Karma Short Stories & Novels

The day I marry Navy Captain Dean Aldridge, I hear his stepsister Shirley Pierce's inner voice. "Diane is so beautiful and graceful. I wish I could be like her, but I'm nothing more than an unwanted burden in this family… "I really adore her, though. I saved up my allowance to buy her a bracelet as a wedding gift, but I'm afraid she'll think it's unlucky and refuse it." In my last life, those words had filled my heart with pity. I'd accepted the bracelet and even taken Shirley under my wing, teaching her to read and write. But not long after my wedding, my health began to deteriorate for no reason. It wasn't until I lay dying that I discovered the truth—the bracelet Shirley had given me was cursed, and she'd deliberately made me hear her inner voice. She'd long been in love with Dean and was determined to make the Aldridge family hers one day. Now, when I open my eyes again, I find myself back on my wedding day.

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 twin sister Claire and I have been at war our whole lives. A box of M&Ms? We’d count each one. Making sure we each got the exact same number of each color. Choosing bedrooms meant a tape measure. No one could have an inch more. When we were eight, Claire locked me in the basement. She tore apart my favorite American Girl doll. When I finally got out, I could only cry and gather the pieces. But she just threw herself on the carpet. Screamed that I pushed her. Dad drove out in a blizzard to buy me a new doll. He got into a bad car accident. He never came back. Our whole world fell apart. Mom said we were broke. She couldn't afford to keep both of us. She agreed to let Aunt Susan take one. I killed Dad. It was my fault. I couldn't let Claire leave Mom, too. So Aunt Susan took me. And she never treated me like I was human. From then on, I woke up shivering in a freezing attic. No heat. Forced to shovel snow, scrub hardwood floors. Like a maid. When I got older, to pay off her Vegas gambling debts, my aunt took all my IDs. She sold me off. Gave me to the trailer park manager's son. A drunk. A gambling addict. At twenty-two, I got pregnant. No health insurance. He watched me writhe in pain, but he wouldn't spend the money to call an ambulance. I died on the way to the ER. I died, but I didn't move on. My ghost drifted back home. And I saw the impossible. Dad was alive. He, Mom, and Claire were in the lavish backyard. Celebrating Claire’s graduation from an Ivy League school. Mom paused while cutting the cake. “I wonder how Chloe is doing,” she said. “We tricked her into leaving. I just worry all the time.” Dad pulled up a photo from Aunt Susan on his phone. “Don't worry,” he said. “She and Claire fought too fiercely back then. Sending her away and separating them was for her own good. Look, Susan gets our thousand dollars a month. She's taking great care of her.” So that was it. My parents had teamed up to lie to me. And my aunt was lying to them with a fake photo.

As I washed my wife's underthings, I discovered semen stains. It had been over two months since I last did it with Winona Sundown. She always looked down on me for not lasting long and being as boring as a dead fish. I silently accepted her criticism and mockery. That was until I saw a stranger messaging Winona with a hotel room number. The hotel just so happened to be my workplace, Pinnacle Hotel. The room number was 8102. I camped by the room, waiting to catch my prey. However, the woman at the door was a young and sensual woman. Unbeknownst to me, I had fallen into Winona's trap long ago...

I go ice fishing with my husband, and we encounter a snowstorm and hailstorm. The mountainside villa has no sustenance and power, and he takes my down jacket to keep his former superior warm. I'm three months pregnant, and my daughter is having a high fever. However, he pushes us out of the villa to look for wild vegetables. Why? Because his former superior wants to eat them. He probably has no idea that I've come to this villa countless times to prepare his anniversary gift. Later, my daughter ends up mentally disabled from the high fever. I finally get my hands on proof of his under-the-table dealings with his former superior. I destroy him before he's promoted!

Mom dies of rage when she discovers that the bride at my wedding has become Nelly Johnson, Harvey Fisher's business partner. My wedding turns into Mom's funeral the moment she breathes her last breath. Despite that, Harvey insists that the ceremony continue as planned. He even orders me to put the wedding ring on Nelly's finger. "Hurry up and put it on! I'll explain everything to you tonight!" he snarls. I ignore him and leave the hotel with Mom's body in my arms. The wedding ends with a banging success at 8:00 pm. Nelly updated her social media with a post that's liked by tens of thousands of people. "I've finally married the light of my life! I'd like to thank a certain homewrecker for leaving after remembering her place." Harvey updates his social media with a similar post. "Those who are unworthy don't deserve to be loved." I like both their posts in the ice-cold morgue. I comment, "I wish you two a lifetime of happiness." Then, I head home with Mom's ashes. When I enter the house, I see Harvey holding Nelly tightly while making out with her.

