Contemporary Setting Novels

After three years together, Elyse's boyfriend announced his engagement to a wealthy heiress and ordered her to remain his side chick, mocking that an orphan couldn't survive alone. She left him and accidentally married his feared adoptive father. Yet gossip spread that she had married some older guy for money. Her ex scoffed, "Elyse, what could that old man-who won't even show his face-possibly give you? You really think I couldn't make him hand you over to me?" Then his projects were canceled, his family business was seized, and he lost his seat on the company board. When he knelt and begged Elyse for help, her husband appeared. Her ex froze before the powerful man he had admired since childhood. "She's your mother now."

Chloe Beaumont was the flawless Mrs. Santana, the envy of New York's high society. For three years, she played the perfect, radiant wife to her wealthy husband, Elliott. But at a glamorous Met gala, the illusion shattered. She found Elliott hiding in a secluded lounge, passionately kissing his "long-burned-out" college flame. Fleeing back to their estate in silent devastation, she poured out the warm milk her mother-in-law forced her to drink every night—only to notice a strange, sharp herbal scent. Feigning sleep, she overheard a chilling conversation outside her bedroom door. "To make Chloe infertile, that's too much..." Elliott hesitated. "Clio is pregnant. That is the heir our family needs," his mother hissed. "Until she has outlived her usefulness, you will keep her calm. We still need the prestige her Beaumont family brings." They had been secretly drugging her to destroy her body. When the pregnant mistress later flaunted herself in Chloe's home and deliberately shattered her late mother's only memento, Elliott fiercely defended the mistress and blamed Chloe. Her blood turned to ice. How could the man who vowed to love her conspire with his family to render her barren and steal her legacy? The gentle, submissive Chloe died that night. Leaving the signed divorce papers and her wedding ring on the dining table, she walked out of the golden cage. With the backing of a powerful childhood protector, she was going to take back her empire and make them pay in blood.

Debora Finley was once a star prosecutor in the D.A.'s office. Now, she hauled heavy black bags as a city garbage collector. Three years ago, her fiancé Brandon drove drunk and killed an heiress. To save himself, he framed Debora, letting her take the fall while he climbed the corporate ladder. When Debora screamed her innocence from behind the prison glass, Brandon didn't just silence her. "You ruined everything!" He pinned her wrist to the metal counter and brought his expensive shoe down hard, shattering the very hand she used to fight for justice. After three years of hell, she was finally released, only to be entirely discarded by her own flesh and blood. Her father slapped her and kicked her out into the cold night, while her sister lured her to a hotel penthouse, locking her inside with a predatory director as a trade for an investment. "Looks like you need to be taught a lesson." Pinned to the sofa with whiskey being forced down her throat, Debora felt the icy grip of absolute despair. She didn't understand why her pursuit of justice was rewarded with a ruined hand, a prison cell, and the utter betrayal of everyone she ever loved. Just as her vision began to blur, a deafening crash echoed through the room. The heavy suite door was ripped entirely off its hinges. Standing in the doorway was the silent, homeless man she had taken in off the streets just days ago. The man who was secretly Gideon Camacho, the ruthless billionaire titan of Wall Street—and the fiancé of the woman Debora was framed for killing. And right now, his eyes were burning with a promise of murder.

I am Jody Holt. The day my husband, Nate Holt, froze all my bank accounts, my mother was in the ICU waiting for surgery. He said only one thing. "Jody, either you sign the divorce papers, or your mother can figure it out herself." I thought he was only trying to pressure me, until his lawyer slid a second document in front of me. It was the prenuptial agreement between him and Sharon Jones, the woman who had come between us. The date they signed it was three months before this divorce agreement between us. I asked him, "Since when have you two been together?" He glanced at his watch as casually as if he were checking the time for an unimportant meeting. "We have been together since the day I married you." I signed my name on the divorce agreement. Then I died. At least, that was what all the newspapers in the city said.

Betrayed by her cheating fiancé J.C. and his mistress, Iris Henson dies in a car crash and wakes up 15 years earlier, on the day of her arranged marriage lottery. This time, she dodges J.C.'s rigged trap and makes the wildest choice possible: Kane Davenport, the ruthless, untouchable billionaire head of the family-J.C.'s own uncle. What Iris doesn't know? Kane has secretly pined for her for years. He put his own name in that lottery on purpose. He's been waiting for this chance to make her his, and he'll burn down anyone who tries to hurt what's his.

