Agama Nathan Tjoe-a-on

Even if he hated me, I couldn’t look away from him. Even if he called me an imposter, a trickster, all I could think of was how alluring his scent was. Even when he was ready to take my sister’s words over mine, I couldn’t help falling for him. I wanted him to take me in his arms and tell me that the last few weeks had been a dream after all. That he loved me, like a true mate would. I wanted him to be my prince charming. To be my salvation. But that was not my fate. Goddess forbid if I had anything easy in life! Sometimes, I truly believed that this mate bond was the curse. Not my being the Stealer. Callista Leander turned eighteen with hopes of finding her happily ever after. But instead, she was left locked in a tower of a castle, doomed to be married off to her true mate’s feral brother to save him from certain death. All because of one curse and a conniving sister. Her life was suddenly filled with betrayals and secrets, and in every corner she looked, danger lurked. Now, with the whole world against her. At the mercy of an angry king, her oblivious one true mate, will she make it out alive on the other side?

By the time I return home from a business trip, it is past midnight. However, my wife, Celeste Beaumont, isn't home. A man's shirt that isn't mine is lying on the couch. When I call her, she tells me that she's working late at the office. "Whose shirt is it on the couch?" I ask, cutting straight to the point. She playfully scolds, "Who else would it be? It's a gift for you, so hurry up and try it on." I skeptically put it on and immediately feel how tight and uncomfortable it is across my shoulders. "This is an L, babe. I've always worn XL." Celeste runs a clothing company. She's the one who handles all my clothes and even uses my body measurements for her menswear line. There's no way she doesn't know my size. The line goes quiet for half a second before she thoughtfully says, "It's from my new menswear collection. "I had pieces custom-made for you and Felix, so I must've grabbed the wrong piece. I'll swap it tomorrow." A beat later, her voice carries a little sob as she continues, "Babe, I've been so exhausted without you these past few days. I've missed you so much…" It's past midnight. As I listen to the undeniable weariness beneath her affectionate, playful words, my heart aches in distress. I can't help chiding myself for overthinking. However, after hanging up, realization hits me. Her brother, Felix Beaumont, and I are about the same build. He's always worn XL.

on hold ~ on hold ~ on hold Two totally different people... complete opposite to each other. He is selfish. She is selfless.

She was a prostitute, she needed money, and she had to be a substitute to get the money she needed. But, why should she become a substitute for someone else who ran away from her fate? Why should she marry a man she didn't love? Her mother prayed that she would find a man who loved her and give her happiness, but she ended up marrying a man who only knew to torture her and gave her sadness. After all, that was the price she should pay for her mother's life.

The day I find out I only have three days left to live, my mate comes home with a mate termination contract. He wants to break up with me and form a new bond with another she-wolf who's pretending to be dying—just to fulfill her so-called final wish. "Sweetheart, I don't have a choice," Caleb Lowe says, holding me in his arms. "Ruby's been poisoned with silver. She's got about a week left. Her dying wish is to marry me. But don't worry. You're the only one I love," he adds, looking at me with those sincere eyes. "Once the bonding ceremony is over and she's gone, we'll get back together—just like before." I look down and give a small laugh, then sign the termination contract. Forget it. I'm dying anyway. Who he ends up with doesn't matter anymore. I might as well let him have what he wants.

Betrayed. Abandoned. And Avenged with Triumph. When I married Damian Carter, I believed in forever. In loyalty. In love that withstands time, success, and hardship. I was the woman who stood beside him when he was nothing, who helped him build his empire, who sacrificed everything so he could become the man he always wanted to be. And when he finally got there—when he was rich, powerful, untouchable—he threw me away like last night’s mistake. He didn’t just cheat. He rewrote our story, twisting the truth until I was nothing more than a pathetic, useless wife clinging to his fortune. The world believed him. My own family doubted me. I lost everything. But they were all wrong about me. I didn’t break. I didn’t shatter. I rebuilt. With the help of a man who saw me for who I really was, I built my own empire. I exposed Damian’s secrets, stripped away his power, and took back everything they said I never could. And when he came crawling back, whispering apologies, asking for another chance—his voice trembling with regret—I simply smiled. Because I wasn’t that woman anymore. And more than that, I had finally found a man who never needed to lose me to understand my worth.

On the day the privileged heiress, Olivia Cruz, and I register our marriage, she leaves me and Mom stranded on a deserted road before running off to her childhood sweetheart, Brad McCoy. Rage triggers Mom's cardiac arrest, so I call Olivia in anxiety, begging her to come back and save Mom. But she just says a cold line before ending the call, "Not this again. Every time I have to step away, your mom suddenly has heart pain. Your family sure knows how to put on a show, huh?" With that, Mom misses her chance at rescue and dies. That night, a mutual friend posts online. "Growing up together is a whole different kind of bond!" The post shows Olivia perched on Brad's lap with his hand resting on her waist. It's the perfect picture of intimacy that leaves little to the imagination. I expressionlessly tap on the like button before typing my comment. "Is this what you meant by 'something important'?" The friend sneers. "Relax, it's just a game of Truth or Dare. I can't believe you're taking it so seriously." Olivia doesn't even bother to explain, but when I walk away without a word, she finally panics.

After a steamy one-night stand with a mysterious stranger, werewolf Selene wakes up to find herself alone and betrayed. Months later, she discovers she is pregnant with his child. Despite being rejected by the father of her unborn child, Selene is determined to raise her secret baby on her own. But when the father suddenly reappears, begging for forgiveness and a second chance at love, Selene must decide whether to follow her heart or protect her broken heart from further pain. Little does she know, the father holds a dark secret that could change their lives forever. Will Selene be able to trust him again or will she turn her back on the only man she's ever loved?

In my previous life, everything I do to care for myself somehow ends up benefiting my new housekeeper instead. I apply expensive skincare, yet dark spots and fine lines spread across my face, whereas the 45-year-old housekeeper's face becomes silkier. I jog every morning, yet my body only grows heavier and bulkier, while hers becomes slender and toned. When my husband notices the stretch marks on my abdomen, his face twists with disgust, and he never touches me again. "I genuinely can't bring myself to touch you. How can you look worse than Mirabelle when you take such good care of yourself?" My housekeeper looks at me with a sinister smile. A chill crawls up my spine, and the strange feeling makes me fire her on the spot. Yet, as soon as she leaves, I start aging at lightning speed, entering menopause 20 years early and developing diabetes and high blood pressure. I see every doctor I can, but after hanging on for a week, I die from a stroke. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the day she first reports to work. This time, I push away the royal jelly she sets in front of me with a pleasant smile. "I've been avoiding certain foods lately. You can have it instead."

"It's nothing," "Show me." Egon sounded angry, "Take it off." He ordered, "Take everything off," "W-what?" I panicked, "No!" "Do it yourself, or I'll do it for you." *** Portia is a defective werewolf who is stuck working as a maid in the pack house, where she is often abused. She neither has the money nor the resources to escape, but her world further collapses when she meets her Lycan mate.