My favorite doll company just dropped a limited-edition ball-jointed doll, and I was ten thousand dollars short on the deposit. So, I whipped out my phone and tapped on my chat with my older brother, Damien. [Hey, Damien! Quick, I need ten thousand dollars to welcome the newest member of our family! Xoxo] Ten minutes later, my phone finally buzzed. I checked it with a massive grin on my face, but my usually doting brother’s reply was out of character. [You’re way too young to be a homewrecker. Just wait until I get you. You’re going to get what's coming to you.] I was confused. I was just starting to wonder if Damien’s account had been hacked when a furious pounding rattled my front door. As soon as I opened the door, a strange woman barged in and slapped me across the face. “You’re the one who clings to my boyfriend and begs him for money, aren’t you? Oh, you want thirty thousand dollars? How about I buy you a cemetery plot instead? How about I throw a whole funeral for you?" I held my burning cheek, unable to believe what was happening. So, this was my brother’s girlfriend? Well, congratulations. You just threw away any chance of ever marrying into the Fischer family.

My husband's first love was scalded by boiling water. To punish me, he forced me into a customized steamer half my height, turned the heat to its highest setting, and sealed me inside. "I'll make you feel the pain Jessica suffered a thousand times over!" Trapped in the suffocating space, my breath came in ragged gasps. Heat seared my skin, and my body felt as though it would melt. I sobbed, begging him for mercy. "Please! I'm going to die!" But he didn't look back. Holding his beloved in his arms, he walked away. He even locked the door after he left the room. "Don't worry, you won't die. This is the only way you'll understand Jessica's pain." Despair swallowed me whole. I screamed, my voice raw, but the boiling water beneath me splashed up, scalding my skin, stealing even the strength to cry. He left the country with Jessica that same night. A week passed before he finally remembered my existence. "That wretched woman must have learned her lesson by now. Let her out." What he didn't know was that the water had long since boiled away, the heat had faded, and inside the steamer, my corpse lay rotting—swarmed with maggots.

On my third day at the company, my supervisor suddenly patted me on the head. “Anna! I saw you won the lottery! I’m giving you a chance to make a good impression. The day after tomorrow, I’ll get everyone together for a private party aboard the luxury yacht Black Pearl. It’ll be your treat, of course!” Before I could even decline, Sarah was already rattling on. "There are over a dozen people in our department. We'll need at least ten bottles of XO, Australian and Boston lobster for everyone to pick from, and we all need terrace suites." “You can afford a little thing like that, can’t you, Miss Moneybags?” I frantically tried to explain that the ticket was one I'd bought for someone else. I didn't have any money at all. But Sarah just shot me a look of pure contempt and walked away. That night, the work group chat exploded. She announced to the entire group, "To celebrate Anna winning the lottery, we're having a blowout bash on the Black Pearl the night after tomorrow! Everyone sign up!" Over fifty people jumped on the list within seconds. Even the cleaning lady signed up with her three grandchildren in tow. "Oh my God, our parties are usually just drinking beer in someone's apartment. We've never been on a luxury yacht! Thank you, Sarah!" Sarah's private message came through. "Anna, I noticed the account you used to claim the lottery ends in 0663. The club booking is already confirmed. We're counting on you, Miss Moneybaaags~" I stared at the booking screenshot she sent, breaking into a cold sweat. That lottery ticket was one I'd claimed on behalf of the company's CEO!

At the pack's corporate meeting, the new finance intern flashed a financial report onto the projector screen. "Alpha, I'm reporting Aurora for embezzlement! She used her position to wire massive amounts of company funds into her private account. I demand she be banished immediately!" That girl, Lily, tipped her chin up and slammed a stack of files onto the conference table. Alpha Jasper and the elders locked their eyes on me. Their glares felt like claws. I almost laughed out loud. Jasper’s company had been on the verge of bankruptcy. To save it, I secretly dumped millions of my own dollars to fill the hole. The "embezzled funds" she was barking about? That was my own money. And now? I need this pack of ungrateful mutts to approve me moving my own money?