After being publicly rejected by my intended mate and abandoned by my own father, I got drunk and slept with a stranger. I thought he was just a Rogue for hire, a nameless body to help me forget the humiliation. But when I saw the black wolf sigil on his phone the next morning, my blood ran cold. He was Barron Winters, the legendary Lycan King, and my best friend's terrifying uncle. Desperate to escape, I tried to insult him by sending a $5,000 payoff note, treating him like a cheap gig. But my father froze my trust fund, and my emergency work advance was mysteriously denied. I had no money and nowhere to run. Then, the new CEO of my company was announced. It was him. He cornered me in his massive office, his suffocating Alpha scent wrapping around me. I panicked, begged, and used every modern excuse to push him away, claiming it was just a meaningless mistake. But he simply took off his shirt, revealing the deep, angry scratches I had left on his back. Marks that only a fated mate could ever inflict on an ancient Lycan. "I need a Luna." His possessive gaze locked onto me, stripping away all my defenses. Using the oldest, most absolute werewolf laws, the tyrant king gave me an ultimatum. Accept my destiny and move into his estate, or he would claim and mark me right there in the office.

Khloe spent three years loving the wrong man before finally walking away for good. Thinking her family was on the verge of bankruptcy, she rushed into a marriage of convenience. Only after the wedding did she discover her husband was the legendary Caiden Barton, an untouchable powerhouse feared by everyone. Rumored to be cold and uninterested in women, he refused to let her end their marriage, holding her close as he pleaded, "Darling, please... don't leave me." As her regretful ex came crawling back, Caiden pulled Khloe into his arms, his voice low and possessive. "Get lost. She's my wife-way out of your league."

In the modern world, Evelyn thought she was marrying a insanely handsome, possessively devoted man who simply had a mysterious past. with glowing caramel skin, plush lips, and a sweet, fierce spirit, she was ready for a quiet life with her 6-foot-tall, silver-haired fiancé, Audric. Then, two week for their wedding, the sky opened up. Swept away to the Realm a brutal fantasy world of magic, dangerous beasts, and highborn bloodlinesEvelyn discovers the truth: Audric isn't human. He is the long-lost Beast Sovereign of the Lycan-Dragon bloodline. With his royal father dead, his loyal army dragged him back to claim his throne-and Audric refused to leave without his modern bride. Suddenly thrust into a grand stone palace filled with scheming highborn concubines, royal politics, and ancient traditions, Evelyn feels betrayed. Audric hid his true identity, uprooted her life, and now expects her to share him with a harem of women clamoring for his prized bloodline. Her response? Absolute, freezing ice. While the rest of the realm cringes in terror before the ruthless, cold Beast King, Evelyn shuts her door in his face. She leaves the room the moment he walks in, refusing his touch, his gifts, and his pleas. Audric-a god of war who can shatter mountains-is brought completely to his knees, tormented, touch-starved, and driven insane by his Queen's silence. He hasn't touched a single concubine; his heart, body, and soul belong entirely to Evelyn. When Audric's right-hand man finally begs Evelyn to intervene before their heartbroken King burns the realm down in misery, Evelyn must face the fierce dragon-king. She won't be shared. She won't be silenced. If Audric wants his Queen back, he will have to dismantle an entire kingdom's legacy just for her.

Kyra was seven months pregnant when she realized her perfect marriage was a carefully constructed lie. As a therapist, she had been counseling an anonymous client who constantly boasted about her wealthy lover and their secret newborn son. It turned out, the lover was Kyra's endlessly devoted husband, Kieran, and the client was his ex-girlfriend. While Kieran claimed to be working late to secure a better future for their baby, he was actually at the hospital NICU, tenderly caring for his illegitimate child. He even packaged his secret business merger with his mistress's family as a loving "gift" for Kyra. Trapped by his flawless lies and lacking concrete proof, Kyra was forced to play the blind, understanding wife, all while enduring her aristocratic mother-in-law's calculated humiliations. She couldn't understand how the man who had built a flawless five-year marriage could be so monstrously deceitful. She was completely isolated in a powerful family that viewed her as disposable. How was she supposed to protect her unborn child when her entire reality was a suffocating trap? That was until a tense family gathering, where her mother-in-law forced her to act as a servant and deliver tea to Kieran's terrifying, legendary adoptive brother, Easton Cain. Standing in the dark garden, Kyra accidentally overheard the ruthless billionaire coldly ordering someone's legs broken. The teacup shattered on the stone floor, and as she looked up in terror, Easton's predatory gaze locked directly onto hers.

