Countdown To Nothingness

A month before Wendy Johnson and I are set to marry, she tells me she wants to have another man's baby. Following my refusal, she keeps bringing it up daily. Half a month till the wedding, I see her pregnancy report. Just like that, I find out she is almost a month pregnant. It turns out she has no intention of seeking my agreement on this matter. At that very moment, my love for her for so many years dissipates for good. I'm calling off the wedding and destroying all our shared memories. On the day we are supposed to get married, I join a sealed-off research lab without a second thought. From now on, Wendy and I no longer have anything to do with each other!

　　I pushed open the door to the Alpha Villa. Just back from the werewolf hospital; back from the miscarriage. 　　Then I heard it—a woman's moans, slicing through the silence of the bedroom. 　　Peering through the door crack, I saw our Omega maid, Irina, having sex with my husband. 　　Lucien gripped her waist and warned her, "We must keep this a secret. I don't want her to cause a scene, and I've never intended to replace my Luna." 　　Irina moaned in agreement, "Don't worry, Luc. I'm willing to be your secret lover forever." 　　Then, with low growls, they climaxed together. 　　What they didn't know was that I had discovered their affair early this morning—I had seen the flirtatious messages Irina sent to Lucien, which ultimately led to my miscarriage. 　　But I had no intention of confronting him. 　　Instead, I had already submitted a forced mate dissolution request to the Werewolf Alliance Council and sent a message to the ancient Grand Sorceress in the Blood Moon Forest, who had long wanted to take me as her apprentice. 　　In three days, the request would take effect, and the Grand Sorceress would come for me with a potion to alter my werewolf scent. 　　I would enter the Blood Moon Forest as nothing but a new identity and a sorceress’s heir. 　　I will erase myself from Lucien's world forever.

At the underground black market auction in New York, Lorenzo Moretti won a rare red diamond with a bid so high it made jaws drop. The entire Commission was waiting for the other shoe to drop—waiting to see me become a joke. Because in the Moretti family, every time Lorenzo gives away a diamond, it represents another one of his betrayals. White diamonds are hush money to cover up tabloid scandals. Blue diamonds mean he had a "slip-up" at some wild party. Pink diamonds mean I caught him in his private apartment, rolling in the sheets with another woman with my own eyes. But this time was different. It was a rare red diamond. Everyone guessed the Don was preparing to divorce me. Instead, Lorenzo publicly declared his love. He said this red diamond represented a "Blood Oath"—a symbol of his true heart and loyalty to me. He said that from now on, he would return to the family and pledge his allegiance only to me. Everyone congratulated me on finally taming the Sicilian Wolf. I, however, left the signed divorce papers in the safe, and all alone, I left him forever.

I secretly married my husband for six years, and then his first love came back. I decide to leave with my child and let his first love take her rightful place.

Jason and Annabel discover a horrifying side of themselves after going through abuse and neglect—they can bring death. Courted by a strange, shadowless creature, they find themselves elevated from a position of nothingness to power. They would stop at nothing to prove their loyalty to the creature. Perhaps not even at the risk of their own destruction... That is, until they discover other purposes and find themselves entangled in love's meddlesome tentacles.

Ich war ein Mädchen aus dem Slum, das sich in Damon Vitale verliebte – den gefürchtetsten Don von New York. Fünf Jahre lang gehörte ich ihm. Neun Kugeln fing ich für ihn ab. Er küsste meine Narben, während ich für ihn verblutete. Hielt mich fest. Legte mir die Königinnenkette um den Hals. Und sobald ich geheilt war, vögelte er mich um den Verstand – mit einer Leidenschaft, die sich anfühlte wie für immer. Ich dachte, wir würden unser Leben miteinander verbringen. Ich dachte, er würde mich heiraten. Doch in unserer 999. gemeinsamen Nacht eröffnete er mir, dass er verlobt sei. Mit Bianca, einer Mafiaprinzessin aus einer Rivalenfamilie. Ich schluckte meine Tränen hinunter. Er packte nur mein Kinn, blies mir Rauch ins Gesicht und lachte. „Du hast doch nicht wirklich geglaubt, du könntest mich heiraten, oder, Nora? Lass uns eines klarstellen: Wir ficken. Das ist alles. Du bist keine Partnerin. Du bist ein Kunstwerk, das ich sammle. Ein Haustier, das mir gehört.“ Ein Haustier. Mehr wollte er nie aus mir machen. Stattdessen griff ich nach einem Wegwerfhandy. [Ich nehme dein Angebot an. Drei Tage. Hol mich verdammt nochmal aus New York raus.]

