Always Hold Onto Smallville

After graduation, I struggle to find a job, while my girlfriend easily lands a position at a major company. She has been with me for two years, and to cheer me up, she even lets me hold onto her payroll card. Once I finally start working, she worries about my long commute and immediately buys me a car. Everyone around us envies me for having such a thoughtful girlfriend. To save up for a house, I secretly deposit my salary into her account. A year later, we decide to get married. Excited, she grabs my hand and says, "I know you don't have much saved. I don't need any wedding gift. All I want is your love." I am deeply touched by her consideration. But on our engagement day, she pulls out photos of me with a dozen women and accuses me of cheating. I look closely and realize I have never even met any of them. Then she shows me my card's transaction history, filled with charges at the notorious Solara Club. "You had my payroll card, and you used my money to indulge yourself!" she cries. "I'm not marrying you. Return my car and all the money you spent over the years. It adds up to 800 thousand dollars." I calmly place the payroll card she gave me on the table and say with a smirk, "Fine, let's settle this properly." When I present the detailed account prepared by my top lawyer, she is stunned.

For the sake of her marriage, Eva sacrificed everything, her love, her loyalty, her time, and her future. She put her dreams on hold so that she could help her husband achieve his. But in return, Daniel shatters her heart in the cruellest way possible. At his grand promotion party, Eva expected gratitude, but instead, she gets humiliation. Mocked by an entire congregation and ridiculed by media aides as her husband asks her for a divorce in front of everyone she knows. That night, drowning in heartbreak, Eva runs into the arms of a stranger, not caring about the next day and what consequences her actions might have. She wakes up and leaves the world she knows, but not forever. Four years later, Eva is back. No longer the scorned, helpless woman Daniel cast aside. Today, she is Eva Sinclair, a billionaire, a power to be reckoned with. The woman who could destroy you with a single whisper, and she was ready to burn down everything Daniel had ever valued. But fate steps in, and the man Eva thought she'd never see again now stands between her and her plans for revenge. Dorian Rhodes has been searching for the woman he had that passionate night with. The woman who saved his life, then rocked his world only to leave him cold and lonely the morning after. *** "You threw her away like she was nothing, Daniel." Dorian tilted his head, gaze locking onto Eva's. "Your mistake, my gain. Because your wife is mine now. So, you can't have her back."

Xenia Lewis, the nepotism junior, is eager to craft an image of herself as a prodigy. To prove her talent, she requests to take the lead in court. But when confronted by the plaintiff's attorney's sharp questioning, she falters. Our defense unravels, instantly putting us at a disadvantage. After the verdict is announced, Xenia tearfully throws herself into the arms of my fiance, Zayne Scott. Her voice trembles with excuses. "The plaintiff's attorney was too harsh. It was my first time in court, and I was just too nervous!" Due to her incompetence, the defendant, who could have been acquitted, ends up behind bars. Yet, Zayne and my junior colleague, Hugo Wilkinson, indulge her with comforting words. "Don't be upset. No one wins every case." "With your cleverness, Xenia, you'll surely hold your own next time." Furious, I snap, "The court is a place to seek truth and uphold justice. It's not a playground for make-believe. Because of your mistake, an innocent person has been wronged. How can you live with yourself?" Feeling humiliated, Xenia breaks down, sobbing and threatening to harm herself. Resentful that I've hurt her, Zayne and Hugo distort the truth, shifting all the blame onto me. I end up as the scapegoat for her mistakes. Not only am I forced to resign in disgrace, but I also face disbarment. With nowhere to turn, my spirit shatters. While crossing the street, distraught and distracted, I'm hit by a car and killed. Then, when I wake up, I find myself reborn on the very day Xenia and I are set to appear in court.

After five years of dating, my girlfriend, Rachel Meyers, cancels our wedding 52 times. The first time, her intern, Ethan Cole, messes up a form at the law firm where she works. She rushes back to fix it, leaving me stranded on the beach for the entire day. The second time, during the wedding ceremony, she hears that Ethan is being bullied by another attorney. She abandons everything to help him, leaving me to become the laughingstock of our guests. After that, no matter when we hold the wedding, Ethan always seems to have some kind of emergency that demands her attention. Eventually, I grow numb and decide to break up with her. But on the day I move out of Westerbay, Rachel loses her mind trying to find me.

