Recovery From Narcissistic Abuse Gaslighting Codependency And Complex

Iris Glover and Stanley Stein shared seven years together—three of dating and four of marriage. Their relationship unraveled when Stanley chose to believe the homewrecker and prosecuted Iris in court himself. The question, "Do you plead guilty?" shattered Iris' heart. She fought fiercely in court, proved her innocence, and exposed the homewrecker's true nature. Upon her acquittal, she told Stanley, "Let's get a divorce." He replied, "Don't you regret it, Iris," believing she was merely throwing a tantrum. When they crossed paths again, Stanley asked, "Have you come to reconcile?" Iris retorted, "Being so delusional is an illness; seek help." Every time she got mad, she always went back to him once she calmed down, but not this time. It wasn't until Iris emerged as a successful lawyer standing opposite him in court that Stanley realized she had changed; she no longer belonged to him. In a moment of desperation, he pleaded, "Iris, I still love you. Please come back to me." Iris, now strong and resolute, replied, "The reason I improved myself is thanks to you, not for you. Mr. Stein, please step aside; don't stand in my way."

I was his wife. His obligation. His biggest mistake. For three years, I stayed silent, watching Liam love another woman while I wasted away beside him. But when he let our baby die without lifting a finger, everything inside me shattered. I walked away—but not to disappear. I walked into a new life. One where I’d find strength, answers… and someone who’d remind me what it feels like to be seen. But the past isn’t done with me. And neither is Liam. Because what ties us together runs deeper than we ever knew. And the man I’m beginning to fall for? He might be the one thing that unravels it all. A heartbreak billionaire romance about betrayal, identity, and a love buried in the ashes of the past.

I have been a keeper of many secrets since I was old enough to know what secrets were. No one knows the truth or the real me. No one knows about the abuse I suffer from my father behind closed doors. No one knows about the cuts and scars I hide from the world. To the outside world, I am your average teenager, but the truth is, I am a broken girl with no one to love her, to see the real sadness in my eyes. I keep it to myself because I want to. It is things I have hidden for years, and no one seems to notice. Until him, Ryland. The new boy in the town. The stranger who sees right through me from the second we meet. We are drawn to one another like a moth to the flame. The more I get to know him, the more I see I am not the only one fighting demons. To start with, he is a pain in my ass, but every day we grow closer, and we become what the other needs. A bond develops between us, one that becomes unbreakable. Neither of us realised that when two broken souls come together, it would be exactly what we needed to help one another heal. He shows me love, something I haven’t had since I lost my mother. I soon learn that just because you are broken doesn’t mean it needs to stay that way. Your past doesn’t need to define you. Possible Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse (It does happen, not often and not in too much detail). Rape, suicide, and self-harm are also mentioned. It doesn’t happen in the book, but it's discussed.

“Five years of silence, and you think you can just waltz back into my life?” I spat at him. For five years, I was the obedient wife. I owed him my life after he pulled me from a fatal car crash that erased my past, so I accepted his coldness. I accepted that his attention, his warmth, and his loyalty belonged entirely to his stepsister. I even accepted it when he demanded I donate my kidney to save her. I told myself the pain was just the price of gratitude. But on the operating table, the illusion shattered. The trauma unlocked my missing memories, revealing a truth I was never meant to know: I wasn't a nobody. I was the hidden heiress to his greatest rival,and my husband had buried the truth to protect the uncle who orchestrated my accident. I signed the divorce papers the moment I woke up, walked out of the hospital, and vanished. Two years later, I have returned. No longer the amnesiac girl he controlled, I built my own empire in the shadows and walked straight back into his corporate world to finish what was started. But Raphael is waiting. He never signed the divorce papers. He still calls me his wife. Now, he's offering a dangerous ultimatum: listen to the devastating truth about my mother and his five years of lies, or walk away forever. I just have to decide if the man I hate is the only one who can help me win the war that's coming.

On the day Clara forced me to sign the divorce papers, I got bound to a self-sabotaging system. The system commanded me to slap her hard and tell her to get lost. I trembled in fear because Clara was a ruthless person. If I dared to stop her from getting back together with the love of her life, she would utterly destroy me. But the system threatened me: "If you don't self-sabotage, you will die soon." Left with no choice, I slapped her. As soon as I hit her, I ran out of the house, terrified. The system then told me to smash a police car on the side of the road. I suspected the system wanted me dead. However, after I smashed the police car's side view mirror, I realized that the system was trying to sabotage someone else's life instead.

I thought I had finally escaped. Walking away from my toxic marriage should have been the end of my suffering. Instead, it was only the beginning. Betrayed by my husband, deceived by my best friend, and used by my own mother—I was nothing more than a pawn in their game. But when the truth about my family’s legacy came to light, I seized the chance to take back control. With Justin, a man whose intentions I still can’t fully trust, I begin rebuilding my life. But just when I think I’m free, the threats start. Bloodstained baby clothes. Anonymous messages. A shadow that refuses to let me go. And when we finally uncover the person behind it all, the truth is far more horrifying than I ever imagined. Because some betrayals cut deeper than others. And some ghosts refuse to stay buried.