Bittersweet

I have been married to Zayne for five years. He's one of the top ten richest individuals in the world, while I'm just his hidden, unseen wife… A university student who's about to graduate. I consoled myself, telling myself that the identity of Mrs. Ford wasn't that important as long as I had his love. It didn't matter if I was publicly known. But it was only when his childhood sweetheart came back from overseas that I realized the only thing that was maintaining our marriage was a marriage certificate. This so-called love was simply one-sided. That was why I handed him the divorce papers, disguised as an ordinary university document that needed his signature. Then, I made him sign his name on it without realizing what he was signing, and our marriage ended the moment he finished signing it. The way he carelessly signed those papers was just like how he treated our five years together. An afterthought. Since there was no love left, I decided to chase my own freedom. When the divorce became official, I would gain more than just my independence. I would also have the baby growing inside of me. But why is it only after I left everything behind and disappeared out of his reach that he finally realized what he had lost? His beloved and his heir? When he finds me again, he will beg for another chance. I have already changed, however. I've grown, matured, and have my own career. I'm no longer the woman who revolves her whole world around love. Now, it's him who's begging for my love, pleading for me to come back…

I finally became pregnant after my husband and I underwent over a dozen rounds of IVF. However, to my horror, I discovered that the embryo growing inside me was the fertilized egg of my husband and the family maid. They even schemed to have me disappear so that the child could inherit everything. I pretended not to know, carried the child to term, and took care of him, raising him with love and care. It was not until 20 years later that they forced me to sign a share transfer agreement by my hospital bed, along with a divorce agreement that left me with nothing. "After 20 years, we finally have our happy family. You never saw this coming, did you? The child you fought so hard to give birth to is my biological son!" Even my son, without any remorse, said, "Honestly, your illness is beyond help. It'd be better for you to just die." With a knowing, almost bittersweet, smile I replied, "For your happiness, I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

Mating with Kaelen, the strongest Alpha around, I thought I'd be the happiest Luna ever. That was until my Silver Moon Ceremony, the one that would officially make me Luna of the Night-fang pack. That's when I found Kaelen on his knees before some red-haired she-wolf. He was doing a blood-bond ritual, one that drains all your spirit, all to protect her kid. His kid, in her belly. For this cub, he was even willing to push back our Silver Moon Ceremony, making me look like a fool in front of the whole pack. He conveniently forgot that I was pregnant too – with his actual first heir. So, the night our Silver Moon Ceremony was supposed to happen, I started a different ritual: the Moon Eclipse Unbinding. Come the full moon, I'm using an ancient ritual from the old texts to cut our mate bond for good. And when I do, Kaelen will feel the same gut-wrenching pain I'm feeling.

The day after my fiancé abandoned me at our wedding, I boarded a plane to another city - Silverbrook Haven. He comforted his “girlfriend”, saying, "Sarah's been spoiled since childhood. She'll calm down and come back in a few days. You don't need to feel guilty." My friends were all worried I'd keep obsessing over Henry and cause another huge scene. But what they didn't know was that I had already accepted someone else's proposal. This trip to Silverbrook Haven was to get married. As the wedding day approached, I sent back everything Henry had given me over the years, without missing a single item. Including that engagement necklace I once treasured like a precious jewel. This is our final goodbye - what's done cannot be undone.

The day before our wedding, my husband gives me a sapphire ring. I place a hand on my slightly bulging belly. As I lie on the operating table, I call him and tell him I want to call the wedding off. Shortly after, his secretary calls me tearfully. "I was the one who was impudent enough to select the ring, ma'am. Please don't blame Mr. Nolan for this. It's all my fault." Archer Nolan holds her in his arms and coaxes her gently for a long time. He only says one thing to me. "You're already carrying my child. Can you really bear to leave me?"

