9066 Book(s) Related to the lottery a short story

Claire Bennett has spent years perfecting the life everyone envies.

She married her high school sweetheart at nineteen, stood beside him as he climbed the ranks to sheriff, and learned exactly how much makeup it takes to hide what happens behind closed doors.

No one sees the bruises.

No one hears the threats.

No one knows what Grant Bennett is really like.

Until Claire finds a USB taped beneath his dresser.

She has no idea what is on it, only that Grant nearly kills her trying to get it back.

When their five-year-old daughter, Lilly, throws herself between them, Claire finally fights back. She grabs the first weapon within reach, takes her daughter, and runs with nothing but her keys, the clothes on her back, and the drive Grant was willing to spill blood over.

There is only one person Grant would never expect her to trust.

Nick Salazar.

President of the Iron Saints MC.

Claire knew Nick long before she became Mrs. Bennett. Once, he was the older boy who made sure no one messed with her. Now he is the outlaw her husband has spent years calling dangerous.

But when Claire arrives at the Iron Saints’ gate bruised, barefoot, and carrying a secret she does not understand, Nick does not ask whether protecting her will cause trouble.

He shuts the gate.

Grant has a badge, a department, and an entire county used to believing his version of the truth.

Nick has the Iron Saints.

And whatever is hidden on that USB is about to drag Claire into something far darker than the marriage she escaped.

Because Grant is coming for his wife.

And this time, Claire is standing behind a man who has no intention of handing her back.

Not while Nick Salazar still has breath in him.

For three years, Ivy Green was Gabriel Black’s quiet omega wife.

She loved him, healed him, and built a home around a man who never truly saw her.

To Gabriel, their marriage was convenient. Controlled. Temporary.

Then his fated mate returned.

After one final night of passion, Gabriel asked Ivy for a divorce and thanked her for the past three years—as if her love had been nothing more than a service completed.

Heartbroken, Ivy left Silver Moon Pack and returned to her struggling hometown, only to find her family drowning in debt, her father gravely injured, and their winery stolen by a scheming relative.

For the first time in years, Ivy stopped living as an Alpha’s wife.

She started living as herself.

But Gabriel soon discovers that letting Ivy go was not freedom. It was the beginning of his ruin.

She no longer answers his messages.
She no longer waits for him.
She no longer belongs to him.

And piece by piece, Gabriel begins to uncover everything he never knew:

The pain she hid.
The sacrifices she made.
The family she protected.
The love he took for granted.

Now the woman he discarded is rebuilding her life without him.

And the Alpha who thought he chose fate may have lost the only mate his heart ever truly wanted.

To save her kidnapped fiancé, Sophia is willing to dance on a livestream, sacrificing even the last shred of her dignity.

But after she finally fulfills every demand of the kidnappers, she hears the so-called “hostage” laughing on the other end of the call.

“I can’t believe she was actually that stupid. And dressed like such a slut, too. I guess she’s just naturally that promiscuous.”

Betrayed by the man she loved most, Sophia turns around and marries Sebastian Crawford—the powerful man everyone fears.

She thinks their marriage is nothing more than a marriage of convenience, a simple deal between two people who each need something from the other.

But she couldn’t have been more wrong.

Her cold and ruthless husband not only helps her destroy every enemy who ever wronged her, but also slowly turns her into the untouchable Mrs. Crawford.

Meanwhile, the man who once pushed her into the abyss begins to lose his mind after realizing what he has lost.

When Sophia appears in public with her arm linked through Sebastian’s, he finally understands—

The woman who once would have sacrificed everything for him no longer belongs to him.

Just when everyone thinks Sophia has finally reclaimed her life, Sebastian reveals a truth she never expected:

Their marriage was never as simple as she believed.

And the man who has been waiting for her has been waiting far longer than she ever knew.

My ears were ringing in the sudden blast. Both me and James were utterly shocked. We looked at each other with widened eyes. In the meantime a few more guys entered the cafe. Each one of them had guns in their hands. If this isn't a crime movie scene that I'm probably dreaming of right now, please save me God!

'EVERYONE OUT!! one of the gun holding men shouted from behind. The remaining customers ran outside. A proper moment of chaos.

Just when i was trying to get out that boy from earlier grabbed my wrist. Didn't they mean everyone?. A sudden rush of terror flashes over me.

"Where are you going dollface?" I can see his lips twitching up in a smirk. A devilish smirk. I feel my heart just dropped to the ground.

"Meet Isabella Grace, a college student who just wants a peaceful life. But her fate changes drastically in a single night when she meets Toby, the Mafia boss. Will she give in to him, or resist his flames?"

Self-made CEO Angela Vale dies in a high-speed car crash, only to wake up on an 1800s execution block. Trapped in the body of a low-ranking maid framed for poisoning the royal princess, she has zero voice to defend herself.
When the terrifyingly handsome Emperor Alexander spares her neck at his daughter's request, Angela thinks she survived the worst. But the palace is full of vipers. That very night, the evil Queen Mother gives her a deadly choice: seduce the cold-hearted Emperor in thirty days, or be quietly strangled.
Without a voice, Angela has to use her sharp corporate brain to navigate lethal court politics, play the icy King like a violin, and survive a world trying to kill her, again.

