Could years of growing up together really lose out to a manipulative woman playing innocent?   Elodie Mercer had only been able to marry Damian Waverly because the woman he loved was under threat, leaving him no choice but to compromise.   For three years of their contract marriage, Elodie had remained faithful, only to watch him go everywhere with another woman, looking like the perfect couple.   When her grandmother fell gravely ill and she had nowhere else to turn, she went to him for help.   He said, "I'll give you 50 million dollars. Set me free, and we'll be even."   For her grandmother's sake, and to keep from shackling herself for the rest of her life, Elodie resolutely accepted the 50 million.   "Damian, let's never have anything to do with each other again."   She left, and he panicked. When he saw the crowd of admirers around her, he grew desperate.   "Come back, sweetheart. I'll give you anything. My money, my power, myself. Even my life."

A chance discovery revealed the truth to Nora Shaw. Ethan Foster, the man she had loved for years, had pursued her for reasons that had nothing to do with love. Ethan said, "Claire Grant is the only woman I've ever loved. As for Nora, we're all adults. What's wrong with having a little fun?" Nora wiped away her tears and forced herself to let go of their ugly, dishonest relationship. Without making a scene, she quietly planned her escape while reclaiming the life and career she had abandoned. As the days passed and their relationship grew increasingly strained, every look and smile from Nora tugged at Ethan's heart, forcing him to confront feelings he had never understood. Before the wedding, he stood in his tailored suit, determined to make their life together work and spend the rest of his days making it up to her. Then his assistant rushed in. "Mr. Foster, we have a problem... The bride ran away!" His eyes reddened. After searching everywhere, he finally found her in a distant city, smiling softly as she placed her hand in that of another man. Ethan's lips trembled. "Nora, I can't live without you..." Nora gave him a careless smile without even looking his way. "You're the great Ethan Foster. Since when did you start chasing another man's woman?"

Ingrid Atwood had loved Wesley Osborn for 8 whole years. But after a prenatal checkup, she finally gave up on him. Their families' marriage agreement had led her to abandon her dreams and marry him willingly. She'd believed that if she tried hard enough, they could both find happiness in the marriage. Then she came home from a prenatal appointment she'd attended alone, only to find that he'd brought his first love home and was personally taking care of her. Ingrid left him a divorce agreement and walked away. Everyone laughed that she'd be nothing without Wesley. Even he believed that the woman who loved him so deeply would eventually come back in tears. Instead, after their divorce, Ingrid returned to the piano, fought her way through an international competition, and finally stood on the winners' podium. At the awards ceremony, the spotlight shone on her while the man who'd once been so arrogant begged her, his eyes red, to come back—in front of the entire world. She only smiled faintly. "You're too late, Mr. Osborn." This time, if he wanted her back, what could he possibly offer to make up for the nearly 10 years of her youth he'd cost her?

After 6 years together, Madeline Quinn was dumped just as marriage was finally within reach. Lucas Hayes told her flatly, "My father would never let someone with your background into the family."   Madeline found the excuse almost laughable. She knew the truth. His first love was back, and it was time for her to step aside.   Then, at the lowest point of her life, Adrian Hayes, the true head of the Hayes family and Northvale's most eligible bachelor, handed her a marriage agreement.   "Marry me. You'll get everything you want, and you'll get your revenge on him."   The good news: a monthly allowance of 10,000,000 dollars, unlimited resources, a husband who supposedly spent most of the year traveling, plenty of personal freedom, and, as a bonus, the satisfaction of outranking her ex in the family hierarchy.   The bad news: the constant business trips were a lie. So was the promise that they wouldn't interfere in each other's lives. On the night they got legally married, Adrian kissed her until she could barely breathe. After that, he came home every night and showed an alarming enthusiasm for their marital duties.   Later, when her ex dropped to his knees in public and begged her to come back, Adrian wrapped an arm around her waist and said coldly, "Say one more ridiculous thing, and you're out of the Hayes family."   Late at night, Adrian buried his face against Madeline's neck.   "Maddie, forget him. Love me instead, okay?" "Maddie, who are you thinking about?" "Maddie, I'm the only one you're allowed to think about." "Maddie, should we have a baby?"   Madeline had always believed her marriage to Adrian was nothing more than a mutually beneficial deal, and she never dared give him her heart.   Only when the truth finally came out did she realize that the marriage that had rescued her at her lowest point had never been an accident.   He had spent 6 years planning it.

