Gwen Counter

I get picked up by the cops in the middle of the night for street vending. While questioning me, they pull up my file. One officer eyes me suspiciously through my mask and asks, "What's a Clairefield University graduate like you doing selling stuff on the street at midnight?" I freeze and lean over to look at the file. The ID number matches mine, but the photo has been replaced with one of Madison Bass. That's when it hits me—20 years ago, I was the one who got accepted to Clairefield University! Dazed and numb, I stumble home only to hear my husband, Joseph Gunther, speaking on the phone. "Madison, don't worry. I won't let Lucy interfere with your life. Just go abroad in peace." It's him! Joseph helped Madison steal my identity and my future. My stomach twists. I turn to confront him, to expose the truth. But before I can, he strangles me to death with a belt. "I'm sorry, Lucy. You can't ruin Madison's future…" When I open my eyes again, I'm back in the classroom. Our homeroom teacher is handing out university application forms. This time, I'm taking my life back.

Ivana Florentina harus merasakan patah hati ketika Gwen—cinta pertama suaminya kembali. Pernikahan yang sudah berjalan lima tahun benar-benar seperti tidak ada artinya di mata Arga. Pria yang selalu bersikap dingin itu mulai mencair dan selalu memperlakukan Gwen dengan baik. Bahkan di depan Ivana sendiri, Arga tidak segan-segan memanjakannya. Sedih, patah hati dan kecewa. Ivana memilih untuk melarikan diri. Dia benar-benar melepaskan Arga sepenuhnya setelah perjuangannya untuk mempertahankan pria itu. Tapi, siapa sangka, ada hal yang tidak diketahuinya. Rahasia besar yang disembunyikan Gwen dan juga Arga. Keputusan apa yang akan diambil Ivana setelah mendengarnya? Apakah dia akan kembali pada Arga atau tetap menjauh dan membiarkan semua berjalan seperti keinginan sang suami?

For five long years, Gwen believed she was living a life of love, marriage, and family. But her reality was a carefully constructed lie, manipulated by a cruel narcissist and a vengeful enemy. Forced to embrace false memories, she married Mason Burkely, a man whose obsession and violence left her bruised, both in body and soul. Even her daughter, Kayla, suffered at the hands of the very man she was supposed to call “dad.” When Adrian Salvador, the love Gwen thought she had lost forever, reenters her life, the truth begins to surface. With the help of the wise and enigmatic Doctor Liang, Gwen starts reclaiming memories stolen from her, uncovering the horrors she endured and the manipulations that defined her supposed life. But remembering comes at a cost. Gwen is haunted by betrayal, abuse, and the knowledge of the child she carried and lost because of Mason. As darkness and fear threaten to consume her, she must confront her trauma, face her abuser, and navigate the complex emotions of love, trust, and desire, especially with the man who truly belongs in her heart. A Kiss For Every Bruise is a story of survival, resilience, and reclamation. A journey through pain, lies, and heartbreak toward healing, justice, and the rediscovery of love that was never truly lost.

I used to work as a model, but not the typical kind. In our profession, everyone had a benefactor, someone who supported them financially. I dedicated myself to my benefactor for a year and a half, tending to his needs diligently. Despite my dedication, I was eventually abandoned. Just when I gathered my courage and decided to start afresh, he showed up again, "Do you want to date me? Officially."

I was ready to leave the Vampire Academy's main campus with Liam, my childhood sweetheart. All because he told me he was being bullied. He was the unrecognized bastard of the Vance clan. Born with a fraction of the power we pure-bloods commanded. So I promised him. I would go with him to Duskfall Academy. A campus that didn't care about bloodlines or power. A place where he could finally belong. But the night before we were supposed to seal the transfer scrolls with our blood signets, he betrayed me. I heard his friend's sneering voice. "You drank beast blood and faked the whole abuse act just to dump Isabella Thorne? Damn, Liam. That's cold-blooded." Liam just shrugged. "I'm sick of her pure-blood, high-and-mighty attitude. And this is cleaner than having her clinging to me forever." My world shattered. I turned and walked away. On the ancient transfer scroll, I took my dagger and slashed through the name of Duskfall Academy. Then I wrote the name my family always intended for me: Crimson Fortress Academy, in the Evernight. It seemed everyone had forgotten. Even as fated blood-bond mates, I, Isabella Thorne, am the sole pure-blood heir to the Thorne clan. Once I sever our ties, he can crawl back to me on his knees, and I wouldn't let him have a single drop of my blood. He'll be nothing.

