Bias Short Stories & Novels

I have asthma, but Mom still forces me to take part in freshman orientation drills just to avoid accusations of favoritism. As I stand at attention in the 95-degree heat, my lips start turning blue. With no other choice, I raise a trembling hand. "Ms. Horton, I don't feel well—" Before I can finish, Roxanne Horton, the instructor leading our drills, coldly slaps my hand down. "Only half an hour in, and you're already faking sick to get out of training? And you have the nerve to lie to my face? Is this how your parents raised you?" Mom stands just a few feet away. As the dean of Hawthorne College, she immediately feels humiliated and turns to glare at me. "Everyone else is holding up just fine. You're the only one demanding special treatment," she snaps. "No daughter of mine would act like this. You'll stand here alone for another hour. Let's see how long you keep up this act." But I'm already struggling to breathe. My legs give way beneath me, and I collapse to the ground, clutching my throat as my face turns purplish-red. Before everything fades to black, I reach a trembling hand out toward Mom. "My inhaler… Help me…" But Mom's expression hardens. She turns away and lets my hand drop limply back into the dirt. "You've barely been standing for half an hour, and you're already pretending to have an asthma attack? Do you think I got to be dean by falling for every ridiculous lie?" She scoffs. "Get up right now. Stop embarrassing yourself!" When Roxanne realizes that I still haven't moved, she flies into a rage. She grabs the back of my collar and tries to haul me upright. By then, though, I'm already drifting upward, hovering above them. Looking down at Mom's cold, disappointed face, I twist the sweat-soaked hem of my shirt, overcome with shame. I'm sorry, Mom. I'll never be the daughter you can be proud of.

Half a month ago, I found out my husband, Vincent, was cheating on me. I accidentally discovered an encrypted burner phone hidden in a secret compartment of his armored SUV. Inside were dozens of explicit photos and countless graphic, flirtatious texts. The other person was his hot chief secretary, Chloe. The fairy tale was shattered by reality. I looked at the positive pregnancy test in my hand and calmly threw it into the trash can. I put the phone back exactly as I found it. That very day, I had my lawyer draft the divorce papers and signed my name, stroke by stroke. I opened my phone and replied to an email:[Professor, I officially accept the invitation to the Zurich Institute.] This time, I won't look back.

In the seven years I've been married to Blaine Zahn, his way of punishing me whenever I get jealous is always the same. First, he humiliates me in public. Then, he leaves me alone in the middle of nowhere. This time, he punishes me because I refuse to lend him the necklace Mom left me. Blaine says, "Lizzie just got back, so she has nothing. What's wrong with letting her borrow it for a few days? Don't be so selfish." He drives away, leaving me alone outdoors on the day of the first snowfall of the year. Temperatures drop to more than ten degrees below zero. In the four hours when I gradually lose all feeling in my limbs from the cold, I make 20 phone calls and send 50 messages begging for help. I get no response from any of them. With my fingers stiff from the cold, I'm about to give in with my 51st message. I type, "You can borrow the necklace. Can you please come pick me up..." Just then, Lizzie Sterling posts an update on Instagram. In the photo, Blaine is sitting beside a warm fireplace and putting Mom's necklace around her neck. The caption reads, "I just complained about being cold and acted a little spoiled. Someone canceled all his social engagements just to stay here and warm me by the fire. He even gave me the star necklace I've been wanting forever." A mutual friend comments, "Looks like someone's heart still belongs to you." Blaine replies, "As long as she's happy, that's all that matters." The man who left me out in the snow to fend for myself is now sitting in a warm room, terrified that another woman might feel even the slightest chill. I watch as the snowflakes fall onto my fingertips and slowly melt. My frostbitten heart has no warmth left in it anymore. I delete my plea for help and call the police instead. Then, I call my lawyer. It turns out the sound of falling snow is the countdown to when my heart stops beating for him.

"You guys know what the situation is like in this industry this year. I need to cut our end-of-the-year bonus by half in order to overcome this difficult period." My boss, Peter Hurley, claims that things are difficult in the industry right now, yet his wrist still showcases the luxury watch that he's just bought. My 20,000-dollar bonus is reduced to 700 dollars. In addition, I also received a plaque that says "Award for Outstanding Contribution". "This plaque is worth a lot, Soren. It represents the acknowledgement this company has for you. Don't be so petty when it comes to money." As I stare at the plaque in my hand, I can't help but scoff furiously. "Fine. I won't be that petty when it comes to money. I hope you won't be that petty either when you're paying next month's rent." Peter is stunned momentarily. "What do you mean by that?" I toss the plaque into the trash can. "What I mean is, I'm the landlord of this building. From next month onward, the rent will be increased ten times. If you refuse to accept the new rent, you can pack up and scram."

