Always Hold Onto Smallville

I am a firefighter. A beam crashes onto me in the middle of a burning building. At the same time, my oxygen is about to run out. I writhe and struggle as much as I can to reach for my backup oxygen canister, only to feel my fingers brushing over a bottle of water instead. When I turn around, I see my wife, Leah Sawyer, giving the last backup oxygen canister to her new mentee, Roderick Wyndham. I begin calling out to her via a walkie-talkie. "Leah, I'm being pinned down right now, and my oxygen's running out! Where is the oxygen canister?" As Leah shields Roderick behind her, she replies impatiently, "I've already given it to Roderick. It's his first time inside a burning building, so he's frightened. Having an extra canister on him gives him a sense of security. "You're already a veteran firefighter, so you can just think up a way to resolve your situation. Don't go around wasting precious resources." I can feel thick smoke infiltrating my lungs at that moment. Feelings of asphyxiation soon overwhelm me. "My leg is broken, so I can't move at all! Without oxygen, I won't be able to hold out till I get rescued!" But Leah merely chortles in response. "Stop playing the pity card! Every time we're out on a mission, you're always the cowardly one who's terrified of dying! You have zero sense of dedication at all! I shouldn't have let you join the firefighting squad, to begin with! "What's the use of you clinging to the equipment? Giving it to the newbies is the best way of maximizing its value!" I can only smile bitterly in response. Using what's left of my strength, I switch to a public channel and begin reporting to the command center. "For the record, Captain Leah Sawyer deliberately tampered with the essential rescue equipment in order to protect Roderick Wyndham, causing me, a fellow firefighter, to be trapped in a deadly situation. "I hereby request the immediate activation of the Firefighter Emergency Evacuation Act. Also, I formally charge Leah with gross negligence and attempted homicide."

Chloe finds out she has been betrothed to the eldest son of the Benjamin’s family, a very influential family in America since she was a child, and it made her extremely angry. She has always been an obedient and dutiful daughter who always put her parents’ wishes before hers since she could remember, and feeling rebellious in her own way, she decides to do something for herself for once. And so, Chloe ends up in a club, which led to her having a one night stand with a hot, dark stranger. Chloe was happy to pretend that night never happened, if she hadn’t realized she was pregnant – a week to the date of her scheduled wedding. Nothing was more shocking for Chloe when fate leads her to her dark stranger once again, and he turns out to be the younger brother of whom she was supposed to be getting married to. That leads to Chloe being forced into a marriage with the father of her child, Nathan– who detests the thought of marriage to begin with. Would the contract marriage and a baby be enough to hold them together?

I've been married to my mate, William Parker, for three years. Yet, he has never claimed me. He always says that once his territory expands, he will hold a grand marking ceremony for me. I believed him and willingly waited for three years. But today, I witnessed with my own eyes William claiming my younger sister, Naomi Jenkins, at the altar. In fact, she has been missing for three years. At the marking ceremony, my three older brothers stand firmly by Naomi's side, supporting her. "Naomi was too young back then and was deceived by the Beta of the Northern pack into fleeing. Now she's been poisoned by silver nitrate and doesn't have long to live. Her only wish is to become your mate," they say. William nods and replies calmly, "For three years, I didn't hold a marking ceremony for Patricia. I was waiting for Naomi to return and explain things to me. "I will claim Naomi as my own to fulfill her final wish. But Patricia must never know. If she finds out, she'll leave me." My brothers, however, are certain. "It's fine. She loves you that much. Even if she knew, she wouldn't leave. Right now, nothing matters more than Naomi." I flee in despair, realizing that those three years of waiting were nothing but a cruel joke. The marking ceremony was always meant for Naomi. After she left, my brothers showered me with affection. I foolishly thought I was finally loved. But the truth hurts. Whenever Naomi returns, all their love goes back to her. The moment I learn the truth, my heart shatters, and I leave. Yet why, after I'm gone, do they all regret it?

I know that I don't have much time left after getting poisoned by wolfsbane. I don't want to have any regrets, so I travel to the Sacred Crystal Lake, a place I have always wanted to visit. I don't tell anyone that I plan to end my life there. I didn't expect to run into my ex-mate there. We haven't seen each other in ten years. He has become the Alpha that he has always wanted to be, and he's wearing a ring that has another she-wolf's name engraved on it. As for me, I've already thrown away our token of love and erased him from my heart. We're exchanging pleasantries when he suddenly asks, "Do you still hate me, Giselle?" I shake my head. My life is about to end, after all. I don't need to hold on to anything anymore. In the last moments of my life, I just want to see the sea of irises that the Moon Goddess has blessed.

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.

“I’m scared,” I mumbled, standing in front of my mate as we stayed under the tree in the darkness. “You don’t need to be scared, mate; you are mine,” he hissed, grabbing onto my waist. I swallowed hard, my heart beating loudly. I stared into the eyes of my mate; he was angry at our situation.  “But I am his bride.” Valeria is the firstborn daughter of Down South Pack, married off to Alpha Adrain of Midnight Pack. Valeria has never received love in her life, her little sister has always been favoured above her. Married to one of the biggest alphas, Valeria knew her hopes of ever finding her mate were over. Until Alpha Damien came bursting into her life. Claiming another Alpha’s mate was prohibited, especially an Alpha of title stuck in between two Alpha males and enemies, Valeria was confused.  Would her mate go through all the odds of having her? Or would their enemy conquer them?

Everything Danielle has ever known changes in an instant when, on her eighteenth birthday, the Alpha arranges her a mate.Danielle has always wanted a mate—someday—but she just turned eighteen. Danielle argues that she’s too young, that she’s not ready. But no one can argue with the Alpha.So Danielle accepts her fate and prepares to meet her mate. But nothing could prepare her for who her mate is: Cameron. Not only is he from outside of their pack, but, to Danielle’s greatest disbelief, he is an Alpha.Cameron is a good man and a strong leader. But his true mate, the former leader, recently died, and he is still grieving. Danielle feels an instant connection, and she can’t understand why he is unable to reciprocate her feelings.Soon, Danielle finds herself caught amidst emotions deeper than she’s ever experienced before.Can Danielle help the Alpha move onto this new love? Or, at only eighteen years old, is she destined to a lifelong grief?

He vanished the night our child was born. A year later, he came back to take her from me. I never planned to be a mother. I only wanted to help Anthony Powell, a grieving widower desperate to hold onto a piece of his late wife. I agreed to carry his child with no strings. But when I went into labor, he never showed. Not a call. Not a word. Forty-eight hours passed. The hospital couldn’t reach him. And I was forced to make a choice that would change everything—I took that baby home and raised her as my own. For one perfect year, Nori was mine. Then he returned... Soaked in rain and regret, Anthony stood at my door with a story about a car crash and a coma. He said he never abandoned us. And then he demanded custody of the daughter I’d loved every day since her first breath. I lost everything when the courts sided with him and demanded I hand my baby over. But then...his lawyer came to me with an unthinkable offer: move into his home... and become Nori’s nanny. I said yes, but on my terms. If this “arrangement” fell apart, I wanted joint custody written in stone. Now I’m living under his roof, seeing glimpses of the man he used to be—the kind, broken soul who once only wanted a chance at fatherhood. But I can’t forget his cruelty and what he took from me. And the worst part? I think I’m falling for him all over again.

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.