Bias And Prejudice

The day before the final round of Beta selection, I was poisoned with wolfsbane and locked inside my burning house. The fire spread too fast, and my weakened state prevented me from shifting. My wolf, Emma, screamed in my mind, but I couldn't escape. I clawed at the door as the flames seared my skin. When I was rescued, my body was covered in burns, my skin raw and torn. Outside the operating room, I heard my mother sobbing, repeating, “It’s my fault... I locked the door by accident... I never meant to...” Alpha David, my mate, called for every healer to restore me, but his cold words to my mother were chilling: “If Serina wasn’t so vain and selfish, I wouldn’t have had to do this. Becky was fragile, struggling with depression, yet Serina flaunted her success in front of her. This is what Serina owes her.” David’s actions were meant to pave the way for Becky to become Beta, but I was the one who suffered. He claimed to be treating me well, but destroying my health and future didn’t feel like care. I pressed my hand to my bandaged chest, the numbness spreading. Emma growled inside me, weakened by the wolfsbane. I no longer wanted the love of the mother who betrayed me or the mate who was supposed to protect me. I wanted nothing from them anymore.

My husband, Zane Wade, was drugged at a cocktail party and ended up sleeping with a female college student who looked almost exactly like me. I gave him three chances. The first time, Zane sent the young woman abroad overnight. Then, he knelt outside our home for three days and three nights. The second time, I ran into him and the college student at the hospital. He was accompanying her for a prenatal check-up. At the time, Zane hugged me tightly and refused to let me go. His voice trembled as he said, "I'm sorry, Raina. She's pregnant, and my mother threatened to commit suicide. I have no choice but to keep the child. "I swear, once she gives birth, I'll send her away immediately. The child will go to the old family estate. Please, don't leave me…" But just three days later, because of that same woman, Zane fought me at an auction over my mother's heirlooms. When he saw me raising the bid higher and higher, he immediately went nuclear. This was the third and final chance I gave him. I rushed over to confront him, but Zane wasn't worried. He just frowned slightly and calmly said, "Raina, you know very well that Moira is about to give birth. Why do you insist on fighting a pregnant woman? You only need to endure it for another three months. Then, we can go back to how things were." Upon hearing his words, I almost cried at how ridiculous they sounded. I finally decided to get a divorce, but Zane actually brought Moira Green home openly and without shame.

To temper my attitude, Frederick Burke throws me into the mountains. What he doesn't know is that this mountain lies deep within a high-radiation zone. Five months later, he finally shows up with a group of people to bring me back. However, my body is already starting to rot from the radiation. "Anastasia, if you hadn't pushed Colette down the stairs, I wouldn't have punished you like this. I wouldn't have left you to rot on this godforsaken mountain. Do you admit your mistake now?" I kneel on the ground and prostrate myself before Colette Reeves. Frederick freezes and instinctively reaches out to help me up. "Alright, there's no need for this…" I say nothing. I just quietly watch as he grabs my arm. Unbeknownst to him, my body is already soaked in radiation after months in this mountain. Anyone who touches me will slowly begin to rot, too...

An accident leaves Preston Brown unable to have children. The fight over his family's fortune is heating up. Desperate for an heir, Preston arranges for me to sleep with his best friend, Rowan Kerr. I quietly dump the sleeping pills Preston gave me and pretend to be clueless. Then, I lose myself in a night of passion with Rowan. … The next morning, right in front of Preston, I smile sweetly and say, "Honey, you were incredible last night. I've never felt so good." His expression darkens. "Do you prefer the man I am by day, or the one who takes you at night?" I act bashful, tugging on his sleeve. "Both. But I especially love the one who knows how to satisfy me at night."

To get me to agree to a divorce, my husband lied and told me he had stomach cancer. I glanced at the medical report in my bag and said nothing. Instead, I broke down right then and there, sobbing like my heart was being ripped apart, absolutely refusing to divorce him. Because what he didn't know… was that he actually had cancer. Just not stomach cancer—liver cancer. And with his funeral coming up soon, if we divorced now, who would inherit all his assets? No way. I couldn't let this divorce happen!

My mother-in-law, Teresa Hawke, said she was trapped inside her burning villa. I called my husband, Asher Jensen, begging him to save her. But he was too busy at some bar, flirting with his childhood sweetheart, Melanie Lanner. It wasn't until I begged him, over and over, that he finally went to save Teresa. But Melanie was snatched from that same bar, tortured, killed, and dumped. He acted like none of it mattered until I got pregnant. Then out of nowhere, he threw it all back on me, saying it was my fault. Asher pulled every string he could to bankrupt my family, driving Mom and Dad to leap to their deaths. Then he rounded up a gang of violent psychopaths and threw me in with them. I begged again and again, but he just watched me with that dead stare. "You'll suffer like Mel did before she died! She left this world in agony. Why should you get to live? That's not fair." 99 stab wounds—that was how many it took before I finally bled out and died. And then, I woke up, right back on the day Teresa screamed for help from inside that burning villa.