Keeping a dragon in Bellweather was the most forbidden thing a fairy could ever do.
Mara Bell should have known better.
After being cursed with terrible luck, Mara has spent years being treated like the unlucky fairy of Bellweather. But everything changes when she accidentally unlocks a handsome dragon prince who has been trapped inside a magical bottle for a hundred years.
Keeping him hidden could cost her everything.
But when the dragon prince offers her a deal, Mara can't resist.
He will help her regain her luck, and in return, Mara will use her magic and potion-making skills to help him overcome the strange curse that makes him stutter and find a way back to his kingdom.
It should have been simple.
Except keeping a handsome dragon prince in her magical shop is harder than Mara expected.
Between late-night potion making, stolen glances, magical mishaps, and the growing attraction between them, Mara begins to realize that their arrangement is becoming something neither of them planned.
But the fairies of Bellweather are beginning to suspect her.
If they discover that Mara has been hiding a dragon prince, she could lose everything.
Now she has a choice.
Send the dragon she has fallen for back into the unknown... or break the most sacred rule in Bellweather and risk everything to keep the man who looks at her as though he would burn the whole world just to protect her.
The deal was supposed to save her luck.
She never expected it to steal her heart.

I told myself to only check his wound, but my gaze betrayed me--sliding back to his lips again and again. Thin, pale, but so inviting it made my throat dry.

What are you doing, Matilda? Stop!

My hand trembled as I nearly touched them. Just a little closer… Then, as if fate wished to humiliate me, his eyes opened. Golden amber, locking straight into mine.

"Want to kiss me?"

"No! I—!" My whole body jolted backward.

I stumbled, about to fall flat on the floor but in that instant, his hand shot out. His grip was firm, pulling me forward instead of letting me fall.

My body lurched, and before I knew it, I dropped my fucking ass on his lap.

His gaze instantly dropped lower, stopping at my breast. I froze, realizing my nightwear left little to the imagination. The sudden awareness of it made my entire face burn.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

This is why I always get dumped! Because I lose my head the moment I see a handsome man!

★★★

Matilda Lawson is just an ordinary investigative journalist in Sydney, chasing murder stories while surviving her string of failed romances.

Whilst Blake McAllister is anything but ordinary... Alpha of the powerful Blue Mountain Pack, hiding his beast behind the mask of a cold and untouchable CEO in the human world.

One night was enough. Her human scent branded itself into his soul, and Blake lost control. From that moment on, Matilda became his obsession... the woman he would never release, no matter the cost.

"Her scent was his deadly obsession--her body, his temptation. And her heart... whether she wanted it or not, would only ever belong to him!"

In an era when omegas are scorned and cast aside to society’s fringes—barred from work and education—Seecha Runcharoen, a struggling omega, fights to survive, even resorting to forging documents just to secure a job.
But fate takes a twist when he inadvertently becomes entangled with a mysterious alpha.
Tithnuea, a fiercely independent young alpha who treasures his solitude, is overcome by the intoxicating lure of sweet pheromones, surrendering his raw instincts and losing his purity to the vulnerable omega.
Terrified, Seecha retreats into hiding for years, while Tithnuea, driven by an obsessive desire, embarks on a relentless search for him.
Neither of them knew the other’s story—until everything changed with the birth of Little Shark!

“Sophie Love's ability to impart magic to her readers is exquisitely wrought in powerfully evocative phrases and descriptions….[This is] the perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”--Midwest Book Review (Diane Donovan re: For Now and Forever) “A very well written novel, describing the struggle of a woman to find her true identity. The author did an amazing job with the creation of the characters and her description of the environment. The romance is there, but not overdosed. Kudos to the author for this amazing start of a series that promises to be very entertaining.”--Books and Movies Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re: For Now and Forever)LOVE LIKE THAT (The Romance Chronicles—Book #2) is book #2 in a new romance series by #1 bestselling author Sophie Love.Keira Swanson, 28, returns to New York, her head spinning from her Ireland trip and still madly in love with Shane. But when a surprise event comes between them, their relationship may have to end.Keira is a star at her magazine, though, and they give her their next plum assignment: to travel to Italy for 30 days and discover what the Italian secret is to love.Keira, still reeling from her Ireland trip, finds her high expectations for Italy dashed, as nothing at first goes as was planned. In her whirlwind trip through Italy, spanning Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Rome, Verona, Venice and Florence, Keira begins to wonder if the Italians really do hold a secret to love.That is, until she meets her new tour guide—and everything she thought she knew is turned on its head.A whirlwind romantic comedy that is as profound as it is funny, LOVE LIKE THAT is book #2 in a dazzling new romance series that will make you laugh, cry, and will keep you turning pages late into the night—and will make you fall in love with romance all over again.Book #3 will be published soon!

