Plot Twists Short Stories & Independence Love after Marriage Novels

On my wedding night, I saw another me from fifty years in the future through the bronze mirror on the dressing table. The old woman in the mirror was in the same manor I had just married into. Blushing, I touched my hair. "Fifty years from now, will I be surrounded by family, living peacefully together?" But the old woman only leaned against the dark bed in silence. Then, a yellowed painted portrait slipped from her sleeve and fell at her feet. I shyly said, "Is that the portrait Matthew promised me on our wedding night? He said we would grow old together, hand in hand." Only then did the old woman scoff and slowly move closer to the mirror. I looked carefully. The woman in the portrait on the floor was... Sabella, my closest friend. A chill went through me as my future self forced a bitter smile and stared straight at me. "The truth is that Sabella Lane was abducted and violated on your wedding night, and then she died. Because you stopped Matthew Cross, he became certain that you had sent people to do it. After that, he hated you and tortured you for fifty years. "Gwendolen Shaw, I have now revealed to you the truth ahead of time. Whether you still stop him from seeking out Sabella tonight or not is your choice."

To prove himself worthy of marrying me, Nico Ricci volunteered to take over the most profitable drug trafficking route out of Mexico. Before he left, he slipped a ring on my finger. "When I get back, we'll get married." I waited three years for him. The next time I saw him, he was holding hands with a timid woman as he asked me to end our engagement. "Leah took a bullet for me. I owe her my life. I promised her I'd marry her if we made it back to New York alive." My father, Lorenzo Moretti, handed me a pistol, his face dark with anger. "Camila, he's your man. You deal with him." I took the gun and stepped forward. With one swift motion, I racked the slide. Click. Everyone in the Moretti family was waiting for me to paint the floor with the traitor's blood. Bang! I fired several shots into the air. Hot shell casings clattered to the floor around their feet. The hall fell silent. Nico stood rigid, his grip tight around Leah Cruz's hand. I pulled off the ring and dropped it on the floor among the spent casings. "We're even." Then, in front of everyone, I called Dante Vitale, the Don of the Vitale family and the Morettis' worst enemy. "About that proposal of yours? My answer is yes."

After my parents died in battle saving the Alpha, Theron Blackwood, the Blackmane Pack took me in as an orphan. To repay them for saving his life, Alpha Theron laid down a rule: whoever became my mate would be the next Alpha. Growing up, I always believed that person would be Damian Blackwood. He was Alpha Theron's chosen heir and the man who had pulled me away from Redfang's silver blades twelve years earlier. I loved him, loved him enough to believe him without question, no matter what he said or did. But on the night of the blood moon, when the groom who looked exactly like Damian pushed back his hood, I instinctively reached for the mole at the corner of his eye. The ink wasn't dry yet. The mole smeared. I froze, realizing that the man at the altar, the man who had just exchanged vows with me, was not Damian. He was Damian's youngest uncle, Adrian Blackwood, identical to him except for the missing mole at the corner of his eye. Damian had thrown our mating contract, and me, to someone else. He was certain I loved him more than life itself, certain he could switch everything back before long. But this time, I was done bending to his will. So the first thing I did that night was wipe away the painted mole, along with twelve years of love.

A mysterious plague swept through the packs, wiping out every last she-wolf. To continue their bloodline, these ancient predators turned to the human world, bringing with them centuries of wealth and power. They struck a pact, sealed in blood, with the most powerful human families: every summer solstice, the finest daughter would be chosen as a "Breeding mother," destined to mate with a wolf. And the one Breeding mother who could birth a female hybrid would be crowned, becoming the Queen of both the wolf and human worlds. In my last life, my sister Selena, the family favorite. She chose the Alpha of the warmest, richest territory. And me? I was the family’s sacrificial lamb, thrown to Colton, the most brutal Alpha of the Frozen Wastes. But who could have guessed my sister’s life of warmth and riches was all a lie? Her Alpha treated her like a disposable toy. She froze to death in a damp cellar, forced to listen to the fireworks that celebrated my coronation. Yes, I successfully gave birth to a girl. But those brilliant fireworks were also my funeral pyre. I died on that cold throne. Now, I’m alive again. We’re back on the day of the choosing. “I choose Alpha Colton of the Frozen Wastes!” The voice belonged to my sister, Selena. I slowly opened my eyes. Seeing the undisguised triumph and cold calculation in her eyes, I knew. She was reborn, too. But she didn't know，this time, she would be the one to fall into the very hell I just clawed my way out of.

After my little sister Sophia and I came of age, Father gave us two choices. Go to the front lines with his most trusted lieutenant and fight in the shootouts. Or go to the coast and marry into the local arms-dealing dynasty. In my last life, Sophia cried and kicked and screamed to go to the seaside. I put down the paintbrush I loved and took the gun the lieutenant handed me. In the end, I carved out a name for myself on the front lines, took back every inch of territory the family had lost, and became the successor the council of elders unanimously acknowledged. Sophia, meanwhile, was ignored by her husband, frozen out and neglected by his entire family, and died of depression. After being reborn, Sophia couldn't wait to plant herself beside Father's lieutenant, Lorenzo. "Catherine, the front lines are too dangerous. You go to the coast and live easily. I'll leave the good life for you." The lieutenant paused, then smiled with relief. I said nothing. I just told the housekeeper to pack my bags. I was ready to leave immediately. Sophia didn't know. In my last life, the reason all that lost territory was recovered, the reason that unruly lieutenant came to respect me completely, was because when we were surrounded, I refused to retreat. I cut a bloody path out with my bare hands. Reborn, with no endless artillery in my ears, I just wanted to chase my dream of art.

The Silvermoon Pack's white wolves must cross the Moon River to seal their bond. The female lies in the moon boat, and her future mate must hold the rope with his own hands and drag her across the river himself. Otherwise, the white wolf is sent to the Frozen Peaks to bond with the Alpha King, and never leave again. The one who was supposed to pull me across was Gabriel Hale. He's the Alpha of the Frostwood Pack, and my destined mate since we were pups. Our families have intermarried for generations, but he swore to me that marking me was about love. He said I was the Moon Goddess's most perfect blessing to him. On the day of the crossing ceremony, I waited in the pack grounds, giddy with joy. I waited three days and three nights. What I got was news that he'd given Selena, his Beta, a temporary mark. He came back to explain. Said Selena's wolf was weak, that the temporary mark was to save her. But the truth? His heart had already drifted to her without him even noticing. He didn't know I'd already made up my mind to bond with the Alpha King. The forever Gabriel promised, I'm not waiting for it anymore. In three days, I leave for the Frozen Peaks.

Three days before our engagement, Zach Jefferson called me. “We’ll need to postpone the engagement party by a month. That day is Sienna’s first concert since she returned, and I need to be there. “It’s just a postponement. It’s no big deal.” He had postponed our engagement three times that year. The first time was because Sienna Lynch had been hospitalized with appendicitis. He said he had to take care of her and rushed over. The second time, Sienna said she was feeling down. He was worried she might get depressed and immediately booked a flight to see her. It was the third time. I simply said, “Okay.” After hanging up, I turned to the good-looking and refined man beside me. “Are you interested in marrying me?” Later, during Sienna’s concert, Zach left her without hesitation. With red, teary eyes, he rushed to my engagement ceremony. “Yulia, are you really getting engaged to this man?”