Only Up From Here

I was born just one minute after Tiara, but the world treated that one minute as if it lasted a lifetime. She was the star. I was the shadow. She was flawless. I was the afterthought. She was loved. I was forgotten. Even by Reagan de Russo, heir to the wealthiest family in the country and the man I had secretly loved for the past ten years. But to him, there was only Tiara. And when he proposed to her, I knew my quiet little dream had finally died. Until that day came. The day Tiara left him at the altar. The day the world stopped turning for just a second. The day the man who had never even glanced my way, turned to me and asked me to take her place. I knew what I was. An escape. A damage control. A backup plan. And I... I was too tired of being strong. So I said yes. We married. Without love. Without a future. Just a one-year contract and a life of make-believe in front of flashing cameras and watching eyes. But the longer I stayed by his side, the harder it became to tell what was real and what was just part of the performance. Because for the first time... Reagan saw me. But can love truly grow from the ruins of lies, old wounds, and the shadow of a woman who’s always been his first choice? Or will I always be… only the second best?

After eight years together, I've proposed to my boyfriend 108 times. Each time, he found a different excuse to turn me down. On the 109th try, I give up a promotion and transfer opportunity. Finally, he said yes. I think he's moved by my sincerity. But instead, he brings his first love into our marital home and falls into our bed with her. "I only proposed to her to spite you. If you just say the word, I'll dump her at the altar and marry you instead!" Staring at the scene before me, I take the tight engagement ring off my finger and toss it down the drain. I decide to call off the wedding before he can. But after I walk away, the man who swore he'd marry someone else went crazy searching for me everywhere.

I was Lonnie Vaughn's fiancée, yet he treated me with disdain, looking at me as though I was nothing more than a bothersome obligation. To outsiders, I was just a caged songbird he kept for amusement—disposable when he tired of me. I refused to believe it. In my eyes, Lonnie loved me, too; he was just terrible at expressing it. But that illusion shattered when I became the victim of face-swapping. When those filthy videos were played in front of Lonnie, he refused to listen to my desperate explanations. When I was kidnapped, he refused to pay the ransom. All because his maid sneered, "Olivia's tainted. She needs to be taught a lesson." Lonnie responded, "I never want to see you again in this lifetime." Those words fueled the captors' cruelty. For three months, they tortured me. By the end, I truly was tainted, and my love for Lonnie was buried beneath layers of ash and despair. Then Lonnie appeared before me while sobbing in regret, begging me to love him again.

"You'll be with me for three years! Section 1, don't fall in love with me!" --- Sophia Jones started off as a waitress at the Smith Hotel Chain, she was an orphan going through a financial crisis and struggling to pay the fees of her dying brother. One day, she gets pulled into the boss's room and wakes up on his bed the next morning. Justin Smith, aloof and cold CEO with a tragic past that makes him grow strong hatred towards females and hate any sort of touch ties Sophia with a marriage contract. Left with no choice, Sophia signs herself off and goes with the twists and turns that life with Justin would bring. They fall in love unknowingly but what about the contract? And the many odds against them? Will they triumph? Or fail?

On the day I won the national esports championship, my girlfriend of eight years told me she wanted to go on stage and personally present me with flowers. Standing on the podium, my heart was racing. I reached into my pocket to pull out the ring I'd hidden there, ready to propose to her in front of the entire nation. But what happened next shocked me. She giggled and, instead of handing me the bouquet, she gave it to her male best friend. Under the bright lights, they became the center of attention. The crowd cheered, and their congratulatory messages flooded the trending topics. Even his fans tagged me in posts, mocking, [I told you not to get in the way of our couple, now look at you.] I simply posted on Twitter, [Respect and blessings. Please be locked together forever.]

Married to Jasper Brook for six years, I found out that he was keeping a mistress under his wing. She was stunning but timid, shrinking back at the slightest raised voice. Because of this, Jasper never lost his temper around her. He indulged her fragility and treated her preciously. However, the mistress wasn’t as obedient as she appeared. When she stirred up trouble with me, Jasper’s patience snapped, and he unleashed his fury on her. The next day, she sent me a photo of her neck covered in hickeys. “Selena, Mr. Brook is so scary. I’m terrified.”

