Mistress

On the day I attend the centennial celebration of my alma mater, I encounter my first love, Victor Whitmore. After he delivers a speech as an alumni representative, he publicly presents me with a diamond ring. "Back then, you said you wanted to use your 'Wild Roses' design to make me a wedding ring. Now it's my turn to propose. Claire Webb, will you marry me?" The auditorium erupts in excitement. Everyone waits for me to nod tearfully in agreement. After all, I once pursued Victor with such passion that it shocked the entire school. However, everyone has forgotten something. Back then, I was accused of plagiarizing Emma Palmer's work for my graduation project. Victor knew the truth, yet he slandered me as the plagiarizer. At the press conference, as the brand representative, he announced that they would cease collaboration with me and called for me to be blacklisted across the industry. On the very day my reputation was ruined, I moved abroad. Now that I'm back, his close friend keeps advising me. "He's been waiting for you all these years. Even though you embarrassed him back then, you're still the one in his heart. "He even made a scene at the principal's office just to get your graduation certificate. Claire, he truly loves you."

Five years ago, Cyrus Parker cried as he begged me to let his childhood sweetheart, Paige Gallagher, give birth to his child. I agreed, but soon I named my conditions. Paige and her child were to be sent abroad, never to return to this country. At the same time, Cyrus needed to compensate me with half of the Parker family's assets. Everyone called me a materialistic wrench who had her eye on the Parkers' wealth this whole time. As for Cyrus, he'd rather make an enemy out of the entire Parker family just so he could protect that child. Five years later, when I go to a neighboring city on a business trip, I stumble upon a lost boy. So, I take him to the police station and have him contact his family there. The police officer dials the phone number that the boy is able to recite for him. Soon, I hear a familiar voice coming from the phone. "Don't be scared now. I'll come over and pick you up right away." In less than half an hour, Cyrus, who's supposed to be in a business meeting that's taking place thousands of miles away, rushes into the police station. I meet his gaze from my seat on the bench, leaving him stunned. A smile appears on my face as I get up from the bench. "I didn't even know you'd sired another son with another woman behind my back, Cyrus. It seems that you won't be able to keep the other half of your wealth now."

On the day the true heiress and I swapped places, my childhood sweetheart, bound to me by a promise made in youth, gripped my hand before our families and declared, "I chose you, not your title." Anna Pedersen, tears brimming in her eyes, enveloped me in a trembling embrace. "Joanne, we'll always be family. I'd never take what's rightfully yours." Everyone assumed I'd turned misfortune into fortune. Though I lost my status as the Pedersen heiress, I gained a steadfast lover and a selfless sister. But three years after fate corrected itself, photos of Calvin Thomas escorting Anna to a prenatal checkup flooded the internet. When I confronted him, he exhaled a plume of smoke and said coolly, "Anna is my true betrothed. This is just setting things right. Why are you so worked up?" He seized my wrist and dragged our engraved engagement ring across the back of my hand, leaving a bloody gash. "This scar will remind you of the twenty years of life you stole. Your life and I belong to their rightful owner."

My name is Susan, and I'm the daughter of the Dark Moon Pack's Alpha. Per tradition, I was betrothed to Daniel, the crown prince of South Dania and the future Alpha King, to become his Luna Queen. However, he had been postponing our Marking Ceremony repeatedly, using the excuse that he wanted his coronation first. I thought he was simply being prudent, until I witnessed him proposing to another she-wolf, telling her that she was the one he truly wanted. He was even laughing about the engagement, calling it a necessary tool. Understanding that, I realized that he never formed the mate bond with me because he needed the freedom for adultery and not suffer the pain of backlash in treachery. He wouldn't acknowledge my status, but insisted that I fulfill my spousal obligations nonetheless. He didn't Mark me, while keeping me tangled in his web of lies. I hence decided to disappear in three days under the new moon, when everyone would be waiting to witness our Marking. I wanted to show him that not every wolf was willing to be a tool.

During the full-moon raid carried out by the Bloodmoon Pack, my squad accidentally strayed into a swamp thick with deadly silver mist. I had prepared for this. I always carried a moonstone that could protect against silver poisoning. But when I opened my leather pouch, all my fingers touched was a wishing doll woven from dried grass. I was about to reach out to the Elder Council through the mind link. That was when my Alpha mate, Jack Fraley, suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Easy, sweetheart. Don't be impulsive. I gave your moonstone to Lily. She's a fragile Omega. She needs protection more than you do." I clenched the straw doll, fury burning so hot that it nearly scorched away my reason. "Are you kidding me? Wearing this junk is no different from standing naked in the silver mist!" He frowned, completely unashamed. "Rowena North, you're my Luna. Protecting Omegas is your responsibility. Stop throwing a tantrum." I let out a cold laugh. "I'm a Luna, not a saint with no boundaries. And that moonstone was my mother's keepsake." After that, I didn't argue with him anymore. I severed our mind link without hesitation. Then, I turned to the Beta beside me and gave a clear order. "Contact the Elder Council immediately. I formally invoke mate bond severance. Effective now, every pack territory and alliance bound to my name is frozen."

