Stepping Stones Synonym Novels & Stories

Kathalina Ruiz never believed in fairy tales. Her mother's dying wish bound her to enigmatic CEO Thirdie Stone in an arranged marriage she accepted out of duty, not romance. Yet somewhere between quiet nights and fragile smiles, Kathalina fell deeply for her distant husband only to keep her love locked away, too afraid it would never be returned. For three years, their marriage balanced on politeness and silence. Then one stormy afternoon shattered it all. Kathalina walked into Thirdie's office and found another woman-half-naked-sitting on his lap. Without demanding an explanation, she signed the divorce papers he placed before her, his gaze as cold as the ink that sealed their separation. What she never knew was that Thirdie's betrayal was a lie... a desperate act to protect her from the dangerous threats circling his empire. Heartbroken and grieving, Kathalina fled abroad. From the ashes of her pain, she rebuilt herself into a celebrated jewelry designer, admired for her elegance and independence. But fate had other plans. Years later, her mother's lawyer makes a revelation she has inherited a vast fortune and controlling shares in Stone Corporation. The life and the man she tried to escape are waiting for her return. Back in the city where it all began, Kathalina comes face-to-face with Thirdie once more. Old wounds resurface, secrets linger in every shadow, and danger draws closer than ever. Now, she must decide to protect her heart from the man who once broke it or uncover the truth he buried......a truth that could change everything she thought she knew about their past. A story of love, sacrifice, and second chances, The Stones We Keep asks.....is it ever too late to believe in a love that never truly died?

Jessica is living her life peacefully with her husband, Adam Peterson, when a creep shows up at her work place and sneaks a photo of her. Soon after that, an infamous boss of a drug cartel, Hugo Ortiz, arrives at her workplace with an army of guards. He calls her "Camila" and asks her to leave with him. She does not remember the man at all. She realizes that her husband had been keeping things from her. Upon digging deeper, she finds out that she had been married to Hugo Ortiz. It didn't take long for Hugo's enemies to use her as a target. Ivan Volkov, the most feared name of the bratva, has been sniffing for an opportunity to get his hands on Hugo and have his revenge for killing his only son. Jessica finds herself caught in the crossfire of a gang war while she struggles to remember how she ended up in Nebraska. What is the reality of her "husband"? Who Hugo Ortiz? Why doesn't she remember any of this? When she actually stumbles upon the answers to her questions, a part of her preferred living in blissful ignorance rather than stepping back into the world of blood and misery.

Lena Martinez has forty-eight hours to save her sister’s life, or watch her die from a failing heart. When a stranger offers her five million dollars in exchange for one impossible task—impersonate another woman and marry billionaire Nathan Blackwood—Lena knows she should walk away. But desperation leaves her no choice. Thrown into a world of wealth, power, and carefully buried secrets, Lena becomes Mrs. Blackwood overnight, stepping into the life of Nathan’s missing fiancée, Kimberly—a woman who looks exactly like her. She discovers that Nathan is nothing like the cold, ruthless CEO she’d braced herself to meet. And she soon finds herself falling for the husband she was never meant to love. But living a lie comes at a cost. As Lena grows closer to her husband, the lie becomes more dangerous. Enemies begin to close in. And just when she starts to believe she can survive the deception, the real Kimberly returns to reclaim her life. What happens when Nathan realizes he’s been deceived all along? Will he forgive the woman he’s come to love… or will the truth change everything?

The owner of a small company gives me an expensive bag as a gift because I want to invest in his company, yet his wife mistakes me for a homewrecker. She and her entourage crash my engagement party and trash the place. "All homewreckers need to go to hell!" "Shameless women will always be shameless. Strip her so everyone online can see what she looks like!" "Share the livestream and like it, everyone! We'll disfigure her once we hit 500 thousand likes!" Not only does my fiancé refuse to help, but he even announces that the engagement is off. "A homewrecker doesn't deserve to marry me!" I repeatedly warn them not to act rashly, but they ignore me. So, I give them each a swift punch to the gut before stepping on the perpetrator's face. Then, I call my secretary. "Tell Mr. Lane that I'm pulling out of the investment. Also, call the police and my lawyer. I've been robbed and insulted in public—I want the culprits to go to jail for this!" My fiancé regrets everything and asks me for a reconciliation, but I kick him aside. "Get lost! I'm not dumpster!"

Keisha learned how to survive in D.C. by minding her business, staying sharp, and not letting nobody get too close. Five years ago, Malik disappeared without a word. No goodbye, no explanation—just gone like he never existed. She took the hit, buried the pain, and kept it moving the only way she knew how. Now he’s back. Same city. Different presence. And a life attached to him that feels heavier than anything she remembers. Keisha can tell right away—this isn’t just about old feelings. Malik is tied into something deeper, something dangerous, something that doesn’t let people walk away clean. And his return means whatever he ran from is now circling back through her life too. She didn’t ask for answers. But now she’s in too deep to ignore them. In a city where loyalty gets tested and silence can cost you everything, Keisha has to decide if she’s protecting her peace—or stepping back into a world that could swallow her whole. And Malik? He didn’t come back for closure. He came back because leaving wasn’t the end.