My husband secretly swapped the transplant recipient, giving the kidney that was meant for our daughter to the daughter of the woman he had always loved. Not long after, our daughter's condition worsened. The doctors tried to save her, but it was no use. She didn't make it. At the same time, the other girl's surgery was a success. My husband was so overjoyed that he handed out little gifts to the entire hospital in celebration. Rage and grief overwhelmed me, and I collapsed. When I came to, the doctors told me I had cancer. Late-stage. My time was running out. With nothing left to hold on to, I walked out of the hospital, clutching the urn that held my daughter's ashes. In the cold, empty house, I sat alone and drafted the divorce papers.

For a decade, my world had been measured in laundry cycles, grocery lists, and the ever-growing pile of dishes in the sink. I was elbow-deep in soapy water, scrubbing the remnants of another family meal, when it happened. A sudden, silent cascade of text flickered at the edge of my vision, like subtitles for a movie only I could see: [Gosh, the heroine is so tragic. Her husband's entire family has been feeding on her luck like parasites!] [Her husband stole her graduate school admission and her career!] [The in-laws are literally siphoning her health away. No wonder she's always sick.] [And the sister-in-law took her "romance" stat! No wonder her love life is a desert.] [Heads up! Her husband's about to give her another "gift." Let's see how much more he takes from her this time.] My hands, clutching a greasy plate, froze. Right on cue, my husband, Tristan, sauntered into the kitchen. A smug, self-satisfied smile was plastered on his face as he took my wet hand. He slid a flimsy, garishly colored plastic bracelet onto my wrist. "Look what I got for you, sweetheart," he announced, his voice dripping with pride. "I made a special trip after work. Found it at the dollar store. It's romantic and economical, just like you always say you want. You love it, don't you?"

How would you feel knowing that your lifelong dream will be the cause of your downfall? Would life still hold any sort of meaning after that? Well, in the blink of an eye, everything I’ve had collapsed. Since I was young, I’ve always dreamed about the day I’d shift and become a strong, fierce, and powerful female wolf who can carry her family’s legacy. I wanted to become one of the first remarkable female Alphas and make my father proud. But fate had other plans. I was never truly my family’s child. And now, I must pay the price for a crime I never committed. The cruelest part? The one destined to punish me is none other than my mate, the Alpha King himself.

Elixir has always lived in the Shadows, neither fully wolf nor human, a cursed outcast with no place to call home. When three powerful Alpha's, Ewan, the fiery protector; Lucian, the cold strategist; and Soren, the enigmatic lone wolf discover her, everything changes. They claim her as their queen, believing she is the key to uniting their fractured packs. But beneath their fierce devotion lies tension, jealousy, and secrets. As rival packs close in and an ancient evil awakens, Elixir must embrace the terrifying power tied to her glowing eyes. Her curse could save them all or destroy everything. Can Elixir truly unite the Alphas before their jealousy tears them apart? Can she confront the darkness within herself to protect the pack? And when the final battle comes, will love be enough to hold them together?

April, the daughter of the esteemed Alpha of the Moon Stone pack, has lived a princess life for eighteen years. Her world shatters when her beloved father passes away. Amidst the grief, her solace has always been Dorian, her stepbrother, who had once been her anchor. Yet, soon after her father’s death, a chilling transformation takes hold of Dorian. He starts to bully her, isolating her from the pack. As April grapples with this unexpected cruelty, she discovers a secret, a hidden resentment harbored by Dorian for years. Determined to reclaim the life she once knew, April embarks on a quest to unravel the mysteries surrounding her stepbrother’s changed demeanor. Will she uncover the truth behind his hatred, or is her past forever lost to the shadows?

After I, Rosalie Ricci, was stood up 17 times, the mafia don, Daniel Marino, finally holds the perfect engagement banquet for me. In our second year together, we are ready to get married. But every single time, he has an excuse to hold our engagement off. He says he's busy with work, the timing isn't right yet, or that he isn't quite ready. I never blame him because I love him. I have loved him since our school days. In fact, I have loved him for seven whole years. This is the 18th time. I stand in the banquet hall wearing the gown he personally chose for me and watch as he slips the ring onto my finger. He kisses me with a passionate intensity he has never shown me before. At that moment, I believe that I have finally secured my perfect happiness after waiting seven long years. My happiness only lasts until the guests leave. As I step into the back garden, I see Daniel holding my twin sister, Leah Ricci, in his arms. He says in a hushed voice, "I announced my engagement to Rosalie 18 times. This time, you're finally back." That's when I realize that the engagement banquet that I have longed for is nothing more than a ploy by Daniel to draw Leah back to him. But when I decided to let them be together, Daniel panics.