When Sienna Hayes found Zoey, the little girl was trembling beside the climbing wall. Her father, meanwhile, was helping his lover's son up the wall. "You're doing great, Milo. Don't be afraid!" Ethan Hawthorne's tone was warm and indulgent. Only a few steps away, his own daughter had been forced into a climbing harness and left alone at the base of the wall. The little girl's face had gone pale, tears brimming in her eyes as she clutched the rope and didn't dare take a single step forward. No one, not even her own father, cared how frightened she was. "You know Milo has insulted Zoey again and again! Why would you bring her here with him?" Sienna shouted. "It's just a little squabbling between kids. Why do you have to be so hostile? Trying more challenging activities will help Zoey recover!" "This is what you call helping her?" Sienna pointed at her sobbing daughter, her chest heaving as 4 years of hurt and heartbreak finally boiled over. "You give someone else's child all your patience and protection while your own daughter stands here shaking, then use her treatment as an excuse for all of it!" "Sienna! Stop dragging a child into the problems between adults. Be reasonable!" A grief-stricken laugh escaped her. "The moment you used my daughter as a prop for your so-called kindness, there was nothing left to reason about!" She stopped arguing and pulled the sobbing Zoey tightly into her arms. Zoey wrapped both arms around her neck and buried her face in Sienna's shoulder, her sobs muffled against it. Sienna no longer shouted. When she spoke again, her voice was frighteningly calm and resolute. "I used to believe that one day you'd wake up and see how much you've hurt both of us. I don't believe that anymore. I'm telling you now: I want a divorce. The lawyers can handle the property division and Zoey's custody. From now on, Zoey is my daughter, not yours, and I'll do everything in my power to protect her. Go on spoiling Milo and your lover all you want. But if either of you hurts my daughter again, I'll make sure you pay for it." Ethan opened his mouth to snap back, but she was already walking away. He still dismissed it as just another argument with his wife. He had no idea Sienna had made a decision she would never take back.

The day Chloe Carter learned she was pregnant again, she discovered that her husband had set up a second home with a former scholarship student Chloe herself had once sponsored.   While Chloe wasted away with grief over the children she had lost, Wesley Warren had been celebrating the birth of his mistress's son.   The jewelry company Chloe had founded with her own hands had long since been taken over by the other woman.   Even the marital home Chloe had believed was one of a kind had been recreated for Madeline Monroe and her child.   In that moment, every last trace of Chloe's love vanished, leaving nothing but hatred.   She hid her pregnancy test results and asked for a divorce without hesitation.   Wesley's tone was firm and commanding. "Chloe, if you regret this and beg me now, I can pretend the divorce settlement agreement never existed."   Chloe turned away. "Mr. Warren, I'll see you at the clerk's office."   Later, Wesley finally swallowed his pride. Looking at the radiant woman Chloe had become, he begged her to look at him one more time.   Chloe only gave him a distant smile. "Mr. Warren, you're too late. I'll never fall for you again."

"Catherine is nothing. She is just Michael's lapdog. You have to listen to me. From now on, you will do whatever I tell you to do!"   When the crucial recording about the kidnapping was played, Michael Stewart's mistress, Selena Scott, went pale and shot to her feet in panic. "That isn't my voice!"   "Selena Scott, are you really going to claim this isn't your voice?" Catherine Wilson turned the volume all the way up. "Isn't this what you said when you arranged the kidnapping? If this isn't enough, I have more evidence!"   Michael rose, his tall figure looming over her. "What do you want?"   "I want a divorce." Catherine pulled out the divorce agreement. "Sign it and I'll leave. If you don't, I'll make this recording public!"   Michael stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. "You would never have done this before."   "I would never have knelt and begged someone to spare me and my child before either, but I did that day." Catherine looked at the people in front of her, all on the verge of breaking down. "You taught me that being softhearted never ends well."   She pulled Selena's hand over and shoved the pen into it. "You sign it. Haven't you always wanted to become Mrs. Stewart? Do you dare sign?"   Selena looked at her in despair. Her fingers trembled, and the pen fell to the floor.   Catherine bent down, picked it up, and forced it back into Selena's palm. "You dared to take my child and my man. Why don't you dare sign now that it has come down to this?"   "What? What child are you talking about?" Michael stared at her, his face drained of color.   "That has nothing to do with you, Michael Stewart, because I will never let you know when the child is born or what the child looks like. You don't deserve to be the father!" Catherine slapped the report against his chest, no longer caring about his expression.   "I can give you anything else you want, but not my child. Michael Stewart, if you hurt my child again, I will expose everything about the two of you. If I go down, I'll take you with me."   Michael jerked his head up, his eyes red. "Catherine—"   "It's too late." She turned away and left the documents on the floor. "Did you think I came here to beg you today? I came to tell you that from this day on, I, Catherine Wilson, have nothing to do with either you or your first love."