Madison had always believed that she would marry Colten. She spent her youth admiring him from afar, dreaming of their future life together. But Colten was always indifferent to her, and when he abandoned her at a time when she needed him most, she finally realized that he never loved her. With renewed resolve and a thirst for revenge, Madison left. Endless possibilities lay ahead, but Colten was no longer part of her plans. Colten rushed to her place in a panic. "Madison, please come back to me. I'll give you everything!" It was his powerful uncle who answered the door. "She's my woman now."
A deafening crash shattered the air.
"Something's terribly wrong! The scaffolding has collapsed! Hurry, we need to save them!"
The makeshift scaffolding gave way suddenly, smashing two lead actresses and a group of dancers to the floor, throwing the venue into chaos.
Madison Dixon found herself trapped, her left leg wedged painfully between splintered wooden planks. Amid the tumult, a frantic voice pierced the commotion. "Watch out! The chandelier's coming loose!"
Her eyes shot upwards, terror seizing her as the crystal chandelier danced ominously overhead.
The potential disaster loomed large; a direct hit could be devastating.
Her complexion drained to a ghostly white, fear etched across her features as she struggled against the merciless wood. Each tug sent sharp stabs of pain up her leg, with blood beginning to seep out, staining the wooden shards.
The thought of ripping her skin in a desperate attempt to escape chilled her to the bone.
In her most vulnerable moment, she scanned the horrified crowd, her gaze catching a familiar, rushing silhouette-Colten Pearson, her fiance.
Hope flickered as she reached out to him, but her heart sank when he unexpectedly darted past her. His focus was elsewhere; he swept Lana Elliott into his arms, her co-star who lay crumpled nearby.
"Don't worry, I've got you," he assured Lana, cradling her securely.
"Colten!" Crying, Lana clung to Colten, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
Colten offered a silent comfort to her, effortlessly lifting her from the stage without so much as a fleeting look towards Madison, even though she was closer to him and was going to marry him.
As fate would have it, the wire of a light fixture suddenly gave way, plunging the stage into an enveloping darkness.
Just before the shadows enveloped everything, Madison's eyes searched for Colten, but he never turned back.
Overwhelmed by a primal urge to survive, she clenched her teeth tightly, wrestling her leg free with desperate strength. The eerie sound of wooden planks being forcibly torn away filled her ears.
Her left leg was suddenly released, and in the next breath, a firm grip hauled her from her perilous position.
With a thunderous crash, the crystal chandelier plummeted to the floor, scattering shards of glass in every direction.
As instinct took over, Madison raised her arms to guard herself, but a strong presence was already standing between her and danger.
With the lights returning, the stage was laid bare, a scene of utter devastation and ruin.
Yet, the mysterious savior who had intervened was already gone.
In a panic, Madison scanned the chaos, her gaze finally fixing on Colten.
At the critical moment the chandelier had fallen, he had thrown himself protectively over Lana.
With Lana still clutching his waist, he made no move to pull away, a silent statement of what mattered most to him.
A wry smile ghosted across Madison's lips, laced with quiet sorrow.
She had almost convinced herself that Colten had returned to save her.
The director's voice boomed across the set, his tone sharp and accusing. "What the hell happened here? If that chandelier had fallen on someone, it would have been a disaster."
His fury was palpable, a storm brewing in his eyes as he confronted the props manager, who scrambled for words, desperately trying to shift the blame.
Amid the escalating uproar, Colten finally turned his piercing gaze towards Madison. His eyebrows knitted together as he noticed her bleeding left leg. From a distance, Madison couldn't see his expression clearly.
Cradled in his arms, Lana gasped, her voice slicing through the commotion. "Madison, did you try to kill me?"
Her accusation echoed, abruptly silencing the room.
Colten's features hardened, the air around him turning frigid. "What exactly happened here?"
Tears welled up in Lana's eyes, spilling over as she recounted her story.
"I saw Madison by the light fixture earlier, fiddling with the wire. I didn't think it was anything serious at the time. She confronted me just before we went on stage, claiming I didn't deserve to compete for the spot in the state troupe. I've poured my heart into this, and I just wanted a chance..."
Her eyes brimming with tears, she gazed at Colten and went on, "I only wanted to chase my dreams, but I never imagined she'd stoop to this."
"Shattered Wings," the school drama club's latest sensation, starred two promising lead actresses. It was recognized as a gateway for aspiring performers hoping to enter the prestigious state troupe.
Yet, the competition was fierce; there was only one opening, and the choice would inevitably come down to either Madison or Lana.
From the group of dancers, a voice rose, breaking the tense silence. "Had the stage not given way, that chandelier would have crashed right onto Lana's head."
"Oh my God! Imagine if it had struck her while she was performing. Could she have even survived such an assault? To commit such a heinous act over a mere spot?"
"It's deeper than just the spot. Colten harbors feelings for Lana, yet Madison, the fiancee his family chose, has been tormenting Lana behind the scenes. I believe that, regardless of the role, she had every intention of getting rid of Lana."