“LOVE LIKE THIS creates a world of emotions and turmoil, describing superbly the mind of a young lady (Keira) and her struggles to balance her social life and her career. Sophie Love is a natural storyteller. LOVE LIKE THIS is very well written and edited, and I highly recommend it to the permanent library of all readers that appreciate a romance that can be savored during a weekend.”--Books and Movie Reviews (Roberto Mattos) LOVE LIKE THEIRS (The Romance Chronicles—Book #4) is book #4 in a new, sweet romance series by #1 bestselling author Sophie Love. The series begins with LOVE LIKE THIS (Book #1), a free download!Keira Swanson, 28, has sworn off of love. With her heart still hurting from her breakups with Cristiano and Shane, she will not allow her magazine to use her for another love experiment.Which is fine by them, because they want to send her off on a different kind of trip: to prove that someone suffering from a breakup can avoid a knee-jerk rebound affair and manage NOT to fall in love. To emphasize the point, they will NOT assign her a new tour guide. Instead, Keira will take a cruise to the Scandinavian countries and have to navigate herself.Keira is thrilled to accept the assignment. There is nothing she wants more than to be alone, and go to the Northern climes, where she can cool her head, and where surely she will not find love.But Keira does not anticipate the beauty of Copenhagen and of Stockholm (“the Paris of the North”) or the stunning hospitality of the Scandinavians.With Christmas on the way, resisting a new love may be harder than she thinks….A wholesome romantic comedy that is as profound as it is funny, LOVE LIKE THEIRS is book #4 in a dazzling new romance series that will make you laugh, cry, and will keep you turning pages late into the night—and will make you fall in love with romance all over again.Book #5 will be published soon!“Sophie Love's ability to impart magic to her readers is exquisitely wrought in powerfully evocative phrases and descriptions….[This is] the perfect romance or beach read, with a difference: its enthusiasm and beautiful descriptions offer an unexpected attention to the complexity of not just evolving love, but evolving psyches. It's a delightful recommendation for romance readers looking for a touch more complexity from their romance reads.”--Midwest Book Review (Diane Donovan re: For Now and Forever)

"On your knees, Ferguson scum, or I will put you there myself."
Kyra lifted her chin. "I don't kneel for men lower than me. Especially not the ones foaming at the mouth."
Once, Kyra Ferguson was the cherished princess of Ferguson Pack. Then her wedding night became a bloodbath.
Betrayed by her husband and the woman she trusted most, Kyra loses everything. Her witch powers awaken in the chaos, but the price is devastating. Her father is cast down, her pack is stolen, and Kyra is stripped of her powers and banished.
She should have died alone.
Instead, Alpha Tristan Banewolff finds her.
Tristan has spent years blaming the Ferguson family for the death of his first mate and their unborn child. He wants Kyra to suffer for their sins, so he takes her prisoner and vows to break her.
Then a blood pact binds them together.
The bond reveals the truth neither of them wants to accept.
Kyra is Tristan's second-chance mate.
Tristan refuses to acknowledge her. Kyra refuses to submit.
But the more he tries to crush her, the more he sees the woman beneath the hatred. She is wounded, defiant, and far stronger than he ever imagined. And despite everything he does to her, Tristan finds himself drawn to the very woman he swore to destroy.
As old enemies close in and Kyra's forgotten power begins to return, she must decide whether revenge is enough. Because the fallen princess is rising. And this time, she won't kneel for anyone, not even her mate.

"I love you,"
"You do realize that you are married to my best friend, the Beta of the pack right?"
"We aren't married yet. Just engaged,"
"What's the difference?"
"I can choose not to marry him."
"Sorry, not on my watch. We should probably stop seeing each other,"
Morticia, after being engaged to the Beta of the pack, finds herself falling in love with the Alpha of the pack. She tries hard so as not to embarrass her parents by sticking with Jacob.
Jake tries his best to hide his feelings for Morticia while trying to protect his friendship with Jacob but things take a drastic turn when he finds out Morticia is his mate.

Grace Green grew up in the Green family as the only child and heiress, but that changed when they discovered that she wasn’t their biological daughter. She died in her fiancée hand’s hands due to her ‘new’ sister's schemes.
REBORN, all she wants is to stay far away from the real heiress and find her biological parents, which has been her deepest regret in her past life.
However, things don’t go as she plans as she catches the eye of the most feared and laziest man in their class, causing the man to always follow her, cleaning the mess she leaves after dealing with everyone who plots against her.
Her adopted parents and new sister? They pamper her endlessly, treating her like a treasure.

Roxanne thought the worst part of her life was moving.
She was wrong.
On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, the truth unravels—her life has been nothing but a carefully crafted lie. The woman she called mother was never hers. The town she trusted hides things that shouldn’t exist. And the enemies chasing her have been watching for far longer than she realizes.
Because Roxanne carries something rare.
Something deadly.
Something the world believed was extinct.
A bloodline powerful enough to control any Alpha.
Any… except one.
Thrown into a world of hidden packs, ancient secrets, and ruthless enemies, Roxanne must learn to survive before her power awakens fully. But when fate ties her to the one man she cannot dominate—and cannot escape—the line between survival and destruction begins to blur.
Bound by a mate bond that could either save them… or destroy them both, Roxanne is forced to confront the one truth she can’t outrun:
In this world, love is just as deadly as power.