For seven years, I played the perfect, invisible wife in a contract marriage with Darrel Stark, the famous hockey captain. That illusion shattered the night he rushed his brother's fiancée to the ER for a "pregnancy scare." Instead of explaining, my husband demanded I release a public statement to cover up their affair. When I refused and handed him my divorce notice, his family retaliated by trying to forcibly move his mistress into my home. The final straw came at an exclusive VIP dinner. His mistress faked a trip, sending a tray of scalding soup flying toward us. Darrel instantly lunged to shield her with his body, leaving me to get burned by the splashing liquid. While she squeezed out fake tears about "losing her baby" from the shock, Darrel and his friends aggressively cornered me. "Apologize to her," Darrel demanded, his eyes full of pure hatred. I stared at the man I had secretly loved for seven years. He treated my pain as absolutely nothing and a liar's tears as gospel. How could he be so blindly devoted to a manipulative mistress while treating his legal wife like disposable garbage? He didn't even know I had secretly given birth to our daughter five years ago. I didn't cry, and I didn't beg. I just laughed. Right in front of his elite inner circle, I shredded our marriage contract into pieces and mercilessly exposed her fake pregnancy stunt. It was time to stop playing the pathetic wife, leave this toxic family, and return to my true, powerful identity.

Chantal was only one day away from marrying Kayden Cole, the man who supposedly saved her life after a tragic accident left her blind. But an anonymous text led her to a hotel suite, where her heightened hearing caught the unmistakable sounds of her fiancé in bed with another woman. Standing outside the door, Chantal listened as Kayden's lover complained about their upcoming wedding. "Once I marry her and get that Beaumont-Carlisle board seat, I'll divorce her and marry you," Kayden laughed, his voice dripping with cruel indulgence. "What can a blind woman do without me?" He had been using her disability to control her, plotting to steal her family's legacy while treating her like a helpless, pathetic burden. There was no rage, and no tears. Chantal calmly stepped away from the door and pulled out her phone to cancel the wedding. She then ordered her assistant to contact Dallas Cole-the ruthless billionaire and Kayden's most hated rival. She was going to show him exactly what a blind woman could do.

She was his most valuable asset and his most guarded secret. He threw her away without a second thought. Now she’s fighting for her freedom, and he’s using every weapon in his arsenal to break her. For seven years, Jaylyn Brennan was Haiden Holland’s secret weapon. She was his brilliant, relentless fixer at Holland Corp and his fiercely loyal lover in the shadows. Her life revolved around him, her loyalty absolute. That was until she walked into his penthouse and found Haiden with a sweet-faced socialite, Evie Mcmillan, perched on his lap. Haiden didn't just end it; he eviscerated her. In front of his new plaything, he mocked her as disposable, a mere convenience to be discarded. Humiliated and heartbroken, Jaylyn did the only thing she could: she walked away, blocking his number and vowing to start a new life. She even found a path to peace in a gentle, promising new relationship. But Haiden refuses to let her go quietly. He paints her as the other woman, a dangerous obsession he can't shake. He uses his power to trap her at the company, forcing her to work on a critical project so she can't resign. Just as she begins to rebuild her world, Evie’s fragile, innocent act shatters into chaos, and Jaylyn finds herself on the receiving end of a violent attack engineered by her rival. Bleeding and concussed in a hospital bed, Jaylyn doesn't receive an apology from Haiden. Instead, she gets an accusation. “Stop pretending,” he sneers, his gaze cold. “I’m only here to make sure you don’t die and leave Evie with psychological trauma.” He then has her locked in her ward to keep her from causing any more trouble for his new girlfriend. For seven years, she gave him everything. Her youth, her ambition, her unwavering loyalty. In return, he gave her a prison sentence and a shattered heart. But this is the last straw. Lying in that sterile room, staring at the locked door, the last shred of love for him dies. She picks up her phone and texts her new lawyer for help. It's time to sever every tie, burn every bridge, and escape this toxic cage at any cost. Because she’s done being his secret. Now, she’s ready to be his nightmare.

