Afterward

Enter the world of the Silver Moon Pack, ruled by the enigmatic Alpha Gabriel Rivers. Little did anyone know that Alpha Gabriel held a secret - a forbidden love for his maid, Elena. Bound by strict pack rules, he coldly dismisses her, breaking her heart. But fate takes a surprising turn when Elena finds refuge with Alpha Lucas Blackwood - Alpha of the Dark fang Pack, who cherishes her true worth and shields her and her unborn child. As Alpha Gabriel's feelings for Elena intensify, he embarks on a quest to find her at all cost, ready to face any challenge. Unknown to Alpha Gabriel, Elena isn't just a mere maid; she possesses a powerful royal lineage and was pregnant with his child when he banished her. A clash between rival Alphas reveals her true identity, leaving Gabriel regretful for his past actions. Seeking redemption, Alpha Gabriel uncovers a shocking betrayal within his pack. A traitor plotted Elena's mistreatment for selfish gains, using her child as a pawn in a dangerous game of power. In a desperate bid to change his destiny, Alpha Gabriel encounters the mysterious Watcher of Fates, offering a chance to rewrite history. Now, he faces a huge destiny-threatening choice - erase all memories of Elena to live a painless but loveless life afterward or journey through time to reclaim her and his child no matter the cost. But tampering with time carries unforeseen consequences. As Gabriel travels through pivotal moments in their shared history, he confronts different versions of himself and Elena, questioning the moral implications of altering their lives forever.

“What is it? You sighed.” Gabriel stared at Rosalind. “I can’t do it ….” She shook her head. “It will be like I’m selling myself to you if I accept your offer. I’m not a whore, you know.” “Rose, I know you aren’t a whore. I don’t need to offer a whore anything, nor will I be interested in one, either.” He took her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I want you, Rose, only you.” “But why?” *** Rosalind Miller (twenty-three years old) is an orphan and poor. She has double jobs because she wants to get a bachelor’s degree to improve her life. It devastates Rosalind when her boyfriend of five years cheats on her. She goes drunk, only to wake up naked the next day beside a naked guy too, her ex’s uncle. Gabriel Da Costa (forty-five years old) is a transportation mogul in the five countries. Listed as one of the most eligible bachelors in the capital, including in the nearest countries, many women want to be with him, but he stays single for years. Knowing his nephew has been cheating on Rosalind for a long time, he feels sorry for her and brings her to his apartment when she is drunk. What will happen later after that night? Will it be a one-night stand only or will their relationship continue afterward? *** This is the second book of the series The Most Eligible Billionaire Bachelors/The Age-Gap Billionaire Series. The first book is My Beloved Billionaire. Despite being a series, readers can read both books as stand-alone.

My girlfriend Chloe Bennett's childhood buddy, Daniel Miller, binds himself to a transfer system. Everything he eats gets sent straight into my stomach. He creates a live stream channel and eats nonstop for 12 hours a day to rake in money. Meanwhile, I end up in the ER with acute pancreatitis. I try to explain everything to Chloe, but she just looks at me like I've lost my mind. "How could something that ridiculous exist? If food could magically transfer, nobody would starve in the world. You're just jealous he's making money from streaming." Afterward, Daniel's every live stream triggers another pancreatitis episode, sending me back to the ER until I'm barely holding on. I get tested, but the doctors can't figure out what's wrong. They even want to admit me to psych. Later, in a desperate bid to outdo another streamer, Daniel downs ten pounds of mashed potatoes at once. The overload destroys my spleen and stomach, causing massive internal bleeding that kills me. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day of Daniel's very first live stream. This time, I rush out and order 20 takeout dishes before him. "This time, I'm eating first."