At nine months pregnant, I was in the final stretch of my term, and my body heavy with a baby due any day. But my husband, Vito Falcone, underboss of the family, had locked me away. He held me in a sterile underground medical room and injected me with a labor suppressant. As I screamed in agony, he coldly told me to endure it. Because his brother's widow, Scarlett, was expected to go into labor at the exact same time. A blood oath he'd made with his late brother declared that the firstborn son would inherit the family's lucrative West Coast territory. "That inheritance belongs to Scarlett's child," he said. "With Daemon gone, she is utterly alone and destitute. You have my love, Alessia. All of it. I just need her to deliver safely. Then it's your turn." The drug was a constant, agonizing torment. I begged him to take me to a hospital. He grabbed me by the throat, forcing me to meet his icy gaze. "Stop the act! I know you're fine. You’re just trying to steal the inheritance." "To get ahead of Scarlett, you'll stop at nothing." My face was ashen. My body convulsed as I managed a desperate whisper. "The baby's coming. I don't care about the inheritance. I just love you, and I want our child to be born safely!" He sneered. "If you were really that innocent, if you had an ounce of love for me, you wouldn't have forced Scarlett to sign that prenup, waiving her child's inheritance rights." "Don't worry, I'll be back for you after she's given birth. you're carrying my own flesh and blood, after all." He kept a vigil outside Scarlett's delivery room all night. It was only after seeing the newborn in her arms that he remembered me. He finally sent his second in command, Marco, to release me. But when Marco finally called, his voice was shaking. "Boss... the missus and the baby... they're gone." In that moment, Vito Falcone shattered.

They caught my fiancé with my sister on the night of our engagement party. Tangled in a private wine cellar. My family name was dragged through the mud. We became the laughingstock of the Chicago Outfit. Then came Don Lorenzo Falcone. He proposed in front of all the Families, saving my honor and forging a more powerful alliance. For four years, he put me on a pedestal. But an old injury left him unable to father an heir. This year, through the family’s private doctor, I finally got pregnant. After that, his devotion became absolute. I thought this powerful man was my savior. My only protector. Until I heard him talking to his right-hand man. “Boss, Arabella worships you. How could you do it? You had the doctor switch the vials, made Arabella the surrogate for the Moretti heir. Just 'cause Isabella couldn't handle the pain? The kid’s due in two months. What’s the plan?” He was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was ice. “When the child is born, it goes to Isabella. It's the only thing that guarantees her future with the Morettis.” “And Arabella?” “I’ll tell her the baby didn’t make it.” “She’ll still be Mrs. Falcone. She’ll have everything she could ever want.” So that was it. My great protector. All of it… for another woman. This tainted bloodline? I don’t want it in me. And this sham of a marriage? I’m done.

No one knew that I was the Thorn pack’s head Alpha’s soulmate. He and Carol, who had been best friends since they were kids, were very close. Everyone in the pack thought they were soulmates while I was just a mistress threatening their bond. To protect Carol’s reputation, Barnett lied to the pack, claiming Carol was carrying his pup. This made our child illegitimate. When I confronted him in pain, demanding why, he explained, “Carol is known for her gentle and quiet nature. If our packmates knew she was pregnant without a mate, they would shame her. She's too fragile to go through all this.” For the first time, I looked at the man I thought was my mate and questioned if the Moon Goddess had made a mistake. Later on, while Barnett was away gathering herbs for Carol, the elders forced me to terminate my pregnancy, branding our pup as a disgrace to the Thorn pack. By the time Barnett returned, our pup was gone, and so was I.

My husband, Steven Garrett, was always "busy" overseas. So I thought I'd surprise him with a visit. Instead, I found him shacked up with my best friend, Peggy Shane. That day, my heart snapped—I filed for divorce and let my family set me up with someone new. Two years later, I bumped into Steven outside the hospital. He ripped the prenatal report from my hands. "How dare you cheat on me! You think you can play me?"

My husband sponsored a poor female college student. While I was being dragged into an alley by a criminal, he was helping her pick out lingerie. While I was hospitalized with serious injuries, he used the money my mother left me to buy her a limited-edition handbag. I confronted him in a heated argument, but he accused me of being unreasonable. "I thought your injuries were so serious, but look—you didn’t even die! Besides, your money is my money. I’ll spend it however I want!"