"Hi there, I'd like to emigrate." Christina stood at the counter and handed over the neatly prepared documents to the clerk on the other side of the glass. The clerk quickly stamped each page. The red ink spread like tiny ripples on still water. Then, without looking up, he pulled out another form and passed it back to her. "Ma'am, your paperwork will be processed in fifteen days." Christina nodded, turned on her heel, and headed for the exit. But before she could step outside, whispers trailed after her. "Did I see that right? Mrs. Waldorf is applying for emigration? Did she have a squabble with Mr. Waldorf?" "Even if they argued, would it go this far? Mr. Waldorf practically worships her. What could possibly make her leave so decisively?" "Exactly. Five years ago, their wedding was the event of the century. Even someone like me, who barely goes online, heard about it. And three years ago, after her car accident, the blood bank ran out of stock. Mr. Waldorf ignored everyone's objections and nearly drained himself to save her. Then, just last year, when she disappeared for an hour, he mobilized every media outlet worldwide to find her. Now she's leaving without a word—won't that drive him insane?" The murmurs swirled and lingered, but Christina only smiled faintly. Her expression was calm, but her eyes darkened with a bitterness that deepened with every step. Yes, she thought. Everyone knew just how much Lucien Waldorf loved her.

My mother sells special éclairs. Each one costs a thousand dollars, but the female customers fight each other to buy them. They look like they can't get enough. My sister wants to take a box to share with her boyfriend when she sees how popular they are. However, my mother firmly rejects her. She says she's the only one who can touch those éclairs. My sister refuses to listen. She secretly sneaks into the freezer in the basement. Then, in the middle of the night, I hear her wanton moans.

The day my rich parents come to claim me, all eight of my godfathers weep while sending me off. But just two days later, because I score a whole hundred points higher than the fake heiress, Sharon Staton, on a mock exam, my parents drag me to some black-market underground hospital. They want to dig out my brain and transplant it into Sharon. "With your return, Sharon is no longer the only princess in our family. Giving her your smart brain is the least you can do to make it up to her." "Relax, we'll have them put an ordinary brain in you afterward. We'll care for you for the rest of your life!" Sharon giggles and says, "I'll let you in on a little secret. I already bribed the doctor. The brain they're putting in you belongs to an idiot. You're done for." I struggle with everything I have. Then, the second I'm dragged out of the car, I can't help feeling amused. Isn't this the hospital owned by my eight godfathers? When I left home, Big Pops, a CEO, had looked at me with bloodshot eyes. He'd told me that if the Stanton family so much as laid a finger on me, he would bankrupt them without hesitation. Second Pops, a surgeon, hadn't said a word. He had just quietly wiped down his scalpel. This time, it looks like Sharon and my parents won't be walking out of here alive.

I was just a human with no connection to the vampire world, until I met Adrian, a vampire noble, at an art gallery. We fell in love at first sight. To marry him, I defied my father and cut ties with my family. Everyone envied me for becoming Adrian’s only human wife, showered with love and affection. But after the wedding, I realized that so-called love was just another form of imprisonment. He wouldn’t let me work, wouldn’t let me leave the house, wouldn’t let me attend vampire gatherings. He wanted me to stay obediently in his castle, waiting for him to come home, doing as I was told. And his vampire assistant, Celeste, controlled my every expense under the guise of looking after me. She said that as a human, I was too fragile, too willful, and only ever caused trouble for Adrian. Adrian never once disagreed. Then one night, I stumbled into a vampire hospital, covered in blood. The doctor said the baby could still be saved. But I had no money, and no way to prove I was Mrs. Blackwood. I called Adrian, but the person who answered was Celeste. Through the phone, I heard Adrian’s cold, weary voice. “Don’t bother with her. She’s just putting on an act again.” After I lost the baby, I put the divorce papers in front of him. Adrian thought I was just throwing another tantrum. But what he didn’t know was that the moment I lost our child, there was no chance left for us.

In my past life, my boyfriend's childhood sweetheart, Kimberly Thatcher, claimed to be Lady Luck. She insisted on handing out sachets to keep our team safe for a hike. I, Priscilla Jensen, caught the scent and realized the sachets were stuffed with herbs that would attract wolves. So, I stepped in to stop her, saving everyone from an attack. But Kimberly thought I was looking down on her sachets, and that I was targeting her on purpose. Though she was the leader, she stormed off from the group in anger. We searched the forest under the raging storm. In the end, someone broke a leg, someone else was strangled by poisonous vines, and my shoulder was torn open. By dawn, we found Kimberly's corpse at the bottom of a valley. … On the seventh day after her death, her memorial service became an ambush. While everyone mourned for her, their eyes were fixed on me. My boyfriend, Fabian Lowell, was the first to lash out. He ripped off his bandage, revealing his wound. "If you hadn't stopped Kimberly from giving us those sachets, none of this would have happened! How dare you show up to her memorial service?" he yelled. Everyone turned to glare daggers at me. Suddenly, someone shouted, "It's all your fault! You're the reason we ended up like this! Go to hell!" In the next second, they hurled a pot of boiling stew at me. Then they set the private room ablaze and burned me alive. … When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day of the hike.

