Afterward

I've dated Andrew Carter, my surgeon boyfriend, for seven years. We plan 66 weddings, and he cancels every single one for Selena Merrick. The first time, Selena botched a patient's injection. "Wait for me," he said, and I waited the entire day. The second time, she slipped and fell in the shower. We were just about to exchange rings, but he ditched me at the altar without a second thought, leaving me to face the ridicule from the guests. For all 65 weddings I held, Selena always found an excuse to lure Andrew away. At the 65th wedding, she claimed her dog was dying and threatened to take her life. My mom collapsed from stress-induced angina, yet Andrew still ran to Selena. Afterward, he kneels and begs us for forgiveness. "Selena is just a pitiful orphan, but you're the one I'll always love," he declares. I give him one last chance, yet he never fails to disappoint me. That is it. I break up with Andrew and join Doctors without Borders. Goodbye. Let's never meet again.

For the ninety-ninth time, Thomas Wells brought a strange woman home. Following his instructions, I was washing Chloe Brooks's feet. Without warning, she kicked the basin violently, sending hot water splashing onto my face. "Thomas, Ms. Harris just pinched my foot! My feet are for ballet—I'm in so much pain. What am I supposed to do for tomorrow's competition?" Thomas flew into a rage. To punish me, he had someone bring a brazier, and I was forced to press my foot into the burning coals. The smell of burning flesh filled the entire living room in an instant. Thomas paid no attention as I collapsed to the floor, curling up and breaking out in a cold sweat. He turned away, carrying Chloe off to the bedroom. Shortly afterward, I called Thomas's sister, Tracy. "Tracy, I'm sorry. I don't intend to be with Thomas anymore." After that, I left and vanished from his life. Later, I heard that Mr. Wells of the Wells family had gone mad.

Evan Moore is the perfect husband in everyone's eyes. He gives me a grand wedding and fully supports my career dreams. When I faced a difficult labor, he stayed by my side, kneeling for a full day and night until he nearly passed out from exhaustion. Afterward, he held me in his arms, sobbing until his eyes were red and swollen, his voice trembling with fear. "Honey, let’s not have any more kids… It's just too much." From then on, he spends his days and nights at the monastery, praying devoutly for me and our son, earning the title of the city’s most pious CEO. But one day, by pure chance, I glimpse the handwritten scriptures he keeps so carefully copied. And that's when I realize every word, every stroke, is a confession of his undying love… for his first love. All his tenderness, all his care—it was never truly for me. It was learned for her. I was nothing more than practice—a stand-in for his so-called true love.

My best friend passed away from postpartum hemorrhage. Ethan said he didn't want his child to grow up without a mother. To repay my best friend for saving my life years ago, I became the child's mother. I gave up my career and ambitions, willingly becoming a full-time housewife. For seven years, I cared for both father and son as if it were my life's mission. Yet, he always remained distant, his tenderness surfacing only in the quiet intensity of late nights. Afterward, he would hand me a few birth control pills. On New Year's Eve, my throat felt strange. I swallowed the pills, only to immediately vomit them all out. Ethan was furious and accused me of harboring ulterior motives. As punishment, he locked me outside on the open balcony in the rain. Our son came running with an umbrella in hand. But he walked past me without a glance and handed it to the housekeeper who was heading out. In that moment, I made up my mind—I would leave.

Nine years into my "non-cohabiting partnership" with Simon, his father passed away. The first condition in his will was simple: Simon and Ella had to conceive a child. On the day the child turned one month old, Simon would inherit his father's fortune. Simon told me this himself—the night I walked in on them tangled in our bed. Afterward, as he took a slow drag from his cigarette, he murmured, "Lily, just wait a little longer. Once I get the inheritance, I'll marry you." But he went back on his word. From then on, every time Simon planned to meet Ella at our house, he would hang a string of bells on the door. Since his father's passing, those bells had chimed ninety-nine times. After the ninety-ninth, the news arrived—Ella was pregnant, and their engagement party was set. My daughter saw the invitation, hesitated, then softly asked, "Mom, is Daddy's name on this?" I forced a smile and gently smoothed her messy hair into a neat ponytail. "Daddy is marrying the one he loves," I said. "And I'm taking you home." Simon never understood—I never cared about that marriage certificate.

