Novel & Cerita The Almost Gone: Act 2

Belle Li was betrayed by her husband Bruce Wang. He stole her family's company, causing her grandfather to commit suicide, killed her parents, and made her uncle disappear. He did it all for vengeance against her grandfather's betrayal. He believed that her grandfather left with the secret formula thus making his company successful in business and finance, while he left his grandfather in a failing business and debt. Due to that he lived a life of misery, poverty, and abuse. Bruce's beautiful wife Belle was just a casualty in his war to get the secret formula. While they were married, she was humiliated, bullied, and tortured by his mistress. She was left with scars on her face, burn marks, whiplash, dried blood, and a starved woman. On her last dying breath, she made a wish to be reborn to correct her mistake. However, the goddess who granted her wish warned her that Bruce is her destiny, and she cannot escape him. If she accepts that fate, she will grant her her wish. Belle, full of rage, anger, resentment, and hatred didn't care. She will deal with him, as long as she can go back and save her family. As her wish is granted, nothing happened like she expected. She was once again under the man whom she hated.

As she collapsed to the floor, she swore that Andrei would die at her hand. Eight years later, she reinvented herself and became his assistant. "You put something In my drink?" He asked incredulously. "Yes, I did Andrei. You thought you could kill my father and go scot-free right?. Well, karma is a bitch, isn't it?. You sent my father to jail for a crime he did not commit and he died in prison because of you. Now you know how it feels to lose everything including your life Andrei. "You're wrong Selena. I'm not an opponent that can be killed easily. I rule this game you think you are playing Selena " he hissed darkly. He smirked suddenly. "There's this special clause in my company rules which say if I were to marry anyone who owned shares in my company then their shares become automatically mine, did you forget to read that all the while you worked here" "You must be out of your mind. I will never marry you in this world or the next" she fired hotly. "It's not up to you anymore Selena Martinez, I always get what I want and as you might have noticed, I go the extra mile to get what I fucking want," he whispered darkly...

Three years after my parents got divorced, I ran into my mom at a restaurant. She was having dinner with her daughter. When she saw me, her expression looked a little uncomfortable. Right before she left, she pulled up her phone and opened Venmo. "Here, let me send you some money. You and your dad can get yourselves something nice to eat." I pushed her phone back. "No thanks, Sarah. It's not like you ever cared much about me or Dad before." Her face tightened, and she frowned hard. "Why do you have to be as stubborn as your father? If you had stayed with me, you wouldn't be working as a server right now. Tell your dad this—if he admits he was wrong, I'll take you back and give you a good life." I just stared at her coldly and said nothing. Did she not know? My dad had already been dead for three years.

On the day of my daughter Eleanor Baldwin's second birthday party, my entire family stood nervously by the banquet hall entrance. They were not there to greet guests, but rather to keep me from showing up and causing a scene. Mom's face was written all over with anxiety. "Lucas wouldn't actually crash the party, would he?" Dad's brow stayed tightly furrowed. "Who knows? That disgrace of a son is capable of anything." My younger brother, Cody Baldwin, had his arm wrapped gently around my wife, Kendra Clarkson, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry. If Lucas dares to show up, I'll keep you and Ellie safe." Kendra nodded slowly. "If it really comes to that... maybe we should just let Ellie be his goddaughter. At least then, we're still family..." However, the party came and went, and I never appeared. I had already made up my mind to join a classified national defense research program. Only this time, it was for good.

Susie Chance always claimed to value fairness above all else. Because of that, she ordered a specially designed chip implanted into my body. Whenever her childhood sweetheart suffered bouts of stomach cancer, all his suffering would be transferred onto me. On the day he underwent tumor-removal surgery, I collapsed in agony in the hospital corridor. Meanwhile, Susie gently comforted him in the ward. “So? It didn’t hurt at all, right?” Later, she said she wanted to hold a wedding with her childhood sweetheart, so he could experience being a groom as well. “Even though the one marrying me is Mark, the one I’ll register with in the future will still be you. I told you… I’ve always treated you both equally.” I said nothing, simply returning the wedding ring she had once placed in my hands. However, when the wedding march finally began to play, I boarded a one-way flight far away.

I've been with an award-winning actor for seven years. We've been secretly married for five of those seven years. For the sake of his career, I drink so much that I get a stomach perforation. I also allow others to trample over my pride and dignity. Yet he goes on lakeside dates with another woman and kisses her underneath the fireworks. He even has the nerve to tell me not to be unreasonable. Later, I get caught in a landslide when I'm on a business trip. I make one last call to him in fear. All I hear is him singing his lover a birthday song. I ask for a divorce after losing hope in him. That's when he suddenly begs me not to leave. He even announces our relationship to the world on the day he wins an award. Our seven-year relationship is finally public, but I don't want it anymore.

While I was watching my own child, I came across an anonymous post online: [My son married way above his station. How can I get him to divorce her?] The poster claimed to be a mother. She said she hated her oldest son, describing him as lazy and selfish, and totally undeserving of such a great in-law family. Her plan was to force him to get a divorce—and then send her well-behaved, obedient younger son in his place as the new son-in-law. The comment section went crazy. [I've seen parents play favorites, but this is just twisted.] [Is the oldest adopted or something? Who schemes against their own flesh and blood like that?] [Are you marrying off a son or pimping one out? Just swapping them in to serve a rich family?] Then, in the middle of all the outrage, one comment surfaced: [Men hate being cheated on. Fake a few photos of your daughter-in-law with another guy and send them to him. Once he loses it, the marriage is as good as over.] The original poster replied immediately: [Thanks, girl! I'll try it right away.] The next second, my phone buzzed. A message from my mom popped up on the screen: [Jason, take a look at this. Do you think Emily is cheating?]

Book 2 in Criminal Love Series. It can be read as a standalone!This is Isabel and Marco's story. So what happens when you judge people based on what you think? When you decide to punish another for a crime they didn't commit? What happens when you fall in love with the person? Will she be able to trust your love after everything? Marco felt betrayed when his best friend decided to take his sister and forcefully take her as his slave. He was going to make Ricardo feel the same way he felt and it just happens to be that naive Isabel was Ricardo's only sister who needed up being caught up in the web of lies!! Read on to find out!!This story contains mature content, language and violence. Read at your own risk.

Layla Reyes wasn’t looking to be noticed. New to Maple Hill High, she only wanted to keep her head down, finish senior year, and forget the mess she left behind in Chicago. But then she meets Jayden Carter—a quiet artist with soulful eyes and a sketchpad full of secrets. What starts as a simple school project soon becomes something deeper, richer, and more complicated than either of them expected. Just as they begin to open up, Layla’s past crashes into her present, threatening to undo everything she and Jayden were building. Can two people still healing learn to trust each other with more than just paint and poetry? Or will they stay stuck in the space between what almost was… and what could be?

By the fifth year of my marriage to Noah Lester, everyone insisted that I, Emma Newman, was his eternal muse. But I knew the truth. Behind my back, Noah cycled through a parade of fresh-faced, eager lovers. He even flaunted them at social gatherings, swapping one for another with shameless ease. When friends teased him—"Didn’t you swear Emma was the love of your life? Why the revolving door of mistresses?"—he’d just laugh, arms slung around his latest conquests. "Once you’ve caught your muse the glow fades. Give me someone new and tender any day—at least they keep things exciting." So I began plotting my escape. What Noah never realized was that I had grown tired of him, too. Tired of this life, of these performances. I was done.