Chapter 3

Abandoned as a child and orphaned by murder, Kathryn swore she'd reclaim every shred of her stolen birthright. When she returned, society called her an unpolished love-child, scoffing that Evan had lost his mind to marry her. Only Evan knew the truth: the quiet woman he cradled like porcelain hid secrets enough to set the city trembling. She doubled as a legendary healer, an elusive hacker, and the royal court's favorite perfumer. At meetings, the directors groaned at the lovey-dovey couple, "Does she really have to be here?" Evan shrugged. "Happy wife, happy life." Soon her masks fell, and those who sneered bowed in awe.

After completing a top-secret mission for the government, I received a call from my daughter, Michelle Harper. "Mom! I got the offer from the UN Secretariat Department as an intern! I have worked hard to apply for it for a whole year!" Her voice on the other end was trembling with excitement. She immediately started preparing her visa documents and sent me three voice messages asking what she should prepare. However, a week later, her location watch remained fixed at the third floor of the administration building of their college. I secretly went to her college, only to find her tied up cruelly in the corner. The culprit, Lacey Palmer said with disdain, "How dare you, a nobody, take the position at the UN Secretary Department that my father helped me get? Are you courting death?" Even the advisor chimed in obsequiously, "Lacey's father is the richest man in the country, and her mother is a top expert. That position is meant for Lacey." I was stunned. The position at the UN Secretariat Department? It was the position Michelle worked so hard to win. They clearly talked about me and my husband, who was married into my family, by mentioning the top expert and the richest man. I immediately dialed a familiar number and asked, "I heard you have an illegitimate daughter. Is that true?"

"I am willing to go to Otresh and join Doctors Without Borders." Kenia Watson's voice was firm. The Chief Medical Officer hesitated for a moment before speaking. "The aid mission to Otresh will last at least two years. Does your husband agree with you going?" She rotated the ring on her right hand, took a moment of silence, and then answered, "We're about to divorce. I hope you won't tell him where I'm going after I leave." She had tolerated so much, continuously searching for the truth from years ago. When she was diagnosed with cancer, her husband was having an affair with her stepsister. This time, she chose to let go and leave, refusing to be entangled with him any longer. "Hobson, in a month, we will be free." Yet, when she was critically ill, he knelt by her hospital bed, praying repeatedly for her to wake up.

Everyone in Seavelt knew that Dr. Ethan Caldwell, the city's top gynecologist, never got close to women. No matter how many youthful figures stood before him, he never so much as glanced their way. I always thought I was different, even after ten years together, when he wouldn't let me touch him. If my fingertips accidentally brushed his sleeve, he'd snap, "Don't touch me." After another failed attempt to climb into his bed, he sent ten men to sleep with me. Afterward, when I cried and lashed out at him, he said flatly, "I can't let you live like a nun forever." The eleventh time he arranged for someone to pin me to the bed, I lost it and swallowed two hundred sleeping pills. When I woke up, Ethan, for the first time ever, allowed me to touch him. I thought I could slowly win him over. But the next day, at his private villa, I caught him holding another woman in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, his eyes burning with a passion I'd never seen. When I confronted him, Ethan looked at me coldly. "Clara's not like you. She doesn't have those filthy thoughts or try to seduce men." I bit my lip until I tasted blood. "Fine, Ethan. Let's break up."

Young billionaire Geoffrey Smith had it all-until the night his family was torn apart by betrayal and murder by none other than his favorite uncle, Danny Gayle. Blinded and broken, he vanishes, only to return eight years later with a new identity–Carlton Jaz, an intellectual man driven by vengeance. But amid the web of deceit lies a love he had been waiting to embrace his whole life-with Tiana Banks, the girl who saved him with the M3 vaccine the night he was supposed to be killed by a dangerous chemical weapon. Unbeknownst to him, Tiana Banks is right in front of him, working in the same company, but neither recognizes the other as they now look different from eight years ago and now have new identities. Worse still, an accident robs Carlton of his memory just as he uncovers Tiana's new identity as Mia. The storm between love, loyalty, and revenge reaches its breaking point. With billionaire heir, Roy Meyers hell-bent on making Mia his woman, she battles her own heart while Carlton fights to reclaim the life, love, and justice stolen from him. In a world where secrets are inevitable, betrayals, the order of the day, and love the ultimate test, will Carlton triumph?-Or will he lose his love as a price for revenge? A tale of love, power, betrayal, and redemption, 'The Uncle's Reckoning' is a gripping saga of endurance and determination where every choice could mean triumph-or tragedy.

Five years into marriage, Hannah caught Vincent slipping into a hotel with his first love-the woman he never forgot. The sight told her everything-he'd married her only for her resemblance to his true love. Hurt, she conned him into signing the divorce papers and, a month later, said, "Vincent, I'm done. May you two stay chained together." Red-eyed, he hugged her. "You came after me first." Her firm soon rocketed toward an IPO. At the launch, Vincent watched her clasp another man's hand. In the fitting room, he cornered her, tears burning in his eyes. "Is he really that perfect? Hannah, I'm sorry... marry me again."