Courting Stage

My family is on the brink of bankruptcy, and I beg my fiancé to help us with emergency funding. He turns me down cold, then gets engaged to Nellie White without hesitation. Just when I'm out of options, my childhood friend shows up with an investment contract and a marriage proposal. I say yes without thinking twice. But even with his help, our company can't escape ruin. My father, unable to bear the blow, suffers a heart attack and dies. At the funeral, overwhelmed by grief, I faint. In my haze, I overhear a conversation between my childhood friend and his friend. "You've already crushed Talitha’s family. When are you going to take her uterus for Nellie?" "On the wedding day," he replies casually. "I'll stage an accident, then operate on her myself. Her uterus will be Nell's. I can't give Nell happiness in this life, so I'll give her a wedding gift. I hope it makes her happy." Turns out his so-called devotion was just so he could take my womb. Even his proposal to me was just a way to remove all obstacles for the woman he loved.

My fiance, Henry Gordon, was two hours late to our vows on our wedding day. Just as he was catching his breath and about to say ‘I do’, he received a call from his secretary, Yvonne Luther. After hanging up, he looked at me apologetically. “Honey, my useless team can’t handle the personnel appointment of the financial team on their own. They’re insisting that I head back! I’ll make it up to you with another wedding later on.” I told him that I understood though I felt disappointed, because he was at a critical stage in his career. However, the moment he left without hesitation, I tossed the ring on my finger into the venue’s flower bed and announced to everyone that the wedding was cancelled. I had to see for myself who would ask Henry, a mere minority shareholder, to make such a significant decision without consulting me, the chairperson. He did not know that just a few hours earlier, I had taken back the ‘gift’ I gave him and reclaimed my position as the company’s chairperson.

Damon Carrington is used to having his every desire fulfilled. But there's one thing he craves above all else… his little stepsister. Having her would be taboo, twisted and sick, which is exactly what makes it so utterly irresistible to Damon. Since her arrival, Lily Jensen's sweetness and innocence has captivated Damon. But he's not the only one affected. His brother, Aiden Carrington, wants Lily just as much. For a long time, they thought they could get whatever they wanted out of her. They played around with her as if she was a new toy for them to use and abuse. Then discard. But Lily is no longer the sweet girl she once was. Their corruption transformed her into a woman consumed by a desire for revenge. Now Lily is determined to destroy the Carrington brothers, just as hard as they destroyed her once. As the lines between love, lust, and vengeance blur, the stage is set for a twisted game of betrayal and desire where no one will emerge unscathed.

Since we have brought trophy to home I wanted to bring my everything to my home. I wanted us to change our relationship status from being dating to being married. I wanted us to be forever couple. Since our everything start from this very stage I want this stage to complete that everything. And I know you had the idea of me proposing you on the finale. So it's not fully surprising for you. I Chiean Hwa on my knees asked you to be my forever partner, the one with whom I want to share my happiness, my sorrows, and create the moments that's out of the world for me. Since you were the first and last one to knock on the door of my heart. Will you marry me? "proposed Chiean Hwa. The whole crowd were moved in tears by hearing the proposal. Because whatever Chiean Hwa just said can be felt by everyone. Anyone can see his feelings. As the crowd look at Yang Zishu for his answer. And even the fearless Chiean Hwa felt nervous when Yang Zishu didn't replied instantly. As Yang Zishu step back a little as he replied by looking at ground, "No! I won't marry you." A loud gasp could be heard in the stadium as everyone is shock and surprised to hear the answer of Yang Zishu. Everyone in the e sports field knew that Chiean Hwa and Yang Zishu are perfect for each other and everyone predicted that if one day any one of them proposes to another the answer will be instant yes. But the scenario has changed as Yang Zishu replied no and walked away from the stage leaving Chiean Hwa and everyone in confusion.

Vincenzo Moretti was Stonehaven’s youngest financial titan— a tech mogul commanding a multibillion-dollar empire, gracing the covers of business magazines as a modern legend. But only a select few knew the truth: he was also the ruthless Don controlling the East Coast mafia. To him, wealth and power were mere chips in a game. And I? I was just another pawn used to stabilize a fragile family alliance. In our ten-year marriage, he slept with my friends, my coworkers… every single person I once trusted. Then one morning, as I took our one-month-old baby for a routine checkup, Sienna Newton, his latest mistress, ran me down with her car. The baby screamed endlessly. I begged her to take us to the hospital, and when Vincenzo arrived, he looked at me with cold disdain. “Isabella,” he sneered, “when did you learn to stage accidents? “Even if you died here, I wouldn’t bat an eye.” Then he took Sienna’s hand and walked away without a backward glance. By the time I was rushed to the hospital, the child in my arms had suffocated. Upon hearing the news, my mother suffered a heart attack. She didn’t survive. I slipped into a coma for two days. When I finally woke up, I found out that Vincenzo never visited. Instead, his father, Renato Moretti, the true king of the Moretti empire, stood by my bedside. I looked at him calmly and said, “Let me go. Whatever I owed your family, I’ve repaid in full with two lives.” Later, that same Don who had once looked down on me knelt before me, begging me to come home. But I was no longer the woman who waited, silent and broken, for his change of heart. I was the Don’s wife who turned away and never looked back.

