Countdown

Kalila had always been an outcast, bullied all her life. She died alongside her crush Apollo when Millicent, his jealous admirer, ran them down. But when she is reborn into the werewolf world with a chance to live again, she jumps at the opportunity. However, there is a catch: Kalila must complete a list of missions in ninety days, and the first is to protect the callous Alpha Ares from being poisoned. This sets Kalila on a path of danger, pack politics, and romance. She navigates the pack's inner workings, exposes traitors and conspiracies, and stops a rogue werewolf while trying to keep her true identity a secret. Along the way, she becomes torn between her loyalty to Ares and her growing feelings for the group leader plotting against him, Jahdiel. With danger lurking around every corner and love complicating everything, Kalila must complete her missions, save Ares, and choose between her loyalty and her desire.

They say when life throws you a lemon, you should turn it to a lemonade, even though some things weren't just intentional. “For the next three years, you will work under my son, Anthony. You will obey him unconditionally and assist him in developing the first humanoid robots. It’s all stated in the contract.” Melissa, a brilliant first-class robotics engineer, signs a binding contract to save her only sister who urgently needs surgery. Not only must she work for Anthony—the arrogant CEO of the Morgan Group—but she must also marry him. Throughout the contract, Anthony treats her like a lowlife, belittling her at every opportunity and even stealing credit for her achievements, convinced she would never dare to leave. But as the three years draw to a close, her supposed knight in shining armor, Josh, shows up as he promised. Will Melissa walk away from Anthony, reclaim her freedom, and rekindle the spark with Josh? Or will Anthony realize too late just how much he stands to lose when the countdown to their divorce begins? And what if there was more to the accident that left Melissa’s sister in need of surgery—and forced Melissa into this contract? If you want to feel first hand what it means for a lady to possess her possession, then get over here!

After I am diagnosed with stomach cancer, I ask for some money to buy medicine. I don't want to be in excruciating pain when I die. My three elder brothers rush into the ICU. Andy Lewis—my eldest brother—slaps me hard across my face. He scolds me for ruining his beloved younger sister, Summer Lewis' coming-of-age party. My second brother, Sherman Lewis, calls me a liar. He accuses me of pretending to be sick to swindle money from them. Jimmy Lewis, who is my third brother, calls me useless. He tells me that I deserve to die. My parents, Kenneth Lewis and Autumn Farrow, don't believe that I'm sick. They pin me with looks of contempt and ridicule. "You still haven't stopped that lying habit of yours even though you're all grown up. You even learned how to blackmail us with your death. "If you want to die, do it sooner. It'll spare us from being disgusted when we're forced to look at you day in and day out." I end up dying on the first day of the New Year. Before I breathe my last breath, I send a message to the family group chat. My entire family goes crazy after reading it.

On the third day of attempting to conquer Blake Stone's heart, he confesses his feelings to me. But the thing is, the affection meter displayed above his head shows the number "0". After we start dating, Blake pampers me to no end. He even proposes to me in a grand fashion on our sixth year anniversary. With tears in my eyes, I'm about to nod when I see a range of comments floating across my vision. [Blake must be exhausted from all the acting, huh? He has to reel in his disgust and keep up the act with Joanna for six years in order to protect Keira from her.] [That idiotic replacement actually got so immersed in this act! I'm laughing my ass off right now!] It's as though my blood had transformed into ice. No wonder the number never changed throughout the years. At the same time, the system's icy voice rings out in my mind. "The final phase is now activated. The countdown to the time left to conquer your target's heart has started. You have ten days left. If you fail, you'll be wiped out from this world." I just smile as I draw back my hand that was about to wear his ring. Then, I wipe my tears away. "I'm sorry, but I'm sick and tired of this stupid strategy game."

On the night of my wedding, my best friend's younger brother wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked me, “It’s a little big. Can you handle it?” I stared at his perfectly defined abs, my mind going completely blank. “What?” He repeated, “Can you handle it?” My voice jumped an octave from my panic. “Aren't we supposed to take things slow? Isn’t this way too fast?” That night, the sound-activated lights in the house flickered on and off until dawn. Meanwhile, my ex-husband was squatting downstairs. His eyes were swollen red from crying, but I did not even spare him a thought. Back then, when I agreed to let him proceed with a fake wedding with his childhood sweetheart, Miles Carter thought our cold war was over. When he explained things to me, he said, “Vivian and I will only be married on paper. The ceremony is just to satisfy my mom. I swear, when this is over, we’ll live as a real couple.” I remained silent. I just stared at the countdown on my phone, counting the days until I could finally leave. He did not know that the moment he tricked me into signing the divorce papers, our marriage had already ceased to exist.

