Withered Flower

For snacking in the office during overtime, I was fined 600,000 dollars by my manager! She was extremely furious as she pointed at me. “Taylor, don’t be so arrogant just because you’ve secured a deal! “You should be working in the office. Go home if you want to eat! “You’re violating company rules. No snacking during working hours! You should be punished since you’re aware of that rule! “You won’t be getting the 600,000-dollar commission from this deal!” I looked at her and said indifferently, “Suit yourself.” Then, I decided to slack. She could not stand it.

I was a pack slave but my identity wasn't normal. I chose to run away from my pack when the cruel Alpha of our pack discovered my identity. He was a nightmare. Another name for assault, abuse and torture. Women in his pack were just his fun thing, a toy for him to play with or tear apart and I refused to be one. I refused to be exploited by him. But to get away from him, I needed someone stronger than him. And then I met a stranger who could help me. I never thought that a destined mate did exist in this world. Until I felt his soothing scent, he was my destined mate. The one chosen by the moon goddess for me. However, I never thought that I couldn't even tell him that I was his mate when I heard his words. "Then what will you do if you ever find your mate?" his Beta asked. "I will strangle her to death with my own hands" he gritted bitterly. That's it...! I kept my body, my fragrance, and everything else from him, but fate had other plans for us. Regardless of the distance, we reconnected, and I heard something distinct from what I had heard previously. "You are mine...! Only mine...! I will never let you go..." Is he the same man I met before? I was confused as I thought about what he had said. Before I could think about it any further, he stepped forward, gripping me in his embrace and kissed me aggressively. Was that because he recognized me as his mate or it is because he discovered that I was the descendant of the legendary Divine bloodline whom he had been searching for, who could save his family? ****** Please do leave a review...

Alaric and I had been mates for five years, and I had believed with all my heart that I would become the first female Gamma of the pack by proving myself in the warrior’s trial. I had trained relentlessly, sharpening my claws and honing my instincts, ready to fight for my rightful place. But fate had other plans. Three days before the trial, I was ambushed by rogues. They didn't just attack me—they hunted me like prey. They tormented me with the silver knife so that my wolf was dead. The scent of death clung to me, my wolf howling in agony, desperately trying to heal, but the wounds ran too deep. As I lay barely conscious on the blood-stained sheets, I heard my husband's cold, indifferent voice. "Is she dead?" The witch doctor hesitated before answering, "No, but—" "It doesn’t matter," Alaric interrupted, Coat her wounds with wolfsbane and silver—make sure it seeps into her blood, burns through her veins, and poisons her wolf beyond repair. I want her body to reject her own nature, so she will never heal. There will only be one Gamma in this pack, and that's Serina." In that moment, the truth became clear—I had never truly stood a chance in the warrior’s trial I had dreamed of. The battle had been decided long before I ever stepped into the arena.

My coworker, Kevin Walter, invited me to join a private messaging chat group of rich women. There are plenty of perks, such as the 300-dollar cash gift he claimed right in front of me. I joined the group out of curiosity and got to know a wealthy woman named Ms. White. After some time together, she invited me on a vacation to a famous tourist city near the country's border. Little did I know, I was close enough to being dragged into a dangerous area abroad to become a live organ donor.

At the celebration where Lorenzo Alvarez is crowned the new mafia boss, his men arrange a few performances. A dancer in a backless top and short skirt twists around the pole under the lights. "Don't look," he murmurs, covering my eyes with his hand. "This kind of cheap entertainment isn't worthy of you." His men jump in immediately. "Lorenzo still spoils Ms. Valenti after all these years. That kind of devotion is rare. We're so jealous." "A man as loyal and single-minded as Lorenzo is hard to find." I rest a hand on my belly, planning to tell him tonight that I am pregnant. But when I return from the restroom, I see the same man who had just held me in his arms leaning back in his chair while the dancer straddles his lap. Lorenzo slips his business card and a thick fold of cash into the waistband of her skirt. He laughs, relaxed and unbothered. "Isabella is wonderful, sure, but life needs a little passion. This ragazza is just something new. A bit of fun. "Keep your mouths shut. Don't go running to Isabella and upset her. Otherwise, you'll have a problem." Cold rushes through me. I do not approach or confront Lorenzo. I simply take out my phone and answer the email I have been avoiding for days. "I agree to participate in the confidential experiment."