Having grown up with her parents favoring her brother over her, my mother hates it when parents don't treat their children equally. For as long as I can remember, our family has operated by pursuing equality over everything else. When my older twin sister, Cheryl Moore, fails to make the final round of a competition, I'm forced to withdraw even though I've been chosen. Even though my shoe size is smaller than Cheryl's, our parents insist on buying the same size for both of us. When Cheryl falls sick, I'm forced to take the same medication even though I'm not sick. Then the SATs come along. I can't help but do my best and net a great score. Instead of doing as Mom and Dad demanded and applying to the local community college with Cheryl, I decide to try for Shinefield University, one of the top universities in the country. Mom and Dad think I broke the family rules, so they start holding me in contempt and rebuke me no matter what I do. Only when I agree to apply to the community college does their attitude toward me improve. On my 19th birthday, I end up in the emergency room. The doctor shows me my medical test results. They indicate that my health is in critical condition. I call Mom ten times before she finally answers. As soon as she does, however, she snaps at me, "Get to the point. I'm busy celebrating Cheryl's birthday with her." Enduring the pain, I force out the words. "Mom, I'm at the hospital. The doctor says I need to pay 10,000 dollars as a deposit before—" Mom cuts me off. "The nerve of you to ask for so much money! Throughout all these years, no matter how many times Cheryl has seen the doctor for her various pains and ailments, she has never spent more than 5,000 dollars! How dare you ask for 10,000 just like that? "You know what? I think you're not sick at all. You're faking this because you still want to go to school out of state, aren't you? "If you're really sick, prove it. I dare you to drop dead in front of your dad and me!" As I clutch the medical report that clearly states I have pancreatic cancer, my eyes turn red. So they're still mad at me for applying to a university of my choice. They think I'm lying. The call cuts off. But, Mom, Dad, if I don't get treatment in time, I'm going to die.

In a pack, your mate comes before everything else. But my boyfriend Kyle always put Lina first. When my fever hit 104°F and I needed him most, he was out patrolling with Lina. He said, "You're still able to call me, aren't you? How sick can you be?" Later, when my back injury flared up again, he was helping Lina move. On my birthday, he was buying Lina a moonstone pendant. But back when I asked him for a gift, he said, "I love you. You know that. I just don't like giving gifts. It feels too formal." That was the moment I finally understood. He never hated giving gifts. He just never wanted to give me one. On the day I left, he chose Lina again, as always. I just quietly packed my things. He didn't know that today was the day I would leave him for good.

I have transmigrated into this toxic romance novel for three years. The system tells me that as long as Kendrick Miller's affection level for me reaches 100%, I can finally go home. For the sake of returning home, I spend three years acting like a hopeless simp. One day, the system suddenly tells me to catch him cheating, claiming it is just a little game couples play to strengthen their relationship. It says, "Layla, Kendrick deliberately let you discover him at the hotel with his first love because he's trying to make you jealous! Men love seeing women fight over them! "Quick! Rush in and join them. Become part of their little game and his affection will definitely skyrocket! "Trust me, this is exactly what he's waiting for. He wants to see that you care!" Listening to the system's passionate encouragement, I gather my courage and shove open the hotel room door. But instead of gaining Kendrick's affection, I am met with his cold, disgusted gaze and a stack of cash thrown directly at me. He sneers, "Are you trying to get my attention with this stunt again? Take the money and get lost. Stop bothering me." To my humiliation, the security drags me out of the hotel unceremoniously. I am left crouched over in the rain, shivering from the cold. I wipe away my tears and exclaim, "I'm such an idiot! I let that stupid system trick me again!"

