From Pantry To MIT: Their Regret

My parents left me to freeze to death on a mountain just to save their adopted daughter. When I dragged my broken body back home days later, my father didn't hug me. Instead, he frowned and asked why I was making such a scene over a "simple accident." For eighteen years, I was the Corbett family's dirty secret. Despite being their biological child, I slept in a pantry and scrubbed their floors while Angelique, their "chosen" one, lived like a princess. They erased my existence, starved me, and when I finally packed my bags to leave forever, they accused me of being an ungrateful gold-digger. Even my childhood protector, Asher, looked at me with disgust, claiming my survival was hurting "delicate" Angelique. I severed all ties, but they wouldn't let me go. When they cornered me at my new school to save their plummeting stock prices, I didn't cower. I exposed every scar, every unpaid bill, and every crime to the principal, getting them banned from campus. Now, as I head to MIT on a full ride, the Corbett empire is burning to the ground. And I' m the one holding the match.

Chapters

Chapter 5

Catrina POV

I turned, my jaw tight. Dozier Corbett stood there, a phantom from a past I had desperately tried to outrun.

"Who's that?" Maya whispered, nudging me playfully. Her brow furrowed then. "He looks... familiar. Is he famous?"

My expression remained cold, unyielding. "Who? Him?" I scoffed, forcing a laugh. "Never seen him before in my life. You must have me confused with someone else."

Dozier flinched as if struck. Before I could say another word, he closed the distance between us in a few hurried strides. "Catrina, please, can we talk? Privately?" His eyes were bloodshot, his face pale and drawn. He looked nothing like the arrogant Ivy League bully from just a few weeks ago. The usual sneer was gone, replaced by a desperate anxiety that made his features almost unrecognizable.

I turned away, annoyance bubbling within me. "I have nothing to say to you, Dozier." My voice was flat, devoid of emotion. "What is it this time? Is Angelique feeling neglected again? Did she need another one of my projects to pass off as her own? Or are you here to frame me for another nonexistent crime?" I finally looked back at him, my gaze piercing. "Because I'm tired. I'm so incredibly tired of your games. Unless you're here to confess to the police, I suggest you leave."

My voice, though calm, carried across the quad. A few students nearby paused their conversations, their gazes shifting curiously towards us. Maya, my usually bright-eyed friend, looked from Dozier to me, her jaw slightly agape.

Dozier visibly recoiled, his face draining of what little color it possessed. "Catrina, please," he pleaded, his voice a hoarse whisper. "I'm so sorry. I... I messed up. I know I did. Just give me a chance to explain."

I let out a short, humorless laugh. "Sorry? Sorry for what, precisely, Dozier? Are you sorry for abandoning me on that mountain? Sorry for calling me a thief, a liar, an ungrateful bitch? Sorry for ransacking my room and destroying my belongings? Sorry for standing by as Angelique tormented me, day in and day out? Which one of your myriad acts of cowardice are you apologizing for?" I needed him to grovel, not for my satisfaction, but for him to truly confront the depth of his betrayal. I wouldn't let him off the hook with a generic apology.

He stammered, his eyes wide and lost, like a fawn caught in headlights. "I didn't... I didn't know what you were going through. I just... Angelique told me things, and Mom and Dad..."

I finished his sentence for him, my voice devoid of warmth. "And you believed them. You always believed Angelique. The fragile, beautiful lie. You chose to believe a fabricated narrative over your own flesh and blood, over the girl you once called your sister. That tells me everything I need to know about your character."

I turned to Maya. "Come on. We'll be late for class."

As I started to walk away, a hand clamped around my arm. Dozier's grip was surprisingly strong. "Wait! Please! Mom and Dad... they're not doing well. The company stock is plummeting because of all the rumors. They want to see you. They want to fix this."