My husband persuaded my daughter to donate her kidney to save his lover. After the surgery, he stayed by his lover’s side and neglected my daughter who developed kidney failure that led to her death. When I confronted the nasty couple, they refused to believe that my daughter had passed away and kicked me out by force. Afterward, I took my daughter's ashes to her eighteenth birthday party where my husband showed up with his lover and tore down all the decorations, going as far as to scatter my daughter’s ashes. He then accused my late daughter of undermining his lover’s career. When he finally had to accept that his daughter was dead, he still insisted on defending his lover. Eventually, I showed him proof that it was his lover who refused the hospital’s proposed organ donor so that she could plot to take my daughter’s kidney instead. Upon finding out the truth, he lost his mind and killed his lover. Now that those two have gotten what they deserve, I bring my daughter’s ashes and travel to the places she had always wanted to go to.

Isebella’s life takes a dramatic turn when her mother falls gravely ill, with one final wish: to see her daughter happily married before she dies. Desperate to fulfill her mother’s dying request, Isebella makes a reckless decision at the Moonlight Party. She marries the first man she meets, Ryan, a stranger with no family, no wealth, and seemingly no future. To Isebella, it’s a temporary arrangement—just enough to give her mother peace. Afterward, she plans to walk away, no strings attached. What she doesn’t know is that Ryan is far from ordinary. From the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew she was his destined mate. And behind his quiet, humble façade lies a secret that could change everything. Ryan is the son of the Lycan King, the most powerful prince of the empire. As Isebella and Ryan’s worlds collide, their unexpected union sparks a thrilling journey filled with passion, danger, and ancient secrets. Will Isebella discover the truth before it’s too late, or will her heart be claimed by the very man she never expected to love?

A bloody resistance against colonial invasion that tears Seme's indigenous leadership apart marks the entry of a strange culture into the clan. Osayo, the priest, seeks to protect the clan's religious system from erosion by the Blue-eyed (colonists). He, however, has to face off with a few loose canons, including his own son who escapes to a mission center far from home and ends up falling in love with a convert. In the meantime, a terrible plague breaks out in the clan, killing animals and people and leaving the land barren. Coupled by a misunderstanding of concepts in the new faith propagated by the Blue-eyed, a longstanding rift and blame game emerge between the converts and the conservatives, and spuns into a cutural marriage. Soon afterward, Osayo dies and his son, Okayo, realizes he has a greater role to play. The supernormal powers of the clan's aboriginal religious tree are stolen by a witch in line with a prophetic myth. And in a painful and tumultous mission to reunite the two conflicting religions of Seme Clan and limit the Blue-eyed's influence, Okayo puts his front foot forward in combating witchcraft so as to have the tree's powers in safe custody, and protect good from being superseded by evil.

Losing her mate to the vampires takes a turmoil on Peyton Barlowe, and things get worse when no one from her pack believes her because she's nothing but a mere omega. Instead, she gets accused of her mate's death even when she made it known that he got killed because he discovered the vampires' secret. She runs away before a judgment is being passed on, moves into a new town, and hides from the towns' werewolves, scared her smell would sell her out as a rogue. But what she doesn't expect is to save the life of an injured unconscious man who she found outside her doorstep. And when Peyton returns the next day from job hunting, she finds the stranger gone. Afterward, she's dragged out of her apartment by the towns' werewolves and charged for trespassing because she's a rogue and they're scared she'd wreak havoc in their pack. Killian, the cold, ruthless Alpha of the Blue Wave pack goes to the pack's council to oversee the interrogation and immediately recognizes Peyton as his mate, even her scent sells her out as the person who saved him. He doesn't settle with the idea of getting a mate, but he saves Peyton on one condition. She's to be his slave.

Sophie thought she had everything she ever wanted—an incredible life and a boyfriend, Aaron, who was her entire world. Or so she believed. After all the sacrifices and unwavering love she gave him, Aaron repaid her with the ultimate betrayal. He didn’t just cheat—he had the audacity to look down on her afterward, completely unremorseful. Should Sophie crumble in heartbreak and misery? Absolutely not. If Aaron thought he could discard her, he was dead wrong. And what better way to reclaim her power than by using his irresistibly powerful uncle? It wasn’t her original plan, but marrying Damien Cavanaugh turned out to be the best impulsive decision she had ever made. And her heart? That belongs to no one. Not ever again. And Damien Cavernaugh? He new Sophie before she even knew herself, and he's something dangerous she was never meant to collide with. What happens when their unknowingly intertwined lives spiral into something unpredictable? Will Sophie ever be able to stand the dark past and grave secrets of the man she thought she could simply use to get back at her ex? _________________ This book is a sequel of “Mommy, Please Spare Daddy!” Though it can be read as a standalone.