My adopted sister, Bianca, screwed up. Big time. It was at a charity dinner. Hosted by the Vitiellos. The most powerful Mafia Family on the East Coast. She spilled hot coffee on the Vitiello boss's sister. Right into her eyes. Almost blinded her. Massimo went ballistic. He’s the cold-blooded Don who runs the whole damn coast. He wanted a hostage from our family, the Costas. Within five days. Or it was war. My mother grabbed my hands. Her eyes were red and filled with pain. “Bianca didn’t mean it. She’s terrified. She’s hiding in her room, shaking so hard she can’t breathe. Valeria, you're tough. You can survive this. Just go to Massimo for a few days. I swear I'll get you back.” My twin brother sighed. “That Don is a psycho. Bianca is too delicate. She wouldn’t last a day. You’ve always been the strong one. Just… do this for her.” Even my fiancé, the man I’ve been engaged to for years, held me. He whispered, “Baby, just take the heat for her. Once this all blows over, I’ll give you the biggest wedding you’ve ever dreamed of.” What a joke. I wasn’t even at the party. But I was the one paying the price. So I gave them what they wanted. I walked right into the Vitiello estate. And then they regretted it. They cried, and begged me to come back.

I'm the Luna of the Blood Moon Pack. Yet, I have to get approval from my mate's secretary for every single cent I spend. Alpha Killian noticed I hadn't submitted an expense request in three days. He probably thought I had finally learned how to be a proper Luna. So, he spoke to me through our Mind-link. "I approved the medical bills for your foster mother. From now on, if you want an allowance, just tell Serena. Stop begging for scraps. It makes you look like a joke." "I know you low-ranking wolves had it rough growing up. But you're my mate now. Drop the petty tricks." He didn't know the truth. The moment his words echoed in my head, I had just finished signing my official Rejection papers. When I leave this pack house, I can only take a few things with me. I'll take the white T-shirt and jeans I wore the day I arrived three years ago. No one would believe it. In the eyes of outsiders, the Luna had it all. Yet, after three years of being his mate, I couldn't even find a few decent outfits in my closet. All the evening gowns and jewelry were locked in a high-tech safe. Whenever I needed them, I had to request a temporary passcode from Killian's secretary, Serena. All because he thought my low-ranking bloodline and poor background meant I'd waste pack funds. Just three days ago, my foster mother's condition got much worse. I asked him for two hundred thousand dollars for an emergency surgery. But Serena purposely stalled the approval. She delayed it until my foster mother died in that cold hospital bed. Killian never knew. I only endured him for three years for one reason. He controlled the pack's medical funds. He held the money that could've given my foster mother a few more years to live. Now that she was gone, I had no reason to be his Luna anymore.

My wife, Danielle Russell, has forgotten to log her WhatsApp account out of my computer after using it. When I'm about to help her log out, I notice a notification from a group chat popping up on the screen. "We're hosting a family dinner tonight to celebrate Vince's promotion." Out of curiosity, I click on the group chat. There are only four members there—my dad, my mom, Danielle, and my cousin, Vincent Tanner. Danielle texts back, "Are we the only ones attending? What about Leon?" "It's his fault for being petty all the time. He's the type who isn't above fighting with Vince over an apple!" I'm stunned, to say the least. It turns out that my family has already viewed me as an outsider.

The day I was reborn, I came across that anonymous post again. “My sponsor is like a sister to me, but her husband gives me butterflies. “I know it’s wrong, but I can’t stop myself from feeling this way. Yesterday, we got down and dirty on the couch she bought.” Back in my past life, this very post broke me. In a fit of rage, I exposed their filthy secret to the world. The girl I once gave my heart and soul to help succumbed to cyberbullying and took her life by jumping off a building. After the funeral, my husband, Taylor Rogue, became a devoted and gentle man, only to lock me up in a mental institution the moment I put down my walls. “You should spend the rest of your life atoning for ruining Ivy!” With three years of pills and electric shock stripping away my sanity and dignity, I climbed to the roof and leaped. When I opened my eyes, I was back to the moment everything began.

I’m the reincarnation of a lucky charm. As long as I’m happy, my whole family prospers. To keep me smiling, my billionaire grandfather built me a palatial bedroom and hired a whole team of housekeepers and nannies just to keep me company. Then, on the day the long-lost real heiress was finally brought home, everything changed. Holding a livestream rig, she stormed straight into my room and sneered at the camera, “Everyone, this is the fake daughter who stole my place and lived my life of luxury for eighteen years! “She knew I was coming back and still tried to fool everyone with this ridiculous nonsense about being some kind of lucky-star reincarnation? Fine. Today I’m exposing her for who she really is.” Then she slapped me across the face. Everyone was stunned. I covered my burning cheek as tears spilled down before I could stop them. At that exact moment, Zimmerman Group’s stock began to crash.

