The Villainess is a Marionette - Chapter 24: Scene 5. Same Person, New Stage

CONTENT WARNING:/This novel contains mature themes, explicit sexual content, strong language, and adult situations. Reader discretion is advised./---She ran from the devil who raised her…And married the one who wore a crown.After her parents’ tragic death, Lydia Andreyevna’s life became a nightmare. Stripped of her name, inheritance, and freedom by her uncle—Lord Alexander—she was treated like property and promised to a Count four times her age.Desperate to escape, she fled into the cold night… and straight into blood.A stranger. Wounded. Beautiful. Terrifying.She should’ve left him.But she didn’t.She touched him once—and fate branded her forever.Her uncle caught her the next morning. Her escape failed. But when she begged Queen Olga for protection, the Queen offered her a deadly bargain:Marry the masked Grand Duke of Zolotaria.The king’s hunting dog. The butcher of the East. The devil in a crown.The man feared by kings.The heir to the throne.The same man she once saved.Ivan Romanov.They say he bathes in blood. That he kills without blinking. That he conquered kingdoms with a smile behind a mask. That no one sees his face—and lives.Some call him the devil. Others call him Death’s favorite son.But behind the mask is the same man she found dying in the dark.The same voice that haunted her dreams.The same hands she once held.Now, he’s her husband.Her jailer.Her obsession.She doesn’t know if she’s his prisoner, or his weakness.Cold and untouchable, Ivan doesn’t share his bed. Doesn’t share his secrets. But she sees it—the hunger in his eyes. The pain in his silence. The way he looks at her like she’s the only thing keeping his demons at bay.She should fear him.She should hate him.But the moment she dares to take off his mask… it’s already too late.Because Ivan wants her—her fire, her body, her heart.And in his world, what he wants, he keeps.Even if it means burning down the kingdom.She thought she was running from hell.She ended up in his bed.And the most dangerous thing of all?She doesn’t want to leave.

Heaven favors the strong and wealthy.Hex realized that the day he was thrown out of the cloister and into the slums. He vowed to become the baron and show what being strong meant.To forge his own destiny, Hex scavenged the mountains, braving the cold solitude with a smile. At last, one day, he gained his chance on the verge of life and death. Even then, society and Fate tried to interfere. Faced with death, his Will didn’t waver and he gritted through, forcing his Heart to awaken. The Stone Heart in his chest defied his destiny and helped him write his own.Emboldened by his Heart of Stone, he walked the path to his dreams. His dreams, however, threatened to put him in the middle of the crossfire between Powers that could destroy Earth and Sky. Hex couldn’t allow his dreams to shatter. So, he sought to destroy all those who threatened his dreams.Follow a young man on his quest to fulfill his dreams, even if it meant to destroy Heaven and Earth.

“I WILL MAKE THEM ALL REGRET THE DAY THEY MET ME! I WILL MAKE THEM WISH THEY WERE NEVER BORN! AND I WILL MAKE THEM HATE THE DAY THEY THOUGHT OF BETRAYING ME!”“You will, Sweetie. And I'll help you with that...”Those were the last words Avery spoke and heard before passing out in her bloody red wedding gown, on the same day she was supposed to marry her boyfriend from senior high school.~~Avery McCallum, the sole heiress and president of the McCallum Group of Companies, had her whole family wiped out on her wedding day. Framed for her grandfather's murder and stripped of her position, Avery vows to take revenge on those who wronged her. But her powerless state seems to mock her determination.Enter Archibald Donovan. She used to hate the devilishly hot and narcissistic chairman of the A² Corp who also happened to be her older brother's best friend, but when consumed with the need to take revenge, she begged him to marry her in return for fulfilling a long list of conditions. Archie agrees, and a month later, Avery re-emerges as Ava Donovan, a rising actress and the wife of the most powerful man in the country.With her newfound status, Avery systematically destroys her adversaries, uncovering dark secrets and hidden agendas along the way. But as she navigates the treacherous landscape of her new life, she must confront the truth about her family's past and at the end of it all, come back to him.She owed him after all...EXCERPTArchie's eyes darkened when he saw her stumbling out of the wine cellar, a bottle of wine in one hand and her night robe, in the other. She was literally half naked.“Hey...” her greeting came out in a slur, and that was all he needed to know she was drunk. Very drunk, at that.“Why?” he asked simply, knowing she would interpret his question as she usually did.“I...I visited them today. The flowers on their stones were already wilted and...and...it broke me. I wanted to be happy and at the same time, I wanted to cry,” Avery replied, inhaling short wisps of air before she continued, “Then I found the cellar.”“Did it work?”She shook her head slowly in reply, lifting her head up in time to see a mischievous smirk curl on his lips.“Don't be sad, Baby girl. I happen to know a way to make you cry and keep you excited at the same time,” he said.“Really?”“Wanna try it, Mama?”Avery nodded, slowly but firmly as he closed the distance between them.As he promised, she did cry...in pleasure.

Betrayed and discarded to die by the one whom she loved the most, the former empress of Akea, Amelia Volemont finds her self in the body of Amelia Cosgrove, the first daughter of the Cosgrove family who was unwanted by her family and basically had everything taken from her including her fiance, Ace Blackwood, by her step Sister, Lilac Cosgrove.Determined not to repeat the mistakes of her past, Amelia decides to abandon love and live life on her own terms. Breaking off her engagement with Ace should have been a step toward freedom, but fate has other plans. To maintain their family’s reputation, her parents hastily re-engage her to Kai Blackwood, the so-called useless, unwanted son of the Blackwood family.Amelia reassures herself that this engagement won’t last long after all, Kai seems just as disinterested as she is. But six months later, she finds herself watching in disbelief as he eagerly helps her choose a wedding dress.A month later, she sees the headlines announcing the downfall of the once-powerful Blackwood family only to turn and find Kai smirking evily, a gloating glint in his eyes.Wasn't he suppose to be the useless son of the Blackwood family? Why did he seem to be a big boss instead?Disclaimer: The Cover and character Photos were gotten from Pintrest. If you are the artist and wish for it to be taken down please do inform me.