The story is unique, interesting and have richly developed characters. It also has intricate plot twists and combined element of fantasy suspence and romance.

Eli is an omega. She gave five years of her life to Steven, believing he was her forever. But the day he landed a new job, he ended their relationship and told her she was holding him back. Heartbroken and humiliated, Eli returned home for what she thought would be her stepsister’s wedding.

Only it was not her stepsister’s wedding at all. It was hers. Her stepmother had arranged everything, and if Eli refused to marry the powerful stranger waiting for her at the altar, her father’s medical treatment would be cut off. With no choice left, Eli agreed.

She thought marrying a man she did not know was the worst thing that could happen. Then she saw Steven standing in the crowd. He was not just a guest. He worked for her new husband.

Now Eli is trapped in a marriage she never wanted, living in a house with the man who broke her heart, the husband who now owns it and now his twin brother who wants her.

Whose going to win Eli’s heart eventually?

When humanity’s last survivors are forced to fight for a place on the new world, love becomes the most dangerous weapon of all.
Red Harts never asked to be chosen for Savage Glory, a brutal arena designed by AIs to decide who deserves to live on Planet Minerva.
But when she meets Aamon everything changes.
They were never meant to love each other.
She’s the Tank; the shield of humanity.
He’s the Assassin; the blade designed to end her.
Thrown into Savage Glory, a survival arena ruled by machines, Red and Aamon must fight side by side... or against each other. Every heartbeat between them defies the code written in their blood and metal.
But in a world where only one can survive, love becomes a rebellion.
And sometimes, surviving means breaking the system that built you.
Two hearts. One arena.
To love... is to risk everything.

When her twin sister runs away on her wedding day, Elinra Cyrus is forced to take her place, to marry the cursed Alpha of the Zarek Pack. But the ceremony goes horribly wrong, binding her not to one… but three powerful hybrid Alphas.

Trapped in a cold land ruled by secrets and moonlight, Elinra must navigate deadly passion, betrayal, and a curse born from forbidden love. As desire and danger intertwine, she discovers that one of the Alphas, the ruthless Kaelrix, might be her true mate… and the key to breaking the curse.

But when betrayal comes from the people she loves most, Elinra must decide, surrender to fate, or rise against it and rewrite her destiny.

Madeline had her entire life mapped out until she catches her fiancé in bed with her stepsister one week before graduation. Homeless, humiliated, and done being the girl who plays by the rules, she makes the worst decision of her life.

She moves in with Jaxson Vane.

Notorious. Ruthless. Captain of the rival hockey team with a draft spot dangling on the edge of his GPA. He needs a tutor. She needs a roof. Seven days. Clean and simple.

Except nothing about Jax is clean. Or simple.

He tests every boundary she has, and some she didn't know existed. But the closer she gets, the more she realizes the arrangement was never what he said it was. He knew exactly who she was before she knocked on his door. And he needed her for something that has nothing to do with tutoring.

Something that puts the people who destroyed her life directly in the crossfire.

Something that could detonate both their futures.

She came in with a plan. She's leaving with scorch marks.

Seven days. One secret.
And a man who makes her want to sin

Ariel thought rejection was the worst pain a mate bond could bring—until the night she was beaten, mocked, and left with nothing but her scars. She ran, desperate for freedom, only to fall into the arms of the one man every alpha feared to cross.

Trent Blackwood.
Cruel. Untouchable. A predator wrapped in the skin of a king. His very presence could silence a room, his dark aura enough to make even alphas bow their heads. Women trembled at his name, but when his hard gaze landed on Ariel—the fragile slave girl who should have broken years ago—he didn’t see weakness. He saw fire. He saw his.

She wanted escape. He wanted her surrender.
Her defiance only fueled his hunger, her innocence clashing dangerously with his possessive obsession. The more she pushed him away, the more he pulled her into his shadow—protecting her, claiming her, daring the world to touch what was his.

Between betrayal, forbidden desires, and a war that could tear their world apart, Ariel will discover that the most dangerous place she can be… is in the arms of the alpha who swore to never let her go.

I kept a list. Ninety-eight times my husband chose another woman over me.

Missed birthdays, ruined anniversaries, broken promises—all for his "patient" Sophia, who seemed to have a medical emergency every time we had plans.

"It's just my job, Emma," he would say. "You understand."

Ryan thought he could have his cake and eat it too. He was wrong.

After an incident, I was determined to leave him, and before I left, I gave him an unforgettable "gift."

My five-year-old son had never hugged me first.

Whenever I reached for him, Ian stepped back, lowered his eyes, and politely told me I could go.