My fated mate, Alpha Felix, had always put his adoptive sister, Serena, first. Whenever danger struck, his first instinct was always to pull her into his arms. The night our pack was attacked by rogues, he smashed through three doors just to carry Serena out of her room first. Only after making sure she was safe did he remember I was still trapped in the thick smoke. He then sent someone to find me. That incident left a bad burn scar on my shoulder. For the very first time, I forced him to choose between me and Serena. He looked at me in confusion. "Nova, Serena is just my sister. Besides, she is much weaker. Why are you competing with her?" "I swear to you, I'll treat you both equally from now on, okay?" Yet, on the day we were supposed to step onto the altar to take our vows, Serena followed us all the way to the Moon Goddess statue. Her first words were: "Brother, this is your first time taking a vow before the Moon Goddess. Shouldn't I go first?" Felix chuckled, ruffled her hair, and told her this time was different. But Serena refused to let it go. She tugged at his sleeve and begged him over and over. I watched the resolve in Felix's eyes crumble. Just as he was about to turn around to comfort me, I simply laughed. Our bond of seven years was meaningless. Without waiting for him to speak, I pulled the pack token out of my bag and shoved it into his hand. I lifted my chin toward the altar. "Go ahead."

Before my boyfriend, August Cadwell, marked me, we went to register our mate bond at the Pack Affairs Department. Without a word of explanation, he unexpectedly had someone throw me out of the office. Then he walked in with his childhood sweetheart. He didn’t even blink when he saw me sitting there on the ground, shaking with disbelief. "Hailey's pup needs to be part of the Aurelis pack. The best and quickest method is for her to register a mate bond with a werewolf from the Aurelis pack. As soon as we sever the mate bond, I'll form a mate bond with you." Everyone assumed the lovesick version of me would wait just one more month for him. After all, I'd already waited seven long years. But that night, I did something unexpected too. I accepted my parents' arranged mate bond and quietly left for the Lymerian pack, disappearing from his life entirely. Three years later, I returned to my original pack to visit my family. My mate, Ryder Weyland, was now the lycan chairman. Because of an urgent council meeting, he arranged for someone to collect me from the airport. I never imagined that “someone” would be August. The moment he spotted me, his eyes immediately landed on the sparkling bracelet on my wrist. "Isn't this a knockoff of the bracelet Ryder Weyland, the lycan chairman, spent two million dollars on for his mate? Didn't expect you to turn this vain after just a few years. "You've caused enough chaos, haven't you? It's time to return. Hailey's pup is now of school age. You can take on the responsibility of pick-ups and drop-offs." I gently ran my fingers over the bracelet on my wrist. Little did he know that this was the cheapest one Ryder had ever given me.

After Dad cheated and divorced Mom, I did not choose Mom, who walked away with nothing. Instead, I chose Dad, who clearly favored his illegitimate son, Oliver Brooks. It was only because after their divorce, Mom's obsession with reconciliation romance novels got me killed twice. In my first life, Mom was so desperate for Dad's respect that she willingly gave up everything in the divorce just to take me with her. In the end, my heart condition flared up, and without money for treatment, I died in agony on that hospital bed. In my second life, I went against Mom's wishes and asked Dad for the surgery money upfront. However, Mom was hell-bent on pushing Dad onto a so-called redemption path, forced me to go bungee jumping the day before my surgery. Dad tried to stop me from jumping, but he was speeding and ended up in a fatal car crash. Mom blamed everything on me. With pure hatred in her eyes, she shoved me off that cliff. "Useless piece of trash! Not only can't you help me win your father back, but you got him killed too. You might as well die with him!" That moment made everything crystal clear: Mom never actually loved me. She just saw me as a tool to get Dad back. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Mom demanded a divorce from Dad, for the third time.

