Comforting Messages

A car accident leaves me unconscious for a full three years. When I wake up, my family bursts into tears of joy. They care for me with the utmost attention. But from their behavior, I sense something is wrong. There are women's clothes in the house that don't fit me. My mother's shopping cart is filled with mysterious baby items. My father's friends send congratulatory messages about a new child, and my husband is always working overtime. When my husband once again leaves me alone under the pretext that there is something urgent at the company, I secretly follow him. Inside a warmly decorated house, my parents and husband sit around a table. A woman who looks almost exactly like me is holding a baby just a few months old, gently coaxing the child to call my husband "Daddy".

While my boyfriend, Caleb Lawson, is in the shower, I grab his phone on a whim and drop a message in the group chat he's in with his friends. "Guess who I'm with tonight." I expect them to say my name, but their reply blindsides me. "That freshman who used to chase you when you were a sophomore? She's obsessed with you. She's definitely easier than your girlfriend. Want us to swing by tonight?" My gut tells me he's hiding more than an affair. Just as I start scrolling through his messages with the freshman, a notification from her pops up. "Caleb, I agree to the threesome. I'll do anything you want." Seconds later, another message appears in the group chat. "Just be careful this time. We don't need another body on our hands."

After I turn five years of age and have my very own phone, I start receiving strange messages every single day. For some reason, the sender keeps referring to me as their mom. At 3:00 am, they send me another message. "Mom, I saw you in my dreams again. The rain is seeping into the attic. My stepmom told me to use a rag to soak up all the water, but the rag is too small. Even though I tried to wipe it up all night, it still wouldn't dry. Mom, I'm so cold and hungry. I miss you so much…" I tilt my head, looking at the rain pouring outside the window. I then earnestly reply, "Don't be scared, sweetheart. Where are you right now? I will bring you something yummy!"

It all began with a single post about canceling a food delivery order. Overnight, I became the internet's punching bag. Thousands of vicious messages flooded my inbox, filled with photoshopped memorials urging me to die. They doxxed my family, plastered my personal details across shady websites, and used AI to create obscene images of me, spreading them in vile chat groups. They spread lies about my income, claiming it came from illicit sources, and accused me of carrying diseases. I didn't call the police or block the messages. Instead, I read every hateful word before singling out the 100 worst offenders. Every day, I sent each one a luxurious meal: Boston lobster, Australian wagyu, the works. Each delivery came with a simple note: [Thank you for your hard work.]

My health was not good, but I had always wanted a child. My husband, citing concern for my health, avoided intimacy with me for a year. Then I stumbled across his private messages with another woman. [You'll spend Valentine's Day with me, right? You're not going to touch her tonight, are you?] [You know I don't like doing it just to make babies. Got you some lingerie. Wear it for me tomorrow.] That ill-fitting lace lingerie he was talking about was on my body. I'd slipped it on while he was in the shower, thinking it was a Valentine's Day surprise from him. Turned out, he hadn't bought the wrong size. He had just sent it to the wrong address. I clicked on the woman's profile. Her latest video showed her at the beach, hand in hand with the person filming. I recognized her hand instantly. It belonged to my best friend.

Attending the ten-year high school reunion for the cheerleading squad and football team, I arrived in an old domestic Ford, while the parking lot was filled with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maybachs, and even a gold Bugatti. It was as if I were the only relic from another era. The moment I stepped out of my car, a former classmate, whose name I could no longer remember, looked at me with a sneer. “Well, if it isn’t the coach’s pet. How is it that after all these years, you’re still driving this beat-up old Ford?” “This thing looks like it belongs in a scrapyard from the last century!” During dinner, everyone gathered around the Bugatti owner, raising their glasses in celebration, while I was left ignored at the side. Only the cheerleading assistant sat next to me, raising a glass in my direction with a comforting smile. “Don’t let it get to you. Your car may be old, but I believe you’ll be driving a luxury car one day.” I let a small smirk curl at the corner of my lips and lowered my voice. “This car may look unimpressive, but it’s been fully upgraded with a carbon fiber body. It’s already worth over half a million dollars. Too bad, none of you even recognized its true value.”

My husband, Alex Walter, was the head of the Bodyguard Association. When I was about to be killed by the kidnappers, he was comforting his childhood crush, Susan Miller, who was sobbing in his arms. While the kidnappers stopped for a meal, I called Alex five times calmly. He was angry when he finally answered. "Susan was just rescued from the kidnappers, and she needs me. If you want me to come home, stop using your own kidnapping as some excuse to compete for attention. It is pathetic!" Hearing Susan's sweet and delicate voice in the background, I had no time to argue with him. Instead, I called the Bodyguard Association. The operator informed me that Alex had pulled all the city's bodyguards away thirty minutes earlier to rescue Susan. When the kidnappers returned, they mocked Alex's heroic efforts to save Susan, mobilizing the entire force for her. If I remember correctly, this was Susan's twenty-eighth kidnapping this month. As the kidnappers approached me with guns and tasers, I closed my eyes in despair. Before I died, I used all my strength to send Alex one last text message, [No matter what, I loved you. Move on from me.]

It was a godforsaken dare. If anyone asked Knox why he created a fake profile to mess with the most insufferable bastard alive—his emotionally constipated, tyrannical military captain, Victor Wallace—he’d blame his roommate. Stupid dare. Simple mission. Pretend to be a woman, reel the bastard in, and wreck him. Easy, right? Wrong. What started as a joke spiralled into late-night messages, dangerous vulnerability, and a slow-burning obsession Knox didn’t see coming. Victor wasn’t supposed to open up. Knox wasn’t supposed to care. And yet—here they are, stuck together in a steel tomb of chain-of-command and unchecked tension, where one wrong word could start a fire. It was supposed to ruin Victor. Now it’s ruining Knox. Because when you play games with monsters, don’t be shocked when one starts looking back in the mirror. This was never just a dare. Now it’s war. Read and find out.

CEO's Midnight Temptation: Mated To Ex’s Irresistible Alpha Boss! My face flushed with heat yet I remained unable to break free from his comforting hold. He guided me to a secluded spot while maintaining constant contact with his hand on mine. I collapsed into the chair when he managed to get me seated because exhaustion was overwhelming me. I whispered my desire to remain in his embrace while I pressed closer against him despite the chair. Your warmth surrounds me and your scent is pleasant. Rytis stopped moving while his intense stare locked onto me as he leaned forward until his lips brushed my ear. The whispered confession he delivered next made my heart race. “Mate.” My eyes locked onto him while confusion scrambled my thoughts. What did that even mean? The moment felt monumental because it seemed like a statement that could change everything. The room spun around me while a single pressing question repeated in my thoughts without stopping. What was his intention when he said ‘Mate’?

Ruby grew up sad for most of her life. Born into a society where beauty standards were seen as slender and tall, she felt low self esteem her entire life. Her family even made matters worse by ridiculing her each day, and comparing her with her younger sister. Her wolf despised her, accusing Ruby of trapping her in a fat body. She always tried to comfort herself that she wasn't fat but chubby, but no one saw her that way. After being rejected and betrayed by her boyfriend, her family, instead of comforting her, blamed her that it was her fault that he left. “You are too fat and ugly.” Her mother spat at Ruby with a look of disdain. “No man would ever want you.” Ruby wiped her tears, making a decision to transform her shape into what would be accepted. However, while she is on the journey of body transformation, she comes across a stranger who looks at her in a way that no one ever did. He didn't think she was worthless and everything about her seemed perfect in his eyes. Would Ruby give this man a chance to love her, or is she too broken to see her worth?