Samuel Blanton gave me a rare antique every time he asked me to do something or abandoned me. In just two months, I'd collected 94 antiques. Then, the 95th package arrived from the auction house, and with it, a message from his true love, Zara Hill. [Hey, should the invitations for my and Samuel's wedding have patterns or just a solid color? [By the way, the wedding's next month. I really hope you can make it.] I didn't argue or make a scene. I just got a wedding gift ready and sent it to Zara myself. That night, Samuel came into my room. He said he wanted to reward me for not making a scene by giving me a child. On the wedding day, when Zara found out I was pregnant, she ran to the cliff, screaming she was going to jump. The usually cold and proud Samuel groveled before me for the first time, begging me to terminate the pregnancy. Everyone around us was waiting to see my reaction. But I obeyed. That very day, I went to the hospital. Samuel held me tightly, saying, "Ophelia, I'm only marrying Zara out of obligation. Once we divorce in a few months, I promise I'll give you a child again, okay?" But he didn't know… I had decided to leave him.

Habang brutal akong pinapaslang ng kriminal, ang dad ko, ang head ng Criminal Investigation Division, at ang mom ko, ang Chief Forensic Pathologist, ay nanonood sa laban ng kapatid kong si Lily Lambert. Bilang paghihiganti, ang kriminal, na dating nahuli ng dad ko, ay pinutol ang dila ko at ginamit ang phone ko upang tawagan siya. Isang bagay lang ang sinabi ng dad ko bago niya binaba ang tawag. “Anuman ang nangyayari, ang laban ni Lily ang pangunahing prayoridad ngayong araw!” Ngumisi ang kriminal, “Mukhang maling tao ang dinukot ko. Akala ko mas mahal nila ang tunay nilang anak!” Sa pinangyarihan ng krimen, nagulat ang mga magulang ko sa brutal na kalagayan ng bangkay at kinasuklaman nila ang kawalan ng awa ng killer. Subalit, hindi nila napagtanto na ang gula-gulanit na bangkay na iyon ay ang sarili nilang anak.

The day before the World Piano Masters Competition, I was kidnapped, and my tendons were deliberately severed. Endorsements were swiftly terminated. Advertisers, once eager to work with me, turned instead to my rival. Crushed under the weight of betrayal and despair, I spiraled into a deep depression. Just when I was at my lowest, Carl Manos appeared. He not only paid off all my breach-of-contract penalties but also sought out top specialists to treat my damaged hand. Later, he knelt on one knee and solemnly proposed. I saw him as my salvation, the light that pierced through my darkness. Without hesitation, I let Carl slip the ring onto my finger. Two years later, my hand had fully recovered. I rushed to the study, eager to share the good news, only to overhear a chilling conversation. "Carl, if you hadn't arranged for someone to sever Reily's tendons, my sister never would've had the chance to win the competition and land those endorsements. I'll never forget what you did for us." There was a pause. Then came Carl's indifferent reply, "I simply helped Lucy achieve her dream. Breaking a woman's tendons in exchange for that is nothing." So this was the truth. The marriage I took such pride in… was nothing but a cold, calculated nightmare. Since that was the case, there was nothing left for me here. It was time to leave.

The day Caleb brought the pup he had with a hidden Omega in the pack and gave it to me as a “birthday gift”—that was the day everything ended between us. He stood before the entire pack, holding the newborn in his arms, voice cold and cutting. “Is this pup enough to make you give up on me?” Right then, I finally understood. There would never be a real Mate Bond between us. I had followed him with my heart for seven years. And for the first time—I let go. I looked down at the pup in my arms. He didn’t spare it a glance. Instead, he reached out, brushed my hair with that same unbearable gentleness. “Quinn, whoever you want to bond with next, whatever Alpha you choose—I’ll help you win him.” Later, I was marked and bred by another Alpha—Ethan. Stronger. Steadier. He claimed me under the full moon, and together we completed our Fated Mate Bond. The pack gathered for our Mate Bond Ceremony. The moon hung high. The bond was sealed. Everything was as the Moon Goddess had destined. Until Caleb crashed through the ceremonial boundary, his eyes burning red, his wolf barely restrained. “You’re mine, Quinn! I don’t care if all the packs accept you and Ethan— I won’t let another Alpha have what belongs to me.”