Eine Woche vor der Markierungszeremonie verlegte mein Verlobter, Alpha Max Schwarz, den Veranstaltungsort plötzlich in Glühwürmchenwald. Freunde scherzten: „Nur weil Sanna Glühwürmchen sehen will, änderst du eigenmächtig den Ort und sagst es nicht mal Luca! Was, wenn sie vor leeren Stühlen steht?“ „Außerdem war Mondseeufer doch Lucas Wahl! Glaubst du wirklich, sie würde dem zustimmen?“ Max erwiderte lässig: „Sie hat für mich bereits schwere Verbrennungen in Kauf genommen. Da wird sie mir doch in so einer Lappalie folgen.“ „Außerdem kümmert sich Luca um jede Kleinigkeit der Zeremonie. Sie wird die Änderung bestimmt mitbekommen.“ Ich lauschte unentdeckt vor der Tür, sagte nichts und schlich davon. Am Tag der Zeremonie rief Max mich nervös im Glühwürmchenwald an. „Zeremonie beginnt gleich, wo bist du?“ Ich blickte auf das funkelnde Seeufer und antwortete leise: „Ich bin schon da, wo ich hingehöre. Meine Zeremonie beginnt auch gleich.“

Karen was once obsessed with tribal witch Lyra, who falsely accused me of stealing the Moon Soul Flower, claiming I cursed her spirit sight. My destined mate, Alpha Karen, whipped me before the Moon Goddess statue and banished me to the frozen Cliff of Sinful Wolves. When I returned, I became tame, hiding all my wolf nature in front of him, becoming just a gentle shadow. But when he discovered the truth about what happened at the Cliff in my blood-stained wolf tooth talisman, he went crazy. "Elara, please, answer my mate's call one more time!"

"He is the only true heir to my throne. I must take him back." That day, the Alpha King descended upon our remote little pack with his royal soldiers. He pointed at Jasper—the man I had saved a year ago in the wilderness, my fated mate—and with those words, he shattered my entire world. I remember feeling this tight knot in my chest, because I'd always known Jasper was different. When I'd saved him from falling off that cliff last winter, I could feel something about him. I guessed it was his Alpha blood, but I wasn't totally sure back then. Now, his secret was out in the open. And me? I was still scrubbing dishes in the corner, because that was an Omega's duty, while everyone else cheered and celebrated. But Jasper… he stayed calm. He looked the Alpha King dead in the eyes and said, “I’m taking my pup Liam and Amelia back to the Shadowfang pack.” Yes. Amelia. Not me. In my last life, only their favorite she-wolf, Amelia, also the Beta's daughter, got to leave with them. When I broke down and asked Jasper why, his answer was cold and simple: “Her status suits me better than yours.” And just like that, my mate and my pup abandoned me. But this time—when Jasper spoke those same words again—under the mocking stares around me, I took a deep breath, forced a smile, and whispered my blessing: “Oh, well. I wish you both a happy future. I still have work to do.” I had already made up my mind. I was gonna work hard, save enough money, and get out of here, start a fresh life somewhere else. But tell me this, if I was so unworthy, then why, after I finally walked away, did he come begging me to return as his Luna?

Five years after our son was born, I finally faced the truth: my wife didn't love me—or our boy. Determined to end this miserable marriage, I made plans to leave and take our son with me. But fate had other ideas. A car accident cost me a kidney and took our son's eye. At my lowest point, my usually distant wife fell to her knees right in the hospital corridor, begging for forgiveness. She swore she would spend the rest of her life taking care of us. We decided to give her one last chance—a 100-day trial. If she made it, we'd stay together. But on the ninety-ninth day, my son and I overheard her talking to the attending physician. "Emma," the doctor said, "did you really arrange that accident to secure organs for Daniel Carter's son? You did that to take a kidney from your husband and an eye from your son—was it worth it?" Emma Evans's voice was eerily calm. "It was worth it. As long as Daniel is happy, I'd do anything." "And what if your husband and son find out?" She fell silent for a moment, then instinctively touched the wedding ring on her hand. "Then they'll never know. They just want a family; I'll do everything I can to make up for it." So the "changed woman" we thought we knew was just an act—a carefully built lie. The happiness my son and I had begun to believe in was nothing more than a story she'd crafted to protect the person she really loved. Every kindness, every effort—it had all been quietly weighed and paid for in advance.