Burn After Reading

All because he believed I pushed Elena down the stairs out of jealousy. Six months ago, a rival family drugged Alexander. Elena saved him and got pregnant. Her family disowned her for it. "Ivy, why can't you just let her be?" Alexander choked me, disappointment and rage in his eyes. "She saved my life! I promised to send her away. Why be so vicious to an unborn child? If anything happens to them, I'll bury you with them." I didn't argue. I just planned an explosion. But when I vanished, the high-and-mighty Don went mad.

My younger sister had sworn off marriage and children, but as we grew older, she envied me for having both a husband and son. Not only did she demand that I share my husband with her, but she even wanted my son to care for her in her old age. I scolded her for being delusional and shameless. But she held a grudge, and in front of my son, she claimed that I had cut off his chance at inheriting a fortune. He believed her. With one strike, he killed me and then declared to the world that my sister was his real mother. When I opened my eyes again, I returned to the day my sister refused to go on a blind date. This time, she happily agreed to it and even boasted to me that she planned to have many kids. "Liz Stanton, this time, I'll be the one with a husband and kids." But I had no intention of reliving the misery of marriage either.

I suffer from extreme mental illness. My sister, Ava Monroe, became a facial model to earn money for my expensive medical treatment. She was 5’3” tall but was noticed because of her beauty by a wealthy young man by the name of Dominic Pierce with a leg obsession. He imprisoned her. “This is the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen. If only your legs were a bit longer, I’d die with a smile.” Ava was forced to have leg-lengthening surgery. After the operation, her legs began to rot. Dominic found her disgusting and locked her in the basement. He tortured her until she died. I got kicked out of the mental health institute because I could not pay the medical fees. I found Dominic surrounded by beautiful women with long legs. “Those are the prettiest legs I’ve ever seen. If only your face were a little cuter, I’d die with a smile!” I pointed to the painting of Ava and scoffed, “What if I become her?”

My sister Aurora and I mated to Alpha twins. Five months into my pregnancy, I was attacked by a group of rogue wolves. I reached my Alpha mate Alexander for help through mind-link. But he ignored me for nine times. The rogues circled me, biting at my arms and legs, drawing blood with each attack. Pain ripped through my body. With one last desperate cry, I reached out through our bond a tenth time. This time, Alexander's cold voice cut through my mind: "Have you acted enough? My sister Vicky has been kidnapped. Don't bother me anymore." Victoria was Alexander and Ethan’s stepsister, the one that they truly loved. With nothing to stop them now, the rogue wolves pounced on me. One tore open my stomach with his fangs, and I watched in horror as they ripped my unborn child to pieces. When I was almost died, Aurora found me and fought against the rogues. But there were too many. Soon Aurora was bitten and bleeding heavily beside me. She mind-linked her mate Ethan for help, but all she received was: "I'm looking for Vicky. Don't bother me." Aurora had no choice but to shift and drag me onto her wolf's back. She raced down the mountain, but a sudden thunderstorm caused a mudslide, trapping us. Fortunately, the border patrol guards found us, and both Aurora and I barely survived. When I woke up in the pack hospital, my first thought was simple: sever the mate bond.

I died five years ago. Now my husband, the Don of our Mafia family, wants me to take the fall for his sister again—this time for accidentally killing a British noble's heir during an arms deal. He's holding a fake confession letter with my forged signature, storming into my old apartment in the rust district, only to find it empty. Frustrated, he grabs the corner store owner downstairs, demanding to know where I am. The owner pauses, wiping his hands on his apron, calmly tells him: "Serafine? She died five years ago." "Heard it was retaliation from a rival family during the gang war. They ambushed her in an alley... shot her over a dozen times. She died immediately." My husband, Lucien, refuses to believe it. Convinced the owner is on my payroll, hiding me to help me escape his reach. He scoffs, his eyes filled with scorn: "Oh, so what? Because I called her out for messing up that last job, now she's throwing a tantrum?" "You tell her, if she doesn't come back and take the fall in three days, I'll revoke her grandmother's 'special family protection'! Let the old woman rot!" With that, he storms out, his rage still simmering. The owner watches him leave and sighs, shaking his head. "There's no grandmother left to protect... That woman passed away not long after Serafine did... couldn't survive the winter without our family's medical supplies and protection..."

