Bulletbarry Face

Cade Jennings was always there for me when I needed him—until he wasn’t. I’d spent my entire life loving my best friend’s older brother. Every single one of my birthday wishes was spent hoping Cade would finally notice me. And then one day, he did. But not all love stories have happy endings. It's been years since I left the small town of Sutten Mountain devastated and heartbroken. I’d used the pain to fuel a bestselling novel that solidified I’d never have to return. Until tragedy struck, forcing me to face the man who shattered my heart. I thought I’d be strong enough to see him again. I didn’t expect the angry, broken man staring back at me. But the more time we spend around each other, the more I see glimpses of the man I fell in love with. His touch still owns me. His kiss still brands me. And even after all this time, the feelings I have for him still consume me. Cade and I are unfinished business, and this time, he’s not letting me leave until we rewrite our story.

In my previous life, my boyfriend's younger sister came to the CT room for a check-up. As always, I asked the routine questions about whether she was pregnant or planning to be within the next six months. After all, CT scans involve radiation. It could harm the fetus. She had confidently said no. However, when I handed her the consent form to sign, her face suddenly changed. She immediately pulled out her phone and called my boyfriend, claiming I was putting on airs and making things difficult for her. Soon after, my boyfriend called me. “Don’t make things difficult with my sister over something so trivial. You’re putting me in the middle. I swear on my life she’s not pregnant!” Trusting him, I skipped the consent form and went ahead with the scan. However, the results clearly showed she was pregnant, and not just newly. His family dragged me into court. I lost everything, buried under debt. In the end, I died from the scorching heat while hauling bricks at a construction site. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day his sister came in for her check-up.

On the day of my daughter Eleanor Baldwin's second birthday party, my entire family stood nervously by the banquet hall entrance. They were not there to greet guests, but rather to keep me from showing up and causing a scene. Mom's face was written all over with anxiety. "Lucas wouldn't actually crash the party, would he?" Dad's brow stayed tightly furrowed. "Who knows? That disgrace of a son is capable of anything." My younger brother, Cody Baldwin, had his arm wrapped gently around my wife, Kendra Clarkson, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry. If Lucas dares to show up, I'll keep you and Ellie safe." Kendra nodded slowly. "If it really comes to that... maybe we should just let Ellie be his goddaughter. At least then, we're still family..." However, the party came and went, and I never appeared. I had already made up my mind to join a classified national defense research program. Only this time, it was for good.

On Christmas Eve, my uncle, Garrett Wayne, takes a sip from the fancy whiskey I bought. Then, he points at me while grinning. "Well well well… I've been watching you since you were a kid, Flint. You were a bed-wetter when you were a little boy, and now that you're all grown up, you stay cooped in your parents' shop while running that social media account of yours. You don't have any skills at all. "My Ronnie, on the other hand, has an amazing job that will continue paying him and keeping him around no matter how hard times get. Small businesses like your family's will definitely crumble as soon as the tiniest change happens in the global economy!" All of my relatives roar in laughter at Garrett's quip. My cousin, Ronnie Wayne, pretends to be playing on his phone, though his grin has already become ear-splitting. Mom and Dad can only laugh along as well even though deep down they are very uneasy and anxious. I just gaze at Garrett coldly. In six hours, the blizzard apocalypse will descend onto this world. At the same time, a zombie outbreak will occur across the globe. In my previous life, Garrett, who had looked down on my family and me, didn't hesitate to push us into the upcoming zombie horde just to take over my parents' grocery store. In this lifetime, I swear that I will never let him off the hook! I'm about to pick up a plate of food and smash it onto Garrett's head when I hear a mechanical voice chiming in my head. "Ding! You have been bound with the Rage System! You may talk back and retort to others to your liking in exchange for supplies. The more arrogant you sound, the better supplies you'll receive!" As I look at Garrett's insufferable face, I let out a chuckle. "Oh yeah, I'm not skilled at all. But I suddenly remember this funny little thing. Uncle Garrett, you claimed that you had gone on a business trip to Brimstone eight years ago. But the truth is, you got arrested by the vice squad, right? "Does Aunt Cassia know about this?"

The cold seawater engulfs me, its relentless pull dragging me into the abyss. I kick desperately, my lungs burning, but the surface drifts farther and farther away. "Save me, Kane… save our child…" Pain lances through my body as I clutch my stomach, shielding the fragile life within me. The child I never thought I'd have, the child who was supposed to be our blessing. Through the watery haze, I see Kane Porter standing on the jagged cliffs above the shore. His tall, commanding figure is framed by the moonlight, his golden eyes burning with hatred. The alpha of the Nightfall Pack, the man who once whispered my name with reverence, now looks at me like I'm filth beneath his feet. His voice cuts through the roaring waves, sharp and merciless. "Don't think I don't know what you've done, Selene." The currents tug me deeper. My strength wanes, but his words stab deeper than the water ever could. "You drugged me with a philter, hoping to make me mark you—hoping to force your way into the position of my Luna. Because of your selfishness, Arya is gone. You destroyed her mind, pushed her into madness!" A shadow of despair twists across his face, but it vanishes beneath pure fury. "She fell from that cliff because of you." I shake my head, but I can’t speak. The sea is swallowing my voice. "Do you know what it’s like to wake up every day in torment? To live knowing the woman I loved died because of you?" His eyes glint like a wolf ready to tear out his prey's throat. "I want you to feel every ounce of that pain. I want you and your cursed child to die with her." The waves crash above me, and darkness claws at the edges of my vision. When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to the day Kane's philter takes effect. He approaches me, his face flushed and his breathing rapid. He's already undone his buttons. "Hang on, Kane. Arya will be here soon!" I back away and open the door behind me. Then, I run off.

