Bias

When Tessa Shoreman read Henry Jennings' cancer report, she immediately paid her hard-earned money of sixty thousand to the hospital. She had saved the money from working part-time while she was in university. However, she was worried the money was not enough, so she held back her fear as she sold a kidney to the black market to get more. As she walked to the ward door with a heavy bag filled with cash, she heard shrill laughter coming from inside. "That cheap woman, Tessa Shoreman, got tricked by us again. Haha!" Tessa's hand gave pause right when she was about to push the door open. What did he mean by saying she was tricked? Tessa looked through the glass on the door to see inside the ward. When she left, the man looked extremely weak, but he was now sitting up lazily in bed. Henry had a cigarette in his mouth, and he was blowing smoke rings nonchalantly. He did not look like a cancer patient at all. "It's been two years, and that woman still has no idea." "If she hadn't beaten Serene to first place, Henry would never have left behind his life as a rich heir and planned such an elaborate scheme to become a working-class man living in a cheap rental home. The way that cheap, penniless woman looks at Henry is so amusing." "We agreed that the punishment ends when Henry and Serene get engaged. It looks like time is almost up. We've probably punished her 108 times in the past two years." "The first time was lying to her that Henry didn't have a suit for a job interview. She worked tirelessly for 72 hours straight before she earned enough money for one, but that suit was given to the domestic help to use as a cleaning cloth. The second time was tricking her into believing Henry had a high fever. She forfeited during the finals of a scientific research competition to race home and take care of Henry in the hospital…" "Sigh. Too bad it's coming to an end. I'm going to miss entertaining myself with her."

I've been in a secret relationship with my stepbrother, Caesar Kane, for eight years. He promises he'll marry me after graduation. As graduation approaches, he tells me he's tired of me and has found someone younger and prettier. I throw away the ring he gave me and cut up my wedding dress. All of his friends place bets on how long it will take before I come crawling back to him. Caesar has always treated me like I'm his property and declares with complete confidence, "Give it three days tops. She'll come crawling back in tears, begging me to take her back." So I accept the invitation from a prince from my Farbourne University prep program. I follow him to Snowcall, leaving behind the stepbrother who clearly doesn't care about me anymore. Caesar finally cracks and calls me. "Miranda, enough with the drama. Come home." A man's low, amused chuckle comes through the phone. "Pro tip—you shouldn't wait around if you want to win your woman back. Someone else might sweep her off her feet." Caesar practically snarls into the phone. "Put Miranda on the phone!" The man leans down and kisses me. "Sorry, we wore each other out pretty thoroughly just now, and she's out cold. Give me a second to wake her up properly."

I was locked in the cellar by my triplet alpha brothers after my stepsister, Elsa, framed me for killing her wolf by giving her an almond cake. The exit was secured with silver chains, and my wolf howled and begged them to release me. But my three alpha brothers refused. Alpha Kane, the eldest, growled, "You wicked she-wolf! You knew she was allergic to nuts, yet you deliberately gave her an almond cake to suffocate her! Don't you know it could fatally harm her wolf? You must stay here and reflect on what you've done!" Alpha Kelvin, the second, and Alpha Karl, the third, mocked, "What a despicable wolf you are! Still making excuses instead of facing the truth. Stay here and suffer what you deserve!" After that, they shifted into their wolves and took the trembling Elsa to the werewolf infirmary. Meanwhile, I struggled to breathe as the air in the cellar was filled with silver dust. My wolf howled in agony, but it was useless. Eventually, I died there. It wasn't until three days later—after they brought Elsa back from the infirmary—that I finally crossed their minds again. But by then, they didn't know—I was already dead in that silver-dust-filled cellar.

After my rebirth, I vow to stop clinging to my fated mate—the man I grew up with—Damon Hale. When he gathers all the healers in the pack for a party in Alohara, I book a flight to Harborwatch. When he complains that my scent makes him and his wolf sick, I move out and hire a deep-cleaning service for 500 dollars. When he orders me to stay away from his pack, I quit my job as Alpha's private healer and take up freelance work in Coghaven to support myself. Finally, he says my existence might mislead his precious stepsister into thinking he still cares for me. So, I nod and accept Coghaven Alpha's hand in marriage, along with the keys to an 18-million-dollar villa as my wedding gift. Now, I trade all the desperate love I gave him in my past life for clear-eyed, rational deals. After all, I spent everything I had and risked my life for him, only to be betrayed. When his stepsister dies from wolfsbane, he calls me her murderer and condemns me to a death sentence under the pack law. In this life, I shall live for myself. … At Howlfest, I'm walking hand in hand with my Alpha when Damon suddenly blocks our way and fixes his bloodshot eyes on me. "Come back to me, Thalia. If you do, I shall forgive you for your reckless mistake." I sneer and reply, "Can you afford a villa like the one my Alpha bought me?"

