Carefully Picked

Noah left me at the altar three times—for his precious Freya. First time? She threatened to jump off a building. Second? Said she was moving abroad. Third? Sent a text saying she was getting forced into some arranged marriage. Noah, usually Mr. Cool, freaked. Left a packed venue and turned me into a total joke. Again. I called him. "If you don't come back today, I'm marrying someone else." He laughed. "Freya's young. You're too old to be playing games, aren't you?" I clutched my phone, heart sinking. He knew Freya was bluffing. Still picked her. That's when I finally gave up. Later, after he'd calmed her down, he came looking for me. "Pick a new wedding date," he said, like it was no big deal. "It'll be even grander this time." A guy's voice cut through, smiling. "Sorry, man. Gotta get my wife on the plane."

"I would like to say I'm sorry; I haven't been the best version of myself. I am sorry for my inability to communicate effectively, and I know these past few weeks haven't been the best." "I do not want your apology, Xavier; I want to know why you have changed so much and become someone I barely know. I want to know what happened." She said, staring up at him, "Was my love never enough?" She didn't want to show her vulnerability, but he had always seen it. "It was always enough," he said as he stepped towards her, crossing into her personal space. Her heart picked up its pace, and she stared up at him. She could have told him to step back, but she wanted this. "You were always enough. I am sorry if I made you feel like you weren't." He said, and his lips met hers.

The day I began working, I found out that the boyfriend I’d picked up off the street was actually a rich young man from the capital’s elite circle. His fiancée sneered at me, “You’re nothing but a bit of fun for us when we’re bored.” “You didn’t really think you were some kind of heroine here to save him, did you?” I was humiliated, my lips trembling. I couldn’t forgive myself—how could I have spent half of my father’s lifesaving money to help him? I even dropped out of school, working three jobs every day, foolishly treating him as the second most important person in my life. Later, my father passed away, leaving me all alone, so I left that city. But who would have thought that the young rich man who had toyed with me would go mad, searching for me all over the world for the next five years?

The Rossi family has a rule. If you want to be the next Donna, you have to prove yourself. Make three hundred million dollars, clean money, in a single year. All on your own, no family help. I spent ten years trying to do it for Vincent. I built ten companies from the ground up. But every single time, just as I was about to cross that finish line, something would go wrong. Everything would just… collapse. This year, I finally did it. I ran to his study, audit in hand, my heart hammering against my ribs. I thought I’d finally won. Instead, I learned my entire life was a lie. He handed my entire empire to Ava—my father's bastard. All because she supposedly saved his life once, and he wanted to make her the real Donna. I gave up. On him. On my family's dream of rising with his. Then I picked up the phone and called the Outfit in Chicago. "Your marriage proposal," I said. "I accept."

"I... I don't really know you and you also don't need to bother yourself much because I'm going to reject you and we can just go our separate ways." "Reject me?" He scoffed in disbelief. "Why would you want to do that?" "Because no one wants me. I'm literally considered a failure by everyone around me, even my own mother doesn't want me. I was supposed to get married to my mate yesterday, but he didn't go through with our wedding and left me at the alter, he rejected me in front of everyone and picked my step sister over me, turning me into a subject of mockery for everyone!" Tana who is devastated when her dream wedding turns into a nightmare. Alpha Philip, the man she has loved for years, abandons and rejects her on their wedding day for her step sister Veronica. Banished and alone, she meets Zander Cane, the Lycan King of the Silver Moon Pack, who offers her a chance at love and revenge.

Oscar Miller was Shirley Bishop's personal bodyguard, but when she got attacked on her birthday, he shielded her foster sister, Myra Bishop, with his own body. Shirley got cut three times—once across her face, once on her arm, and a third that stabbed her lower abdomen, leaving her unable to have children ever again. But even after all that, she still wanted to marry him. Later, Oscar did marry her—but he never touched her, not even once, all the way until his death. At his funeral, the insurance company showed up. "Mr. Miller purchased a large insurance policy before his death. The beneficiary is Ms. Myra Bishop." That was when Shirley realized that after all these years, Oscar had never gotten over Myra. Now, she had been reborn to when her father asked her to choose from four men she had grown up with to be her husband. This time, she decided to fulfill his wish and picked someone else.

I was the girl Ian Sutherland, the underworld boss himself, personally picked to be a shield for his beloved. By the third year of our marriage, I'd been kidnapped by his enemies for the eighth time. When Ian came with his men to rescue me, the negotiation hadn't even lasted five minutes before the girl called him. "Ian, I lost a dare and have to kiss one of the guys here. But I want my first kiss to be yours. Can you come get me?" … The moment Ian left without a second thought, a knife plunged into my abdomen, and blood gushed out. His men handled it the same way they had the last seven times—paying off whoever they had to, then sending me to the hospital. In the ambulance, I heard someone wondering if I'd live long enough to see the day that girl could stand on her own. They burst out laughing, while I was the only one crying. My mission to save the underworld boss had failed, and I was about to be erased by the system. Ian, I wouldn't live to see that day.

On the night of our mating ceremony, my mate, Damon, marked another she-wolf right in front of me. He said that if I wanted to be his Luna, I had to accept him having us both. In my past life, I screamed at him, accusing him of defying the Moon Goddess. Pressured by the Elders, he was forced to banish Lyla. She was run down by rogues and fell from a cliff to her death. After that, Damon refused to ever mark me. He even framed me, luring me into the forbidden lands as a pretext to banish me. Then, he hunted me down and killed me himself. I remember my body being picked apart by birds, the agony of it all. But now, I just stared at Damon's cold face, and at the Omega, Lyla, cradled in his arms. Then, I calmly reached up and removed the sacred symbol of our fated bond. "I refuse." And with that, under the shocked gazes of the entire pack, I walked away, heading for the frozen lands of the North. This time, I will make every single wolf who hurt me pay.

Alejandro Castillo has everything—money, power, charm. But when his ruthless father pits him against his genius younger brother for the CEO throne, Alejandro’s only hope of survival lies in passing college… and the broke tutor hired to save him. Mateo Rivera is supposed to fix his grades, not tempt his darkest secret. The more they study, the more Alejandro’s carefully built façade cracks. His forbidden attraction turns into something dangerous—something his family, his enemies, and the entire Dominican elite must never know. Because in a world of power plays, betrayals, and billion-dollar legacies… one kiss could cost him everything. And when secrets explode on live television, Alejandro will learn: falling in love is easy. Surviving it is deadly.

"I reject you," Bruno repeated, his voice carrying across the hushed clearing. "We are no longer mates. We can never be mates." The warmth that had always softened his green eyes whenever he looked at her was gone, replaced by a glacial indifference that chilled her to the bone. "No. No." Lyra shook her head vigorously, her carefully arranged hair coming loose, dark strands falling across her tear-stained face. She reached for him, clutching at the ceremonial jacket he wore. "This can't happen. You promised to protect me, to be by my side, to love me." Her voice rose with each word, desperation clawing at her throat. "Please, don't do this to me. You can't."