renee carlino before we were strangers

For three years, Wade Chapman lived in a state of foolishness and dullness—until, at last, he inherited the legacy of an immortal. With a single awakening, he rose like a dragon soaring into the Sky. In one hand, he wielded peerless medical arts—reviving the dead and restoring flesh to bone, leaving nobles and magnates bowing before him. In the other, he held a lethal blade—cleaving through the void itself, forcing even the world's strongest to submit. From that moment on, beauties stood by his side, brothers followed at his back. Roaming the city as he pleased, he sought only the bliss of love.

The U.S. nuclear medical professor Charlie Clare quits his career for family, but is abandoned as his wife and daughter favor his love rival Isaac. After suffering his family’s ignorance, he decides to leave for the Unicorn Project, which he designed for healing his daughter’s neuro-skel birthmark as his life work. But unaware that Charlie’s burning his life for them, his wife and daughter deepen the rift with Charlie upon reunion and eventually destroy everything Charlie left for them with their own hands before realizing their errors, only to find it too late.

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.

For three years, Wade Chapman lived in a state of foolishness and dullness—until, at last, he inherited the legacy of an immortal. With a single awakening, he rose like a dragon soaring into the Sky. In one hand, he wielded peerless medical arts—reviving the dead and restoring flesh to bone, leaving nobles and magnates bowing before him. In the other, he held a lethal blade—cleaving through the void itself, forcing even the world's strongest to submit. From that moment on, beauties stood by his side, brothers followed at his back. Roaming the city as he pleased, he sought only the bliss of love.

Five years ago, Jeffrey Reid's wife betrayed him, his parents were murdered, his sister was abducted, his family destroyed. He barely escaped with his life. Five years later, he returns after martial training, carrying the oath "A World Without Darkness" as he infiltrates Rising Dragons. At a funeral, Jeffrey defeats assassins barehanded and becomes famous overnight, rising to a head. Jeffrey uses violence to fight violence, eliminating evil wherever he finds it. As his enemies fall one by one and the mastermind behind everything surfaces, he will use his own methods to restore peace to Houndvale City and honor his fallen family.

Grace chooses mahjong over her granddaughter, leaving Coco in the kitchen. Coco manages a brief call to her mother Rita before her smartwatch dies, during which Rita senses something is wrong. Desperate, Rita repeatedly calls her mother-in-law, but the noise of the mahjong table drowns out her calls. She then contacts her husband Leo, only to be dismissed while he is with his first love. By the time Rita finds Coco, the child has succumbed to gas poisoning. Leo refuses to accept the tragedy born of neglect and misplaced loyalty until he sees Coco's portrait at the funeral home.

Frank Ford was transported to a post-apocalyptic wasteland as a cannon fodder. On the night before his doomed mission, he activated the ""Wife-doting System.""He chose three ""trash"": a crippled S-class captain, a deformed mutant, and a dying clone.Everyone mocked him, until he injected them with a mysterious serum. The crippled captain, Anna Hutt, awakened her psychic powers; the deformed mutant, Bess Bruce, transformed into a strong fighter; and A77, the clone, gained teleportation.With 3 S-class ladies fighting at full power, Frank crushed all challengers.But then came the conspiracy of Colonel Dylan Jones, a high-ranking official of the Fortress City, followed by missile strikes and city-wide purges...

Aria Vale loves her idol Noah Rivers so completely that his fictional death feels like a personal injustice. Then she blinks and finds herself inside the novel, in a world where the cities are overrun and the story is already in motion. Reinventing herself as a mysterious talent manager, she finds the boy before anyone else does and helps him become exactly who he was supposed to be, rewriting the ending she couldn't accept. Her phone knows what's coming, which helps. What she doesn't account for is how quickly depending on each other becomes something neither of them has a word for.

Five years ago, Jeffrey Reid's wife betrayed him, his parents were murdered, his sister was abducted, his family destroyed. He barely escaped with his life. Five years later, he returns after martial training, carrying the oath "A World Without Darkness" as he infiltrates Rising Dragons. At a funeral, Jeffrey defeats assassins barehanded and becomes famous overnight, rising to a head. Jeffrey uses violence to fight violence, eliminating evil wherever he finds it. As his enemies fall one by one and the mastermind behind everything surfaces, he will use his own methods to restore peace to Houndvale City and honor his fallen family.

Karissa was the true heiress of the Beltran family, who had been lost and later found. However, she was then kidnapped by Ivy, the family's adopted daughter. In a bid to prove who their family truly cared about, Ivy set fire to the warehouse they were in. In her moment of peril, Karissa found that her parents and brothers chose to save Ivy, abandoning her to her fate. Just when her life hung in the balance, she saw Luis, someone she had once lived with, come to her rescue. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself reborn three years earlier. This time, Karissa was determined to change the course of her life.