I thought he didn’t want me.

Then, on the night I was supposed to die, a mysterious reader thread appeared on my phone.

Look at him pretending he doesn’t care.

He wants his mother to stay so badly—but if he gets too emotional, his wolf ears will appear.

I canceled dinner and crouched in front of him.

“I’m staying home tonight.”

Hope lit his face before he could hide it.

Then he asked the question that broke my heart.

“Only tonight?”

I'm an OB-GYN. On Valentine's Day, I pulled a ring out of a woman's vagina.

It turned out to be my husband's wedding ring.

An hour before, he'd texted me. Said he loved me. Said he was too busy with work to come home.

I wanted a divorce. Needed one. But then I found out—our marriage was never registered.

In his manor, I was nothing. Just a fake wife.

He grabbed me by the throat—right in front of his mistress. Called me "damaged goods." Said I'd spent a year in another man's house.

But that year, I went as a hostage in his place.

I ran. Made it to the cliff's edge, covered in blood. And the man who saved me? The mafia godfather who'd held me captive that whole year.

He looked at me. "Marry me."

My little sister and I each bear a Heart-Seed Mark etched into our chests.
Inside each seed grow Heartbeat Petals—currency that can trade for anything under the boughs of The Heart-Root, the ancient devouring tree.
At eight years old, I plucked one petal to cure Mom’s terminal cancer.
At ten, I tore out another to mend my older brother’s shattered bones after his brutal fight.
At twenty-four, I sacrificed my third and final petal to wake my husband’s sister from a car-crash-induced vegetative state.
Now, two disasters struck at once: my father died in a horrific car wreck, and my husband’s mistress lost their unborn baby.
Both sides of my family flocked to The Heart-Root, all fixated on stealing my petals for their own wishes.
I tried to step aside and let my younger sister go first to make the trade, but Mom shoved me hard.
“Every bit of love we’ve poured into you these years, every petal came from us! You’d really hold out and refuse to save your own father? Ungrateful girl!” my mom snapped.
My husband’s mom cut in sharp as a knife: “A good wife knows her place. It’s your duty to bring that baby back for your husband. If only you’d given him a son yourself.”
They tied me tight to the tree trunk. I watched a girl standing nearby get torn apart by black, writhing vines when she had no petals left—her flesh dissolved straight into the tree’s roots to feed it.
But my Heart-Seed didn’t have a single petal left either...

Travis Savage and I were a notorious public pair, bound together by nothing but hatred.

In the glittering, indulgent world of Chicago, he was an untouchable mafia king who ruled with absolute power, making and breaking rules on a whim. And I? I was the wife he loathed above all others in his criminal empire.

It all started when my parents lost their lives saving him, gunned down by his rivals. After their deaths, he kept me close as I grew up, and eventually, our marriage became what everyone expected. For a long time, he was my only anchor in this lonely world.

Once, he’d knelt before me and sworn to protect me for the rest of my life.

Now, he hated me.

He hated that I refused to sign the divorce papers, that I stood in the way of him running off with Renee Sutton — the orphan girl he claimed to have rescued off the streets.

He let her walk all over me and flaunt herself openly in front of me. To get back at them, I leaked their sordid secrets overnight across all of Chicago: their flirty messages, their hotel stays. Word spread through both the criminal underworld and high society alike, leaving the pair mocked and shunned by everyone.

Our marriage had rotted away years ago, worn thin by endless mutual resentment. It was stagnant, foul, and long dead.

Until three days ago.

A string of ambushes left Travis a hunted man. While swerving to avoid an oncoming truck, he was involved in a devastating car crash.

He lay unconscious in the ICU for three full days. When he woke, he claimed he’d forgotten every ounce of the nine years of hatred between us. In his mind, he was still nineteen — the age when he loved me with everything he had.

My younger sister scored 8.2. I scored 0.3.
She was the genius. I was the waste-blood Omega.
My parents threw me to the strays.
Said I didn't deserve the Silver Moon name.
Said the slum was where I belonged.
Now I'm awake, with molten gold in my veins.
This time, you'll be the ones begging to take me back.

In my past life, I was tricked into a trap by my neighbor, my leg broken, and thrown into acid rain to die. Reborn, I returned to nine months before the acid rain apocalypse. Meteorites struck, radiation contaminated, water sources dried up, and civilization collapsed. I still had one last chance to save myself and reverse the future. When I mortgaged my house, borrowed heavily from loan sharks, and finally found the water purification engineer whom everyone considered crazy, I was met with merciless ridicule. Faced with humiliation, I simply smiled faintly—"Do you know when water is more precious than gold?"

A lowly Omega orphan stole my body using the dark magic of a Night Witch.
In my past life, I tried like a madwoman to prove that I was the pack's true pureblood heiress.
But my parents didn't believe me, and neither did my fated mate.
They locked me in the dungeon with chains soaked in wolfsbane. Later, Elara even bribed the guards and sold me like livestock to a rogue pack in the wastelands.
My throat was torn out alive, and I took my last breath in endless torment.
Only after death did I learn that the Moonshadow Curse was absolutely bound by the lunar phases.
Its duration was a mere thirteen days.
When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the first day after our bodies were swapped.