I receive a phone call at 3:00 pm. Apparently, my daughter, Marilyn Lopez, has suffocated to death because she was left behind on the school bus. When I arrive at the scene, I'm overwhelmed with sorrow the moment I see Marilyn's purple face. That's when I snatch a gun from a policeman and put a bullet between the eyes of the school bus driver, who's been playing on his phone this whole time. After the gunshot rings out, I open my eyes immediately. My alarm clock rings once again, showing that it's 7:00 am. I've gone back in time! Then, I see Marilyn wearing her backpack and telling me sweetly, "Mommy, the school bus is here!" I quickly stop Marilyn like a madwoman and refuse to let her board the school bus. But a gas leak occurs at 3:00 pm on the same day, causing Marilyn's death. No matter how much I try to save her, she keeps dying in various ways at 3:00 pm. This is the 108th cycle. As I stare at the weird smile on the school bus driver's face, I finally understand everything.

Without Kaelen's knowledge, I had his little plaything sent out of North America. That same night, he cast a blood-vine curse on my parents, banishing them to the wilds—a wasteland prowled by rogues. He was going to trade my parents' lives for the whereabouts of his plaything. Kaelen pushed a communication crystal in front of me. Inside it, my parents were ensnared by blood-red vines, the thorns digging deep into their flesh. Drops of dark crimson blood fell, one by one, onto the barren earth. A countdown timer pulsed in stark red digits on their chests. 23:59:59 23:59:58 He sat across from me, a black suit tailored to perfection molded to his lean, powerful frame. His long fingers tapped a light, steady rhythm on the solid wood table, as if he were waiting for a trivial business deal to close. "Estelle, you have twenty-four hours." His voice was low and calm, laced with a venomous tenderness. "Tell me, where did you send Cassandra?"

Im fünften Jahr meiner Liebe zu Gabriel erbte er den Titel seines verstorbenen Bruders als Vampirfürst, zusammen mit der Witwe seines Bruders, Chloe, der ehemaligen Blutkönigin, die nach Blut und Gesetz meine Verwandte durch den Zirkel war. Jedes Mal, wenn er aus ihren Gemächern zurückkehrte, hielt Gabriel mich sanft im Arm und flüsterte: „Isabella, Chloe ist nur meine erwählte Gefährtin. Sobald sie den Erben des Blazetooth-Zirkels empfängt und zur Welt bringt, werde ich mich durch ein Blutband an dich binden.“ Er sagte, das sei die einzige Bedingung, die seine Familie von ihm verlangte, damit er als Vampirfürst inthronisiert werden könne. In den sechs Monaten nach unserer Rückkehr zum Blazetooth-Zirkel folgte er hundertmal ihren Rufen. Zuerst einmal im Monat. Dann einmal pro Woche. Und schließlich jede einzelne Nacht. In der hundertsten Nacht, in der ich wach blieb und auf ihn wartete, wurde Chloe endlich schwanger. Die Nachricht kam zusammen mit einer weiteren Ankündigung: Gabriel und Chloe würden bald durch Blut gebunden werden. Mein Sohn sah zu mir auf, verwirrt und unschuldig. „Mama ... haben sie nicht gesagt, dass Papa ein Blutband mit der Blutkönigin schließen wird, die er liebt? Warum ist er noch nicht gekommen, um uns nach Hause zu holen?“ „Weil“, sagte ich leise und strich ihm durchs Haar, „die Blutkönigin, die er liebt, nie deine Mutter ist.“ „Aber das ist in Ordnung“, fügte ich hinzu. „Ich bringe dich nach Hause. In unser eigenes Zuhause.“ Was Gabriel nie begriff, war dies: Als einzige Tochter eines regierenden Vampirkönigs hatte mich der Titel „Blutkönigin des Blazetooth-Zirkels“ nie interessiert.

A homecoming banquet was organized for my wealthy boyfriend’s first love. At the banquet, he forced me to drink an entire glass of Whisky, even though I was pregnant, just to make his first love happy. My abdomen was in excruciating pain, and blood was seeping through my white dress. He kissed his first love in front of me as his friends cheered him on. As I was losing consciousness, I heard a cold remark. “Ignore her. She’s just a mistress. She won’t be able to live without me.” When I woke up in the hospital, I caressed my flat stomach and wanted to send him a photo of the medical report detailing my miscarriage. However, I realized that his profile picture had been changed to a photo of his first love’s side profile. He even blocked me again. However, this time, I did not beg him as I had in the past. Instead, I booked a flight ticket to leave the country.

Anise Buccaneer had just submitted her resignation letter when her mother called. “Hey Anise, how’s your resignation going?” “I submitted my resignation form and will be coming home in a month.” “That's good, that's good.” Her mother sounded delighted, “Me and all the old ladies in town have found you a few decent suitors as blind dates when you come back. Let’s hope you can get married by the end of the year.” Then, she advised affectively, “Try not to linger on that man from the Renaults. He’s not like the rest of us common folks, he’s from another social class entirely.”