Novel & Cerita After Betrayal I Chose Myself

Kevin, the elite bodyguard I'd spent ten years training, chose my adopted sister, Eva, over me when it came down to life and death. So I went straight to an underground fight club and picked out the craziest, most ruthless bastard I could find. A month later, Kevin got word and came rushing back, dragging his battered body past the guards at my door, fighting within an inch of his life. He knelt on the floor, eyes bloodshot, clutching the hem of my dress. "Principessa, what does that scarred stray have that I don't?"

I was sitting at the police station. My landlord scolded me harshly and pointed at my nose. Out of nowhere, my mother called and berated me mercilessly. “Chloe went to your place and disappeared! Did you lose her?!” “I know you’ve had grudges against me and your brother all these years, but how could you take it out on your niece?” In my previous cycle, when my mother told me Chloe was missing, I panicked and searched for her everywhere. Instead of helping, my mom and brother’s entire family dragged me to court without hesitation. I could not understand it. Chloe disappeared on her way to my place. How was that my fault? I begged the police to clear my name and review all the surveillance footage in the city. But the footage showed Chloe arriving at my door that day, and I opened the door for her. After that, she was gone, as if she had vanished into thin air. I stared blankly at the footage of her hopping cheerfully into my apartment. I had no way to explain myself. My sister-in-law lost it. She was convinced I had killed Chloe and threw boiling oil at my face in a fit of rage. I ended up in the hospital. I was disfigured and completely crushed, both physically and emotionally. No matter how hard I tried, I could not recall ever opening the door for Chloe. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day Chloe disappeared.

“It is done,” he said softly. “You carry my mark now. The Devil’s mark. You are bound to me….by the moon, by the curse, by choice. Your body belongs to me. You will have no say in what I do to you whether you want it or not. I will use you for as long as I want, in any way I want. You have given me the right to own you completely, to take you, to make or break you and make you mine until you can't even remember what it feels like to be free.” ****** They took everything from Elara Veyra. Her father. Her dignity. Branded wolf-less, betrayed by the man she loved, and cast out by the pack that once called her their own, she ran into the one place even death fears to enter…..the cursed lands of the Devil Alpha. Draven Nightbane. A name whispered like a prayer and a curse. The monster who slaughtered kings, the beast born of darkness and fury. He should have killed her the moment she crossed his borders. Instead, he looked at her as if he’d been waiting. Now Elara lives in his fortress of shadows, bound to the most feared Alpha in existence. But beneath his cruelty lies a hunger even the Moon Goddess can’t explain…and when his touch awakens something ancient inside her, she begins to realize the truth. She's not wolf-less. She's sealed. And he is the key to unleashing what the Moon goddess herself tried to hide. He thinks she offered herself to him to survive. But when the truth of her bloodline surfaces, he’ll learn that she was never the prey…. She was the prophecy that could destroy him.

A month before our medical fellowship was over, my fated mate, Julian, secretly filed to transfer packs to the High Council. I overheard his friend trying to talk him out of it. "You're ditching your home pack for Crimson Peak, all for Elodie? You did it behind Vesper's back? She's dead set on going home to Silver Crest. She even landed the Chief Healer position. You think she'll just agree? Didn't you two leave the pack for the Neutral Territory just so you could one day go back and serve?" Julian just chuckled, loosening his tie. His voice was laced with the arrogant confidence of a man who thought he owned my soul. "Vesper's my fated mate. We're already bonded. She'll follow me to Crimson Peak, no questions asked. Besides, Elodie's wolf is too fragile. She can't be without me." I stood outside, the mate mark on my neck stinging. I turned and walked away. If he could choose another she-wolf, I could choose myself. I would sever our bond and claim my title as Chief Healer. A month later, my plane landed. He called, his voice urgent. "Vesper, are you at the Crimson Peak territory yet?" I looked up at the gleaming towers and silver totems of the Silver Crest pack. A fierce pride surged through me. "I'm already home."

In the glittering world of New York's elite, Valentina Martins finds herself thrust into an engagement with the city's youngest billionaire, Rocco Lorenzo. But this isn't a fairy tale romance—it's a desperate bid to save her father's ailing company after a devastating betrayal. Just days after catching her boyfriend cheating with her best friend, Valentina must navigate a marriage of convenience with a man who embodies arrogance and detachment. Rocco Lorenzo cares little for love; he's focused on fulfilling his parents' expectations and maintaining his carefully curated image. As Valentina proposes a strategic alliance to revive her family's fortunes and spark jealousy in her unfaithful ex, she unwittingly sets in motion a game of high-stakes deception and unexpected passion. Can Valentina and Rocco navigate the treacherous waters of their contractual union, or will their hearts become casualties of their own arrangement? In this world of wealth, power, and deceit, nothing is as it seems, and every move carries the weight of consequence.