My husband Ronald's best friend Clyde died three months ago, and with his last breath, he made Ronald promise to take care of his pregnant widow, Jennifer. From that moment, Jennifer invaded our lives, and I was only four months pregnant at the time.

Then Jennifer got caught in a gang shootout. She needed an emergency blood transfusion, and she had this rare blood type—Rhnull. Turns out, I'm Rhnull too.

To save Jennifer and her baby, Ronald forced me to abort mine.

I thought my husband was my salvation.
Until I overheard him in the wine cellar, laughing and joking with my "attackers" from that night.
The gang rape that destroyed me was a show he orchestrated himself.

He married me only for inheritance rights.
He humiliated me, branded me, took away my child, and made my life a living hell.
But he forgot one thing—
The ancient blood oath of the Corleone family states clearly:
If a husband betrays his marriage, everything he owns shall belong to his wife.

This time, I'm no longer the rabbit waiting to be slaughtered.
This time, I write the ending.

I was the orphan Hayes Holt pulled from the foster system, the girl he raised for eight years.
In my past life, I drowned in his suffocating tenderness, mistaking his guardianship for love. When he brought Josie Rowe home and announced their engagement, I snapped.
I threw a hysterical fit, screaming my unrequited love until the scandal bled into every gossip rag in New York.
My reward was his cold disgust. Labeled "sick," I was shipped off to a psychiatric ward, where I died strapped to a table, my brain fried by forced ECT.
The very next day, Hayes gave Josie the Manhattan wedding of the century. To the world, I became nothing but a cautionary tale: the delusional slut who tried to seduce her adoptive father.
But fate pulled me back. Back to the exact moment I ruined my life. Back to the fatal question:
"Can't we be more than just father and daughter?"
Across the dining table, the ruthless CEO of Holt Holdings was painstakingly peeling a shrimp for me. At my words, his long fingers froze.
"Excuse me?"
In my past life, I missed the flash of pure disgust in his eyes and just cried, begging for his love.
But now, hearing his icy tone, the phantom stench of my own burning flesh filled my nostrils. A violent shudder ripped through me. Digging my nails into my palms, I forced a flawless smile and pulled my plate away.
"Dad," I said, the word tasting like ash. "Didn't you tell me to grow up? I can peel them myself. I won't bother you anymore."

Fifteen days after my death, Morningstar Town was annihilated.
What destroyed this steel fortress wasn't the tens of thousands of zombies outside, but three insignificant things:
a bottle of whiskey used to bribe the security guards; half a can of wasted beef beans; and, my wife .
The townspeople, finding my "Laws of Survival" too harsh, strangled me to gain "freedom."
So I floated in the sky, watching them tear apart the safety net, watching them boil their neighbors in hunger, watching the very foundations of humanity crumble into dust.
The show began.

Everyone knows how much Gideon Moretti loves his wife Isabella.

We built this empire together—from street enforcers to rulers of all five boroughs of New York. He promised me the world.

I believed him.

For five years, I took bullets for him. Bled for him. Sacrificed everything so he could become the king of this city.

Then, just days before our fifth anniversary—on the same day I found out I was pregnant—I saw a video.

Gideon, in a bridal boutique, his hand on another woman's waist. Helping her choose a wedding dress.

Daisy. His first love.

Turns out, she's been back for two months. Every "business trip" he took? He was with her.

I made my decision that night. I would leave. Take our baby and disappear.

My child would not grow up in a house built on lies.

The day my wife, Hollywood’s newly crowned Best Actress, landed an S-tier deal, she arrogantly tossed a separation agreement in my face.

“I’m moving into Beverly Hills. A salaried office worker like you will only drag down my status. If you can’t come up with a ten-million-dollar mansion, then get out of my life.”

She thought she had latched onto a media tycoon, and eagerly signed the “fake divorce loan” agreement I had tailored just for her.

What she didn’t know was that I wasn’t just the pathetic husband she thought I was. I was also a quantitative strategist from Wall Street, a man who could turn the markets upside down.

That ten million dollars became the seed capital I used to short the tycoon backing her.

When she was ruined at her movie premiere, burdened with crushing debt, and crawled barefoot like a stray dog up to the hillside mansion, begging hysterically for me to remarry her, I was already toasting a successful acquisition with my Wall Street partner.

Then I watched coldly as the security guards threw her into the Los Angeles night like a piece of rotten industrial waste.

I was employee No.001, building his startup with him right from the garage.
Then a subordinate draped in an IvyLeague aura arrived, and he pushed me ruthlessly aside.
Crushed by betrayal, I fled eight hundred miles to Seattle and rebuilt my career at a rival tech giant. When anonymous online smears sought to ruin my reputation, I unmasked every one of her lies.
He fell from his CEO throne. I stepped into my welldeserved spotlight, and I will never be anyone’s second choice.

