1945 Pulitzer Winning

Just as the Garner family teeters on the edge of bankruptcy, Seth Garner's parents come to my doorstep. They beg for a marriage alliance. My father knows I've loved Seth for ten years. So, he pours ten billion into the Garners to save their empire and marries me off to him. On our wedding night, Seth blindfolds me with red silk and takes me again and again with ruthless intensity. A month later, I excitedly bring him the pregnancy report. However, I overhear him at a bar, laughing with his friends. "So, who do you think knocked up Luna?" Laughter erupts. "Seth, don't tell me the child's mine!" "I bet a hundred grand it's his!" That’s when I realize the man in my bed on our wedding night wasn't even Seth. I storm in and demand answers, but he just sneers. "What are you crying for? If your family hadn't threatened me with money and driven Ash away, you think I'd treat you like this? "Let me be clear—the day Ash forgives me is the day I let you go." Dead inside, I ask for a divorce. He responds by threatening me with footage from our wedding night and locking me in the basement. "You're not leaving. You owe Ash, and you'll repay it!" Eight months later, I die in that basement, along with the baby I couldn't deliver. When I open my eyes again, I'm back to the day the Garner family first begs my father for that deal. This time, Seth is the one crying on my wedding day.

I've been in love for six years, but my wedding has been called off 99 times by the man who claims to love me most, the mafia boss, Daniel Reed. The first time is on a private island off the coast of Sorellia. He promises me a secret wedding. But an hour before the ceremony, he gets a call saying that his new assistant, Emily Jennings, has been taken by a rival family. Without a word, he leaves me behind and sails off into the night. The second time, we're standing at the altar, exchanging vows. His underboss then leans in and whispers, "Emily's in trouble." Daniel tears off his boutonniere and walks out without looking back. Emily has been kidnapped again—this time, near the border district. He leads an armed raid that very night while I'm left behind, becoming the laughingstock in the mafia's VIP lounges. No matter when I schedule the wedding, Emily always ends up in danger. And Daniel always runs to her without hesitation. Eventually, I realize I will never win against the reckless Gen Z assistant who constantly drags him into chaos. After the 99th cancellation, I decide to break up with him and disappear from Valemont. I move out overnight, erase every trace of myself, leaving nothing behind. But I never expect him to go completely mad. He shuts down the ports, searches every villa, and unleashes his entire family's intelligence network just to find me. His eyes burn red like a wild animal on the edge of collapse. "Elara," he growls, "just give me one more chance."

Upon hearing about my husband's surgery, I braved a typhoon and torrential rain, driving four hours back to the city. When I arrived at the hospital, my husband, Xander Gray, was lying on the hospital bed, calling out loudly, "I want my wife! Get my wife here!" His buddies around him joked about how his wife had him completely whipped. Everyone said he loved me to death. Blushing, I walked over with a happy smile and held his hand, saying, "I'm here." To my surprise, he shook off my hand in disgust and snarled, "Get lost! You're not my wife! My wife is Beverly Long!"

An unscrupulous company discharges toxic wastewater into the river, causing my whole family to be poisoned because we rely on that river for survival. Everyone in my family, including my aunts and uncles, lives in the same village. We're all waiting for an urgent antidote delivery to save our lives. My boyfriend is Harrison Somers, and his company is the only one with the antidote. So, I ask him for it. He agrees to come but doesn't show up after a long time. Ultimately, my family members die after being tormented by the toxic wastewater because they don't have the antidote. Meanwhile, Harrison shows up at the hospital with his childhood sweetheart because she accidentally sliced her finger while peeling a fruit.