Ever since my CEO husband returned from his business trip, he's been acting strange. His hugs are stiff, and his kisses are empty. Even when we're intimate, something just feels off. When I ask him why, he just smiles and says he's tired from work. But everything falls into place the moment I see his first love stepping out of his Maybach, her body covered in hickeys. That's when I finally give up. I don't argue or cry. I just smile… and tear up the 99th love coupon. Once, he wrote me a hundred love letters. On our wedding day, we made a promise—those letters would become 100 love coupons. As long as there were coupons left, I'd grant him anything he asked. Over the four years of our marriage, every time he left me for his first love, he'd cash in one. But what he doesn't know is that there are only two left.

" Stop! just stop right there, Revan," Shaina said as she moved closer to the door, her hands sweaty with nest-like hair, she looked like a mental patient who ran out of the hospital. " Shaina, all I want is to talk to you why you are always looking at me with accusing eyes like I killed you? " Revan asked in an irritated tone. Little did he know he actually killed her. all the previous bitter memories started to flash in front of her eyes as her breathing ragged, Revan moved closer to her as she picked the vas from nearby to hit him and escape from his hold. she was not going to fall for his words again, she was not going to trust him again like she did in her previous life. " Shaina I am not going to do anything trust me," Revan said trying to cool her down but she was too scared to trust him, hell how can she trust the person who killed her. " you killed me Revan you killed me-- " she was about to say more when she felt his lips moving against hers. she tried to pull away but he held her neck and pulled her closer by her waist, all she wanted was to fight him but she couldn't. She gave in as he kissed her passionately, " I Love you Shaina, and the way you kissed me back, clearly states you do too " he whispered once he parted his lips from hers. Shaina's eyes teared as she looked at him and did what she wanted to do from the moment she saw him again in her life, She slapped him and ran away from his hold leaving a shocked Revan behind.

This is a story about a girl who wakes up being beaten by a person she didn't know. But then she realized something when there was a blurred memory popping in her head. She remembers her body was used to being beaten by the girl who is whipping her right now, and that girl is her sister. She used to call her a princess without power, and the whole town used to bully her. Until one day, everything changed when a guy suddenly showed up and helped her escape from those bastards who were trying to pick a fight with her. But the thing is, she didn't know she existed to be bound with that guy. A guy who's full of fury, violent in his passion, an arrogant guy that she dispised the most and, at the same time, a gentleman that she needed the most right now. What do you think will happen? Would she fall in love with the guy she despised? Well, the answer is "I won't fall for your stupid arrangement! I won"t come to you, i reject yo---- But again, it looks like fate has another plan...

"Our time as contract lovers ended. I was no longer his tool. We both went our separate ways, but never did I expect to see Kai Winson, a renowned billionaire, at my work doorstep two weeks later, asking for a second chance." "Name it. Your price, anything if you become mine, no contract, just you." Two weeks later. After Tiffany had moved out of his mansion. Kai finds himself on the next flight to Seattle as his desire for Tiffany grows. However, Tiffany has no plans to get back to him, but Kai is down to do anything for even her attention if that means being a regular customer or her neighbour. Tiffany, on the other hand, is heartbroken and plans to focus on her job, but Kai's presence stirs something within her, as Tiffany gets closer to Kai, her past life hunts her threatening the life of everyone she loves. Extract: He needed to stop before he lost himself completely. His hands fisted in her hair, pulling her away. He leaned in, kissing her deeply before guiding her onto her back, spreading her legs wide. "You're driving me insane, Tiffany Halton," he rasped, his forehead pressing against hers. "God, what am I going to do with you?" She gasped, every inch stretching around him, her breath coming in sharp little cries. Kai clenched his jaw, struggling to keep himself in check as he buried himself inside her. Each time he tried, her body responded with a shiver, a breathy moan that drove him wild. Finally, he breached her, sliding deep inside, burying himself to the hilt. They both moaned. "Oh, fuck," he groaned. Kai looked down, mesmerized by the sight of them joined together. The way he disappeared into her over and over.