I was Rebecca, mate to Gavin Clarke, Alpha of the Ironpelt Pack—the strongest among the northern werewolf packs. Gavin was a once-in-a-century business genius, his trade networks expanding across a dozen northern packs, making his pack a successful business empire. He'd claimed me for four years. We stood together, awaiting our bonding ceremony... until his childhood sweetheart Vivian returned. The moment I saw them reunite, the truth shattered me: What I'd believed was love had only ever been my own delusion. His eyes held only her. I'd just been... convenient. At least he'd never marked me. No mate bond, just cold paperwork from the Pack Council. That made things simpler. So I crafted my revenge—disguised the Mate Bond Dissolution Agreement as a routine university permission slip. When his pen touched that paper, our bond dissolved in the stroke of an inkwell. He never realized what he'd truly lost that day: Not just a mate. But the future heir to the Ironpelt legacy. Now he hunts me across continents. Is it love? Or the pup? Or just an alpha's pride, burning because I made him dissolve the mate bond without even realizing he'd been outplayed?

Once, the love between me and my mate, Logan Hunt, seems almost invincible. He loves me, and I love him. Even if no one knows I'm the wife of Hunt Corporation's CEO—and our relationship remains a secret—we still love each other deeply. Until one day, his childhood sweetheart, Bianca Miller, returns to the city after a divorce. Since then, Logan has started coming home late. It hits me that our love may be nothing more than my one-sided feelings. I'm only one of his many. When Bianca moves into our home under the excuse of unfinished renovations, disrupting our private space, I know our relationship is destined to fall apart. If anyone is going to leave, it has to be me. So, I disguise the Mate Bond Dissolution Agreement as an inconspicuous document and make him sign it. Everything is on track until fear and anxiety dawn upon me. I find out I'm carrying a pup. Deep in my heart, I know Logan would never allow me to take away his pup. Therefore, I shrink myself and avoid him. The moment the agreement takes effect, I leave quietly, carrying our pup, an existence he knows nothing about. By the time he finds out the truth, I'm already gone from his world…

After I married Riccardo, the Don of the Moretti family, he paraded a string of mistresses in front of me. He never gave me a second glance. But on our tenth anniversary—right after my father’s death—he suddenly promised me half of his empire. The catch? In return, he planned to seize control of all my family’s arms-dealing routes. That pissed off his favorite mistress. She cornered him on his yacht, demanding he take his words back. Then she fell overboard and died. An “accident.” After she died, Riccardo went insane. He took it all out on me. He tied me to the back of his yacht. He dragged me through the sea, a human anchor, until the rocks shattered my legs. The rocks shattered my legs, crippling me for life. I became the family’s shame. Then, as I lay helpless, he finished the job with poison. Then I opened my eyes. I was back on the day Angelo Marino—the head of our rival family—proposed to me. In my last life, my family forced me to say no. He came for me, a one-man army. He killed Riccardo, but died in the process. This time, I looked at his kind face and nodded. Yes. But as we embraced, Riccardo appeared. He ripped me from Angelo's arms and claimed me as his own. That’s when I realized the cruelest joke of all. My monster was back, too.

On Benedict Bradford’s birthday, he posted a link on social media with a taunting offer: [$1.99 buys you a prank—target: Sansa Stormcloud.] So when I arrived at his party, the guests drenched me in water, hurled glasses, smashed cake in my face, and shoved me down the stairs. Benedict sneered as he stood over me, arm slung around Lina Kipling. “You think you’re fit to marry into the Bradfords? Pathetic. “You’re not even in Lina’s league. You’re worth nothing more than a couple of dollars!” I picked myself up, dusted off my dress, and handed him an invitation. “You know, Benedict, the Bradfords have another heir. “And shortly afterwards, you’ll address me respectfully as your sister-in-law.”

After my father passes away, my mother—now married into the wealthy Hawthorne family—brings me to live with them. Everyone laughs, saying I'm being groomed to become either of the Hawthorne brothers' bride. Even I start to believe it. But later, when I try to marry one of them, both reject me. The older brother says, "I'll need to marry for business one day. Why would I marry her?" The younger one scoffs. "She's older than me. Who'd want an old woman?" But the very next day, the two of them propose—together—to my assistant. I instantly become a joke. After that, I call my mother. "Mom, I'm willing to marry into the Grant family."