Rejected No More: The Genius's Revenge

I was sitting in a Starbucks, staring at a cold Americano, while the girl I thought was the love of my life looked at me with pure disgust. Hailee Baxter slammed her latte down and told me we were done, claiming she couldn’t start her career at City Hall with a "diner kid" dragging her down. She wasn't just breaking my heart; she was trading me in for Kyler Craft, the son of a powerful politician who could buy her the future she craved. In my past life, this was the moment I shattered, beginning a twenty-year spiral into alcoholism, poverty, and watching my parents work themselves into an early grave while I failed at everything. I vividly remembered the smell of cheap whiskey and the obituary of my father that I was too broke to even attend. But as I looked down at my hands, they weren't the calloused, shaking hands of a forty-year-old failure; they were smooth, young, and steady. The silver Motorola flip phone in my pocket felt like a relic from a museum, and the girl in front of me looked like a shallow stranger rather than the woman of my dreams. The crushing pain in my chest wasn't a heart attack—it was forty years of bitter regret colliding with a twenty-two-year-old body. Hailee was waiting for me to beg for another chance, her napkin ready to wipe away the pathetic tears she expected, but all I felt was a cold, clinical clarity. How could I have been so blind to her greed, and why did I let one failed exam and a rich boy’s bullying destroy my entire family’s legacy? I glanced at the newspaper on the table: May 12, 2005. This was the day I supposedly lost the City Hall fellowship, but I remembered a secret about the "Supplemental Candidate Protocol" that no one else would know for another week. I stood up, ignored Hailee's insults, and dialed the number etched into my soul. "Mom," I whispered into the flip phone, "I'm coming home. And this time, I’m going to take back everything we lost."

Chapters

Chapter 6

The lobby of City Hall was a cavern of marble and echoes. It was cold, the air conditioning set to a temperature that suggested power and efficiency.

Arlis arrived an hour early. His suit was pressed, his shoes shined with a kit he'd bought at a drugstore. He stood near a pillar, watching the other candidates arrive.

They looked like clones. Navy blue suits, expensive watches, haircuts that cost more than Arlis's monthly rent. The air smelled of expensive cologne and fear.

Arlis walked to the sign-in desk. The woman behind the counter looked harried, buried under a stack of files.

"Good morning," Arlis said softly. "You look like you're carrying the weight of the world today."

The woman looked up, startled. Candidates usually barked names at her. Her face softened. "You have no idea, honey. Name?"

"Zimmerman. Arlis."

"Good luck, Mr. Zimmerman," she said, marking his name. Her tone was warm.

A commotion at the entrance drew everyone's attention. The heavy glass doors swung open.

Hailee walked in. She was clinging to Kyler's arm like a trophy. She wasn't a candidate, but she was there to mark her territory. Kyler wore an Armani suit that fit him like a second skin. He looked like a prince.

He scanned the room and locked eyes with Arlis.

"Look," Kyler announced, his voice booming. "The waiter actually showed up."

A ripple of laughter went through the group of candidates. Arlis didn't flinch. He stood perfectly still.

Hailee looked at Arlis. Her eyes flicked over his cheap suit, the slightly frayed cuffs. "Arlis," she said, her voice dropping to a theatrical whisper of pity. "Just go home. Don't do this to yourself."

"Hailee," Arlis said, his voice even. "This is a government building, not a sorority mixer. Lower your voice."

Kyler stepped forward, towering over Arlis. "Listen, pal. You know who got me this interview? The Deputy Mayor. Who sent you? The fry cook?"

Arlis looked Kyler in the eye. He didn't back down. He leaned in slightly.

"If I were you, Kyler, I wouldn't be shouting about nepotism in the lobby," Arlis said quietly. He nodded toward the far wall. "See those guys with the cameras? That's the Capital Gazette investigative team. They're looking for a quote on the corruption scandal."

Kyler's head whipped around. Sure enough, three men with press badges were standing near the elevators, talking to a security guard.

Kyler's face went pale. The color drained from his cheeks so fast it looked like a magic trick. He clamped his mouth shut, taking a half-step back.

