Arguing Pronunciation

After confessing 101 times to my childhood sweetheart, Morgan Lambert, he marries his first love, Cassandra White. With my heart in ruins, I leave him behind and marry his younger brother, James Lambert, who has pursued me relentlessly from the start. After marriage, James dotes on me to an extreme. His love is bold and intense. Everyone says I am unbelievably lucky to have married such a devoted man. As Cassandra and I sink into the water together, I can only watch as James dives in recklessly. He struggles through the water toward her, giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I thrash and struggle in desperation, begging him to look at me even once. He never does. His entire focus is on getting her to shore, leaving me behind to be swallowed by the sea. While I am unconscious, I hear him and Morgan fighting violently in the hospital, arguing over who gets to stay by Cassandra's bedside. He roars in anguish, "I sacrificed myself by marrying Elsa so she wouldn't stand in the way of you and Cassie's happiness. Can you at least let me see Cassie once?" That is when I finally understand that none of them has ever loved me. I immediately arrange to fake my death, preparing to vanish from their lives completely. Yet after hearing the news of my so-called death, James—who's always calm—loses control. He pushes Cassandra aside, bends over, and coughs up blood. Overnight, he seems to age decades.

My ex-husband is getting married. and.... I’m the one hired to plan the wedding. My name is Arabella Paloma Garcia. Five years ago, I was arranged to marry an Italian heir with an angel’s face and the personality of something between a blizzard and a natural disaster: Rafael Vittorio Ricciardi. We spent one year of marriage arguing hard enough to make a lawyer retire early. Then his ex came back, and I left with a divorce bracelet on my finger… and a pair of babies in my belly. Now I live in San Francisco. I own a wedding planning company, I’m a single mom to two demon twins, and I’m very, very proud of the fact that the name Ricciardi doesn’t appear anywhere in my life. Until one email lands in my inbox: Ricciardi–Marino Wedding. Groom: Rafael Vittorio Ricciardi. Bride: Alessandra Marino… the woman who once became the reason I got kicked out of his life. I should’ve said no. But Alessandra is infuriating, and I want to prove I’m over Rafael. So I take the job. But he walks in with a cold stare that sends my stomach straight to the floor. No recognition. A helicopter crash two years ago wiped six years of his life. Including me. Including our marriage. Perfect. I’ll plan my ex-husband’s wedding, send him down the aisle, and go back to my life. The plan goes smoothly. Right up until the wedding day. The bride disappears. The guests are waiting. The media is already rolling. And Rafael closes the bridal suite door… drops a bomb that earns him my fist in his face: “You’re the one who going to walk down the aisle with me.”

Celia Johnson, my boss's sister-in-law, joined the company as the finance director and announced that all reimbursements must strictly follow the standards. I spent an entire week running around for the company and finally closed a five-hundred-thousand-dollar deal. Because the client had used two extra packs of paper towels, the per-person amount for their meal ended up eight dollars over the limit. Celia folded her arms, glanced at the reimbursement form on my desk, and sneered. "Five hundred and eight dollars?" "Yes. Last night at The Peak Restaurant, where we closed Richard's deal. Zack was there too," I explained patiently. "Eight dollars over the per-person limit. Not reimbursable," Celia said coldly. I tried to reason with her. "This was a special case. The client is high-level, and the deal amount is large, and Zack personally said it would be fully reimbursed last night." She returned the reimbursement form to me. "I don't care who said that. Don't think closing a five-hundred-thousand-dollar contract lets you ignore company rules. Reimbursements must all follow policies. Everyone will follow them to the letter." I took a deep breath. I knew arguing with her head-on would get me nowhere, so I called Zack directly. Zack said, "I did say it would be reimbursed, but I never said company rules could be ignored. It's just five hundred. And you still get commission from closing the deal. You young people need to have perspective." I stopped arguing. I turned around and refused the delivery containing the hard copy of the five-hundred-thousand-dollar cooperation contract, smiling as I explained, "Company rules say all cash on delivery packages must be refused. "Also, today is my last day here. Starting tomorrow, I work for Richard's company. As the client, I will be setting the rules this time."