I stopped dead, my gaze slowly drifting down to his hand on my forearm, then up to his face. My eyes felt like shards of ice. He flinched, pulling his hand back as if burned. "Fix this?" I repeated, my voice dangerously soft. "You think this is about stock prices and rumors, Dozier? Eighteen years of neglect, of spiritual and emotional abuse, of being left to die on a freezing mountain, and you think a few dropped stock points are the 'problem'?" I shook my head, a bitter smile touching my lips. "You Corbetts are even more pathetic than I imagined."

I turned, leaving him standing there amidst the whispers of curious students. Maya, wide-eyed, hurried to catch up, her steps echoing mine. I didn't look back, but I felt his desperate gaze boring into my back. His regret was palpable, a tangible weight in the air. But it was too late. His apologies were meaningless. The damage was done.

A few days later, just as I was heading to my robotics club meeting, Ms. Goodman, my science teacher, caught up with me. "Catrina, the principal would like to see you in his office." Her voice was kind, but her expression held a hint of concern. "He said you have some family visiting."

Family. The word tasted like ash in my mouth. I knew who it was. They wouldn't give up so easily. They never did. They clung to power, to control, like a drowning man clings to a life raft. I steeled myself, plastering on a neutral expression. Let them come. I was ready. I pushed open the principal' s door.

Cordell Corbett, his face alight with a horrifyingly fake smile, lunged forward.

Continue to next part

Two years ago, my fiancé, Connor, tossed the only life jacket to his mistress, Ilene, and watched me drown. I was pregnant with his child. He found me living a quiet life as a fisherman's wife on a remote island, dragged me back to his world, and revealed a shocking truth: our son, the one I thought I'd lost, was alive. He had been raised by them all along. Connor divorced Ilene and tried to force me into marriage, using our son as a pawn. But the boy he'd raised was a stranger, twisted by his father's cruelty, calling me a "bad woman." That's when I knew I had to destroy them. I returned to the island, not as a victim, but as Ayla Garcia, the island chief's long-lost daughter. "Connor Foster," my father roared, his voice echoing through the hall, "you dared to touch my daughter? Get out of my sight, now!" He thought he could ruin my life, but he never realized he was trespassing in my kingdom.

Adventure Modern Romance

8.8

BEYOND THE ICE

8.8

The only thing more dangerous than the game is the man guarding the crease. Lyon Navarro has spent his entire career tearing down the San Diego Stormbreakers. As the city's most ruthless journalist, he's made an art form out of exposing the Alphas' volatile tempers and their scandalous lives off the rink. He's the man they love to hate-until a desperate management team offers him the biggest paycheck of his life to fix their image. The assignment? Tame the six most notorious werewolves in the league. But Lyon isn't just dealing with professional athletes; he's stepping into a den of apex predators who have been waiting for him to cross their territory. And they have no intention of playing nice. Rafael Stone, the team's intense, iron-willed captain, has made one thing clear: if Lyon wants to manage the pack, he's going to have to survive them. But between the locker room tension, the high-stakes pressure of the season, and the way the pack's gazes feel like a physical brand on his skin, Lyon realizes he's no longer just reporting the story-he's the one being hunted. In a world of adrenaline, cold ice, and raw, lupine desire, Lyon is about to discover that the line between enemy and lover is thinner than a skate blade. Six Alphas. One PR strategist. And a season that's about to get very, very hot. Beyond the Ice is a high-stakes, slow-burn MM hockey werewolf romance. Expect intense power dynamics, sizzling tension, and a pack that doesn't just want to win the cup-they want to claim their man.