A billionaire offered me $1.5 million a year to marry him and raise his three kids.

He flew overseas the afternoon we signed.

His youngest told the butler to throw me out. His daughter flipped me off. His oldest smiled and asked what he should call me.

I held up the marriage certificate. "Call me Mom."

Two weeks later, his daughter crouched on her bedroom windowsill and swore she'd jump unless I let her go.

I walked over and planted my foot on her shoulder.

I think I'm dead.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in an abandoned amusement park, and my body was sitting on that slowly turning carousel.

I was only ten years old. I don't know how I died.

Detective Sarah, the blonde officer, promised to find the truth. So I followed her, watching her peel away layer after layer of lies—

In my diary, I wrote down all my fears and all my waiting.

On the phone, Mom sent that video of me laughing.

In the autopsy report, evidence of long-term abuse filled every page.

Mom had been saving money for three years, saying she'd take me away. That afternoon she picked me up from school and said, "We're really leaving this time."

Then what happened? Why did I die at the amusement park? Why was Mom's first reaction after my death not to call the police, but to—

I thought Mom came to save me.

Until I saw the text message she sent...

My name is Evelyn. I grew up in the slums. Now, I'm the wife of Victor De Luca, head of New York's most feared mafia family.
Outsiders say I left him for money when he had nothing, then shamelessly came crawling back once he rose to power.
Only Victor and I know the truth. He paid five million dollars to drag me back, chain me here like a dog, and lock me away.
He married me, trapped me in this estate, and found new ways to break me every day.
He brought his mistress into our bed. He used his power to grind what was left of my dignity into dust.
But there's one thing he doesn't know.
I'm dying.
I have an inherited bone marrow failure disorder. The same disease that drained my mother dry. Now it's my turn.
Five years ago, I took the money and walked away. I let everyone call me every name they wanted because I couldn't make him watch me waste away.
I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of pain.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
This long, slow torture is almost over.

I catch my husband in bed with the live-in housekeeper.

He shoves her behind him. "She's only twenty. Barely out on her own, doesn't know any better. Can't you be the bigger person here?"

His mother points a finger in my face. "You're an orphan. If we hadn't taken you in, you'd still be out on the street begging."

"Be smart about this. Make room for Kaylee, so we can all live under one roof in peace."

They've both forgotten that back then he couldn't even make rent, and I worked three jobs to build his company for him.

Forgotten the year his company was going under, when I ran to three different banks across the city in a downpour chasing investors, passed out in the street, and lost the baby.

Four whole years of them looking down on me after that.

I say I want a divorce.

Preston just laughs at me. "You're a housewife. Walk out that door and you'll starve on the sidewalk by tomorrow."

I drag my suitcase onto the overnight bus and go home to a place I haven't set foot in for ten years.

It's the middle of the night when I get there. The streets are empty. Three men reeking of liquor block my way.

That hand is about to touch my face when a Harley roars up and stops right beside me.

The muscled guy on it has a cigarette in his mouth. He looks me over. "Need a hand?"

At my ex-wife's century wedding engagement banquet, she pointed at my nose and humiliated me publicly: "A waste of space who lays bricks, get out!"
Her wealthy new lover pressed my face hard into broken glass and forcibly dragged away my desperately crying five-year-old daughter.
I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, drew the "Ghost Mark," and dialed the Pentagon hotline that had been dormant for five years.
Three seconds later, twelve Black Hawk helicopters shattered the dome, and a special task force descended from the sky. A two-star general, amid the terrified gazes of the assembled elite, saluted me with a thunderous: "Ghost Commander, troops have arrived as ordered!"
My ex-wife, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, instantly collapsed to the ground.

For three years, I paid so my sister could rebuild her life — her rent, her lawyers, her hospital bills, the shop she now runs in my name. Lucas, my fiance, always told me it was the right thing to do. I believed him, because believing him was easier than admitting how tired I was. I flew home two days early to surprise him. Instead, I opened my own front door and found my sister in his lap, wearing my robe, laughing in a voice I'd paid to keep happy for years. Ninety-nine empty perfume bottles stood along the wall — quiet witnesses to nights I never knew existed. Lucas didn't apologize. He asked me to be more understanding. My sister cried and called me cruel. I stood in the apartment I bought, surrounded by the people I built a home for, and realized I had never once been the one who got to be loved first.

"Mom, I don't need a baby brother or sister. I already have a sister."
I happily pulled out a pair of baby shoes, only for my seven-year-old son to violently snatch them and slam them into the trash can.
It was in that exact moment I discovered that the Alpha leader I had deeply loved for eight years had built a lavish underground mansion long ago—housing his mistress and secret daughter!
And my "obedient" son had been joining his father there every single month, playing happy family with them!
When the shock caused me to hemorrhage, leaving me lying alone on a freezing operating table undergoing a miscarriage, my husband was off comforting his mistress and illegitimate daughter.
In that instant, my love shattered completely. I relinquished custody of my son, left a signed divorce agreement, and walked away without looking back.

