Acidity Of Regret

In my third month of employment, I realized that my colleagues were calling me an old geezer behind my back. This nickname came from Wanda Stewart’s arrogant and ambitious assistant. I had hit the age of 32, but was still clinging onto the last vestiges of hope of marriage after eight long years of our relationship. I asked Wanda, “Do you know that your subordinates call me an old geezer?” She said without batting an eyelid, “That’s just the way Samuel is. He’s just a straight-talker and he’s just kidding. You’re already 32, are you seriously fussing about this?” She then chuckled, “You two are really alike.” My heart turned cold. Turns out that eight years of my youth were nothing but a joke to her. I turned to leave, resigning from my post and blocking her. Yet, the woman who was always so calm and cool started panicking. “Jansen Graham, please come back to me.”

Five years ago, Lilian Brooks walked away from Ethan Knight the man who shattered her heart—and the marriage built on lies. Everyone thought she was dead. But while the world mourned, she rebuilt her life, rising to fame as one of the nation’s top surgeons and raising two secret children who carry his blood. Now she’s back. And he’s the one on his knees. Once the cold, untouchable CEO, he’s haunted by the wife he lost and the words he never said. When fate brings her back into his world—stronger, colder, and unreachable—his only mission becomes winning her heart again. But the truth cuts both ways. He doesn’t just want her forgiveness… he’s about to discover the twins she kept hidden. As secrets unravel and enemies close in, love, regret, and revenge collide in a storm that could destroy them—or bring them the forever they were always meant to share.

My fiancé fell in love with his secretarial intern and insisted on calling off our engagement. I tried to persuade him against it out of goodwill. “She doesn't come from a powerful family. She can’t help you become the Grant family’s heir. You should keep her aside for now." Humiliated, the secretary jumped to her death in public. Five years later, the first thing he did after becoming the heir was divorce me, destroying my family and leaving us ruined. “I'm clearing your debt with Nessa." When I opened my eyes again, it was my twenty-second birthday banquet. My fiancé’s grandfather asked what my birthday wish was. “I hope Harry and Miss White can share a lifetime of happiness and grow old together.” I bowed slightly. “Please, Old Master Grant, allow Harry and me to end our engagement.”

Three years ago, my father sent me to Damian’s side. Every day is a battle of wits with that cold, ruthless Alpha. Every night, I lose myself in his arms. I think… I've finally found the love I am destined for. I was so happy, so sure of our future, that I started planning our bonding ceremony. Until Clara showed up. By then, I realized just how naive I had been. For Clara, Damian locked me away in the isolation cell to teach me a lesson. He spent millions on her without a second thought, but left me alone in a hospital ward unconscious for seven hours. When it came down to life and death, he never hesitated to choose Clara, leaving me bleeding on the ground. The most ironic part? When I finally gave up and walked away, he lost his mind. He started insisting that I am his mate, his one true love. Damian, you're too late.

Catherine (Cat) Landon thought she had built a life of trust and love with her husband, Alex Dawson—until she discovered he had emptied their savings to buy a diamond ring for his mistress. Heartbroken and lost, she sought escape in a club, only to be mistaken for a stripper and paid for a one-night stand by a mysterious stranger. That stranger was Aaron Dawson—her ex-husband’s ruthless older brother. Moments later, Cat finds herself at the mercy of a contract marriage with the same man she spent one unforgettable night with. Aaron is cold, calculating, and holds secrets of his own. He doesn’t believe in love, but he refuses to let Cat walk away. As she’s pulled into Aaron’s world of wealth, power, and deep-seated family betrayal, Cat must fight to reclaim her identity and seek revenge on the man who wronged her. But Aaron’s presence stirs something dangerous inside her—a passion she never expected. When old wounds resurface and dark secrets unravel, Cat must decide: will she allow herself to be consumed by vengeance, or will she open her heart to a second chance at love?

Maeve spent a decade loving Alexander, who was in love with her sister. She found out the hard way — bleeding into concrete, pregnant and alone, with her sister's hands still warm from pushing her through a window. Then she woke up three years in the past and decided she was done being stupid about Alexander Hagreeves. No more fetching his coffee. No more following him around like a lost puppy. No more pretending her sister, Dorothy wasn't winning every single time. She had one life left and she was going to live it for herself. Alexander had other ideas. He refuses to believe she's truly over him. He won't let go.