Hailee looked confused. "Kyler? What's wrong?"

"Shut up," Kyler hissed at her.

Arlis didn't smile. He just turned his back on them and walked toward the elevators. The doors opened, and he stepped inside. As the doors slid shut, he saw Kyler standing there, sweating in his Armani suit.

Upstairs, the waiting room was silent. Arlis found a seat in the corner. Next to him sat a young man who was vibrating with nerves. Candidate 36.

"I'm going to throw up," the boy whispered.

"Breathe," Arlis said without opening his eyes. "They don't want robots. They want problem solvers."

The boy looked at him, grateful.

The door opened. A hush fell over the room. Commissioner Reynolds walked in. He was a large man, imposing, with a face carved from granite. He walked through the room, inspecting the candidates like livestock.

Everyone stood up, straightening ties. Arlis stood slowly. His eyes went straight to the floor.

Reynolds' shoes. Black oxfords. But along the sole, a faint rim of reddish-brown mud.

Red clay, Arlis thought. The East District construction site. He was there this morning.

Arlis looked up. Reynolds caught his eye. For a second, there was a spark of curiosity in the Commissioner's gaze. Then he turned and marched into the interview room.

The game was on.

Continue to next part

Scarlet's world shattered the night she discovered her husband in her bed with her own sister. The betrayal was brutal. The humiliation, unforgivable. And what hurt the most? Neither of them felt a single ounce of remorse. Within months, her husband divorced her and married the very woman who helped destroy her life, her sister. They thought she would break. They thought she would disappear quietly. They were wrong. Ryan Marchetti-cold, calculating, and dangerously powerful, has spent years waiting for the perfect chance to destroy his business rival. Marrying that rival's ex-wife is the ultimate move. Strategic. For Scarlet, marrying Ryan isn't about love. It's about revenge. A calculated alliance. A public statement. A promise that she will rise from the ashes they left her in. Together, they become the scandal that shakes empires. But revenge is never simple. Because behind Ryan's icy control lies a secret, one tied to her past, to her ex-husband, to the very marriage that ruined her life. A truth so explosive it could unravel everything she thought she knew. Was she just a pawn in Ryan's war from the very beginning? Or is the man she's slowly falling for capable of betraying her too? In a game fueled by vengeance, power, and buried truths, Scarlet must decide: Will she let betrayal destroy her again... Or will she risk her heart for the one man who might truly love her?

Action Modern Romance

8.0

His Fatal Mistake, My Sweet Revenge

8.0

Trapped 3,000 meters beneath the sea, the submersible I designed was my coffin. The air was turning to poison. But my fiancé, Jeffery, gave our only long-term life support-a CO2 scrubber I invented-to his social media star mistress. "You're strong, Elaina," he said. "You can figure something out." When I tried to use the emergency comms, he broke my wrist and smashed the console. He and his mistress sealed the hatch, leaving me to die alone in the crushing dark. He chose his career over my life. He chose her over me. The man I was supposed to marry would rather I suffocate at the bottom of the ocean than face a failed mission. But as the blackness closed in, I remembered a secret. A tiny, personal emergency pinger I' d built into my glove. With my last bit of strength, I tore the seam with my teeth and slammed my hand against my head. A faint click echoed in the silence. My revenge had just begun.