After taking her stepsister’s place, Yvonne Miller is married into a wealthy family. To take back her family business, she plots each step she takes carefully. Everyone knows Stephen Anderson is a cruel and ruthless person. Yet, his ugly and uncultured wife has him wrapped around her little finger. Stephen doesn’t mind that his wife’s an ugly duckling. On the contrary, he dotes on her excessively. When he hears gossip about his wife being ugly, with cosmetic surgeons offering her discounts, he whirls into a rage. “These blind dogs! My wife’s the most beautiful woman alive!” he insists.With that, a rumor spreads in Northerna City that Yvonne is Stephen’s retribution for his past misdeeds… Until one day, Yvonne returns from abroad drop-dead gorgeous, sending shockwaves all across the city. However, she doesn’t show up in Stephen’s life again. “What do you take me for, coming and going as you please?” he demands. Stepping aside to present the young kid behind her, Yvonne says in chagrin, “My child’s father?”

Blurb: A retelling of Cinderella, with a twist. Her Prince never met her at a ball, but in a bike crash, when she tried to escape years of abuse. She was never the beauty in a glass slipper, but a wolfless girl born from an Alpha’s line. He was not a Prince Charming. Not a saviour. Just a Don from a line of ruthless Rogue Alphas, and heir to a fearsome security company the packs could not mess with. Yet Donna-Belle accepted whatever life threw at her when she wound up under his protection and had to sign a contract that promised his protection and her cooperation. As long as she had a way to get back her inheritance and fight her stepfamily, she did not mind getting entangled with danger and mixed signals. Being the Don’s ‘personal heiress’ was not a day’s job, but Donna was determined to raise her company to greater heights and get back at her abusive stepfamily. Even if she played with a volcano yet to erupt, she was set on breaking away her fears and insecurities and stepping up for herself. He never believed in the old myth of mates. She never wanted to be entrapped by him. They both never got what they wanted. Fate decided.

I've sustained grievous wounds thanks to me stepping into a trap by accident. While I'm dying in the forest, my parents, older brother, as well as my fiance are busy preparing the afterparty for my older sister, Selene Sutton, who has put on an outstanding performance at the hunting rite. I use what's left of my energy to ask for help through the mind-link connecting me and the others. Yet, none of them bothers replying to me. Even Leon Lane, the next candidate set to inherit the Alpha position as well as the wolf who's betrothed to me, blocks out my pleas for help. A long, long time later, I finally hear Leon's message coming through the icy expanse of the mind palace. "Stop it with your tantrum, Ivy. Tonight is Selene's afterparty. We'll talk more once the party is over." As I stare at the moon in the sky, I lose the will to struggle to survive anymore. It turns out that my life isn't as important as one of Selene's afterparties. This is the 99th time everyone has abandoned me for Selene's sake. Well, this time, I don't want them in my life anymore.

300 years ago, humankind created their own nightmare. Demons, are originally humans but the lust for power changed them inadequately, this is humans own doing. Around 300 years ago, a large asteroid bombarded the earth's very ground. This is the beginning of the birth of demons. This meteor was large, but out of the blue, a mysterious lifeform is intact in it's very core. A human named Cruzius Akiyoma was intrigued when witnessing these menacing looking creature. He interpret this as a blessing from heaven. He then owned the creature and conducted an experiment. He was surprised when he saw the structure and building blocks of life of this creature. He obsessedly pictured this as a one stepping stone through human evolution. He extracted the DNA of the creature and modified it in able to merged it to human DNA. Without any hesitation he then merged his DNA to the DNA of the creature. He is willing to offer his body to attain his goal, thus sacrificing his body is necessary. After the merging, he was surprised because nothing in particular happened. But, he suddenly felt a surging power circulating through his body. He screamed in pain as his body is gradually changing. Darkness fell upon humans as the scream of the first demon engulfed the sky, seas, forest, and fortress.

After being publicly betrayed by her unfaithful ex-boyfriend and her two-faced best friend, Ariana is determined not to show up at their high-society wedding alone. In a moment of desperation, she heads to the Rosewood Hotel to hire a professional actor to play the part of her devoted, successful new boyfriend. However, a case of mistaken identity leads her to "hire" the wrong man. Enter Adrian Sterling: a cold, powerful billionaire who is actually at the hotel to close a multi-million dollar deal. Intrigued by Ariana’s fiery spirit and her ridiculous proposition, Adrian decides to play along, stepping into the role of a lifetime. As Mark and Lucia grow increasingly suspicious of Adrian’s impossible perfection, Ariana finds herself trapped in a web of lies with a man she can’t control. What started as a one-night play evolves into a high-stakes contract that takes Ariana from her modest life into the exclusive world of Ford City Heights. Between "fake" kisses that feel far too real and a billionaire who refuses to follow her script, Ariana must navigate a world of corporate sabotage and old-money secrets. She wanted a distraction to save face, but she ended up with a storm that is about to rewrite her entire life.