Belcalis Voss sold herself to the Lycan King to save her sister. It was meant to be a simple arrangement. One contract. One year. A temporary sacrifice to keep the only family she had alive. Instead, she stepped into a world that had been waiting for her long before she was born. Ancient symbols begin appearing around the King's estate. Strangers watch from the shadows. Secrets buried for centuries start rising to the surface. And beneath the estate lies a hidden chamber containing a truth powerful enough to shake the foundations of the Lycan world. The deeper Belcalis is pulled into that truth, the more impossible it becomes to ignore the man at its center. Charles Devereux, the Lycan King, is feared by allies and enemies alike. Powerful, ruthless, and impossible to deceive, he has spent decades guarding secrets that could destroy kingdoms. Yet even he is unprepared for the mystery surrounding the woman who entered his life under a contract. Because Belcalis is not who she believes she is. Her bloodline carries an ancient legacy thought to be lost forever. A legacy powerful enough to change the balance of power among Lycans. A legacy powerful enough to kill for. As enemies close in and old conspiracies begin to unravel, Belcalis and the Lycan King find themselves bound together by forces neither of them fully understands. But some secrets were buried for a reason, and uncovering the truth may cost them everything. Including each other. A gripping slow-burn paranormal romance filled with ancient mysteries, hidden bloodlines, powerful bonds, political intrigue, deadly secrets, and a Lycan King who will burn the world down to protect the woman fate placed at his side.

At the beginning of her marriage to Julian, Evelyn Stone was treated like a queen. But after three years, Julian suddenly changed—drastically. Evelyn was left confused, unable to understand what had caused her husband’s transformation. Then, one night, Julian came home with a woman named Selena. That very night, he handed Evelyn divorce papers, claiming he had married the wrong woman all along. It wasn’t Evelyn he had been searching for—it was Selena.

During the holiday, I make a rare trip back to my hometown. After dinner, Dad orders me to wash the dishes. I pause for a moment and ask, "Do we not have a caretaker at home?" Mom frowns and says, "Julia works so hard taking care of us every day. Since you are back, you should let her rest. You should be the one doing everything." I fail to fathom the logic behind her reasoning. So, I argue, "I am paying her to be a caretaker here. Is this not exactly what she is hired to do? How does it make sense that I pay and still have to do the chores myself?" My words make the caretaker, Julia Woodard, cry. My parents get angry at me too. The frown on Mom's face becomes even more pronounced. "What's the point of raising you? We barely see you all year. You are not as thoughtful as Julia! At least she stays by our side every day." Dad points at me and scolds, "You might as well stop coming back. From now on, Julia is our real daughter! Go do whatever you want!" I let out a helpless laugh. I am busy working away from home, but I send a large amount of money back every month and even fork out extra money to hire a caretaker for them. But in the end, they think her as their caring daughter and shower her with affection instead. If that's the case, I'll stop sending money and see whether Julia will still act like their "daughter" for free.

I opened my eyes and found myself back at the matchmaking event again. Grandpa pointed at seven jacked jocks and said, "Pick one. They've all been trained." Remembering how they had shared and humiliated me to death in my past life, I threw up on the spot. This time, I pointed at Grandpa's sworn enemy instead. "I want to marry that terminally ill guy who can't have children." Later, that powerful man wrapped an arm around my pregnant belly, while we watched them all go to prison with that spiteful woman.

In my previous life, my husband Kael Drayne, heir to the Beast King's throne and full-blooded dragon, cut open my belly with his own hands on the day I gave birth. He pulled our child out and dashed it against the floor in front of me. That was the moment I finally understood. The one he truly loved was my stepsister, Ivy Wren. Because she couldn't bear to watch the man she loved marry someone else, Ivy had staged a dramatic exit on our wedding day, slipping out alone, only to run into a gang of rogue beastkin. She vanished without a trace. Kael blamed every last bit of it on me. He hated me for it with everything he had. "Just because you're the only pure-blooded white wolf, you think you had the right to come between me and Ivy? She's gone because of you. I'm going to throw you to the horde — let you feel exactly what she went through." But he was the one who'd pursued me. He was the one who'd confessed his feelings. It was because I chose him that he was able to claim the throne at all. None of it mattered to him. There was nothing left in his eyes but hatred. Kael hurled me into a frenzied beast horde, and I was torn apart. In those final moments, I saw three figures, Kael's three unremarkable bastard brothers, charging toward me through the chaos, trying to drag me out. But the numbers were too great, the gap in power too wide. In the end, they died there alongside me. I thought my story ended there, full of regret. Then I woke up. I'd been reborn to just before Kael and I were to marry. This time, I wasn't going to choose him. And that, apparently, drove him out of his mind.