Before our wedding, my fiancée, Sarah Hargrave—a professor of medieval history—held a private ceremony in a secluded chapel in the countryside. But not with me. Under the glow of candlelight, she cradled Benjamin Wheeler—her first love, his face gaunt from the cancer consuming him—in her arms. Her smile was soft, almost reverent, as she murmured, "In the eyes of God, vows made before the altar are the only ones that matter. Even if the law says I belong to Daniel, my soul was never his." And so, to the faint echo of hymns and the scent of old incense, they drank from the same silver cup, exchanged rings, and stepped together into the dimly lit sacristy—their makeshift bridal chamber. I watched. Silent. Motionless. No outbursts, no demands for explanation. Just the quiet dialing of a clinic to undo the vasectomy I'd gotten for our future. From fifteen to thirty, I had loved Sarah for fifteen long years. But in all that time, there'd never been room for me. That space had always belonged to Benjamin, my stepbrother. So I let her go. Afterward, I joined a geological research team bound for the isolation of Antarctica—a land cut off from the world, quiet and clean. Before I left, I handed Sarah a divorce agreement…and a final gift to mark the end. I never anticipated that Sarah, who'd always met my devotion with frosty detachment, who'd never once glanced back as I walked away, would look ten years older overnight.

During a company team-building event, I collapse from a seafood allergy. Yet my fiance, Frederick Scott, rushes Beatrice Sutton, who only twisted her ankle, to the hospital. I come close to dying because I don't get treatment in time. Later, Frederick explains, "Beatrice is my best friend's sister. He's seriously ill now, and I promised him I'd take care of his sister. I swear I'll keep my distance from her from now on." This isn't the first time I've heard an excuse like that. On our fifth anniversary, Beatrice accidentally deleted a work file and burst into tears out of worry. When Frederick heard about it, he left me stranded on a mountain and drove back to the office himself. I spent a whole day and night walking home through the rain. On Christmas, Beatrice's house lost power. Frederick was worried that she might be scared of being alone, and he rushed over to her place without even telling me, leaving me out in the snow waiting for him until dawn. These kinds of things have happened countless times. Afterward, he always brushes them off with the same excuse. I've long since lost all faith in him and no longer believe a single word he says. I pick up my phone and call the company that keeps reaching out to me. "I've decided to accept your offer from last time. I'll bring the core technology with me."

********** I lay helpless, tears streaming down my face, as Angelo ravished me. His pleasure was all that mattered. Afterward, I lay still, exhausted, covered in the scent of sex. Angelo caught his breath, his eyes cold and detached. "Today is our last night together," he said. "I want to end this marriage." I felt punched in the gut. "You're willing to throw away everything we've built?" I asked, my voice trembling. "It means nothing to me," Angelo spat, his eyes filled with hate. "I'm done with you, Annika.” ******** Annika's world is shattered when her husband, Angelo, cheats on her with his ex-girlfriend, Lissa, and demands a divorce, ending their four-year marriage. But there's a shocking twist: Annika is pregnant with Angelo's child, a secret she keeps hidden until the divorce is finalized. When Annika reveals her pregnancy, Angelo denies the child, and Lissa pressures her to abort the baby. But Annika refuses to give up, and with the help of Jonathan Blackwood Jr., she escapes to Los Angeles to start anew. Five years later, Annika has transformed into a successful CEO, fashion stylist, and entrepreneur. She's also a proud mother of twins. But her newfound success is fueled by a burning desire for revenge against Angelo and Lissa, who destroyed her life. When Annika confronts her past at a fashion exhibition in Germany, she's faced with a choice: forgive Angelo and Lissa for their betrayal or make them pay for the pain they inflicted. Will Annika choose revenge or redemption?