Because of an accident during the hunt, I lose the chance to be "awakened". My wolf becomes badly damaged, and I'm forced to take the "inhibitor" injection to stay alive. I lose my strongest backing—my dad, the Alpha of the Argent Flame pack. After my dad's passing, his close friend, Ryder Wright, takes me to the Glace pack. As the Alpha and leader of the pack council, he can protect me. Meanwhile, my most trusted best friend steals the original draft I wrote when I was younger. The story goes viral among humans, and she becomes the most popular "werewolf literature" author. There's a charming Alpha in the story. He's her crush. Now, the three candidates of my marriage of convenience have been following her around, arguing about the real identity of her crush in the story. When I'm being mentioned, they seem irritated, and their tone is full of contempt. "How could she still think of marrying us when her wolf can never be awakened?" "Princess of the Argent Flame pack? Hah! She's nothing but a loser now!" "Why don't we try triggering her again? Maybe she'll go completely crazy if she loses control of her wolf." "Haha! Then none of us needs to marry her." I stand at the door, and the wolf hidden in me for years is awakening. They have no idea that the inhibitor has lost its effects, and my awakening is secretly happening. I've never loved any of them. They are merely pawns for me to pick. My phone rings, and it's a call from Ryder. "Aria, have you decided? Among the three candidates, who are you going to choose?" "Alpha Ryder, do I only have three choices?"

I’d just set sail to escort the cargo to the border when a Category 8 typhoon warning suddenly blared. I steer the ship back in the direction of the harbor, only to realize that the ship has run out of fuel. The distress beacon has been dismantled, too. Immediately, I pick up the radio and call the maritime rescuers for help. As soon as the call gets connected, I hear my wife, Melanie Watkins' mocking laughter instead. "I've already rewired the emergency number so that you can never reach the rescuers. Have fun surviving in the ocean!" Her student, Darell Parker, is with her as well. "Remember when you made fun of me for not knowing how to swim, Clifton? Well, now you're given the chance to show off your swimming skills! You can swim all the way back to the shore on your own! You'd better not be as slow as the sea turtles!" The waves have almost capsized the cargo ship. If I can't get rescued anytime soon, I'll end up dying in the sea. I can only grit my teeth before pleading to Melanie, "No one can possibly swim back to shore! Help me call the maritime rescuers—" But she laughs coldly in return. "Why do you need the rescuers' help? Didn't you say one must learn how to protect themselves? Now swim! "If you think the waters are too cold, then swim faster! Maybe you'll feel warmer the faster you swim!" I give up on arguing with Melanie. After that, I head toward the cargo area with a blade in hand and get ready to sever the ropes tying the cargo down. Said cargo contains the ransom money that's capable of saving Ella Zimmerman, the daughter of Hugh Zimmerman, the wealthiest man in Starbury.

My girlfriend had one of those guy friends she insisted was basically family. On a group hike, he knew I had diabetes and couldn't eat anything high in sugar, but he still coaxed me into eating a high-sugar energy bar, and my blood sugar spiked almost instantly. When I pulled out my insulin to inject, panic shot through me. My medication had been switched out for saline. I collapsed to the ground, shaking and retching. The fake nice-guy just looked down at me with a smug twist of his mouth. "Seriously, man? You're being dramatic. It's just a little sugar. Good thing I told Selene to swap your meds, or we'd never know how far you'd go to fake it. With a body this weak, how are you supposed to protect Selene?" I turned to my girlfriend, my breathing already turning shallow. "Selene, give me my insulin. If I don't inject it right now, I'm going to die." She frowned as if I were the one being unreasonable. "You're overacting. I've never heard of someone dying from a bit of sugar. Adrian's right. You're always looking for attention. Everyone finally got together today, and you're here ruining it." I felt everything inside me go cold. I didn't even bother arguing anymore. I grabbed my phone with shaking hands and rasped, "Mom, your son's about to get bullied to death. Are you going to step in or not?"

“You are broken. You are wolf-less. You are weak. You thought Landon O’Connor was a monster? Baby, you’ve not met us. The Kincaid brothers will rip you apart like flesh, we’ll sink our teeth on this graceful little neck so everyone sees our marks on you and afterwards? We’ll fill your womb with our pups so everyone gets the message who you belong to” -Connor Kincaid “Don’t bother arguing with me, it makes me hard. I know that waste of space you thought was your mate didn’t treasure you. But I do. I love these lips, these big hazel eyes of yours, your scent and most of all, I worship the ground you walk on. We all do” -Neo Kincaid “You were never meant to exist for men like us. You know why, River? Because once men like us find their mates, it’s hard to let go. We are possessive, we are jealous and more importantly we will never accept your rejection. You are ours for eternity” -Shane Kincaid xx When my mate, Landon O’Connor, alpha of the Silver Bullet Pack, cheated on me with my sister and later rejected me, I thought the Moon Goddess hated me. Turns out, I’m favored by the Moon Goddess because she gifted me not one but three mates. They are triplets. They are rogue Alphas who don’t follow the rules. They are ruthless and cold to everyone except me. The one problem is the triplets are rumored to be cursed and that should make me run away but I don’t. I fall for all three.