One rainy night, Dr. Elena Blair dragged a dying, bleeding stranger from an alley and sewed him back together. She saved his life. But by morning, her wicked sister, Destiney, had stolen it. Claiming Elena’s work as her own, Destiney became the adored savior and fiancée of Manhattan’s most ruthless billionaire, Keith Buchanan. To seal the lie, Destiney blackmailed Elena with their dying brother's life, demanding Elena's kidney—and her absolute silence. When Elena tried to save Keith from a deadly neurotoxin at the hospital, Destiney framed her for murder, stripped her of her medical license, and had her tossed into the freezing rain, homeless and broke. Desperate to keep her brother alive, Elena took a job as a cocktail waitress at a elite private club. But when she pushed open a VIP door, Keith pinned her against the wall, his eyes dark with lethal contempt. "Take the million-dollar check. And disappear, you greedy parasite." He thought she was a cheap gold-digger. But before Elena could slap the check out of his hand, Keith’s powerful mother burst into the suite, took one look at Elena's face, and smiled. "I knew it. You're the real one. And you're going to marry my son."

I flew back to New York on my twenty-fifth birthday, carrying vintage gold cufflinks I spent weeks finding for my billionaire husband, Declan. But when I walked into our townhouse, I found him throwing a massive victory party with Sloane, a glamorous socialite, standing by his side as the proud hostess. "Don't cause a scene. Go upstairs." Declan coldly dismissed me in front of his guests. Even Poppy, the rookie player whose shattered ankle I had painstakingly rebuilt, rolled her eyes and ignored me to suck up to Sloane. Hiding in the shadows, I heard the maids gossiping that everyone thought Sloane was the future Mrs. Hartford. To make matters worse, I discovered Sloane had stolen my anonymous, groundbreaking medical algorithm and was planning to present it as her own. First my husband, then the girl I mentored like family, and now the scientific foundation I had built with my own hands. Declan even texted me to cancel our birthday breakfast without a single apology, treating me like an annoying afterthought. My tears vanished, replaced by a freezing clarity. I signed the divorce papers, leaving them on his desk with zero demands for his money. Then I packed my bags, booked a one-way ticket to Boston, and prepared to destroy them on the global stage.

Aria Montgomery was the heiress to a massive fortune, about to marry her fiancé, Blake, in the grandest wedding of the year. But just before the ceremony, she was drugged and trapped in her bridal suite, forced to listen to her fiancé and her maid of honor having sex in the adjoining closet. "Once I have controlling shares in the Montgomery corporation, the first thing I'll do is divorce her. Then I'll marry you, properly." In her past life, Aria was completely blind to their betrayal. She foolishly married Blake, letting him systematically drain her family's entire empire. Her so-called best friend, Cassie, played the concerned shoulder to cry on while secretly sleeping in her husband's bed. Cassie even deliberately spilled oil on the stairs, causing Aria to miscarry her baby. When Damian, the only man who truly tried to protect her, fought back, Blake arranged a fiery car crash to silence him forever. In the end, they threw Aria into a pit and buried her alive, laughing as the cold, wet earth filled her lungs. Until her last breath, she was filled with agonizing regret. She had given them everything, so why did they murder her child and destroy her family? And why did Damian have to die paying for her stupid mistakes? Opening her eyes again, Aria was back on the morning of her wedding. Hearing their breathless moans from the closet, she didn't scream or cry. She just calmly picked up her phone, switched it to video mode, and recorded everything.

I flew cross-country for my birthday, hoping for just one night of warmth with my husband and five-year-old daughter. But when I opened the door, I found my famous hockey star husband and my daughter acting like the perfect family with Dayna, a glamorous sports commentator. My daughter shrank away from my open arms. "Mama's boring. She never plays with me. Don't go, Auntie Dayna!" My husband didn't even look up from his phone to wish me a happy birthday. He coldly canceled our dinner plans, claiming he had an urgent, last-minute strategy meeting for his team. Hours later, a TMZ article popped up on my phone, featuring a brutal photo of the three of them sharing a steak at an upscale Manhattan restaurant. The headline praised Blake's "family dinner with rumored flame Dayna Nixon" and openly wondered where the current Mrs. Carlisle was. My daughter lied for this, and my husband publicly humiliated me, treating my five years of silent sacrifice like a pathetic, disposable joke. I didn't cry, and I didn't throw a desperate fit. Instead, I calmly walked into his study, signed the pre-nuptial divorce agreement he had prepared years ago, and booked a one-way ticket back to Boston. From now on, I am no longer Mrs. Carlisle. I am Corinne Sargent, and I am taking my life back.