Humanity died, and she was the last of them. Zarah Winters was on the verge of death after killing the sixth prince of hell. The seventh prince, a cunning and deceitful individual, did not want her to die because it would deprive him of his source of entertainment — her. Verphegor, as the demon introduced himself, offered her a deal. He would send her back to the past, where she could keep all her memories of this time and use them to change the future. Zarah comes from a line of hunters. Hunters have a variety of abilities that aid them in combating demons. Zarah had no idea she had a talent in her past, which caused her to drop out of the academy. During the apocalypse, however, she discovers that she is a siphon, a person who steals the strength and abilities of demons in exchange for killing them. With that kind of power laying dormant and with growing potential, she agreed to gamble on the demon’s offer. But with Verphegor being a prince of Hell, can she really trust the prince? Moreover, upon learning of her powers at an early stage, can she use them for humanity’s advantage?

For five years, I quietly supported my boyfriend, helping him rise from a lawyer's assistant to a partner at a top-tier law firm. At the annual awards ceremony, I was thrilled, ready to celebrate publicly and surprise him. But then, he walked on stage with a female coworker, their behavior cozy and intimate. "Cade owes his success to my brilliant strategies behind the scenes," Caitlyn boasted. Cade smiled, echoing her words, "Absolutely, without Caitlyn, I wouldn't be where I am today." The audience erupted in applause, congratulating them. I stood at the back of the crowd, frozen. Leaving the venue, I called my assistant. "Cut off all networking support for Cade Gilliam. End all cooperation. That shady case he took on? Stop smoothing things over. Let him face the consequences."

In my ninth year of being with Tyler Freeman, he flaunts his relationships with other women while I'm only allowed to come and go from his bedroom. He doesn't acknowledge me as his girlfriend, yet he allows his friends to address me as such. I have a name but not an identity. His friends are bored during a private party and want me to perform a strip dance on stage to liven things up. I expect Tyler to at least turn them down on my behalf, but all he does is sip his wine and say, "Go on. You're the owner of this place, aren't you? Aren't clubs supposed to satisfy their patrons' needs? Don't let my friends down!" I look at him emotionlessly. I don't cry or throw a fuss. Instead, I splash a glass of liquor in his face. The following day, I trash the club. Three months later, Tyler finally thinks of calling me. "Where are you? Aren't you gonna get the hell back here? Do you really expect me to beg you to come back? Do you think you're worthy of that?" I pull my newlywed husband to the camera. "Sorry, Mr. Freeman. I'm getting married. You don't need to come, but do get me a wedding gift." Unexpectedly, he threatens to show my husband intimate videos of me when he sees me in a wedding gown.

Fedora Smith was done with love. Finished. Buried. Betrayal had ripped out her heart and torched it—her boyfriend of four years and her best friend of twenty-five caught pants down on the very anniversary sheets she gifted him. And their excuses? “You’re not attractive anymore.” “You took too long to marry him.” Fine. If love was a game, she was rewriting the rules. Now, she runs The Bridal Fix, an elite agency providing fake marriages for a steep price—rent-a-bride services for men needing to fool their families, secure an inheritance, or stage the perfect breakup. Fifteen weddings, fifteen divorces—no strings, no mess. Just business. Until Judah Carlstone. He hires her like the rest—one contract, one wedding, one payday. But Judah asks too many questions. Looks at her too long. And when he smirks and says— "Tell me, Fedora… how does it feel to say ‘I do’ and not mean it?" For the first time in years, she has no answer. Because this was never supposed to feel real.

He should have been satisfied. Lucas had dismantled the Montage Empire, reduced its legacy to ash. Arabella Montage had nothing left: no power, no family, no future. Just her name and a heartbeat he hadn’t yet taken. But when he saw her on that auction stage, trembling under harsh lights, something inside him shifted. She was being sold like livestock. A girl once untouchable, now displayed for the highest bidder. He was the architect of her ruin. And still... he bought her. She was the last remaining piece of the empire he had destroyed. And he needed to possess it. To possess her. To own the symbol of everything he had conquered. To fill the aching void that victory hadn't satisfied. She used to be a free bird. Until he clipped her wings. Now, he would remake her. Mold her. Give her purpose again, just so he could tear it all away. Break her. Destroy her, all over again. He didn’t want her dead. Anything was acceptable, as long as her heart kept beating. To her, he’s just another powerful man playing God. But one thing becomes terrifyingly clear: Lucas will keep her heart beating, just so he can be the one to crush it. Again and again