Action Mystery Romance

7.8

Married To The Vulture Of Wall Street

7.8

I had exactly forty-five minutes to get married, or I would lose the voting shares needed to stop my father from laundering millions through our family foundation. Everything was riding on this one legal signature at the City Clerk’s office. But just as I reached the front of the line, my phone buzzed with a high-definition photo of my fiancé, Preston, tangled in sheets with a junior associate at a SoHo hotel. The man I was about to tie my life to was a fraud, and my deadline was ticking toward zero. When I shoved the evidence in his face, he didn't even flinch. Instead, he gripped my wrist until the bone ground together, whispering that I was just a "junkie" fresh out of a Swiss clinic and that no one else would ever marry a liability with a personality disorder. My father was already standing by with a fraudulent medical affidavit, ready to force me into a conservatorship and strip me of my freedom the moment the clock hit 5 PM. They had spent years using my fake "instability" as a leash, treating me like a broken doll while they bled the company dry. I was the only one with the evidence to take them down, yet I was being discarded like a sunk cost by the very men who were supposed to protect me. I looked at Preston’s smug face and realized I didn't need a husband; I needed a predator. I scanned the room and spotted Dominik Mack, the "Vulture of Wall Street," a man who specialized in hostile takeovers and stripping men like my father of everything they owned. I walked straight up to the most dangerous man in New York and offered him a business transaction. "Do you want to get married?" I asked. He looked at my trembling hands, then at the man chasing me, and adjusted his collar with clinical detachment. "Deal," he said. I didn't just find a groom; I found an accomplice. This wasn't a wedding anymore—it was a declaration of war.

Action Modern Romance

9.4

MY HIDDEN IDENTITY OF BETRAYAL AND REVENGE

9.4

I used to believe love meant enduring. Staying. Shrinking myself so someone else could grow. I told myself it was worth it-hiding who I was, working jobs I never had to work, pretending my life was smaller than it was. I loved him. I thought that was enough. It wasn't. He chose her. My best friend looked me in the eyes and took everything I had built with him. And I remember standing there, wondering how I could feel so empty when my heart was still beating. For a long time, I blamed myself. For trusting too much. For giving too much. For not being enough. But I'm tired of carrying guilt that was never mine. I am not broken. I was betrayed. And there's a difference. I'm going back-not to beg, not to explain-but to take back the parts of myself I abandoned. My name. My power. My voice. They don't know who I really am, and that might be the only advantage I have left. Then he appears-calm, powerful, watching me like he sees the cracks I try to hide. And suddenly, revenge doesn't feel as simple as it used to. Neither does healing. This is my second chance. Not to love recklessly... but to choose myself, even if it changes everything.

Action Mystery Romance

7.7

Not Just an Incubator: The Omega's Revenge

7.7

I thought I was the luckiest Omega in the world when the Alpha of the New Moon Pack chose me. I was pregnant with his heir, sleeping in his bed, believing the warmth I felt was love. But then I found the medical report hidden in his desk. "Subject: Scent Modulator. Dosage: High." It wasn't a fated bond. It was a drug. He was chemically forcing me to love him. My best friend dragged me to a restaurant window, and I watched him kiss my cousin, Olivia. Through the glass, I heard the words that shattered my soul. "Just a few more months," Ethan told her, caressing her hand. "Once the incubator drops the brat, we'll dispose of her. Then we raise the heir as ours." I was never his Luna. I was livestock. A walking womb chosen for my bloodline compatibility because his mistress was barren. My father had tried to warn me with his dying breath, but I had been too blinded by the synthetic scent to listen. Grief threatened to kill me, but the White Wolf inside me woke up screaming for vengeance. I went back to the house. I didn't pack a bag. I went straight to the kitchen and brewed a tea of Wolfsbane and Mugwort. I drank it all, weeping as I felt the bond to the baby snap. Then, I walked into our bedroom, left the divorce papers on his pillow, and whispered into the mind-link: "I, Ava Miller, reject you, Ethan Cole, as my mate." As he screamed in my head, I blocked him and walked into the rain. He thought he broke a weak Omega. He didn't know he had just unleashed a White Wolf.

Action Romance Werewolf

9.8

Rejected Luna's Vengeance

9.8

Betrayed by her mate and cast out from her pack, a once-proud Luna is left for dead in the wilderness. Stripped of her title and dignity, she refuses to succumb to despair. Driven by a burning desire for retribution, she embarks on a perilous journey to reclaim her power. As she builds a new life from the ashes of her past, she prepares to confront those who wronged her. It is a tale of survival, inner strength, and the ultimate pursuit of justice.

Action Fantasy Werewolf

Rejected No More: The Genius's Revenge

Chapter 6

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