Substitute

Zeus had spent the last twelve years of his life as a substitute for a powerful man, Damon, living a false life of wealth, all in exchange for money. What he hadn’t anticipated that the identity he had assumed would tie him to the most dangerous man of all. Odin Romano. “I am your god, and I am your devil here, Damon.” When Odin’s sister took her own life, she left a note with Damon’s name on it. Odin who was known to exhume graves and crush whatever remained would never let his sister’s “killer” go free. Soon, Zeus found himself kidnapped by a deadly handsome man. “Who… who are you?” Zeus’s face turned white when his eyes met with animalistic yet sexy brown eyes that could not possibly belong to a human. The man tilted his chin up not with his fingers but with his claws, his hot breath brushing against Zeus’ lips, “Call me Alpha.” Zeus was trapped, accused of a crime he didn’t commit, yet trying to convince Odin seemed impossible. At every turn, Odin was prepared to turn Zeus’ life into a living hell. Escape felt impossible, and, against all odds, the allure of his enemy grew more irresistible. Until ever so slowly Zeus becomes Odin’s obsession. “What the hell do you want from me now? Haven’t you had enough of your revenge already? Haven’t I paid enough? Let me go now. My fiance is waiting for me!” Zeus glared at his kidnapper who was pinning him down to his bed. “Your fiance?” Odin chuckled a dark smile tugging at his lips. “Tell her to rest. Your husband is back.” Falling in love with the enemy was unforgivable, but would their hearts follow the rules?

Everybody said my life was over after Brad Coleman called off his engagement with me. I had been with him for five years. The things I had done to pander to him had left my reputation in tatters. Nobody was willing to be with a woman like me anymore. After word started spreading within our social circle that Brad had gotten a new lover, everybody was waiting for me to go crawling back to him. However, what they did not know was that I had volunteered to take my younger sister's place and go to a faraway city, Clason City, to get married. Before I got married, I returned the treasure box that Brad had given to me. The coupon for a free wish that he had given me when he was younger was still in it. I left without leaving anything behind. However, one day after a long time, Brad suddenly thought of me. "It's been a while since I last heard from Leah Young. Is she dead?" he said. Meanwhile, I was awakened by kisses from my new husband. "Good girl, Leah. You promised me to go four rounds. We can't go any less…"

When the earthquake struck, Pierse Jones instinctively shielded me with his body, taking the full brunt of the impact and suffering multiple fractures. In the hospital room, the girl in the next bed looked at me with envy and said, “Your husband didn’t even care about his own life to save you. He really loves you.” I forced a smile. “Yeah.” But just last night, after I had fallen asleep, he slipped into the bathroom, his voice soft and soothing as he spoke to someone else—his little mistress, “I’m fine, don’t cry. Be good.” “As long as I think of you, I’m not afraid of anything.” Pierse and I grew up together, from childhood sweethearts to each other’s first love. We had been together for ten years, admired by everyone as the perfect couple. No one knew he had a mistress on the side, a girl who looked just like me when I was eighteen.

My flight was suddenly canceled, so I dragged my suitcase back home. As soon as I stepped inside, I saw torn black stockings scattered on the floor. This was the eighth time Simon Jones had brought a different woman home. The sound of running water and a young woman’s laughter echoed from the bathroom. I didn’t cry or make a scene. Instead, I sat quietly on the couch, waiting for them to finish. Everyone assumed I would continue being Simon’s devoted fool like before. But no one knew that the man I truly loved had returned. After tonight, Simon, the stand-in, would be discarded.

According to my mother, the men who were loved by the daughters of the Granger family were blessed with fortune beyond belief. In exchange, however, the women of our family were cursed with short lives, not being able to live past the age of 30. Only by having their husbands willingly agree to share their lifespans with them on their wedding day could they return to normal. I didn't want to die young, so I started picking out a husband ever since I was a child. I saved the brooding young boy next-door who was being bullied. I stayed by his side as he went from rags to riches, becoming one of the rising stars of the business world. On the day of our marriage, however, he abandoned me at the altar and went straight to his first love, the woman who used to bully him in the past. While I was searching for a new husband, he had the gall to threaten me with his status. "Penelope, don't push it. You're really testing my patience." Little did he know that he only had his fame and fortune because of me.

On New Year's Eve, Facebook blew up. The reason was that Bennett Miles, the golden boy of Crestmoor’s elite, posted an update. In the photo, a shy young woman hid her face as she leaned against his shoulder while he grinned. His eyes were full of affection and mischief. His caption read, "What do I do? Looks like I'm officially taken." Friends in his circle flooded the comment section with congratulations. The real frenzy began when Bennett announced that the first 10,000 followers to like, share, and comment on the post would each receive a gold bar. The internet went wild with envy and curiosity. Everyone scrambled to find out more about the woman in the picture. Then, someone claiming to have inside information started a livestream. "Stop guessing. Her name is Kara Sierra. You know Sierra Hall at Crestmoor College? That building was named after her! "Two years ago, she had kidney failure. Bennett personally donated one of his own kidneys to save her!"

I give my grandmother a gift she'll never forget on her 60th birthday. My husband and I get into a fight on the highway back to my hometown. He pulls over in the emergency lane and chases me out of the car. He then drives off, leaving me stranded on the highway. He later gets into a major accident on the highway. His car is totaled, and he dies. It's actually not an accident—it's homicide. I'm the murderer.

After Charlotte was thrown out by her father along with her mother from the Enfield's family, Charlotte struggles to take care of her sick mother's medical bills. On the day her mother collapses in the hospital, she is threatened by her father with her mother's life to replace and marry her step-sister's fiancé who turns out to be the scarred and crippled son of the Moore family so that they could get money to finance their family's business. In exchange, her mother's bills will be paid. Charlotte married him and decided to make their marriage work and stay away from her family, but her stepmother and step-sister would not leave her alone. This time around, she is ready to fight them with her new identity as Mrs. Moore.

The whole world knows that Rachel Saffron is Matt Quillon's and Sean Coal's true love. My best friend, Winnie Hamilton, and I are merely substitutes for Rachel. It seems like I'm the love of Matt's life, and Winnie is the only woman Sean has ever had eyes for. However, we both know this is nothing but an act.

The night before our Mating Ceremony, my fated mate, Alpha Ryker of the Howling Moon Pack, ordered me to give him the Moon Soul Crystal—the very thing that protected my pack, the Willow Creek Pack. He said he needed it to power up the Howling Moon Pack's Blood Moon Altar. He also promised he'd keep me and my people safe. But he didn't know that we, the healers of the Willow Creek Pack, can only create one Moon Soul Crystal in our entire lives. Making one takes a crazy amount of moon energy. It's the treasure that keeps our pack alive. My mother, worried about me using up my moon energy while I was pregnant, gave up her own Moon Soul Crystal instead. But just three months after Ryker and I were mated, she got sick, fast. She was dying. I knelt in front of Ryker, crying, begging him for the Silverleaf Herb from the Howling Moon's forbidden grounds. It was the only thing that could save my mom. But he just looked at me, his eyes full of disappointment, and kicked me away. "I asked for the Moon Soul Crystal to test you," he snarled. "And just as I thought, you married me for our pack's treasures! Your mother's not sick. You're making it all up!" "You don't deserve to be the Luna of the Howling Moon Pack!" It wasn't until after my mother died, when he was arguing with me, trying to kick me out of the pack, that my mother's things fell and scattered everywhere. Her Soul Stone, the symbol of a wolf's spirit, shattered. That's when he finally realized he was wrong. He fell to his knees, begging me not to leave, crying for me to forgive him.