The Mother I Could Have Been

My sister, Laura Ward, died the year we were ten, the year we snuck out of school to play. From that day forward, my mother’s grief turned into a burning hatred for me, convinced that I was the reason my sister was gone. She treated me like a servant, like an unwanted burden, and filled the void by adopting a perfect, obedient daughter to replace my sister. She took everything from me without a second thought — my rights, my freedom, my very existence — and even demanded that I give up a kidney for her precious adopted girl. Alright, Mother, if you want a life, I’ll give you mine! But it was only when my body lay cold, my breath long gone, that she finally turned and looked at me.

“Come on, Juliet… it’s time to write a new story.” After years trapped in an abusive marriage, Juliet Pierce finally runs. Alone, with two children and a suitcase full of trauma, she leaves behind the luxury — and George Monroe, the man she once loved — in search of a new beginning. The destination? Manhattan. The plan? Just survive. But everything changes on her first night working as a waitress at Paradise, an exclusive BDSM club where pleasure meets power. Afraid of being recognized, she wears a mask — a shield she desperately needs. And that’s where she crosses paths with Noah Blake: billionaire CEO, relentless Dominant, and co-owner of the club. He sees her. He wants her. He has no idea who she really is… yet. Days later, Juliet applies for a position as Noah’s assistant. This time, she’s not wearing a mask — and he starts putting the pieces together. Juliet wants distance. Noah wants to tame her. “I do love a challenge,” he says. Juliet is everything he never expected: funny, bold, intense — fragile on the outside, but with eyes that reveal how untamed she truly is. He wants her on her knees. She wants to prove she can love without losing herself. What begins as a dangerous arrangement becomes a quiet war between fear and desire, past and redemption. But Juliet’s past is closer than she thinks. And when it resurfaces to haunt her, she’ll have to choose: surrender… or fight for herself — and maybe, for the love of a man who swore he would never love. “It was in that moment I realized I was about to discover: Whether this would be a nightmare… or the best experience of my life.”

Bär comes to The Royal Pack with his Brother, Duke, to take their places as the Highest Ranking Werewolves. As they are meeting the Staff, Duke finds his Mates, Twins, Emma and Ada. Ada is horrified to not be mated to Bär the Crown Prince, but instead to his second in command. She is even more horrified, when her own mother, Ingrid, comes to meet them, only to find, Ingrid’s second chance is Bär! What comes next is anyone’s guess.

In order to protect my father, I was tortured for ten hours, but my father was busy celebrating his adopted daughter’s eighteenth birthday. With my dying breath, I called my father and said, “Dad, it’s my birthday today. Could you wish me a happy birthday?” “You crazy monster! You got your mother killed in order to celebrate your birthday! How could you still ask me to celebrate your birthday? You should just die!” With that said, he hung up. The next day, my corpse was placed in different flower pots and put in front of a police station. My father was in charge of inspecting my corpse, and he could immediately tell that the murderer did this for revenge. What they did to me was cruel and made a mockery of the police’s authority. But he did not manage to tell that the deceased was the daughter he hated.

“What does it look like, Victoria?” Amelia replied with a smirk. “I see. You’ve grown bold", my mother said. “No, no, you’re mistaken. I’ve grown rich! Victoria.” When Amelia Harper storms back into Ethan Caldwell’s life, she’s no longer the girl he lost, she’s the powerful widow standing between him and in control of Caldwell Enterprises. As lies unravel and a daughter he never knew enters the picture, Ethan is forced to confront a scandal that could ruin everything. Torn between revenge, love, and the truth behind Amelia’s disappearance, one question remains: Can they rebuild what was shattered, or will the past finish what it started?

On the night of Mom's birthday, as she was making a wish under the moon, Dad suddenly leaned close to her ear and whispered something. My usually cautious mother, who valued her life above all else, turned around after hearing those words and jumped straight into the pack's silver pit. The silver pit is deadly for us werewolves; only those with a death wish would go there. After her death, countless pack members questioned Dad about what he had said. Someone even offered a million dollars in exchange for those words. But he remained silent. Until the day of my mate ceremony, Dad showed up. He walked up to my fiancé and whispered something...

" "You were just for entertainment to pass time," Damon continued, his voice carrying across the silent hall. Throwing Fiona out into the cold. Later, she was in his father's bed. The Alpha King claimed his son's rejected mate as his bride. Now Fiona rules the pack as their Queen—and Damon's stepmother. But the baby growing inside her belongs to the wrong Alpha. When father and son discover her secret, only one will let her live.

When the power meter in the house trips, Mom's foster daughter, Juniper Hawthorne, is trapped in the dark for five minutes. Even though I have claustrophobia, Mom locks me in an empty, pitch-black room. "You knew Juniper was terrified of the dark, yet you intentionally shut off the power just to frighten her! I'll teach you how to behave today!" I cry and beg her not to, but all I receive in return is a harsh slap. "Claustrophobia? That's just what happens when a kid grows up too spoiled." Late that night, I sense someone breaking into the house. The first thing I do is to call Mom, a renowned criminal psychologist, for help, only to be yelled at. "You're still really getting into this role just to fight Juniper for attention, aren't you? "Kidnappers, huh? Well, go ahead and die so you'll stop bothering me!" As she wishes, I'm brutally tortured and killed. My body is buried beneath Mom's favorite flowerbed. After I die, my soul is trapped in the body of a cat. All I can do is helplessly circle Mom until five days have passed. The police arrive with a mangled body and request her help in creating a portrait of the killer.

My mother marries into the Patterson family with me after her divorce. She marries Thomas Patterson, the dean of a veterinary hospital. Meanwhile, I marry Walter Patterson, a firefighter captain and Thomas' son. On this day, there's a huge storm. I'm almost due for labor, but I still head to the hospital to pick my mother up after an operation. We head to the subway, but it ends up being flooded. I endure the labor contractions and call Walter with trembling hands, wanting to ask for help. He finally answers after hanging up on me 18 times. "What the hell do you want? How stupid can you be, calling me in such a huge storm? "I'm saving lives here! Tracy's foot was cut by glass while being saved, and I've just bandaged her wound. Now, I have to take her dog to Dad's hospital so he can save it. The dog is hanging by a thread; if you need help, get some other firefighter to do it! Don't pester me!" Later, the rescue team arrives. My mother and I are pushed to the back of the crowd, and people won't stop shoving us around. The floodwater rises, and I have no choice but to carry her on my back while trudging along the corridor. This continues for three hours. When we're finally rescued, my mother is already unconscious, and I end up losing my child, who's almost to term. My mother and I look at each other tearfully in the ward we share. I say, "Mom, I'm getting a divorce." She says, "It's not a big deal, sweetheart. I'll do it with you. I've done it once before—I know how this goes."

Sky panicked when she found Summer, her little daughter, missing. Who would have thought, the four-year-old toddler had gone to stop the proposal of Louis Harper, her mother's first love and old friend. Summer did not agree if Louis married someone else. She wanted Louis to marry Sky and be her father! Seeing her daughter's persistence, Sky became confused. Should she force her daughter to go home in disappointment? Or should she fight for Louis by revealing the big secret about who Summer's father was? *** This book can be read as a standalone, but if you want to explore the characters' childhood and past, you can check my other books: Hiding the Twins from Their Billionaire Father (about Louis) Mr. President's Lost Wife (about Sky) CEO's Love in Trap (about Grace) The Heiress' Mysterious Bodyguard