From Substitute To Queen

She was nothing but a pawn in a wealthy marriage, trampled under the cold indifference of her husband and the shadow of his beloved white moonlight. Silent and subdued, she hid her brilliance and endured every humiliation—until the day she revealed her secret identity, unleashing the power of the “Starlight Group” to turn the business world upside down. From a discarded substitute to a queen who commands the board, she tears apart the lies and reclaims her dignity, step by step. And when the man who once scorned her is filled with regret and desperate to win her back, she is no longer the pawn he thought he could control. —She is the Queen.

After five years of simping over Hayden Reid, a car accident wiped Lena Dawson's memory clean. To humiliate her, Hayden handed her a photo of his uncle and said, "That's your boyfriend. Go after him." Then, she pursued Hunter Reid, the elite who became wheelchair-bound because of her. Everyone expected him to ruin her, but instead, Lena became Mrs. Reid, radiant and untouchable. Hayden regretted it and wanted her back, but she had already moved on...

Jane Foster's twin sister was defiled and died before her wedding. Amidst her family's crisis, Jane was called to shed her armor and marry in her sister's place, thus becoming the country's queen. The tyrant king's first love was long dead. All the concubines in the harem were merely inferior distractions. The only person he adored was the royal concubine, Lady Helena, who resembled his first love the most. Meanwhile, Jane was nothing like his first love. Everyone thought the tyrant king would get sick of her and have her dethroned sooner or later. As expected, the king and the queen were on the verge of a divorce. However, instead of the queen being on the receiving end of the divorce, it was the king. That very night, the tyrant king tugged at the hem of Jane's dress. "You can leave, but only over my dead body!" The concubines were crying their eyes out while they stopped the tyrant king and called out to Jane, "Your Majesty, please don't leave us. If you must leave, take us with you!"

On our fifth anniversary, Alpha Liam gave me nothing more than a simple pack mark of protection. That same night, he held a bonding ceremony with his first love, the she-wolf Seraphina. I refused to accept it. He accused me of being irrational. “My bonding with Seraphina is for the future of the pack, not because I still have feelings for her.” “You’re only human. Shouldn’t my pack’s mark be enough? This was your final test, Elena, and you’ve failed.” I walked away. And he turned around and proposed to Seraphina. Five years later, we met again at an exclusive hotel designated by the Alpha Council. His pack was on the verge of becoming a major power, and he had Seraphina, draped in a moonlight silk gown, on his arm. When he saw me, covered in sand and standing ankle-deep in the hotel’s ornamental fountain, he frowned. “Elena,” he scoffed. “You looked down on my protection back then. Look at you now. I bet you can’t find a single pack in this city willing to take in a human.” “And don’t think this pathetic display will make me take you back.” I ignored him. My cub’s treasured moonstone, a gift he’d found while combing the beach, had slipped into the fountain. The little guy was beside himself, and I had to find his precious amulet.

*You love me? No… you can’t love a maid—a daughter of a prostitute, a one-night mistake like me. We’re not from the same world. We can never be together. It’s a dream that won’t come true.* *Lily, that doesn’t matter. I don’t care where you’re from or what your past is. I love you—and that’s the only truth that matters.* Lily has always known her place—silent, invisible, and unworthy of love, especially from someone like Sebastian Kingsley, heir to a billion-dollar empire. Her life has been shadowed by the shame of her past—being the daughter of a high-class prostitute and born from a one-night mistake. Desperate for income as her mother’s illness worsens, Lily takes a job as a maid in the Kingsley mansion. She never expected to steal the heart of the city’s most powerful billionaire. But Sebastian, weighed down by family expectations and haunted by addiction and sleepless nights, sees something in her that no one else does—peace. Hope. To the world, Sebastian has everything. But behind the wealth and status is a man slowly breaking. Only Lily sees the truth behind the mask. Their love is passionate… but forbidden. Sebastian is already engaged—to Lily’s sister. The woman society believes is perfect for him. Lily is just a maid—powerless and easily disposable. She wants to run, to protect herself from the heartbreak she knows is coming. But how do you walk away from the only person who’s ever made you feel truly alive? Can their love survive the storm of betrayal, societal expectations, and painful truths? Or will duty and deception tear them apart ? In a world ruled by power, status, and secrets, Sebastian and Lily fight for a love that was never meant to be.