Jim Charleston is my foster brother. He and I have been dating in secret for 10 years. On the day we decide to go public, Jim receives an undercover mission assignment to Duskhaven, where he has slim chances of returning alive. The night before he left, he held me and promised, "If I come back alive, I will marry you in a grand wedding. I'll stay by your side forever." Foolishly, I broke ties with my family and waited for him. I became the laughingstock of the entire high society circle. Three years later, Jim returns but with a ruined reputation and enormous debts. Kneeling like a broken man before our father, he firmly declares, "I promised Anne I would take care of her for life, Dad!" The woman named Anne hid timidly behind Jim, clutching her pregnant belly tightly. Dad turns to me instinctively. Everyone is waiting for me to lose my mind and cause a scene. However, I just smile. Right then and there, I accept the engagement ring from the good-for-nothing playboy. On the day of my engagement party, Jim drives in recklessly. With a gun in his hand, he shouts, "Cecilia Forrest! If you dare go through with this marriage, I'll kill him!"

At the final meeting before the company's IPO, my wife, who was supposed to give the presentation, was absent. I called her multiple times, but she never answered. Because of her absence, the company lost the bid and became the laughingstock of the industry. Right at that moment, her male best friend uploaded a new post. "It's just a cold. Look at how worried she is." I clicked on it. There was my wife, whom I hadn't seen in days, crouched beside him, fawning over him as she gave him his medicine. I was utterly disappointed. In that moment, the five years we had spent together vanished completely.

My fiancé had nearly tortured me to death, all because his first love kept turning him against me. Lying in the cold, dark basement, I made a bitter wish. If only I could switch bodies with Nolan Ralston. Then he'd finally know what he'd put me through. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in his luxurious bed, all sixteen feet of it. And there was Nolan, wearing my face, staring at me in shock. Before he could say a word, his precious first love let out a little cry and dramatically collapsed in front of him. "I was just trying to check your injuries. Why did you push me?" she whimpered, looking utterly pitiful. I watched Nolan's eyes widen, his indignation at being falsely accused written all over his face. I couldn't help it. A laugh escaped me. God, that felt good.

The first thing Alpha Kieran Voss did upon his return from the Northern Front was announcing Celeste as his chosen mate. However, my pack had signed a treaty with the Frostfang Pack, and the deal was for the Frostfang Pack’s Alpha to take a she-wolf from the Graymoon Pack as his mate. To honor the treaty, Kieran chose to form a mate bond with me. Nevertheless, he declared to his pack that Celeste was his Luna, while I was nothing more than a mate chosen for political convenience. For the next seven years, I carried on with life as freely and recklessly as I always had. Kieran treated me right as well. Be it pearls from the Southern Seas, or gemstones from the Northern Territories, I could expect any little thing that caught my eye to show up in my chambers the very next day. Spoiled and willful as I was, I didn’t restrain myself before the pack elders. Kieran always cleaned up after me with a smile, then showered me with precious stones and jewelry to put a grin back on my face. I mistook that as his feelings for me. With a pup in the picture, I believed that our bond would only grow stronger. Still, seven years passed. Celeste had given him three pups, while I struggled to bear his pups. One day, I knocked over a potion sent by Celeste, only to discover the truth. The potion wasn’t meant to restore my health, but to keep me from ever bearing Kieran’s pup. The pack healer examined me and stayed silent for a while. “Long-term aconite poisoning has pretty much weakened your wolf. You have lost your ability to heal. Even if you stop taking the poison now, you have no more than three months left.” I kept the evidence, petitioned to the council to sever our mate bond, and got ready to return to the Graymoon Pack. Somehow, Celeste managed to frame my departure as an act of treason. Taking Celeste’s words for it, Kieran locked me up in a silver-plated cell, despite how ill I was. Once he finally got the bottom of everything and rushed to the tables to find me, I was already dead, lying next to my old, faithful companion.

On the day I got married, my father-in-law personally fastened an obsidian bead bracelet around my wrist. He looked at me and said, "Moses, from today on, you're one of the family. I'll treat you like my own." I had grown up in an orphanage and had never truly had a family of my own. Because of those words alone, I willingly married into the Zeigler family and wore that bracelet for six straight years. Even after it rubbed my wrist raw—leaving it swollen, ulcerated, and oozing with pus—I still could not bear to take it off. Everything changed the day I stopped by my childhood friend's antique and jewelry appraisal studio for a small get-together. The moment he saw my wrist, he turned grim. "Moses," he said sharply. "Take it off." I froze. "My father-in-law gave this to me. It's a Zeigler family heirloom. I can't." His eyes reddened as he enunciated every word. "That's no obsidian. It's something that's going to kill you."