Why Does The Protagonist In 'The Birthright' Make That Choice?

For three years, Elena endured a husband who barely acknowledged her, a mother-in-law who treated her like hired help, and a sister-in-law who sneered that she was nothing but a golddigger. All the while, her husband, Damien, pined after his “perfect” ex, like his own wife didn’t exist. Until the day Elena had enough. She signed the divorce papers, packed a single bag, and vanished. Damien was certain she’d come crawling back within a week. But the woman they all dismissed? Turns out Elena is a billionaire heiress, the CEO of the very empire Damien has been desperate to partner with and the one now signing his paychecks. Oops. Now Damien is spiraling, realizing too late what he lost. But Elena has choices she never had before. Like her childhood best friend, an NFL star who’s been in love with her all along. So who will it be? The ex-husband who finally woke up? The best friend who never left? Or has Elena finally decided she’s done with men who don’t deserve her?

Five years ago, Seraphina Vale’s life ended in front of a crowd. On her wedding day to billionaire CEO Cassian Thorne, she was publicly accused of corporate espionage, betrayal, and greed. Security dragged her out of the ceremony as cameras flashed and the media tore her reputation apart. The man she loved never gave her a chance to explain. What Cassian never knew was that Seraphina walked away carrying his child. Now, five years later, Seraphina has rebuilt her life from nothing. Stronger. Independent. Untouchable. But when fate brings her back into Cassian’s world, a shocking truth surfaces her son, Lucien, is the only biological heir to the powerful Thorne empire. The Thorne family demands the child. Seraphina refuses. The only solution Cassian offers is a contract: Live under his roof. Pretend to be his wife. Secure the heir’s future. But the past is full of lies, enemies are still watching, and the truth behind Seraphina’s downfall is far darker than either of them imagined. This time, the woman he once destroyed isn’t coming back to beg. She’s coming back to win.

My family's fate was sealed in an ancient war. We saved the lord of the Clare clan. In return, their lord forged an ancient blood pact with my line. Each generation, a woman from my family can choose a mate from the Clare heirs, to birth a hybrid child—one who walks in daylight, blessed with eternal life. When my time came, I didn't hesitate. I chose the eldest son, Evan, who had been in a cursed slumber for a century. Every vampire in the room was in disbelief. After all, everyone knew I'd spent the last few years obsessed with the third son, Julian. It had to be him, or no one. In my last life, I got my wish. I bonded with Julian and helped him seize control of the family's vast biotech empire. But after our union, he started an affair with my adopted sister, Chloe. To punish her for breaking the blood pact, the family exiled Chloe. Julian, however, was convinced I had orchestrated the whole thing. He hated me to his very core. From then on, he kept a string of lovers, and every single one of them looked like Chloe. The heartbreak shattered me. In the end, he poisoned my life-sustaining elixirs, making my flesh rot from my bones, and sacrificed my very soul in a dark ritual. Reborn, I decided to let them have each other. But I never imagined Julian would be reborn, too.

“She tried to escape. I think she wants to go rogue.” The guard said.  Sabrina’s eyes snapped to me. A smirk curled on her lips as she walked forward. “Tried to escape, did we?” she said, her blue eyes slicing into mine. “Leave us.” The guards obeyed. She moved in, gaze sweeping over me. “Whatever made you think your scrawny little body could outrun two strong guards?” “Sabrina, you have to let me go. I don’t want to be your handmaid. Please. Let me go.” I begged.  Sabrina laughed, sharp and cold. “Oh, you’ll serve me whether you like it or not.” She leaned closer. “You won’t just serve me, Elowyn. You’ll mate with the Alpha and carry his child for us.” My breath caught. “What?” Her smile deepened, her voice soft and slow. “I can’t be the one who fulfills the prophecy that Kieran’s Luna will die in childbirth.” She stepped even closer. Her eyes locked on mine. “You will bear his child, Elowyn.” She said it with such certainty that my blood ran cold.  I stared at her, horror rising in my throat. “You want me to die instead of you?” Sabrina said nothing. She didn’t have to. Her smile said everything.

Damon Blackwood nearly died for me once. So when he asked me to wait while another woman carried his child, I did. I told myself it was not betrayal. It was duty. I told myself a man who had given up everything for me could not possibly be choosing someone else. For me, Damon gave up his claim to the Alpha title. He endured ninety-nine lashes from the Pack elders, then knelt for three days in the ancestral shrine with his back torn open and his shirt soaked through with blood. When they finally carried him out, he could barely breathe. So when his father said the Bloodmoon Pack needed a pureblood heir before they would allow us to be together, I tried to believe him. Damon told me Victoria Hale was only a duty. He told me one child would be enough. Then Victoria gave birth to a daughter, and the promise changed. One heir became one son. One sacrifice became another year of waiting. Until Victoria’s daughter suddenly fell ill, and everyone said I had poisoned her. Alpha Conrad and Luna Catherine threw me into the dungeon before I could even defend myself. Damon stood outside the iron door. Not angry at them. Not worried about me. He looked at me like I was something he no longer recognized. “I told you to wait,” he said. “Why did you have to touch my child?” My child. Once, Damon had sworn he would only accept a child born from my body. Now he held Victoria’s daughter in his arms and called her his. When the dungeon door finally opened, I did not run to him. I chose the future I had abandoned for him.

I was born destined to be fertile. The kind of woman who brings heirs into the world as if it were destiny. My womb had never failed me. The Schuyler family had practically begged me to marry into their family. The reason was simple. For three generations, the Schuyler family had only produced a single heir each time. Their bloodline was hanging by a thread. The patriarch of the family, Albert Schuyler, went everywhere looking for solutions. Doctors, fortune tellers, shamans, anyone who could give him hope. In the end, every prediction pointed to me. After I married Jack Schuyler, my first pregnancy was twins. The entire Schuyler family exploded with joy. Albert donated to every church and fortune teller alike, kneeling in gratitude. Before the babies were even weaned, the Schuyler family business began to thrive. Everyone said that it was the blessing of having noble heirs. Wedding gifts, properties, and company shares. The Schuyler family spared nothing. They treated me like a queen, terrified that I might suffer even the slightest. Until the day I gave birth to my third child. Jack Schuyler's true love, Bianca Chance, barged into the delivery room, screaming at me, "You shameless tramp! You're nothing but a breeding sow! One baby after the other! Are you trying to trap Jack with your womb? You disgusting woman! Jack had said that everything you give birth to will just be burdens sooner or later!" I pressed a hand on my wound and looked at her. Burden? Fine. I would take these so-called burdens with me. As for the Schuyler family's precious bloodline, they had to figure out how to continue it on their own.