Minutes before the Stanford Hackathon began, my childhood friend decided to bail to help his girlfriend shoot a TikTok video.

I was just about to stop him when his inner voice suddenly exploded in my head: 'I actually got reborn?'

'Last time, I listened to Maeve and stayed for the competition, securing my spot at Stanford. But Sloane went to Malibu alone to shoot her video and fell off a cliff!"

'Even though I pushed Maeve off a roof to avenge her, I still lost the love of my life.'

'This time, I'm not losing Sloane. If Maeve dares to stop me again, I'll make her pay with her life all over again!'

My blood ran cold, and the words of persuasion died in my throat.

If he wanted his tragic romance so badly, he could have it.

In my past life, my Mafia Don husband left me and our unborn baby to burn just to save my half-sister.

Reborn, I watched him crush my fingers in a door to protect her once again.

"Hurt her, and we get a divorce," he sneered.

He thought the threat would break me. He didn't know his signature was already on the divorce papers hidden in my bag.

On the day of their lavish wedding, I took the hand of his deadliest rival, looked down from a helicopter, and pressed the detonator to his estate.

I am the Don Dante's wife, but my life runs through my husband's underboss who always seduce my husband, Elena.
I can't wear a coat without Elena's passcode.
My cards are monitored. My cash is approved. Dante calls it protocol. He calls it protection. He never asks why I wear the same faded sweater in winter.
I swallowed every humiliation because my mother's ventilator depended on his signature.
But Elena intentionally delayed funds for my mother’s medical treatment.
The brutal clash made me miscarry.
My mother died alone without timely treatment. I stopped filing all daily spending applications for three days straight.
Today he calls, calm and condescending, telling me the medical accounts are restored.
He thinks I'll fall back into line.
He doesn't know the only thing I'm requesting now is a signature—his, on the divorce papers.

I'd been out of Coldwater for two weeks when my family asked me to go back behind silver.

"It's three nights," Mom said. "You did three years. Three nights won't kill you."

They had no idea it would. I'm dying. The only thing still holding my body together is my mate bond, and three nights away from Silas is all it will take.

For three years in Coldwater, a parcel came for me every month. A blanket, a sweater—something that smelled like home. I slept wrapped in them every night, sure it meant my family hadn't given up on me.

It was my twin sister who sent them.

I didn't know what she'd soaked them in.

In my past life, I kindly took in my girlfriend and brother, only to be pushed into a torrent of acid rain and melted alive. When I opened my eyes again, I was back a month before the apocalypse, only to find that my girlfriend had also been reborn! She was secretly plotting on the balcony to drain my assets to build her and her best male friend's post-apocalyptic love nest? I scoffed, decisively sold all my possessions, and bought a private island in the Pacific to build a top-tier fortress. When the mutated red rain descended and zombies swept the globe, I sipped iced whiskey in a temperature-controlled greenhouse, quietly watching that despicable couple starve and die in their Los Angeles penthouse, tearing each other apart like wild dogs for survival…

I died on the night of my eighteenth graduation party, pushed off a rooftop by the two people I trusted most.

In my past life, I was the ultimate fool.

When my two childhood friends—both heirs to top elite families—decided to throw away their futures, I panicked.

They actually wanted to reject their admission offers from Harvard and Yale.

All to follow Lily, a charity case from the slums, to a literal no-name trade school called Sunny Valley Vocational Academy.

I begged them to stop.

I even used my family's connections to try and get Lily into a legitimate university.

But Lily wept in front of them, claiming my money insulted her dignity, and that I was just jealous of their "pure love."

Liam and Noah completely lost their minds.

That night, they cornered me on the roof.

"Vivian, you killed Lily. Go to hell!"

As it turned out, Lily went to that trash school alone and committed suicide.

They blamed me entirely for her death, nursing that grudge until they finally pushed me into the abyss.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the exact day we were supposed to lock in our college choices.

This time, count me out.

I had the gift of beast-speech, and beasts never lied to me.
When my sister, Valora, brought me a wild berry tart, a forest finch shrieked, "Poison!" In my past life, I believed it. I flipped the tray, cursed her, and was thrown into the dungeon like a madwoman. In this life, I did the opposite. I ate it. I vomited blood, and my spirit wolf died instantly.
When it was time to marry, a raven warned me that my Alpha fiancé was a "disfigured madman." In my past life, I broke the engagement and married a Beta, only to be tortured to death by him and his mistress. In this life, I insisted on marrying the Alpha. But on my wedding night, a blood-soaked, disfigured monster was waiting for me.
When my mother-in-law, Liora, coughed up blood in front of everyone, a nightingale cried, "Give her White Dittany for the poison!" In my past life, I force-fed her the herb, and she bled from her eyes and died. In this life, I stopped anyone from giving her the herb. But that night, she died anyway.
Listen to them, and I die. Ignore them, and I still die.
Then, I opened my eyes. I had been reborn, back to the exact moment everything went wrong...