Adventure LGBT+Romance Werewolf

7.8

Branded By The Devil's Cruel Kiss

7.8

Elie Joyce’s entire life was controlled by Ebert Ewing, a ruthless billionaire who held her sick grandmother's survival and her family's freedom in his hands. But on a freezing, stormy night, he forced her into a scandalous scrap of red silk and handed her over to a notorious, disgusting predator. "You aren't an escort. You're just a free gift." Ebert mocked her, using her as a disposable bargaining chip to secure a corporate funding round. When the predator humiliated her, forced high-proof vodka down her throat, and violently pinned her to the floor, Ebert simply watched with dead eyes. And when Ebert finally intervened to brutally beat the man, it wasn't out of mercy. "She is my property. Even if she is trash that I threw away, a filthy pig like you doesn't get to touch her." Afterward, he dragged her battered, barefoot body into his car, only to kick her out into the torrential rain, leaving her on the dark streets to die. Standing in the storm, shivering and bleeding from broken glass, the last shred of Elie's hope shattered. She had sacrificed her dignity and soul, enduring his violent bites and cruel control, just to keep her family alive. Why did she have to suffer this endless, twisted humiliation for a psychopath who only saw her as trash? But she didn't break. Tearing a strip of his expensive shirt to bandage her bleeding foot, Elie gripped her broken stiletto like a knife. With her eyes turning cold and calculating, she limped out of the shadows. She was going to survive, and Ebert Ewing would soon realize she was no longer his obedient prey.

Adventure Billionaire Modern

9.5

CROWN OF THE FORGOTTEN FLAMES

9.5

In a kingdom where fire and frost clash, An immortal king awakens from centuries of slumber..... And a forgotten princess discover powers she never imagined. Together they must unite their realms, confront an ancient force and navigate a bond that ignites with desire, danger and magic But will the dread court yield?, And can passion alone be enough to survive?.

Adventure Fantasy Romance

8.5

From Broken To Beloved, My Journey

8.5

My husband, Andre Grimes, was a newly-elected senator, and I was a celebrated chef pregnant with our first child. On the night of his victory, our world was supposed to be perfect. Instead, I watched him on live TV, his arm around his pregnant mistress, as he announced their relationship to the world. He then looked into the camera and called my own pregnancy a lie, a fabrication to create a scandal. His powerful family, along with my own adoptive parents, locked me in our home. They moved his mistress into my bedroom and planned to force me to have an abortion to protect his career. His mother looked at me with cold eyes. "It's for the best, Kyra. No loose ends." I was trapped, betrayed by everyone, facing the murder of my unborn child. But they made one mistake: they gave me back my phone. With trembling hands, I found a long-forgotten number and dialed. A man's voice answered. "My name is Kyra Moore," I choked out. "I think you might be my father. They're going to take my baby."

Adventure Modern Romance

7.1

ICE- The Alpha's Unwanted OMEGA

7.1

The captain is dead to the world. And I'm the only one holding the kill switch. Ethan Carter, the "Glacier of Silvercrest," was the most feared Alpha to ever step onto the ice. Now, he's nothing but a shell-a broken, comatose legend trapped in his own body. My life? It was supposed to be simple. Graduate, survive the pack's bottom-tier status, and pay off my father's ruinous blood-debts. Instead, the pack elders handed me a contract soaked in cold, hard malice: I am the designated "Stabilizer." My only job is to touch him, scent him, and keep his wolf from flatlining. I thought I was just a glorified nurse. I didn't realize the Alpha was listening. When Ethan finally wakes, he isn't the hero the Kingdom of Valeria remembers. He's a starving predator with amber eyes that burn holes through my defenses and a temperament that makes the frost in the mansion seem warm. He hates the bargain, he hates the pack, and-most dangerously-he hates the way his scent turns wild whenever I'm near. He wants me out of his sight. I want to be out of his reach. But in a pack built on secrets, someone is still trying to finish the job they started on his life. Now, the man who wants me gone is the only one who can protect me. And as the rink turns into a battlefield, I'm realizing the most dangerous thing about the Alpha isn't his temper... it's the fact that once he claims a mate, he doesn't know how to let go. Frozen hearts are meant to shatter. But in the fire of this pack, we're both going to burn.

Adventure Fantasy LGBT+Werewolf

From Pantry To MIT: Their Regret

Chapter 5

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