The Substitute Wife

Marcus West was about to swallow a handful of pills when someone started pounding on his door. Three years ago, he had everything. A restaurant he built from nothing. A wife who believed in him. A future. Now he's got $186,000 in medical debt, a dead wife, and a condemned hotel room in the Tenderloin. Then Jerome shows up bleeding, holding a USB drive and gasping: "They did it to you too. Here's proof." Turns out Marcus's life didn't fall apart by accident. His restaurant was sabotaged. His wife was a federal agent murdered for protecting him. His father was killed for knowing too much. The same people destroyed all of them. Now Marcus has something they didn't expect: the Karmic Debt System. A power that turns suffering into currency. Every nightmare, every loss, every moment of pain—it all has value now. And Marcus has been suffering for a very long time. They took everything from him. He is about to take it back and with interest. Can Marcus tear down the empire that destroyed everything he loved before the debt consumes him? Or will his quest for vengeance cost him what little humanity he has left?

"Honey... Where have you been? Can you help me?" Glenn asked his wife; his body was completely paralyzed. "Don't 'honey' me, Glenn. I'm fed up with all this pretense. Why are you so stubborn? It would have been easier if you died in yesterday's accident..." Amber snapped, glaring at him, visibly frustrated. Glenn was surprised by his wife's words, and then Jason, his business partner, suddenly appeared and warmly embraced his wife. Glenn's world immediately crumbled. What betrayal cuts deeper than discovering those closest and dearest are the perpetrators? Glenn Smith knows it all too well. The revelation of his wife, Amber, deceiving him, fostering a secret love with Jason—his colleague—and Ethan not being his biological son but a product of their affair, shattered Glenn's world. The very individuals he lifted from poverty and elevated status stabbed him in the back. Yet, a life-threatening accident thrusts Glenn back in time to when he first encountered this deceitful duo; he seizes a second chance. Once a naive, unsuspecting man, Glenn now vows to metamorphose into someone unrecognisable, someone ready to retaliate against them!

Vincent Finn was convicted for a misdemeanor committed by his wife, Amber Reed who was also a rookie lawyer at Peak Law Firm like himself. He kept her secret and took the fall because she was carrying their child and his mother-in-law begged him to save her daughter. He lost everything! His dignity and name soiled forever! He was doomed and they all abandoned him totally. He returned a year later and walked in on his wife in bed with the law firm’s superior lawyer, Bernard Harris. Both his mother-in-law and wife shunned him, rubbing in his face his own gullible choice and served him a divorce. Amber had even aborted the pregnancy she had for him back then. What no one saw coming was his discovery while in prison. Peak Law firm was actually his inheritance. He returned to the law firm as a mere desk staff hiding his identity to destroy them from within, exposing all their illegal dealings and reforming the company using his newly acquired power. Will he be able to exert his revenge on them without blowing his cover? Will he conquer the destructiveness that lies around the secrets of Peak Law Firm?

Everyone thought Hudson was just a broke, useless househusband—mocked, ignored, and treated like trash by his wife and in-laws. But behind the scenes, he was the silent force that built a billion-dollar empire... and he’s done being quiet. When his wife hands over his company shares to her first love and threatens divorce, Hudson finally snaps. What they don't know is that Hudson isn't just some pushover—he's a hidden master of medicine and martial arts, with a past darker and deeper than anyone could imagine. Now, the man they humiliated is about to rise—and the world will learn the truth: you never mess with a secret doctor.

Ethan Banks, a poor business analyst is cheated on and despised by his wife and her family simply because he was broke but his life suddenly takes a surprising twist…

"Three jobs. Endless sacrifices. A dying father. Yet my wife emptied our savings for her secret lover. When the hospital demanded another $800,000, she looked me in the eyes and said coldly: 'Sell your kidney. You only need one.' Desperate, I went to the underground broker. During the examination, an old professor saw the jade pendant around my neck... and suddenly knelt before me. Now everything has changed. The same hospital that wanted to throw my father out... now belongs to someone they never expected. And tomorrow, my cheating wife will walk in with her lover — ready to mock the 'worthless husband.' She has no idea what she's about to face."

Jakes lived poor all his life until he discovered his family fortune and resumed taking over them. This made it possible for him to protect his family. His wife, Stephanie got pregnant, and her family demanded that she aborted the baby and leave Jakes, which she frowned at. They made Stephanie and her baby's life miserable because of this. However, in the long run, Jakes used his advantage to secretly help his wife reclaim her family position and become the CEO. Stephanie took over most of her family's business. Then, Jakes's mother-in-law and brother-in-law hate them to the guts.

Dylan Pierce spent five years as a mocked househusband, loving his wife and daughter while being despised for his “worthlessness.” On their wedding anniversary, his ambitious wife Rachel demanded freedom, wealth, and a life without him. So Dylan gave her exactly what she wanted… a divorce. What Rachel never knew was that the man she humiliated was the true heir of the Sterling family, the most powerful financial empire in the city. When Dylan returns to his rightful place, power follows. Contracts are canceled. Fortunes collapse. And the woman who once trampled on his dignity realizes too late… She divorced the man who could have given her everything.

I’m no longer the useless husband. Every single one of you will pay with blood, with sweat, and with tears. And even when you kneel before me and beg for mercy, I will show you none!

Marcus had it all, a stable job, a home, and a wife he loved. But in one brutal week, everything falls apart. After years of being mistreated at work, he finally snaps and quits, only to come home and find his wife in bed with another man. She wants a divorce. She owns the house. He’s out. Now broke, homeless, and alone, Marcus struggles to survive. Humiliated, hungry, and pushed to his limit, he spends his last few dollars on cheap food, only to be mocked by the woman who once promised to love him. Then, in the pouring rain, a speeding car hits him and doesn’t stop. But rock bottom is just the beginning.