After I fainted from the pain, I learned the truth about my mate Kaelen’s position as Alpha of the Grayswood pack. He had inherited it from his older brother, who had died in battle. Not only did Kaelen take his brother's power, but he also inherited his brother's widow, the former Luna, Lydia. I wanted to reject him and break free from our mate bond, but Kaelen wouldn’t let me. He begged me with tears in his eyes and promised, "I have to bear a pup with Lydia to truly inherit the pack. Violetta, I swear that you're the only one I love. Once Lydia is with pup, you and I can finally be together openly!" That year, Kaelen spent 54 nights in Lydia’s bed. At first, it was once a month, but soon it became nearly every two days. Finally, after the 54th night, the news came that Lydia was carrying his pup. And that was when I finally gave up hope. But when I faked my death and escaped with our pup, Kaelen went mad. He didn't care about the Alpha title he had just obtained. He searched the world over for us, desperate to find me and our pup.

I was dying of kidney failure. Henry Colombo—the ruthless Mafia heir who once swore he’d burn the world to keep me alive— found me a donor. But the price… was her. Susan Miller, the woman who’d always lingered between us, smiled as she set her terms: “Be mine for one month. Pretend you love me—and I’ll save her life.” He agreed. He said it was just to save me. But every lie, every kiss, every photo she posted online was another nail in my coffin. Each time the surgery drew near, she invented a new delay—a fever, a nightmare, a tender bruise. And Henry believed her. He always believed her. The night my heart flatlined on the operating table, he was across the city, feeding her grapes under candlelight, whispering her name—the name of the woman who had let me die. When he finally learned the truth—that every tear she shed was rehearsed, every promise she made was poison— he destroyed everything. Her lies. Her wealth. Her family name. His own empire. But none of it brought me back.

Alpha Liam and I were never fated mates. However, to win me over, he did countless reckless things. Because of that, his body now bore sixty-six scars, each from a battle he fought for me. He finally moved my heart on the sixty-seventh time. During our marking ceremony, I swore before the Moon Goddess that I would grant him sixty-six favors, no matter what. Throughout our seven years together, he never misused that privilege. That was until my stepsister, Isabella, returned six months ago. Suddenly, he burned through sixty-four of them. For Isabella, he humiliated me in public and skipped the birthday celebration I spent weeks planning. Now, only two remain. Once Liam used them up, that was when I’d leave him for good.

I'm traveling through my pack when some Rogues ambush me. They chase me without mercy. I scream for Grayson Atwell, my Alpha mate, through the mind-link. But he shuts me out, muttering something about being "busy with pack affairs". I force down my fear and run, but they catch me anyway. Just as the silver knife grazes my throat, Vidar Mallory, the guard captain, bursts in. He drives the Rogues back and takes me to the hospital. Lying in the hospital bed, I overhear Vidar talking to his men by accident. "Freya is carrying a seven-month-old pup. How could Grayson abandon her just to take care of Bella's pup?" "Bella's pup had a fever last night. Grayson stayed at the hospital the whole night." My heart shatters. Even the pup I fought so hard to conceive was lost in the accident. I decided to leave and take on an entry-level healer position at a hospital in another pack. But after I'm gone, Grayson loses his mind searching for me.

I waited for Alex for over five years. I endured the whispers of the clan, the mocking gazes, the judgment from his family who never thought I was good enough. Still, I waited—because I loved him. I believed in him. I trusted that he would choose me in the end. But the truth shattered me. One evening, I saw his laptop left open. And on the screen—countless photos of Elsa. His childhood sweetheart. His first love. It felt like a knife twisting in my chest. While I was drowning in problems, silently begging for his support, he was smiling by her side. All those years I gave him... all that waiting… I got nothing. So I left. Broken. Exhausted. Done pretending I was okay. I traveled far from our pack, seeking solitude under the excuse of pack relocation. But the truth was, I was trying to stitch myself back together—one breath, one step, one bitter tear at a time.But now… he’s gone mad looking for me. Why, Alex? Why do you search for me now, after crushing me so completely? When I stood by you, you looked past me. Now that I’ve finally let go… Why do you care?

I accidentally break the glass that my husband's true love gave to him. As punishment, he sends me to a place where the upper crust groom their playthings. He wants me to go there as an apology to his true love. I suffer inhumane treatment there. Later, I manage to escape and am brought to the hospital. That's where I find out I'm pregnant.