovered each other's true selves, unveiling Shirley's schemes. Driven by madness, Shirley kidnapped Joyce. To protect their daughter and love, Joyce made a difficult choice. How will this complicated tale end?

In a calculated move to align herself with the illustrious Grey family, Baird Grey's former lover, Muriel Will, drugged him. However, her plan backfired when Baird eluded her trap and found himself slept with Tess Yule. Fearing exposure, Muriel bribed Ken Aly to falsely claim responsibility for what happened. Unaware of the deception, Tess brought forth a set of quadruplets, only to have three of them callously discarded by Muriel, while the remaining child, Joy, was placed under Ken's guardianship. For seven long years, Ken deceived Tess, exploiting her trust until, upon his promotion, he heartlessly cast her aside and seized her new home. Luckily, in a twist of fate, Tess's act of kindness towards Baird's grandfather led to a reconnection with Baird. In this unexpected reunion, she made a startling realization: the one she had tirelessly sought for years had been a constant presence in her life.

In a calculated move to align herself with the illustrious Grey family, Baird Grey's former lover, Muriel Will, drugged him. However, her plan backfired when Baird eluded her trap and found himself slept with Tess Yule. Fearing exposure, Muriel bribed Ken Aly to falsely claim responsibility for what happened. Unaware of the deception, Tess brought forth a set of quadruplets, only to have three of them callously discarded by Muriel, while the remaining child, Joy, was placed under Ken's guardianship. For seven long years, Ken deceived Tess, exploiting her trust until, upon his promotion, he heartlessly cast her aside and seized her new home. Luckily, in a twist of fate, Tess's act of kindness towards Baird's grandfather led to a reconnection with Baird. In this unexpected reunion, she made a startling realization: the one she had tirelessly sought for years had been a constant presence in her life.

Lorna Grant is brought into the household as a child bride, raised under their roof and worked to the bone by the very family she is meant to belong to. What they intend as submission becomes something else entirely. By accident or by design, they sharpen her. A twist of fate pulls her into an assassin organization where her instincts, honed by years of surviving the wrong people, turn out to be exactly the right currency. She rises quietly and then all at once, becoming the most formidable blade in the guild. The men who once ignored her, dismissed her, looked through her now compete fiercely for her attention. The household that broke her in never imagined it was building a weapon.

Food vendor, Keith Drake, lands in prison after injuring a man while trying to protect his girlfriend, Hannah Grant. In prison, he meets a mysterious elderly man, Trevor Vaughn. Seeing Keith's potential, Trevor takes it upon himself to mentor him and later pulls some strings for his early release. Fresh out of prison, Keith taps into Trevor's resources to outwit the Rogueville thugs seeking revenge and pulls off a bold rescue with the help of e-hailing drivers. Trevor soon elevates Keith to acting president of the Redwood Council, crafting an ostentatious façade to mislead their rival, Carlos Bigsby. Together, Keith and Trevor ultimately expose Carlos's plot to seize power. With everything finally settled, Keith decides against taking over the Redwood Council, choosing instead to return to a quiet life with Hannah. Trevor, meanwhile, steps back into leadership. The narrative charts Keith's evolution from hot-headed youth to measured strategist, and his final choice between the allure of power and love.

Yvette Queen, the hidden heiress of the prestigious Queen family, falls in love with Wendell Lewis, who's from a declining family. Without revealing her true identity, she secretly supports his family while his parents, unaware and looking down on her, push Wendell to marry into the wealthy Lane family. They send Wendell abroad with Sue Lane for further studies. Before leaving, Wendell promises Yvette that he will marry her upon his return. Four years later, however,Wendell comes back and announces his engagement to Sue. Seeing his true colors, Yvette has her family crush both the Lane and Lewis families. The backlash causes Wendell's mother to fall gravely ill. Desperate to secure a hospital director's treatment for her, Wendell seeks out Yvette to reconcile—only to discover she is the legendary Queen heiress. Realizing his mistake, Wendell turns against Sue, and the two betray each other, reaping what they sowed.Meanwhile, Yvette becomes the chairwoman of the Queen Group.