"You're so cheap. And you don't even have a basic sense of shame." "I am not cheap at all. You are my first man. But for her, you aren't." He cupped my neck with his hand directly and asked word by word, "What did you say?" I reached out and pinched his waist gently with my fingers, pretending to be cynical. Then I added, "And I'm clean. I don't have any other man but you. You can enjoy me as much as you want." *********************** Every woman was looking forward to marrying her beloved man. So was I. I married Patrick Cowell, the man who I had a crush on for twelve years, in the name of my sister. My sister Caroline and I were twins, but she grew up in a rich and noble family while I grew up in an orphanage. She begged me to marry Patrick as her substitute because she didn't want to marry him. I agreed sweetly. Patrick was the only heir of the richest family in this city. Handsome, rich, and powerful. However, I didn't expect that he treated me cruelly in bed as if I was his enemy. Because he knew I was not his bride? Oh no!!!

Since I was a kid, my parents drilled it in—you're gonna be a Corleone girl, Giovanni Corleone's property. "This is just an alliance. Don't expect anything more." That's what he said on our wedding night. So I played the part—quiet, polished, dutiful. Then year three hit, and suddenly Giovanni couldn't keep his hands off me. Every night, something new. I thought maybe—finally—he felt the same way I had all along. Then I caught him kissing his stepmom. Funny. Just the night before, he told me kissing me made him sick. "I've been practicing with her—for your sake." So yeah. All that heat? Just rehearsal for her. So I ran. Took back my life—and our unborn daughter. The Don lost his mind looking for me. Begged me to come back—with the kid. But I would not stop for him anymore. I turned and walked straight toward the stage that was always mine.

I waited eight years. The day I was supposed to become Luna, my fated mate, Alpha Cayden, rejected me in front of the entire pack. Because I was barren. He severed our mate bond and kissed my omega assistant, Lilith. Turns out, they had already mated. The bitch was pregnant with his child. Rage consumed me. I was ready to leave it all behind, but his mother threw me in a silver cell. He planned to strip me of my wolf and my gift—and give my powers to his new Luna, Lilith. Broken, I fled, only to be attacked by rogues and left for dead in a pool of my own blood. When I woke again, I was in a strange place. My memory was wiped clean. Alpha Rhys of the Shadowcrest Pack was by my side, promising to take care of me. And me, the barren wolf, I was pregnant… But I can no longer remember who the child's father was.

It only took a moment to burn everything down. For five years, Isla Merrick played the part—soft-spoken wife, graceful hostess, quiet shadow to Callum Braxton’s powerful presence. She became what the world expected: dutiful, polished, harmless. Then came his cold declaration: “Let’s get divorced.” No emotion. No explanation. Just a clean cut—like a business deal. But Callum never knew she had been waiting for that moment. Planning for it. Beneath the composed surface, Isla had been sharpening the edges he once dulled. Because Isla Merrick had a past—and it wasn’t the scandal the tabloids spun. It was deeper. Sharper. Before she was Mrs. Braxton, she trained at Summerdell—an elite, off-the-record martial arts academy. Whispers of crime and prison blurred the truth, but Isla stayed silent. She had bigger plans. Three years later, she returns—not to reconcile, but to reintroduce herself. Isla Merrick now runs a luxury fashion empire, famous for turning scandal into power. And when she steps into the country’s most elite gala, draped in elegance and authority, Callum barely recognizes her. But she recognizes him. Before he can speak, a figure joins her—Dorian Kane. Ruthless investor. Public obsession. His hand rests on Isla’s waist like it belongs there. “Just so we’re clear, Braxton,” Dorian says coolly. “She’s not yours. Not anymore.” For Callum, it’s the beginning of a reckoning. For Isla, it’s the first breath of freedom. She isn’t the woman who once begged to be loved. She’s the woman who knows she never needed to be. And this time, she’s not just rewriting the story—she’s owning the ending.

“He made her his bride to break her… but underestimated the fire he’d ignite.” Elena Romano was never meant to rule. Promised in marriage to the ruthless Luca Valenti, she was nothing more than a bargaining chip in a deadly alliance between rival mafia dynasties. But the night her brother is murdered, and secrets buried in blood rise to the surface, Elena begins to see the truth—she’s not a pawn. She’s a ticking time bomb. Now trapped in a mansion of marble and shadows, bound to a man who wears cruelty like a crown, Elena must play the obedient bride while plotting her revenge in silence. But Luca Valenti is more than a monster—he’s dangerous, brilliant, and utterly intoxicating. And falling for him may be her greatest betrayal yet. Betrayal. Power. Obsession. When a pawn learns to play the game, even kings fall.