"Nyla, stop being dramatic. Raise Jordyn's baby, and I'll come home for dinner once a month." Those were the terms Clark Summer offered his wife after she discovered his affair. When Nyla demanded a divorce, Clark laughed in her face, treating her pain like a childish tantrum. "You love me too much to leave," he scoffed, convinced she was nothing without him. He was wrong. Nyla didn’t just leave; she leveled up. She walked into a bar and set her sights on Damon Summer—Clark’s estranged, ruthless, and terrifyingly handsome uncle. Clark is losing his grip on the company and his sanity, consumed by jealousy as he watches his "boring" wife shine beside his powerful uncle. He stands in the rain, begging for a second chance, but Nyla only has one question left for him: "You chose the mistress. Why are you crying now that I’ve chosen someone else?"

The century-long war was over. My sister and I were the Alpha's daughters. The strongest pack in the North. We were forced into a marriage alliance with the Evernight vampire kingdom. A witch prophesied a powerful hybrid would be born to our family. A child destined to be king. Soon, my sister and I were both pregnant. I didn't care about giving birth to the prophesied ruler. I just wanted my child to be safe and healthy. But I never expected what happened. My sister, Liliana, gave birth to the hybrid king. Her mate, the first prince, Damien, was immediately named Crown Prince. And me? I gave birth to a monster. A beast born in its feral wolf form, all fangs and fury. I was branded unclean. My mate, the second prince Kael, was executed for my "sin." Burned to ash. Only in my last moments did I learn the truth. The monster my sister had swapped for mine? It was hers. It was all a scheme. A plot she and Damien hatched to hide a defect in his bloodline and steal the throne. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Back before everything went to hell. And my sister was walking toward me, a smile on her face, a glass of juice in her hand…

I thought I was finally living my dream—studying at the same school as my childhood boyfriend. But the moment I caught him secretly kissing the campus queen who had always bullied me, my world shattered. He didn’t defend me. He chose her. Heartbroken and humiliated, I walked away. Then at my lowest, when I was cornered and shoved to the ground again, my face smeared with dirt, I saw him—my mate. The queen bee’s perfect fiancé. The future Alpha of the strongest pack. Yet his eyes were cold as he told me, “Keep our mate bond a secret. I will never be with you.” I did what he said. But why did he keep stepping in to protect me? Why did he hold me like he would never let go?

Three days after my father’s death, I was home, planning his funeral. A woman and a group of bodyguards stormed in. She shoved me, hard. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she screamed. "Get out of my house! Now!" I froze, stunned. A new housekeeper? Maybe my brother Liam hired her. I kept my voice calm. "This house is mine. Liam knows that. If you have a problem, take it up with him." Her face twisted into a mask of rage. Then she slapped me. "Yours?" She scoffed, looking me up and down with disgust. "This is my boyfriend Liam's house. And you look like you don't belong here. I don't know if you're the new maid or the cook, but I don't care. Get the hell out. Now." My blood ran cold. I pulled out my phone and texted my assistant. [Tell Liam to get home and handle his girlfriend. Now. Or he won't see a dime of the family money.]

My junior accidentally broke the most expensive piece of equipment in the lab and asked me to help fix it. I had just started touching the instrument when she suddenly stepped back, tears brimming, and said, "Michelle, I can't take responsibility for this. I really can't afford it." Before I could even process her words, Nicky Hardy—the unattainable crush I had chased for three years—rushed in and shielded her behind him. Then he turned to me with a glare that could freeze fire. "Michelle, don't go too far. You can't expect her to take the fall for you." I stared at him, dumbfounded. "You know full well I was shoved into this research group. I don't understand any of this stuff. How could I do the experiments on my own?" His eyes grew colder, dripping with disdain. "I've been saying it—what can a nepo baby actually accomplish? And now the equipment's ruined, and you still have the nerve to push the blame onto Elizabeth?" I opened my mouth to argue, but then I caught a flicker of triumph across Elizabeth Horwitz's face in Nicky's arms. That was when it clicked. They only knew I got in through connections—they had no idea I'd financed this very equipment myself. They wanted to play their petty power games over a piece of lab equipment worth over ten million? Interesting.