A fleeting spark of triumph flickered in Lana's eyes, though she quickly masked it with practiced ease.
Grasping Colten's sleeve, she looked up at him with tearful eyes. "Colten, thank goodness you came for me. Let's just put this behind us, shall we?"
Her feigned benevolence only fueled the whispers further, some voices now vehemently calling for legal action against Madison, branding her a would-be murderer.
Facing the growing hostility, Madison's expression hardened; her fists balled at her sides, her face ashen yet resolute. "Then go ahead, call the police. But I will not confess to a crime I didn't commit!"
"I've warned you from the beginning. Don't marry him, but you won't listen." Darcy stood close to me and smiled with concern. "You're not a woman worthy of a man as handsome, rich, smart, and virile as Blaze." My whole body trembled at her words. "Have you no shame?" I asked. "Take a good look at yourself, Heather." She stared at me in the mirror. "You can't even glance at your ugly face. Do you think Blaze can endure a lifetime of gazing at that scar?" Heather Bailey got a surprise from her husband: a divorce agreement. After a year of marriage and facing ups and downs, she couldn't believe Blaze intended to divorce her. She was devastated when she saw him gazing lovingly at another woman. After signing the divorce papers, shockwaves caught her up. Her flower shop was burned to the ground. Her father's company collapsed, and her parents blamed her. She struggled to rebuild her life from the ground up and became more successful than ever. Having many customers from influential families, she started her revenge on Blaze. She won the very thing he wanted, but that was just the beginning.
"You're a creepy bastard." His eyes smolder me and his answering grin is nothing short of beautiful. Deadly. "Yet you hunger for me. Tell me, this appetite of yours, does it always tend toward 'creepy bastards'?" **** Widower and ex-boss to the Mafia, Zefiro Della Rocca, has an unhealthy fixation on the woman nextdoor. It began as a coincidence, growing into mere curiosity, and soon, it was an itch he couldn't ignore, like a quick fix of crack for an addict. He didn't know her name, but he knew every inch of her skin, how it flushed when she climaxed, her favourite novel and that every night she contemplated suicide. He didn't want to care, despising his rapt fascination of the woman. She was in love with her abusive husband. She was married, bound by a contract to the Bratva's hitman. She was off-limits. But when Zefiro wanted something, it was with an intensity that bordered on madness. He obsessed, possessed, owned. There'd be bloodshed if he touched her, but the sight of blood always did fascinate him. * When Susanna flees from her husband, she stumbles right into the arms of her devilishly handsome neighbour with a brooding glare. He couldn't stand her, but she needed him, if she was ever going to escape her husband who now wanted her dead. Better the devil you know than the angel you don't. She should have recalled that before hopping into Zefiro's car and letting him whisk her away to Italy. Maybe then, she wouldn't have started an affair with him. He was the only man who touched her right, and the crazy man took no small pains in ensuring he would be the last.
Life was perfect until she met her boyfriend's big brother. There was a forbidden law in the Night Shade Pack that if the head Alpha rejected his mate, he would be stripped of his position. Sophia's life would get connected with the law. She was an Omega who was dating the head Alpha's younger brother. Bryan Morrison, the head Alpha, was not only a cold-blooded man but also a charming business tycoon. His name was enough to cause other packs to tremble. He was known as a ruthless man. What if, by some twist of destiny, Sophia's path were to intertwine with his?
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.
Corinne devoted three years of her life to her boyfriend, only for it to all go to waste. He saw her as nothing more than a country bumpkin and left her at the altar to be with his true love. After getting jilted, Corinne reclaimed her identity as the granddaughter of the town’s richest man, inherited a billion-dollar fortune, and ultimately rose to the top. But her success attracted the envy of others, and people constantly tried to bring her down. As she dealt with these troublemakers one by one, Mr. Hopkins, notorious for his ruthlessness, stood by and cheered her on. “Way to go, honey!”
In order to fulfill her grandfather's last wish, Stella entered into a hasty marriage with an ordinary man she had never met before. However, even after becoming husband and wife on paper, they each led separate lives, barely crossing paths. A year later, Stella returned to Seamarsh City, hoping to finally meet her mysterious husband. To her astonishment, he sent her a text message, unexpectedly pleading for a divorce without ever having met her in person. Gritting her teeth, Stella replied, "So be it. Let’s get a divorce!" Following that, Stella made a bold move and joined the Prosperity Group, where she became a public relations officer that worked directly for the company’s CEO, Matthew. The handsome and enigmatic CEO was already bound in matrimony, and was known to be unwaveringly devoted to his wife in private. Unbeknownst to Stella, her mysterious husband was actually her boss, in his alternate identity! Determined to focus on her career, Stella deliberately kept her distance from the CEO, although she couldn't help but notice his deliberate attempts to get close to her. As time went on, her elusive husband had a change of heart. He suddenly refused to proceed with the divorce. When would his alternate identity be uncovered? Amidst a tumultuous blend of deception and profound love, what destiny awaited them?