How Does 'By Any Other Name' End?

On the day Winter Everhart suffers a miscarriage, her husband, Joshua Stroud, and their son, Terence, are out with his beloved Jessica Lynch. They watch the very performance Winter has always loved. "You're just so unreasonable. What's the point of all this?" "Dad, can you get me a new mom? She's so annoying!" On Winter's birthday, she returns from the hospital only to find Joshua celebrating Jessica's instead. Even Terence, the child she nearly gave her life to bring into the world, pledges to protect the woman who has stolen everything from her. Tears glisten in Winter's eyes as she smiles. Then, with quiet resolve, she walks away from the cage of a marriage that has bound her for five years. Joshua and Terence believe she won't survive without the Stroud family. What they don't expect is that she rises so high that they can no longer reach her. "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud's car design is now number one nationwide—Stroud Group has been completely outshone!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has just won the World Championship in Artificial Intelligence Design!" "Mr. Stroud! Mrs. Stroud has been invited by a foreign president to attend a state banquet!" Regret tears Joshua apart. Dragging Terence with him, he kneels before Winter and pleads, "Honey, please give me another chance! If being your servant is what it takes, I'll do it!" But just beyond the door, a strikingly handsome man kneels on one knee, a leather collar fastened around his neck. Twining a diamond leash around Winter's palm, he vows with his gaze burning with feverish devotion, "My master, from this moment on, I bow to no one but you. Please, take me in."

He stole my name. Then he tried to steal my life. But he’ll never steal my heart will he?” When August Hale, a quiet literature student with a past he tries to forget, transfers to a prestigious university under a scholarship, all he wants is to stay invisible, graduate, and move on. But his plan falls apart the moment he discovers another student on campus using his exact full name. Same name. Same birthday. Same hometown. But this August Hale is wealthy, charming, and cruel and he already knows too much. At first, August thinks it’s a prank. A coincidence. Until he starts losing things His place in classes His reputation His identity The fake August Hale, whose real name is Sebastian Wolfe, is playing a dangerous game. And when he sets his sights on the real August, obsession begins to blur the line between identity theft and romantic fixation. August wants answers. Sebastian wants August. But as August begins to dig into Sebastian’s past, he unearths something much darker than he expected a twisted reason why Sebastian chose him and why he can’t let him go.

For five years, Seraphina Rowe believed love was enough. She gave up everything to become Ethan Rowe’s wife, endured a mother-in-law and sister-in-law who treated her like a maid, and quietly stood behind Ethan as he turned a struggling start-up into a successful company. What none of them knew was that Seraphina was never the poor working student Ethan met in college. She was Seraphina Vale—the hidden heiress of one of Bellmont City’s most powerful families. And many of the doors Ethan believed he had opened himself were quietly unlocked by his wife. Then Ethan’s childhood sweetheart returned. Camille had once abandoned him for a wealthy older man. Now dumped and desperate, she came back after discovering that the poor boy she left behind had become rich and successful. She became Ethan’s secretary. On Seraphina and Ethan’s fifth wedding anniversary, he claimed he had an important business meeting. Seraphina waited for him alone, unaware that her husband was celebrating Camille’s birthday instead. Days later, Seraphina walked into Ethan’s office and learned the truth: the affair, Camille’s pregnancy, and Ethan’s plan to divorce her after signing the biggest contract of his career. There was just one problem. That contract belonged to the Vale family. Ethan was ready to throw away his wife. He had no idea she was about to take back her name.

On the day of my wedding, my fiance suddenly announced that he had already registered his marriage with my sister. The system declared my mission a failure and sentenced me to be erased in a car crash. Just as despair closed in, Wayne Kinsey threw himself in front of me to save my life—and lost the use of his legs because of it. Later, I was given another chance to choose a new target, and I accepted his proposal. But five years into our marriage, I overheard a conversation between him and a friend. "Wayne, your crush already has a husband and children. Your legs are healed too. Aren't you going to come clean with Arden?" "No. Arden will always be a risk. Only if she keeps feeling guilty will she stay away and let Naomi have her happiness." As his familiar but cold voice echoed in my ears, my tears fell like beads of a broken string, and that was when I finally realized the so-called salvation Wayne had given me had been nothing but a lie through and through. In that case, there was no reason for me to keep holding on to this sham of a marriage.

On the day I was cleared for depression, Olivia Jones spoke up out of nowhere as she drove. "I have another family out there." The words hit without warning. My head rang. She kept her eyes on the road and went on, almost like she was talking to herself. "All these years, you were spiraling, talking about dying every day. I was just as miserable. Now you're better, and the baby's here. It's time I make things right with my real husband and child." It took me a long moment to find my voice. When it came out, it shook. "Then what are we, me and the kid? Just placeholders?" She didn't deny it right away. After a pause, she said, calm and steady, "Call it whatever you want. You won't leave anyway. Not with the kid, right?" The warmth drained out of my body. I had been holding it together for show. At once, it all broke.

When the marriage contract was placed in front of me, I only took a moment to read the terms, but Lucien Moretti urged me three times to sign. He was in a hurry, after all. His precious savior, Isabella, was waiting for him to take her to her favorite opera. So I picked up the pen, but I did not sign my name. I copied Isabella’s handwriting and wrote hers instead. In my last life, I had signed that contract with a heart full of hope. I thought becoming Lucien’s wife meant I would finally stand beside him as the Donna of the Moretti family. Instead, he kept me hidden after the wedding. At every public event, Isabella was the woman on his arm. Every matter that should have required the Donna’s approval went through her first. I told myself I was not strong enough yet. I swallowed every insult and was forced to give up everything that should have been mine. Until the night gunmen broke into the Moretti estate, and Lucien chose her again. He carried Isabella out in his arms while I bled out behind him. Then I opened my eyes and found myself back before the wedding contract was sealed. This time, I gave Isabella the Donna’s necklace. I gave her the wedding dress. I even signed her name on the contract meant for me. I gave up my name, and I gave him up with it.