What's the first thing you'd do if you were reborn? Me? I'd start by divorcing my husband, Finn Gallagher. Yeah, Finn Gallagher, the same man who runs half the underworld from behind closed doors. The Don. The richest man alive. The man women dream about; his face plastered on magazines, named "Sexiest Man Alive" five years in a row. In my last life, I tried everything to make him look at me like I mattered. I married him. I gave birth to his son. I swallowed every ounce of pride, trying to be the perfect wife. However, it didn't work. To him, I was no different than a waitress he might casually tip—forgettable, replaceable, invisible. So this time, I'm not begging. I'm not pretending. I'm handing Madeline Brooks the key to my place in his life, and walking away. She's Finn's first love, and also the shadow that haunted every day of my last life. Now Madeline was sitting opposite to me, blinked at me like she didn't hear me right. "You tried so hard to push me out," she said slowly, eyes narrowed. "Now you want me to be with Finn?" "Yes. That's all I'm asking. Just talk to Finn. Tell him to sign the divorce papers." I looked at her confused face and kept going. "Everyone knows I'm the last person who'd ever let Finn go. So if I say I want a divorce, he won't believe me for a second. But you? You're the one who can make that happen... aren't you?" She laughed, because she was finally getting her chance. I laughed too, because I was finally free.

I thought the divorce would set me free. I thought walking away from my husband would finally give me peace. But I didn’t expect him—my cold, sinfully dangerous stepbrother—to be the one waiting on the other side of my freedom. Rage Roswell doesn’t ask. He takes. And the moment he found out I was no longer married, that I was vulnerable, alone, easy to steal… he stepped in like a storm I couldn’t escape. He pinned me with those cold eyes and said one thing: “You’re mine now.” I should’ve run. I should’ve fought the tension, the heat, the hunger he ignites with just a stare. But he knows every weakness I try to hide. Every tremble. Every breath. Every part of me I shouldn’t be giving him. After the divorce, I thought I was reclaiming my life. Instead, I walked straight into the hands of the man who’s willing to burn everything—everyone—just to claim me. And this time… He won’t let me go.

Outside the presidential suite, Quintina Foster clutched her room key, taking a deep, nervous breath. At this moment, in the entire H City, only the person inside could help her. Quintina Foster raised her lowered eyelashes, slightly adjusted her dress, and swiped the key card to enter the room. Not long ago, she was the most prominent socialite in H City, but today, she had to sell her body for money...

When I'm paying the pension for my jobless wife, Lilith Ingram, I accidentally find out that she's had a job this whole time. She's paid a salary of two thousand dollars, which is wired into her personal bank account. Every month, the money will be transferred elsewhere, leaving her without a single cent. I've never seen the money before. Back when our daughter, Maisy Ingram, was severely ill, we were 200 dollars short to pay for her hospital bills. I was so poor that I had to sell my blood and beg everyone around me just to get them to lend me money. But during that time, Lilith never thought of sharing the burden with me. She merely comforted me with empty words before transferring two thousand dollars to her first love, Hayden Grant, the next day. Our marriage of 30 years is reduced to nothing but a laughingstock. I place the divorce agreement that I've printed out in front of Lilith. It's a silent confrontation between us. "Must you really resort to this method?" Lilith snaps impatiently. "It's just two thousand dollars! You have an annual salary of 200 thousand dollars! Why care so much about chum change?" Even Maisy takes her side by calling me a petty, stingy geezer. "Everyone has an unattainable first love when they're still young! You should be grateful that Hayden has been holding back his urges without crossing the line for so many years!" I feel as though I got struck by lightning at that moment. It's then that I belatedly realize I'm the only outsider in this family. "Getting a divorce is fine by me. Hayden's getting on with the years. I just want to take care of him and send him off when his time eventually arrives." Maisy adapts a righteous tone. "As compensation for me, I get the house, the car, and the savings. You're leaving this marriage without a single cent under your name."

Napilitang magpakasal ang tanyag na abogadong si Elias Macini sa isang anak ng maid na si Dasha Rivera, sa tatlong taon nilang pagsasama ay hindi niya pinakitaan ng kabutihan ang babae, ngunit sa kabila nito ay pagmamahal pa rin ang binabalik ni Dasha. Natapos ang kanilang pagsasama noong nalaman ng lalaki na nagdadalang tao si Dasha, kaagad na nakipag-divorce si Elias sa kaniya at sumama sa tunay nitong mahal. Umalis ng mansyon si Dasha at isang aksidente ang nangyari na naging dahilan upang muli niyang makita si Samuel Valdez, ang una niyang naging asawa. Sa gitna ng kaguluhan sa kaniyang buhay at sa pag-alalang walang tatayong maging ama ng kaniyang anak, muli niyang pinakasalan si Samuel na walang kaalaman na ito ang desisyon na pagsisihan niya buong buhay.