A Deep Blue Stone Atop A Dais

At my 25th birthday party, my childhood sweetheart got down on one knee, holding a diamond ring. "Diane, will you marry me?" I nodded, my eyes misty with tears, but just as I reached out, he slipped the ring onto my best friend's finger instead. The room went silent for a beat before erupting in laughter. "Just kidding!" Livio Becker laughed. "You didn't take it seriously, did you?" I forced a smile and looked over his shoulder at someone. "I bet he would propose tonight, and I was right. You lost the bet, so tomorrow we're getting married for real."

It's a story of a 25 years old lady, Anjana who got married to a family where she has to face several ups and downs. She is a bit anguished, but, still manage to find happiness in a tough situation. The demand of dowry from her in-laws at the last moment left her with no option to accept or reject the proposal. She was completely clueless when her parents received a call from her to be in-laws just a day before the marriage to come up and deliver the hefty amount asap or else the groom won't visit the bride's place for marriage. Will Anjana be happy to her in-law's place after fulfilling the demand of those greedy family or she will still continue to suffer?

By the time I return home from a business trip, it is past midnight. However, my wife, Celeste Beaumont, isn't home. A man's shirt that isn't mine is lying on the couch. When I call her, she tells me that she's working late at the office. "Whose shirt is it on the couch?" I ask, cutting straight to the point. She playfully scolds, "Who else would it be? It's a gift for you, so hurry up and try it on." I skeptically put it on and immediately feel how tight and uncomfortable it is across my shoulders. "This is an L, babe. I've always worn XL." Celeste runs a clothing company. She's the one who handles all my clothes and even uses my body measurements for her menswear line. There's no way she doesn't know my size. The line goes quiet for half a second before she thoughtfully says, "It's from my new menswear collection. "I had pieces custom-made for you and Felix, so I must've grabbed the wrong piece. I'll swap it tomorrow." A beat later, her voice carries a little sob as she continues, "Babe, I've been so exhausted without you these past few days. I've missed you so much…" It's past midnight. As I listen to the undeniable weariness beneath her affectionate, playful words, my heart aches in distress. I can't help chiding myself for overthinking. However, after hanging up, realization hits me. Her brother, Felix Beaumont, and I are about the same build. He's always worn XL.

She was a prostitute, she needed money, and she had to be a substitute to get the money she needed. But, why should she become a substitute for someone else who ran away from her fate? Why should she marry a man she didn't love? Her mother prayed that she would find a man who loved her and give her happiness, but she ended up marrying a man who only knew to torture her and gave her sadness. After all, that was the price she should pay for her mother's life.

Chloe finds out she has been betrothed to the eldest son of the Benjamin’s family, a very influential family in America since she was a child, and it made her extremely angry. She has always been an obedient and dutiful daughter who always put her parents’ wishes before hers since she could remember, and feeling rebellious in her own way, she decides to do something for herself for once. And so, Chloe ends up in a club, which led to her having a one night stand with a hot, dark stranger. Chloe was happy to pretend that night never happened, if she hadn’t realized she was pregnant – a week to the date of her scheduled wedding. Nothing was more shocking for Chloe when fate leads her to her dark stranger once again, and he turns out to be the younger brother of whom she was supposed to be getting married to. That leads to Chloe being forced into a marriage with the father of her child, Nathan– who detests the thought of marriage to begin with. Would the contract marriage and a baby be enough to hold them together?

The day I find out I only have three days left to live, my mate comes home with a mate termination contract. He wants to break up with me and form a new bond with another she-wolf who's pretending to be dying—just to fulfill her so-called final wish. "Sweetheart, I don't have a choice," Caleb Lowe says, holding me in his arms. "Ruby's been poisoned with silver. She's got about a week left. Her dying wish is to marry me. But don't worry. You're the only one I love," he adds, looking at me with those sincere eyes. "Once the bonding ceremony is over and she's gone, we'll get back together—just like before." I look down and give a small laugh, then sign the termination contract. Forget it. I'm dying anyway. Who he ends up with doesn't matter anymore. I might as well let him have what he wants.

After coming home from buying fresh produce at the farmer's market, I began prepping the ingredients and making lunch. As soon as I was done with my tasks, my husband, Jeremy Tate, came home. "A pipe in Chloe's home has burst. Hurry up and help her out. It's difficult enough for a single mother like her to handle such problems." I took off my apron and went to Chloe's place to unclog her pipes. Then, I mopped up the stagnant water before proceeding to comfort her frightened child. Once I finally dragged my exhausted body home, I saw Jeremy handing over my daughter's sweater to Chloe. "Don't stress yourself out, Chloe. It's not like Eliza can still wear this anyway. This sweater is perfect for Lily." As I stared at the sweater, I suddenly spoke up. "Let's get a divorce, Jeremy." He looked at me in disbelief. "You want a divorce over an old sweater?" "Yeah. Precisely."

At nineteen, what does a girl expect? A supportive family, a lively college life, and moments of joy. But none of that happened to Edith. She was forced into a marriage with a man she had barely met once. The struggle was no longer just the marriage—it was the life trapped within it. Her husband did not love her. Her mother-in-law tried everything to get rid of her. And then came the worst of all—her husband slept with another woman. When Edith found out, she tried to divorce him, only to discover that she was pregnant. ★☆☆☆☆ “You slept with another woman… so I slept with another man. That makes us equal,” Edith hissed. “Mind your tongue, woman. You are my wife,” he snapped. “Don’t make me do something you’ll regret. If you tell anyone, I’ll bring disaster to your family. And maybe I’ll chain you to this bed and fuck you day and night.” “You dare, Mr. Anderson!”

Betrayed. Abandoned. And Avenged with Triumph. When I married Damian Carter, I believed in forever. In loyalty. In love that withstands time, success, and hardship. I was the woman who stood beside him when he was nothing, who helped him build his empire, who sacrificed everything so he could become the man he always wanted to be. And when he finally got there—when he was rich, powerful, untouchable—he threw me away like last night’s mistake. He didn’t just cheat. He rewrote our story, twisting the truth until I was nothing more than a pathetic, useless wife clinging to his fortune. The world believed him. My own family doubted me. I lost everything. But they were all wrong about me. I didn’t break. I didn’t shatter. I rebuilt. With the help of a man who saw me for who I really was, I built my own empire. I exposed Damian’s secrets, stripped away his power, and took back everything they said I never could. And when he came crawling back, whispering apologies, asking for another chance—his voice trembling with regret—I simply smiled. Because I wasn’t that woman anymore. And more than that, I had finally found a man who never needed to lose me to understand my worth.

In the bustling city of New York, Mary Jane Carter lives in a rundown apartment with her mother, Lynn Carter. She works a thousand different jobs just to make ends meet but her major job is a daytime job as a barrister in the biggest café in town- la petite bean. She works very diligently, not paying much attention to the fun of life and the people around her. Ever since her father died life has been hard for both herself and her mother, she vowed to make things better for her mother and she works everyday towards achieving that goal. Ethan Cogsworth on the other hand is a rich CEO born into the wealth of Cogsworth enterprises. Although he tends to be rather introvertive, he used to have a lively frivolous past. By fate or coincidence, his path crosses with Mary Jane’s when he comes to have coffee at the café she works with his best friend Clifford Mann. She catches his eye and he begins to chase after her in hopes of winning her heart. It takes a while but Mary Jane eventually decides to give him a chance. Their seemingly perfect love story is put to the test when she finds out about Ethan’s dreadful past. Can they overcome the wrongs and learn to love each other through their hurt? Or will the truth Mary Jane learns of be the end of their relationship as well as Ethan Cogsworth entire career?....