Bond

I've been working for five years now. This is the first time my mom takes the initiative to call me to go home for the holidays. So I travel home with heaps of luggage. Still, I manage to free one hand to produce an envelope filled with cash and give it to my mom. A grin blooms on her face instantly. But when she realizes that there's only ten thousand dollars in the envelope, her grin starts to falter. "Oh, it only makes sense that you're the most manipulative out of the bunch after all these years." I pause momentarily as I'm about to go through the front door. "You've been working for quite a few years now, and yet you only bring home ten thousand bucks. Meanwhile, Sabrina gave us 100 thousand dollars in her first year of working a nice job. Having a bachelor's degree definitely pays off a lot!" Upon noticing how stunned I look, my mom yanks the gifts over right away. "Don't go around looking as though we owe you a life debt, Regina! See, Sabrina has better grades than you, and she doesn't have the intention of hiding anything from us. The gifts she always brings us are top-end supplements, so you should stop bringing us cheap stuff like this." I can only grip the hems of my shirt tightly. But the thing is, I'm the one with better scores back then…

Aurora Hayes had it all — success, love, and a future that seemed certain. Until the day she discovers her fiancé’s betrayal with her best friend, and the world she built comes crashing down. Determined to start over, she leaves everything behind… only to collide with the man she least expected she’d see again.Noah Carter — her brother’s best friend, a powerful billionaire with ice in his veins and secrets he’ll never speak of. Years ago, he made a promise that tore them apart. Now, fate pulls them back together under the same roof, where buried emotions burn brighter than ever.But some promises are dangerous to break, and some wounds run too deep to heal.When love and loyalty collide, how much are they willing to risk — and who will they be when the truth finally comes out?

My mom was a brilliant programmer. She created an app called "Shake for Allowance." After my brother and I downloaded it, she told us, "From now on, this is how you'll get your living expenses. On the first of every month, just shake your phone. Whatever number you get is the amount you'll receive. "The range is from zero to ten thousand dollars." At first, I was excited. Every month, I shook my phone with anticipation. However, every time, the result was the same: 0 dollars. My brother, meanwhile, always landed the highest amount. "Wow, sis, your luck really sucks," he said. Even when he showed me the transfer record for ten thousand dollars, there was a smug smile on his face. When I confronted Mom, she brushed it off, saying my luck was bad and that no one else was to blame. With no other choice, I worked three part-time jobs just to support myself while studying. On the night before my final exams, I collapsed from exhaustion and died. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the very day my mom created the "Shake for Allowance" app.

Faye Millers was the plump orphan no one chose. With curvy hips, soft belly, and strawberry-blonde hair that was always tied in a messy ponytail. Too much for a pack that prized sharp bones and perfect lines. Yet Thorn Millers, the future Alpha and the adoptive brother who she was raised alongside, couldn’t keep his hands off her. He bullied her in daylight, then pulled her into his bed at night—secret, breathless nights where he worshipped the body he mocked in public. Faye’s wolf, Ulfa, swore he was their mate and she believed it. Until the coronation day. Pregnant with his child—the heir the elders demanded—Faye stood silent in the great hall, with her hand cradling her growing belly, as Thorn placed the Luna crown on her anorexic best friend Rieka’s head. “Some women,” Thorn announced, with his voice ringing with disgust yet never meeting Faye’s tear-filled eyes, “are simply not built to stand beside an Alpha.” The pack cheered. Rieka smiled triumphantly. While Faye’s heart broke into a thousand pieces. He rejected her curves, denied their baby and chose a fake fated bond, over the curvy girl carrying his bloodline. Her adoptive parents, desperate to hide their son’s shame, offered her money and care until delivery… then exile forever. But Faye didn’t crumble. As a social outcast swollen with child, she caught the eye of Jacob Black—the powerful Beta heir who saw beauty in every curve Thorn despised. Slowly, fiercely, he claimed her heart while royal blood stirred in her veins. They expected her to stay broken. To accept disgrace and fade away. With royal blood hidden in her veins and a true mate who craves every curve Thorn despised, Faye will reclaim everything he stole.

