1945 Pulitzer Winning

I crave excitement in my life. To do that, I send my deskmate a video of me pleasing myself with a toy. Bit by bit, it awakens his desires…

I have claustrophobia, yet Luther Jansen abandons me in a stopped elevator so he can bring some flu medicine to his assistant. I ask for a divorce after that. He signs the papers without hesitation and laughs about it with his friends. "She's just throwing a tantrum—her parents are dead, so there's no way she'll leave me. "Besides, there's a 30-day cooling-off period for divorces, right? I'll generously let this matter slide once she regrets this, and she'll be back." The following day, he shares an intimate photo of himself with his assistant. "I want to record every moment of your shyness." I count the days until I'm free. Then, I calmly pack my stuff and make a call. "Can you buy me a flight ticket to Nanderton, Uncle David?"

I’m getting married, but my CEO fiancé, whom I had been engaged to for ten years, had no idea. Thanks to his new personal maid, the man has no time to spare for me. The two of them always shadowed one another, and they might as well be sleeping in the same bed. My fiancé even bought a yacht and brought her to the Arctic to see the aurora when she was in a bad mood, completely forgetting that we were supposed to be picking out wedding gowns that day. I spent the entire day waiting in that bridal shop, waiting for a man who would never show up. So I called my dad, “I’m marrying someone else.”

The news that Angelo Rizzo was becoming the new Don of Brucklin District had spread throughout the entire family. Everyone knew except me, Lila Bennett, his fiancee. He had always thought I was childish, like an irritating tail he couldn't shake off, sticking to him wherever he went. "I've only managed to bag Brucklin District all thanks to Cyrus." The study door was ajar as the scent of cigar smoke drifted out along with his voice. "Lila? Why bring her up? She's annoying. Like a piece of gum stuck to your hair." I crouched on the hallway carpet, lost in thought. Before, it was always Angelo leaving first and me realizing it too late. This time, I wanted to surprise him by going to Brucklin ahead of him. When he saw me there first, he'd realize that I was smart. But the next day, at the bus station, when the driver asked where I was going, I mixed Brucklin and Mannattan up. The driver grew impatient. Afraid he'd call me an idiot like Angelo would, I hurriedly shove the money at him. "To Mannattan! I'm going to Mannattan District!"

After being reborn, I didn't stop my Alpha mate, Caden, from bringing home his childhood friend—Lilith. She was carrying a pup, and he wanted to take care of her. I didn't fight it. I broke the mate bond myself. Handed him exactly what he wanted. Set up every private moment between them. Then slipped out of their story. Because in my past life, even as I lay dying, Caden hated me for not letting Lilith stay with us while she was with pup. She lost it on the way out. Couldn't carry again. And Caden? He said once I was gone, he'd make it right. Be with her. Protect her. So this time, I let him. Gave them everything. Gave them everything they wanted. So why did Caden lose his mind searching the world for me—begging me to come back?

Alpha Jakob gave me the grandest bonding ceremony five years ago. I became the world's most envied woman. Five years later, I received a provocative voice message from Jakob's first love, Molly. "I just got back to the pack, and all I needed to do was to play coy with Jakob, and he came right over. Tonight, he originally prepared blue fireworks for me. I don't like blue, but I decided to give it to you since I never liked to waste. You can use it during your anniversary." The day during our fifth mate bond anniversary, I looked at the blue fireworks blooming in the night sky, quietly waiting in my seat as I faced the empty seat opposite me. Molly's provocation came again. A photo of her having a candlelight dinner with Jakob. I didn't cry, and simply submit the application to terminate my mate bond with Jakob to the pack's Elder Council. At this time, my personal assistant told me she saw someone had applied for a grand bonding ceremony. "Luna Cynthia, the bonding ceremony is prepared by Molly for herself and Alpha Jakob. It will take place seven days later. Do you wish to stop it?" "There's no need to. If this is what Jakob wants, I'll make their wish come true." Jakob was still promoting how deep his love for me was, saying that I was the woman he loved the most in his life. But he didn't know that seven days later, I would leave the pack and never return again. That night, he collapsed.

After getting back together with Peter Palmer, I stopped caring about where he went or what he did. He spent all our savings on Julia Sharp, and I didn’t even bother asking why. Maybe he realized something, because before leaving me once again to be with her, he said, “Julia’s leaving to live abroad tomorrow. She won’t be coming back. Once she’s gone, we’ll get married.” I gave a casual reply. After all, I was leaving too.

On the day I discovered I was pregnant, my husband's first love—who also happened to be my half-sister—returned.

Johanna Thorne and her sister, Allison Thorne, marry into the Silverplume family, the most prestigious werewolf family in the Northern Wolflands, on the same day. Their husbands are the only pair of pureblood Alpha twins in the family—Carlin Silverplume and Uriel Silverplume. Throughout the continent's long history, fewer than ten such twin pairs have ever been born. They are seen as blessings from the Moon Goddess herself, a source of pride for the entire family. Johanna is wed to the calm and stoic younger brother, Carlin. Her sister becomes the mate of the elder twin, Uriel, the family's strongest warrior Alpha. But during a mission to hunt down rebel wolves, Uriel is tragically killed. His body is never recovered. With his death, his bloodline ends. The news devastates the matriarch. She weeps before the altar, crying that this is punishment for the Silverplume family. With Uriel gone and no heir left behind, one of the family's two remaining pureblood lines is now severed. The future of their legacy hangs by a thread. Three days later, the matriarch summons Carlin and Johanna to the council hall. Before the gathered elders and priests, she solemnly proposes a solution. "Carlin shares the same blood and bone as Uriel... In the name of our ancestral spirits, I ask that Carlin form a breeding pact with Allison to fulfill Uriel's unfinished duty." Johanna's hands clench tightly. She turns to look at Carlin. In that moment, she doesn't know whether she's still his Luna or just a sacrifice offered up to preserve the family's bloodline.

I was Brandon Sandler’s most cherished canary—pampered, sheltered, and utterly his for five years. Then came the news of his engagement to another woman. Only then did I realize his affection had been a carefully crafted revenge. He trapped me by his side, flaunting his love for another while subjecting me to relentless humiliation. Eventually, I stopped caring. But the ruthless business tycoon, who once held himself above all, clutched me with red-rimmed eyes, begging me to come home. He said he regretted everything. My hand instinctively cradled my stomach as I glanced at the man behind him. “Darling,” I murmured, “this man is scaring our baby.”