Elenor Moran died loving Giles Barron. For three years, she endured her husband's indifference, his family's humiliation, and the entire Washington elite treating his mistress, Evelin Sargent, like the real Mrs. Barron. Elenor kept begging for a marriage Giles had never wanted-until someone sabotaged her brakes and sent her to a brutal death. Then she opened her eyes in the hospital, alive again, with every memory of her previous life intact. At her first gala after the crash, Giles publicly placed the "Morning Star" diamond necklace-the anniversary gift he had promised Elenor-around Evelin's neck. This time, Elenor did not cry. She handed him divorce papers. Giles laughed, certain she would come crawling back. He threatened her father, targeted her brother, and let his mother pressure her to produce a Barron heir. His sister even gave her a so-called fertility tonic that would permanently destroy her body. They had used every one of those weapons against her before. Now Elenor knew exactly how to destroy them. While Giles searched for the wife he believed he owned, Elenor stepped into Washington's most dangerous political circles. Armed with knowledge of a coming assassination, she approached Senator Kris Langley-her former Georgetown mentor, Giles's powerful political rival, and the one man who had recognized her brilliance long before she became Mrs. Barron. By the time Giles realizes Elenor never wanted his fortune-and that the devoted wife he discarded is the one woman he cannot replace-she is already dismantling the Barron dynasty piece by piece. He wants her back. His family wants her silenced. But it is far too late to stop her revenge.

I was just a struggling baker in Brooklyn, trying to keep my head down. Then my boyfriend of five years dumped me for my wealthy, arrogant cousin, Isabell. She flaunted her massive diamond ring in my face and invited me to their lavish engagement party just to humiliate me. My own father stood by her side at the party, telling the press she was the daughter he always cherished, while tossing me a check to disappear. Stripped of my dignity and desperate for money, I signed a contract to be the fake fiancée of Kade Montgomery, a disgraced sports star secretly dying from a severe infection. In his massive estate, everyone treated me like dirt. His arrogant former nanny barged into his room, sneering that I was just a cheap, uneducated baker, and prepared to inject him with a sedative that would instantly kill him in his fragile state. They all thought I was a pathetic loser who could be stepped on and silenced forever. They had no idea that before I put on an apron, I was a top-tier MIT prodigy who built a cutting-edge medical and AI system. Watching the needle approach Kade's arm, the beast I had kept hidden for years finally woke up. "Put the syringe down," I said coldly, grabbing her wrist. It was time to show them exactly what this useless baker could do.

I was just a simple florist when Julien Leon, a billionaire NHL star, violently kidnapped me from my shop. He mistook me for a con artist who had scammed his sick grandmother, using my identical name and a childhood scar as undeniable proof. He threatened to destroy my entire life unless I signed a fake fiancé contract and went to his family estate to beg the old woman for forgiveness. But before I could even meet her, the family doctor announced she was dead. Julien went completely insane with grief. He pinned me against a wall, nearly choking the life out of me, and vowed to make my existence a living hell. To make matters worse, his greedy relatives immediately used the tragedy to stage a coup, demanding Julien step down as CEO and blaming me as the gold digger who killed their matriarch. I was trapped in a nightmare, facing a lifetime in prison or a brutal death for a crime I didn't commit, all because of a cursed doppelgänger. How could I survive the wrath of a man who could bend the world to his will? But listening to the vicious family feud outside my locked door, a crazy realization hit me. The rare neuro-active plant I handled earlier could cause suspended animation mimicking death. I pushed the door open, facing the hostile relatives and the murderous billionaire. "You're all mistaken. Mrs. Leon is not dead." I demanded ten minutes to revive her, betting my life and freedom on the impossible.

Ashley's heart gave out while her husband watched fireworks with his mistress. For five years, she had poured everything into their marriage, working herself ragged for a man who saw her as little more than a live-in maid. Only when death nearly claimed her did the truth finally hit. Remembering who she used to be, Ashley returned once again as an untouchable heiress, conquered high society, and left the powerful scrambling for her favor. Even her remorseful ex dropped to his knees. Then a cold, commanding man pulled her against him and swept the crowd with an icy stare. "She's mine."