I was in a relationship with Quinn Lucas for five years and thought I had touched her with my sincerity. That night, I got a phone call from her when I was preparing to propose to her. "Kyle, come to the hotel." Then, she sent me the address. When I arrived, she told me to buy contraceptives from the supermarket next door. I thought we were close to our happily ever after, so I was excited. When I knocked on the door of her room again, I saw a man, who took the contraceptives in my hand and thanked me. I froze in place...

"Mom, please stop searching for a lover. I don't want Fathe r's condition to deteriorate further due to your behavior. Ot herwise, I will destroy any relationship you have with any m an!" Chelsea admonished, giving a warning. She had lost c ount of how many warnings she had given, given the nume rous men her mother had approached for money, despite h er father's serious illness. "It's up to you, do whatever you want. I don't care anymore because I can't bear to live in poverty," the mother replied c almly, indifferent to Chelsea's feelings. "Fine, if that's what you want. I swear I will marry one of yo ur most meaningful lovers!" Chelsea promised her mother when the pain had taken over her.

After my mother passed away, my father's lover brought her daughter, Winona Sweeney, into our family. From then on, I became the most hated person in the entire family. To protect myself, I became arrogant, withdrawn, and grew into a thorny rose — beautiful, but no one was allowed to approach me. I no longer believed in love. When I was once again subjected to cold violence and isolation at the banquet, Cameron Payne openly declared his love for me to everyone and said that he would break the necks of anyone who slandered me! He pursued me openly, gave me a grand wedding, and announced his love for me to the whole world. Everyone envied me. Then, when a fire broke out during my father's birthday party, I almost died inside. No one from my family tried to save me; it was Cameron who saved me. When I woke up in the hospital, I heard a horrifying truth. "I know I mistook Hazel for my savior. It's my mistake and I will make it up to Winona. But that doesn't mean you can hurt Hazel!" Cameron was furious. "But Winona's leukemia can't wait; she needs a transplant immediately..." My father chose to sacrifice me for his illegitimate daughter. "That doesn't mean you can hurt Hazel! The baby is only seven months old; a premature birth can be fatal!" Those things I thought were signs of love turned out not to be for me from the very beginning. In that case, I would help him fulfill his debt to Winona.

Leo Carter and I are childhood sweethearts. I once took a knife for him when the Rogue King tried to assassinate him. Since then, he's treated me like his treasure. He's sworn to love only me for life. On the day I turn 18, we become fated mates with the Moon Goddess as a witness. I say to him, "I'll leave you forever if you ever betray me, Alpha Leo." He holds me tightly as tears fill his eyes. He tells me he'll never let something like that happen. After we marry, he drives away all the women in his life. He even expels a beautiful she-wolf from the pack when she confesses her love for him. That's not all. He builds the Wolf Tribe's largest amusement park for me as a symbol of our love. However, I find a vibration device in his car when I'm three months pregnant. It kills me inside. I ingest a potion I bought from a witch and forcibly break my mate bond with Leo. Then, I disappear from his world.

I loved Adriano Ferraro—yeah, that Don—for five freaking years. He wasn't just my fiancé; he was my anchor in a world where loyalty got tested, and weakness got you killed. We had it all mapped out—dreams, plans, a future we actually thought we owned. Until I lost our baby. I reached for him, shaking, desperate for anything. But comfort never came. Instead, it was her. His stepsister, propped up. "Don't buy her act. She's just fishing for attention—again." That snake smiled like she just won a prize for emotional torture, dripping venom while fanning the flames. And Adriano? He bought it. He turned away. In that moment, it hit me—I wasn't just grieving. I was completely alone. The kid I carried, the future I built in my head? Gone. And so was I. I walked out. On him. On the Ferraro Family I was stupid enough to think I could belong to. All I left behind was silence. Empty space where we used to be. Now Adriano's drowning in regret, but it's too damn late. The life we should've had, the love we should've built? Dust. And her? The stepsister who ruined it all? She's paying for every lie.