When Matteo Ricci threatens to end our engagement for the 100th time unless I take Lydia Capone's place in the famiglia's drug trial, I don't cry or make a scene. I just sign my name on the engagement termination agreement and calmly hand over the man I've loved for eight years to my twin sister. A few days later, Lydia storms the mafia summit like she owns the room, insulting the Pirelli family and daring anyone to stop her. I'm forced to step in and bear the full weight of her chaos. And now they're saying Lydia's body can't handle the trial after all, so they want me, the older sister, to take her place. The moment I agree, my parents smile at me for the first time in years. Even Matteo, who barely notices me, hovers nearby and murmurs, "Don't be afraid. The trial isn't lethal. When you get out, I'll take you for your favorite spaghetti alla Napoletana." But he has no idea that there's a late-stage stomach cancer diagnosis tucked inside my pocket. No matter what horrors the trial holds, he will never witness me walk out alive.

Sharon’s parents convince her to marry Tom, the only son and heir to a powerful billionaire family. To them, it’s a dream union — a promise of security, prestige, and a future beyond imagination. But behind the lavish wedding and glittering smiles lies an unspoken truth. Tom has no love for Sharon. Bound by duty and family pressure, he agrees to the marriage solely to appease his parents. In secret, Tom and Sharon sign a prenuptial agreement — a quiet pact that their union will last only three years. As months turn into years, Sharon’s heart betrays her. She finds herself falling deeply in love with the man she once viewed as distant and cold. She believes time has changed him too — that perhaps love has found its way into their marriage after all. Then, just when she begins to dream of forever, Sharon’s world shatters. She walked into their living room to find Tom seated a brown envelope on the table. Calmly, he reminds her of the agreement they made three years ago. Sharon is left speechless, her heart collapsing under the weight of reality. What she thought was love was merely borrowed time — and now, it has run out.

Blurb She loved him fiercely, masking her wealth to prove her devotion, willing to sacrifice anything to make him happy. But her loyalty was met with coldness and a stack of divorce papers tossed her way. Heartbroken and betrayed, she walked away, vowing to let him believe she was defeated. Yet, when he comes crawling back, realizing he’d thrown away his chance, she’s ready. This time, he’ll learn just how cruelly her heart can play, how sharp her silence can sting, and how merciless love can be when betrayed. She’ll make him pay—for every moment she wasted loving him.

Heating starts on the 15th, so I give my mom the money to pay the heating bill two days in advance and ask her to pay it for me. But a week passes, and it still feels like an icehouse in my apartment. I am on the phone complaining to my younger brother's wife, Selena Lyons, who lives upstairs. "You are right not to pay the heating fee. I paid, and it made no difference. We're freezing to death here." From the other end of the call, I faintly hear my nephew shouting, "Mom, it's so hot! I want a popsicle!"

My SAT scores are out. It turns out that I'm the top scorer of my state. But I insist on applying to an obscure, third-rate private college in front of my friends and family. Everyone thinks that I've gone nuts. Mom even gets down on her knees and begs me not to destroy my future. "You can go to any top college you want! Why must you attend that trashy college instead?" I remain unmoved despite the fact that everyone keeps convincing me to change my mind. What they don't know is that if I don't go there, everyone will die in three days.

Dad and my brother, Jonah Atwood, have always favored my sister, Lisa Atwood, while resenting me. At my coming-of-age ceremony, when several werewolves in the Blackwolf pack corners and harasses me, it's Rex Vaughn, the Alpha's heir, who steps in to protect me. He throws the most extravagant mate-bonding ceremony for me, right before the Moon Goddess. Overnight, I become someone every other female wolf wishes they could be! I'm seven months pregnant when I show up at Lisa's birthday party. Somehow, we're ambushed by dark magic. As always, Dad and Jonah put Lisa first. They throw everything they have into shielding and dragging her out of the enemies' barrier, leaving me trapped in the center of the spell circle, nearly consumed. In the end, it's Rex who pulls me out. Later, I wake up in Stone Cabin, only to walk right into a scene that makes my blood run cold. "You paid off an old witch from the Darkmoon pack to set up that spell circle?" Rex's eyes blaze red with fury. "She's only seven months along, and you were already trying to rip the pup out of her? "What? Were you hoping Lily and her pup would blow up and die together?" Jonah and Dad shrink back, trying to explain themselves. "Lisa's wolf is fading fast. The old witch said the only way to save her and her wolf is to sacrifice someone with the same blood immediately…" Rex snaps, "I care about Lisa more than either of you do! Why else do you think I claimed Lily as my mate? Sure, I want to save Lisa, but not by sacrificing Lily and her pup!" That is how I learn the truth. Rex didn't bond with me because he cared. He did it to save Lisa. As it turns out, he's no different from Dad and Jonah. All they ever see is Lisa, the weak-born wolf. I was never part of the picture to begin with. Since no one's ever truly cared about me, I'll walk away with my pup.