Six years ago, Winni and Chester were a loving couple, until Chester's old friend Ruth returned to the country. Ruth disguised herself with a kind face and became friends with Winni, secretly plotting to replace Winni as Chester's wife. Not long after, Winni became pregnant, but the doctor informed Chester that the child had no blood relationship to him. Chester iced out Winni and gradually grew closer to Ruth. Six years later, Winni's son, Ron, was critically ill with leukemia. Only Chester's bone marrow could save him. In order to please Chester, Winni had to bow down to Ruth. However, during their interaction, she gradually uncovered why Chester thought Ron was an illegitimate child.

In her previous life, during senior year, Hilary Yates discovered that her classmate, Marian Evans, had secretly sabotaged all her classmates' college entrance exam applications,downgrading them to vocational schools. Hilary quietly restored everyone's applications.When Marian's actions were exposed, she ran to the rooftop to plead her innocence but tragically fell to her death. The entire class—including Hilary's boyfriend,Jim Sutton—blamed Hilary for Marian's demise. Consumed by hatred, they unleashed cruel revenge, driving Hilary's parents to a tragic end and beating Hilary herself to death.Now reborn, Hilary refuses to intervene as the same events unfold. This time, she watches coldly and lets them destroy themselves.

Jessica and Jason were married through a family arrangement, but their relationship remained distant after the wedding. A sudden car accident leaves Jason with amnesia,his memory frozen four years in the past. Seizing the chance for revenge, Jessica lies to him, claiming his family has gone bankrupt and making him work as a servant in her home.As they spend time together, unexpected feelings begin to blossom between them. Just as their bond deepens, Jessica’s ex-boyfriend Alex reappears, stirring emotional turmoil. The story takes a thrilling turn with kidnappings, false accusations, and workplace crises testing their trust.In the end, Jason regains his memory, the misunderstandings are cleared, and the two reconcile. They find true happiness together and welcome adorable twins into their lives, beginning a sweet new chapter.

Fiona Simmons and Xavier Stanley were childhood sweethearts, but a devastating fire led Xavier to mistakenly believe that Fiona had intentionally refused to save him. Haunted by this grudge, He carried resentment toward her love throughout their three-year marriage.Deliberately picking fights, Xavier filed for divorce 100 times,and each time, Fiona swallowed her pride, pleading for forgiveness with undignified devotion. When Xavier filed for the 101st time and they walked out of the civil affairs office, his friends tripped Fiona and mocked her openly. Xavier watched coldly, ignored her injured knee, and left with his friend to attend a welcome party for Jenny Simmons. Heartbroken at last, Fiona decided to let go of their love forever and accepted a mysterious stranger's offer.

After experiencing a gruesome death in the blizzard apocalypse that had transpired in her previous life,Wendy Levine has been reborn to the timeframe that's set 30 days before the start of the apocalypse.But this plot is different from the usual ""superpower"" or ""possessing a spatial ability"" trope. The Levines have gotten reborn together, with the exception of Jenny Levine, the traitorous younger sister. Not to mention, they don't have any physics-defying abilities that can help them out.Armed with just the knowledge of their past lives, the Levines sell all of their assets decisively in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in cash. Then, they use the patriarch, Alex Levine's knowledge in engineering to build a top-tier apocalyptic bunker that obeys the laws of physics.

After experiencing a gruesome death in the blizzard apocalypse that had transpired in her previous life,Wendy Levine has been reborn to the timeframe that's set 30 days before the start of the apocalypse.But this plot is different from the usual ""superpower"" or ""possessing a spatial ability"" trope. The Levines have gotten reborn together, with the exception of Jenny Levine, the traitorous younger sister. Not to mention, they don't have any physics-defying abilities that can help them out.Armed with just the knowledge of their past lives, the Levines sell all of their assets decisively in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in cash. Then, they use the patriarch, Alex Levine's knowledge in engineering to build a top-tier apocalyptic bunker that obeys the laws of physics.

Colette appears to be a quiet, obedient woman. But secretly,she's Leader of the Night Phoenix, a martial arts master who punishes the wicked. When her ailing grandfather arranges a marriage before his death, she reluctantly agrees to ease his final wish. But her new husband, Marc Newton, turns out to be a cruel scoundrel. On their wedding night, he parties with his reckless friends. When Colette confronts them, they humiliate her and capture her loyal bodyguard Martin, who sacrifices himself to protect her. Enraged yet disciplined, Colette hunts them down one by one—bringing them to justice without crossing the law.

Fiona Simmons and Xavier Stanley were childhood sweethearts, but a devastating fire led Xavier to mistakenly believe that Fiona had intentionally refused to save him. Haunted by this grudge, He carried resentment toward her love throughout their three-year marriage.Deliberately picking fights, Xavier filed for divorce 100 times,and each time, Fiona swallowed her pride, pleading for forgiveness with undignified devotion. When Xavier filed for the 101st time and they walked out of the civil affairs office, his friends tripped Fiona and mocked her openly. Xavier watched coldly, ignored her injured knee, and left with his friend to attend a welcome party for Jenny Simmons. Heartbroken at last, Fiona decided to let go of their love forever and accepted a mysterious stranger's offer.