My sister discovers that she resembles a CEO's true love. To take her place, she invites the true love out. She wants to orchestrate an accident to kill the woman. I arrive before it can happen and put a stop to the whole shebang. On our way home, I try to talk sense into her. Julian Stewart singlehandedly built his empire and is ruthless. He'll eventually see through her tricks, which will land our whole family in hot water. She nods in agreement. However, when we get home, she laces my drink with poison. When I'm on the brink of death, she whispers, "You're just jealous because I have a face that can help me marry a rich man. I'll ruin you since you've stood in my way." When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the day she meets Julian's true love.

I’d barely unpacked my things in the Neutral Zone’s werewolf penthouse when someone tagged me on the pack forum. "Hey, you. The nobody rogue in the penthouse. You don't even have a mate, yet you're hogging the Moon Terrace just to store your trashy liquor bottles? What an insult to the Moon Goddess!" "My husband is the Gamma of this zone. We're hosting the full moon banquet on the terrace tomorrow night. Move your booze today and clear the space. We’ll give you 300 bucks out of goodwill. A mateless female like you should be grateful for the chance to contribute." I stared at my screen. What a joke. As the only princess of the pureblood Lycan Royals, I was sick of the court's power plays and bloodline dominance. I hid my scent and moved here just to find some peace. I just wanted to chill on my terrace with my rare vintage liquors—drinks specially brewed to calm a werewolf’s primal rage—and enjoy my life. That Moon Terrace wasn't a public area. I paid a million dollars for it. I bought the permanent property rights and the top-tier security access. And now, a few low-ranking wolves thought they could hijack a Lycan Princess’s private territory for 300 bucks? I didn't have the patience to argue. I just typed back: "Keep dreaming." I didn't expect the building manager to show up at my door the next day with two massive werewolf guards. They accused me of "selfishly hoarding public space." In the name of "pack unity," they demanded my scent-access codes. Fine. I always hated using my bloodline to crush others. But if they insisted on forcing a peace-loving apex predator to bare her fangs... They were about to learn exactly what absolute Royal aura felt like.

My husband woke me at 2 AM, demanding I come to the hospital to operate on Ava Foster— his first love. When I arrived, Ava was lying ghostly pale in the hospital bed. The chart showed end-stage uremia; she desperately needed a kidney transplant. I explained that her condition was critical, and without a matching donor, there was nothing I could do. My husband mistook my professional assessment for jealousy. He slapped me hard across the face. "What kind of doctor are you?" he snarled. "Are you just going to let her die? Test more people until you find a match!" I rubbed my cheek and nodded calmly. "Actually, we already found one." "Your kidney is compatible with hers. You'll be the donor."

At the Wolfen Academy’s annual ball, I stumbled upon a group of high-ranking Alphas cornering an Omega girl. They were trying to film her, to humiliate her. I stepped in. I saved her. A week later, she turned on me. She told everyone I was the one who bullied her. That I was the one blackmailing her with a video. I was taken away by the Alliance Enforcers. I lost my spot in the elite Gamma Team. The story blew up on the pack network. They even dragged my father’s name through the mud—a hero who died fighting vampires, now called a fraud. Our family lives and dies by its honor. Under the weight of it all, my mother wrote a letter. Then she killed herself on my father’s grave to prove my innocence. Eventually, the charges were dropped. I was cleared. But my family’s honor was destroyed. My pack had already cast me out. I found the girl. I asked her why. "He's the future Alpha of the Crimson Fang pack—the most powerful in the North. That night, he was just playing around with me," she said. "He wants me. An Omega with nothing could become his Luna! You stood in my way. Don't you think that was your crime?" Just then, the Crimson Fang's future Alpha wrapped his arm around her. "Daughter of a war hero? So what? Dreamed of joining the Gamma Team?" he sneered. "Now you're just prey crushed under my boot." His men swarmed me. Everything went black. When I opened my eyes, I was back in that moment. Watching them corner her. This time, I turned away.

A patient was dying in the ER when my neighbor offered to drive me to the hospital. But the second we hit the highway, she slammed on the brakes and slowed the car to ten miles an hour. I begged her to go faster. Every second could cost that patient their life. She sneered, “In such a hurry to see your lover? Don’t play dumb. I know you’ve been seducing my husband behind my back! “I called him twenty times, and he never picked up. His location is right beside your hospital! “Then I’ll drive as slowly as I want. I’ll make sure you two adulterers suffer every inch of the way.” But when we reached the hospital and she saw who the patient was, she dropped to her knees before me and smashed her forehead bloody.