She needs freedom and he needs a wife for convenience. They both agree to have a fake marriage by mutual consent, something that would benefit them both in their lives, without even foreseeing the mess they were getting into. Brenda Harper thinks there is no worse place than her home, where her overprotective parents suffocate her with rather backward ideas about marriage and life. That's why she decides to find a prospect for herself before her parents choose a repulsive old man for her. Giovanni Romano is an old family friend, although the last time they saw each other they were children, but thanks to Giovanni's mother, they arranged a date where they talked about their interests and desires, something they had in common and led them to a brief marriage of convenience. Living together begins, where they have to adapt to each other's routines and comply with the terms they both set for their marriage, although it becomes increasingly difficult for them to be apart from each other's lives. Brenda starts feeling jealous, which is a problem since Giovanni clarified that he had his sexual life covered, although he hadn't told her that he had a special woman he planned to marry after finishing the deal with her. Things go wrong when the sexual attraction they feel leads them to a night of passion, but the intrigues of Fiorella, Giovanni's love, and misunderstandings, separate them and Brenda discovers shortly afterward that she is pregnant, so she leaves for another country without saying anything. The problem is that Giovanni realizes his feelings and goes to look for her, which causes a lot of tension between them when a third party appears on the scene.

After my husband's brother died, he took Miranda, his widowed sister-in-law in. He claimed that he would give me his love—but gave all his money to her. He said that since she had no official status, being with him would make her the subject of gossip, so he took her with him and left me behind in the countryside. Every month, he wrote me three love letters, yet sent all his allowance to her. During the famine, she and her two children sat in a warm little house eating well, while my two children died before I could return from selling my blood. One froze to death, the other starved to death. Later, my husband finally came back, but he didn’t shed a single tear for the children. Instead, he told me he wanted a divorce. "Nathalie, to apply for housing, we need a marriage certificate. It hasn’t been easy for Miranda all these years. I want to give her a home. Don’t worry, even if I marry her, I’ll still divorce her afterward—because you’re the only one I love." In the end, I was devastated and threw myself into the icy river. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day my children were about to die. This time, I shook them awake, ready to go reclaim everything that was rightfully mine.

The day I gave birth, so did Lily Jasper—the underprivileged student I had been sponsoring. But her baby didn’t survive. Afterward, my husband, Carter Scott, insisted on making Lily my son’s godmother. From that moment on, she was everywhere—always butting into my parenting. Whether I was disciplining my son or buying him clothes, Lily never missed a chance to chime in with her opinions. Years later, when my son took his college entrance exams, I helped him choose a major that matched his scores. But Lily pushed hard for him to apply to Merika State or Haven State University instead. In the end, he listened to me and got into a suitable college. Then his acceptance letter came. And everything fell apart. That day, he caused a car accident. My accident. He stepped out of the car, walked over, and kicked me a few times as I lay helpless on the ground. His face was full of disgust as he spat, “You actually thought you were my mom?” His voice was cold. “You’ve made my real mom cry over and over because of you. “You were never family. My real parents and I—we’re family. You? You were just in the way. “But it's over now. Finally...” He smiled cruelly. “We can be together—the real family.” And in that moment, I finally understood. Lily didn’t lose her baby that day. She killed my newborn son and swapped him with hers. Everything went dark. But when I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back to the day I gave birth.

Second Chance Series Book One. ***** To some, marriage is a word. To others, a sentence. ***** Excerpt He unlocked his safe and pulled out some papers. He threw them on my face and gestured me to pick them up. I glared at him, refusing to listen. "Come on, pick them up" he ordered like he was talking to a pet dog. When I didn't listen he crouched down to my level and picked them up himself. "Do you know what it is? It's our marriage contract, read it!" He threw them on my face again. "I said fucking read it!" He yelled loudly. "Don't make me do something, you'll regret afterward, read it, I'll beat you if I have to" he threatened. I picked them up with trembling hands and blurry vision. I saw my signature at the bottom of the page, my breath seized as I stared at it. "Read it!" He ordered, standing tall before me. 1. I will not work. 2. I will respect my in-laws. 3. I will do whatever my husband tells me to. 4. I will take care of my husband as an obedient wife whether I am treated like a wife or not. 5. I will bear children for my husband, I won't have any parental rights over them. My husband will have their sole custody. 6. Finally, I will be ready to go to bed with my husband at his wish whether I like it or not. A single tear fell on the page followed by many others. He snatched the contract back from me. "Now you understand your place?" He asked menacingly.