Arina De Luca is the daughter of Shadow Borne Pack Alpha. Her life was perfect until the Alpha's sudden death when she suddenly found herself treated like a slave. A seemingly unstoppable situation forces Arina to flee just as she is approaching her eighteenth birthday. For years, Lycan king Alexandre LeBlanc has been without a mate. After seeing what the bond almost did to his mother, he never had the desire to take a mate. All of that changes, however, when Arina shows up at his door asking for assistance. Both of their lives are turned upside down when fate plays a role. What secrets are hidden within the Shadowborne Pack's walls? What will Arina do when she learns the real reason for her treatment? Are Alexandre and his mate destined for each other? As secrets are unveiled, truths are revealed, and choices have devastating repercussion

During a classmates' reunion party, the villa unexpectedly collapses, trapping both Priscilla Hobbs, my husband's true love, and me beneath the fallen ceiling. My husband is a member of the rescue team. To keep Priscilla alive, he chooses to lift the ceiling from her side. He says, "Pris is an actress. She can't be crippled." The ceiling crushes my legs as it's lifted from the other end. My husband seems to have forgotten that I have a congenital blood clotting disorder. Without my legs, I'll die…

When Alexander Smith stands in front of me and says he's going to marry someone else, that's when I realize he's been reborn too. I remember our 20 years of love in our past life. A plane crash. And then, rebirth. "This is to save Sophia," he says. "In our past life, she was sold to a Vostmark oligarch after her father's political scandal. Not long after, she took her own life due to abuse. I can't let that tragedy happen again, so I need to get engaged to her." As he speaks, he hands me an orange prescription bottle. "If you take this, you'll forget me for a little while. You won't feel the pain. It's just seven days. Once her father's scandal blows over, you'll stop the medication and your memory will return. Then I'll end the engagement and officially propose to you." I stare at the bottle, knowing it's a lie. Not the part about Sophia's suicide. The lie is about the drug. He thinks it only causes temporary memory loss. But I know better. The suppressant causes permanent damage to emotional memory. The seven-day countdown isn't the time it takes for my memories to return. It's the time it takes for my love for him to die.

Three years after our breakup, I ran into my ex-girlfriend, and she had her new boyfriend by her side. "Hey, isn't that Henry the expert?" Diego Stanley taunted with a smirk. "Three years post-breakup, and you're slumming it here playing with clay?" I furrowed my brow, ignored them, and carefully moved the Victorian-era porcelain musician figurine onto its preset base in the display case. When I wasn't biting, he reached out to grab the figurine from my arms. "What's this junk you're treating like gold? Let me take a look." Cynthia Wyatt frowned, her voice laced with that familiar arrogance. "Henry, I've given you three years to shape up, and you're still the same loser? Come on, hand over that clay doll to Diego. Don't kill the vibe. If you play nice, I might even reconsider our old engagement." As Diego's hand neared the figurine, I dodged quickly and barked, "Hands off! It's a historical artifact!" Diego got pissed off and shoved me hard. "Some flea market find, and you're acting all high and mighty?" In the ensuing scuffle, I lost my balance, and the figurine slipped from my grasp, crashing to the floor. That sealed their fate. This entitled pair was about to go bankrupt trying to fix it.

Chase Grimm's aide-de-camp sent me a screenshot of an Instagram Live status. Guess who it came from. His new secretary. She was showing off a meticulously prepared lunch from a lunchbox. My handiwork, no less. I made it for him. The caption read: [He's a dark, cold CEO… and a shiny knight who saved a hungry princess with a gastric problem from eating mac 'n' cheese again!] Chase almost never posted on Instagram. Yet there he was, sharing a photo of a cup of ridiculously spicy mac 'n' cheese, captioned: [I have missed this.] The nerve of this prick. Then my mother-in-law sent an entirely unsolicited text: [What the heck were you doing?! You're supposed to make him a proper lunch! He can't stand spicy food!] After all that, I decided to call a supermarket. "Hi! I'd like to order 100 cups of instant super-spicy mac 'n' cheese and have them delivered to Grimm Co. Please and thank you." "Ain't I generous?"