Better Me

***Based on my true story*** Memiliki seorang kekasih seperti Rafael Benedicto adalah salah satu hal yang membuat hidupku menjadi sempurna. Ya, Kesempurnaan yang selama ini aku impikan, yaitu memiliki seorang kekasih yang tulus dan mencintaiku apa adanya. Namun kesempurnaan itu harus dihalang oleh adanya perbedaan agama. Dan pada akhirnya, aku sudah lelah untuk memperjuangkan hubungan ini. Bukan, masalahnya bukan karena lelah memperjuangkan perbedaan itu. Hubunganku dan Rafael hancur karena adanya pengkhianatan sehingga aku harus mengakhiri hubungan ini dan tidak bisa melanjutkan perjuangan untuk mengalahkan perbedaan. Disaat banyaknya rintangan yang sudah kita lalui bersama dan disaat aku sudah memperjuangkan hubungan kita sampai sejauh ini... Mengapa kau malah menjauhi aku, Rafael? Mengapa semua janji memperjuangkan hubungan ini yang pernah terucap seakan mudah untuk dilupakan begitu saja? Perasaan bukanlah sebuah permainan jika kamu hanya ingin mencari kesenangan disaat masa tersulitmu.

On the eve of my engagement banquet, news broke that my fiancé had fathered a child with his mistress, and it spread like wildfire. Before I could confront him, Jayden Ford brushed it off casually. "It was just an accident. Focus on organizing the engagement banquet first. Besides, your dad’s in the late stages of stomach cancer. Calling off the engagement now won’t do either family any good." That night, he skipped the banquet but posted a photo of a swaddled newborn on social media. When I video-called him, he was bottle-feeding the baby. "I’ve been busy taking care of the kid. You know how it is. Our family lineage has always been sparse and dwindling, and the child takes priority." He wiped milk from the baby’s mouth. "But don’t worry. Once he’s a month old, I’ll send him to the overseas. Just show up on holidays and pretend to be his mom. The title of Mrs. Ford will always be yours." I stared at the matching diamond ring on his finger and couldn’t help but laugh. "Jayden, this engagement is off." He scoffed, "You're really throwing a tantrum over something like this? Don’t be so childish." I hung up on him and called his father—Charles Ford—directly. "I heard you’re looking for a new wife? Why not consider me?" I ran a hand over my belly and smiled. "After all, I’ve got a naturally fertile body. I can give you as many sons as you want." So much for being the sole heir. I’ll make sure he has plenty of brothers to keep him company.

A guide to being the writer who writes book that readers want to read, you will learn to write attractive and bestselling novels

"I will give you time to adjust to this, and when it is time, you will want me, you will want this thing between us, and you will carry my seed and do your duties as my wife should." *** Nikolas Stavros, is the human definition of power, wealth, and beauty. He is determined to never fall in love again, and when it is time to marry, it must be for duty. A woman he can control who will breed heirs for him. Elaine Kyros knows duty all too well. After her mother died with a broken heart because of her grandfather disowning them, it is now time for her to take care of her twin brother as her mother requested on her dying bed. She will do anything, including marry herself off to the richest man in Greece to pay off her brother's debt. With wide blue eyes and an innocent heart, Elaine finds herself in a twisted relationship with a much more mature man, breathtakingly gorgeous in every way. Abandoning her college dreams she must learn what it means to be sold and bound by contract to her husband. She has no choice as she promised her mother to take care of her brother on her dying bed. Nikolas has sworn never to forget all about the past that tore his heart out a few years ago, but his little Bride is close to tearing down all his walls. Till the past comes calling and he ends up destroying his present.

In order to avenge Lily Bauer, an orphan staying with the Frostfang pack, Ethan Hawkins doesn't show up at the agreed time on the day of our betrothal party. He only sends his Beta to my door with a message. "Last time, you injured Lily with wolfsbane pollen, humiliating her at the pack gathering. Today is just a lesson. Apologize to Lily and send over the necklace she likes, and then we'll get betrothed." Overnight, I become the laughingstock of the entire pack. My brother, Ryan Fuller, says, "Lily just lost her parents. Let her vent her anger. Ethan is meant to be your mate anyway. Delaying your betrothal by a few days is no big deal." Really? It isn't a big deal? The Frostfang pack's ancestral token isn't something just anyone can covet. I turn around and grip the wolf-shaped crest offered by the Blackwood pack. "I accept the Blackwood pack's proposal for a mate alliance."

Ariel and I married into the Jahn family—and got knocked up around the same time. I landed Edmond, the older brother and a hotshot forensic pathologist. She got Philip, the cop. At six months pregnant, I started bleeding. Instead of rushing me to the ER, Edmond dragged me into an OR. "Keyla was in a car crash. Messed up her leg. Whatever this is, deal with it later. Help her first." Ariel tried yanking me out, but Philip was already outside, blocking the door. "Keyla's the patient. If you've got an ounce of medical ethics, you'll save her." We were trapped. So, we did the surgery. Then Keyla had someone cut us open and dump our bodies in the woods. We died hating them all. Edmond and Philip didn't figure it out till they dug us up—too little, way too late.

In my previous life, my parents doted on my frail, sickly younger sister. For her sake, they chose a hawk beastman willing to settle in a human city as her husband. Me? They cast me into the deep sea, marrying me off to a giant shark beastman. When the apocalypse came and torrential rains drowned every human city, my parents and sister were left clinging to a rotting plank, adrift on the endless ocean. I couldn't bear to watch them die. With my giant shark husband, I dragged them down into the deep sea to safety. But resentment festered. Seeing me live comfortably while my shark beastman hunted day after day, my parents grew furious that my sister's life paled in comparison to mine. In their jealousy, they laced the fish we ate with poison and killed me. Now, given another chance at life, they've decided my sister should marry the giant shark beastman instead. My biased parents believe she will finally enjoy the blessings they once denied her. But what they don't know is this: after the cataclysm, fish become scarce. And a giant shark… does not survive on scraps. He needs flesh.

Dariana thought she would be riding the high of being a newlywed; jet setting on a month long honeymoon and only referring to the love of her life as “Her Husband”. But life had other plans. Now she finds herself unwed and in a slightly taboo, complicated-ish relationship with the city’s most notorious playboy. But you know what they say: “the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else”.

Lucas Ashton and I have secretly dated for five years. We're preparing to announce our relationship during a business dinner. However, he doesn't mention a word of it during the dinner. Instead, he leans close to me and whispers half-jokingly, "I'm sick of sleeping with you and want to call it quits. Shall we not disclose our relationship?" I smile and nod. Then, I point at Emily Lane, his first love. "This is Lucas' girlfriend." In my past life, I pleaded with him not to leave me. All that got me was torment and death.

On the day Raina Whitmore makes the Helios Rich List, she smiles for the cameras and declares, "I wouldn't be here without my secretary, Kieran Vale. He's the most important person in my life." While she confesses her love in the interview, I lie in a hospital bed, worn out and fading. I'm her husband, the one who's held her company together all these years. But I don't get a single word of thanks. My daughter, Talia Hart, even looks at me with pure disdain. "Dad, you've held Mom and Uncle Kieran back long enough. It's time you let go and let them be together." Rage surges through me. My chest tightens, and everything goes black. When I open my eyes, I'm back 30 years earlier, standing in the Whitmore residence to choose my fiancee. This time, I don't hesitate. I skip right over Raina and choose her aunt, Elara Whitmore.