When Alexander Smith stands in front of me and says he's going to marry someone else, that's when I realize he's been reborn too. I remember our 20 years of love in our past life. A plane crash. And then, rebirth. "This is to save Sophia," he says. "In our past life, she was sold to a Vostmark oligarch after her father's political scandal. Not long after, she took her own life due to abuse. I can't let that tragedy happen again, so I need to get engaged to her." As he speaks, he hands me an orange prescription bottle. "If you take this, you'll forget me for a little while. You won't feel the pain. It's just seven days. Once her father's scandal blows over, you'll stop the medication and your memory will return. Then I'll end the engagement and officially propose to you." I stare at the bottle, knowing it's a lie. Not the part about Sophia's suicide. The lie is about the drug. He thinks it only causes temporary memory loss. But I know better. The suppressant causes permanent damage to emotional memory. The seven-day countdown isn't the time it takes for my memories to return. It's the time it takes for my love for him to die.

My mate is the bravest patrol chief of the Sundara Pack. When the rogue straps a bomb laced with wolfsbane to me, I try to reach him through our mind-link. Once, twice... He blocks me 99 times. The rogue forces me to call for help, and when Aiden Campbell finally answers, his first words come blazing with anger. "Lina Rutherford! You're risking your life over jealousy again? Kate's pet snow wolf has been stuck in a tree for three days! "She loves that wolf like her own child—if I'm late to save it, that's on you! You'll be a murderer!" I laugh so hard that tears stream down my face. That so-called "trapped" snow wolf? It's simply climbed onto a slanted pine tree in the yard so it can lazily sunbathe on the branches. No one trapped it—it just doesn't feel like coming down. "Thank you, Aiden. You're amazing!" There comes a soft, delicate voice through the phone. It's Kate Summers—Aiden's late brother's widow and also his childhood sweetheart. The bomb's countdown ticks down to three minutes. With a calm heart, I send my final message. "In the name of the Moon Goddess, I sever our mate bond." And then, I cut the mind-link.

Jace Thorne—my childhood crush—crashed a car with me. I walked away fine. He "lost his memory." Plot twist: my dead grandma's soul moved in. "Jace is faking amnesia again to mess with my sweet granddaughter. If I were alive, I'd break his legs myself!" I blinked. Hard. Grandma's voice wouldn't shut up. "In her past life, Demi was miserable. Jace left her to rot while he partied with that Stafford girl. Had a heart attack, and he was lighting birthday candles. Trash!" Then came the kicker: "Your grandpa's letting you pick your fiancé. Don't even think about Jace. Pick Leroy. That boy's actually decent." Right on cue, Grandpa strolled into the hospital with the elder squad, slapped down pics of four legacy heirs, and told me to choose. I didn't even blink. Picked Leroy Leighton—my childhood nemesis turned fiancé. Because yeah, I'm a grandma's girl to the core. If she said Jace Thorne didn't love me, then I was so done.

Randy’s mother, Monica, was on her dying bed. Her only wish before she died was for him, my alpha boyfriend, to perform our marking ceremony before she passed. When Monica looked at him eagerly, Randy agreed to mark me. But after we left her room, Randy said that he was going to marry Alina. “Alina’s mother is critically ill. She also wants to watch her undergo the marking ceremony before she passes. We can wait a little longer before we conduct our own marking ceremony, Emma.” “But what about your mother? She wants to witness us undergo the marking ceremony too!” “My mother can hang in there a little longer. Don’t worry.” Randy then grabbed the ring that Monica had given to me. It had acted as a symbol of me being her daughter-in-law, but Randy gave it to Alina. Unbeknownst to him, Monica was already at Death’s door, and she was feigning a picture of health in front of him. On the day Monica passed away, Randy performed the marking ceremony with another woman. After I made preparations for Monica’s funeral, I vanished from Randy’s world. To my surprise, he started begging me to become his mate after I left.

On my wedding day, my boyfriend, Theodore Gunther, suddenly stops the wedding ceremony—all because Gwen Lithgow has updated her social media to say she's back. Theodore throws away the wedding ring he designed. He leaves me at the altar without another look back. I'm dumbfounded as I stand there in my wedding dress. My brother, Alvin Chilton, who's supporting me, lets go. "You've always been strong, Joycelyn. I know you can handle this alone. Gwen needs me more now." With that, he also leaves. He and Theodore have both left me for the same woman. They abandon me alone. That night, after dealing with the fallout of the failed wedding, Gwen sends me a photo. In it, Theodore and Alvin are standing by her bedside. She wears the necklace Theodore made himself and the wedding dress Alvin designed. Those were supposed to be mine. The image makes me lose hope in them. Tears stream down my face as I make a call. "Mom, Dad, I've changed my mind. I want to go home."

After being reborn, I quietly cut all ties with my husband, Nathaniel Cole. I go to work alone. I watch movies alone. Even when I cook, I only make enough for one. All because in my last life, I had married him only to be neglected for 40 years. At the very end, he coldly pulled the oxygen tube from me, spitting out words filled with hatred. "If I had a choice, I never would've married you!" I died in pain, filled with resentment. When I open my eyes again, my mother is speaking to me and my sister. "According to the marriage agreement, one of you has to marry Nathaniel. Which one of you will it be?" I'm just about to refuse when my sister, Catherine Brown, steps forward. She shoots me a contemptuous glance and says, "Mom, I'll marry him."