Shantali Mae Cross, a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Ancient Arts, encounters an impossible phenomenon during her night shift—smoke from the heating vents coalesces into the form of a cobra near ancient Egyptian canopic jars, showing her visions of possible futures. She sees herself accepting a promotion, arguing with a dark-haired man in a hospital, wearing a wedding dress, and standing at a graveside in autumn. Shaken by the experience, Shantali becomes obsessed with understanding what she witnessed, diving into research about serpent smoke divination practices. Her investigation reveals that others throughout history have experienced similar visions at crucial crossroads in their lives, but those who became consumed with interpreting and controlling their prophetic glimpses inevitably destroyed the very relationships and opportunities the visions had shown them. As Shantali spirals deeper into her research, she begins shutting out her boyfriend David, a fellow security guard who loves her deeply. When David witnesses the cobra phenomenon himself, he helps ground her in reality rather than obsession. Through her studies, particularly the warnings left by Dr. Amelia Thorne—a researcher who died alone after chasing similar mysteries—Shantali realizes the cobra's true message: choose love over fear, presence over obsession. The visions weren't warnings of tragedy but glimpses of a life fully lived with all its ordinary struggles and profound connections. When David proposes, Shantali chooses their real relationship over her pursuit of supernatural answers. She completes her research by writing a fictional novel about her experience, transforming obsession into art while helping future cobra witnesses understand that some mysteries are meant to guide rather than be solved. The story explores themes of choice versus destiny, the danger of sacrificing present love for future certainty, and the wisdom of embracing life's uncertainties alongside those who love us.

As the quality control supervisor of an import company, I need to finish up the storage of the final batch of king crabs before the holiday. Just after entering the subzero freezer, the door is immediately locked shut. The alarm system also fails. When I realize I'm starting to lose body heat, I immediately take out the hand warmers from the emergency kit. However, the moment I apply them, a chilling sensation makes me instantly realize something is wrong. I scream from the cold, and the walkie-talkie transmits the boisterous laughter of my fiance, Martin Clay. "We're live-streaming the challenge of locking the company's 'Ice Queen' in the freezer. Let's see how long she lasts!" The flirty voice of his female colleague, Lilian Saunders, also comes through, "Sierra, smile for the folks in the live stream! The number one donor wants to see it!" I instantly understand that they're live-streaming a prank on me. Not only do they lock me in the freezer, but they've also replaced my life-saving hand warmers with cooling patches meant for fevers! I grit my teeth, trying hard to stay calm as I call out to them for help. "The spare… spare hand warmers… Give them to me!" My fiance's voice rings out from the walkie-talkie, sounding unconcerned, "Oops! Lily gets cold easily, and it's her time of the month. The spares are all being used to keep her belly warm! "You're so healthy that you can just jump around a little and you'll warm up! You might even get some tips from the number one donor!" I stop arguing with them. With frozen hands, I pull out the signal flare gun and aim it at the most valuable and mysterious cargo in the freezer—a tube of frozen sperm worth 200 million dollars.

"I, Alpha Zeke of the Bloodcrawl Pack, reject you, Ivy Hale, as my mate." "I, Ivy Hale, do not accept your rejection." She was supposed to cry, plead, beg—but she didn’t. Instead, Ivy smirked, teased, and made it her mission to get under his cold, controlled skin. Zeke is the ultimate Alpha: dominant, unyielding, and impossible to sway. Ivy? Bold, fiery, and stubborn enough to challenge him at every turn. Now, she’s everywhere he doesn’t want her—sparring in his training ground, lounging in his favorite chair, whispering sass that makes his wolf restless. Will Ivy’s audacity be enough to break the unbreakable Alpha? Or will family secrets, deadly pack politics,and a past that refuses to stay buried tear them apart before they even admit their bond? Enemies-to-mates, playful, steamy, and full of sass. EXPOSITION The Bloodcraw pack is one of the largest and most disciplined pack in the Northern Territory, led by Alpha Zeke, a stoic, emotionally closed off leader shaped by betrayal and loss. When the moon marks Ivy Hale as Zeke's mate, shock ripples through the pack. Unknown the Ivy, her parents were accused of betraying Zeke's family leading to the death of his parents. The meeting Zeke called turns into a spectacle when Zeke publicly rejects her. Everyone expects tears, pleas and reluctant submission. Instead, Ivy smirks and refuses to accept the rejection, boldly declaring that she'll remain his mate - whether he likes it or not. From that moment, the pack watched their Alpha's composure slowly unravel. Zeke tries avoiding her but she clings to him - arguing that since she didn't accept his rejection, the mate bond was still valid. He begins to find her in places she wasn't supposed to be - places like his chambers, office and personal training center.