Cleaner Betty’s night shift takes a fateful turn: she rescues a drugged stranger—unaware he’s elite tycoon Eli—and they share an impulsive night. The next morning, she slips away to help her best friend Ivy out of a crisis, , leaving Eli desperate to find her. Seizing the chance, Ivy poses as Eli’s mystery woman, lying outright that her ex-husband’s child is his—and steals Betty’s place entirely. Betty discovers she’s pregnant soon after starting medical school, raising the baby alone. Six years later, she becomes Eli’s household private physician. From their first meeting, Eli can’t shake the mother-daughter pair’s uncanny familiarity—a connection that makes him question everything…

Elite lawyer Kylin Taylor walks into a cafe and finds her fiance Zane Walker attending tenderly to his mistress. She doesn't make a scene. That night, she slides a condom into a legal contract and hands it to Zane's closest friend, David Evans, Eryland's most talked-about playboy. "Hotel tonight? It's on me." What begins as cold, surgical revenge becomes something stranger: she uses David to deliver Zane a humiliation; David plays along with every sign of enjoying himself.But as the game deepens, he drops the act entirely and and starts betting everything he has on her instead of the thrill. Kylin realizes, with a jolt, that she never had control of this board to begin with. Someone laid these pieces into position ten years ago, and it wasn't her.

After her father's betrayal destroys her family, Jeri Snider abandons her fortune and disappears, only to be saved by struggling entrepreneur Clayton Lynn. She helps him build his empire in secret, but once he rises to power, he turns on her, even cheating with her relative, July. When July exposes Jeri and sets her up to be assaulted, mysterious tycoon Craig Lawson intervenes. But why does he care? Jeri once left him without explanation, and now his sudden return feels… calculated. Is love the real motive? Or is this marriage just another trap? Jeri must outsmart them all—before she loses everything for good.

Elite lawyer Kylin Taylor walks into a cafe and finds her fiance Zane Walker attending tenderly to his mistress. She doesn't make a scene. That night, she slides a condom into a legal contract and hands it to Zane's closest friend, David Evans, Eryland's most talked-about playboy. "Hotel tonight? It's on me." What begins as cold, surgical revenge becomes something stranger: she uses David to deliver Zane a humiliation; David plays along with every sign of enjoying himself.But as the game deepens, he drops the act entirely and and starts betting everything he has on her instead of the thrill. Kylin realizes, with a jolt, that she never had control of this board to begin with. Someone laid these pieces into position ten years ago, and it wasn't her.

Legendary diplomat Wanda Jason once left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for love, only to be rejected by her husband, Marshal Liam Joy, and their son Felix. Resolute, she divorced him and returned to diplomacy under the name Wan,stunning the world once more. When Liam realized his mistake, it was too late. Yasmin Zeal,desperate to marry Liam, exploited her brother's life-saving debt and drove a wedge between Liam and Wanda, until her true identity as a traitor's sister was exposed. Regretfully, Liam went to war and died in battle, leaving a final confession: "My only wish was to grow old with you." Wanda, with her son and adopted daughter,took up a new mission—walking toward a new dawn.

Janet Driscoll, once the cherished darling of the family, was devastated to discover that she was not her parents' biological daughter. After their real daughter, Jaime, was welcomed home, her once-loving parents and brother began to trust Jaime blindly, hanging on her every word.When Janet was falsely accused of pushing her grandma down the stairs, the Driscoll family, without hesitation, sent her to a harsh reform school. There, she endured three years of inhumane torment that left her with permanent, life-altering disabilities.Three years later, when the family finally brought her home, they were shocked to find that the bright, cheerful Janet they once knew had vanished. In her place stood a cold, distant young woman who had shut them all out.

Janet Driscoll, once the cherished darling of the family, was devastated to discover that she was not her parents' biological daughter. After their real daughter, Jaime, was welcomed home, her once-loving parents and brother began to trust Jaime blindly, hanging on her every word.When Janet was falsely accused of pushing her grandma down the stairs, the Driscoll family, without hesitation, sent her to a harsh reform school. There, she endured three years of inhumane torment that left her with permanent, life-altering disabilities.Three years later, when the family finally brought her home, they were shocked to find that the bright, cheerful Janet they once knew had vanished. In her place stood a cold, distant young woman who had shut them all out.