My son, Jasper Cole, won the gold prize in an art competition. When I took off my apron and rushed to the award ceremony, I found that the painting titled 'Mother' was not of me but Maeve Leighton, my husband's secretary. Maeve pretended to be troubled as she told my son, "Your mom will be sad when she sees this painting." However, Jasper was unperturbed. "What does her sadness have to do with me? She's an ordinary-looking and incompetent housewife, always nagging me about what I can and can’t do. She's too strict with me. It's annoying! Maeve, I wish you were my mother. My dad doesn't like my mom at all. He's only happy when he's with you. He's only with my mom because he feels obligated." My heart broke at that moment. Since he no longer wanted me as his mother, it was pointless for me to stay. I called my dad. "Dad, I want to go home. Can you pick me up?" My dad could not believe it. He answered after a long pause, "Of course. I'll come pick up my brilliant daughter in three days."

For five years, I fought illegal matches in an underground cage ring to scrape together enough money to repay the massive high-interest loan I had taken out to treat my son Luca’s illness. Dragging my still-dislocated left arm, I rushed to tell the father and son the good news. Yet when I reached the door, I saw the capo who managed the cage arena bowing low before my husband, Vicenzo. “Underboss, Eva said she’ll repay the loan in a few days. Do we still keep pretending to pressure her?” Vicenzo idly spun the Browning in his hand, the diamonds set into it worth enough to buy the entire cage arena. “No need. She’s suffered enough these past few years. Even when she had two ribs broken a few months ago, she didn’t dare tell us.” Elena, his sworn sister, seated beside him, let out a soft laugh. “Vicenzo, what if she’s a spy sent by a rival family? After all, you are the underboss of the Carlini family. “Besides, Luca has been pampered since he was little. How could he live with someone who reeks of blood?” My six-year-old son wrapped his arms tightly around her neck and echoed her words. “I don’t want a woman covered in scars as my mommy. Just looking at her wounds makes me feel sick.” Then he turned to her and pouted. “Aunt Elena, I wish you were my mommy.” Vicenzo hesitated only a moment before looking at them indulgently. “Then we’ll test her for another six months. If she remains this obedient, I’ll officially let her become part of the Carlini family.” I watched the farce with cold eyes, because to avoid frightening Vicenzo, the ordinary librarian I believed him to be, I had hidden my identity as the principessa of the Moretti family. Also, to keep from being found by my family and my fiancé, the Don of the Carlini family, I had not touched a single cent of family money. Instead, I chose to earn it with my fists in places piled with the dead. So it seemed my endurance and sacrifice were nothing more than a taming game in their eyes.

Mira had received an unexpected message from her husband to meet him at a hotel so they could rekindle their love, which she was happy about, but somehow she ended up in another stranger's bed, leading her to cheat on her husband. Mira goes back home to meet a divorce, and not only that, but she also discovers her husband has been cheating on her with her step-sister, and they both tricked her into signing her inheritance over to them. She was humiliated and thrown out of the house only for her to be saved, but her savior turned out to be the man she had a nightstand with, and he was proposing to her a contract marriage and a chance to get revenge on all those who hurt her. Should she accept it? Could she trust him? 5 years later, she returned to New York City with her little Triplets kids for some business deals and to finish all that her ex-husband started. EXCEPT. "What the were you doing with my brother you !" Ken yells, fury obvious through his orbs as he clenches his hand into a fist, veins almost bulging out of his forehead. "Isn't it obvious?" I throw back his question, my lips curling into a smile. "Dear Ex-husband, Why Don't You Call Me Sister-in-law?"

Marry me and give me an heir. Soren Lancaster said in a cold raspy voice. That's all he wants. A womb to bear his child — the only way he could keep his crown and remain the rightful head of the Lancaster empire. A deal sealed in misery. A marriage of convenience, stripped of love, a secret to the outside world, to Soren. Delilah Harper sold her body and soul in exchange for her mother's debt. A fatal mistake. One unforgettable night, a near death encounter and Soren left, leaving Delilah lovestruck. Delilah loved him quietly, believing she could earn his heart, make him see her the way she has always seen him. But to Soren, rules were sacred. Unbreakable. Only cold silence and a space Delilah mistook as a home. She was nothing but a rebound. A woman who couldn't give him the one thing he wanted the most. A baby. And still, he did not cast her aside. He kept her. Delilah held on to that tiny hope. But that hope dies off clean when Soren brings another woman home— pregnant. Not just any woman. Ashley Garcia. Her highschool bully, and the woman who left Soren at the alter. His first love.