Deku Phone

For the hundredth time, my dad hints at us that he really wants to become a grandfather during New Year Eve's dinner. Lydia Cooper, my wife who has insisted on living a childless life for the past decade, just smiles before placing more food on his plate. After dinner, she ducks out to the balcony and murmurs into her phone, "Be good, now. Mommy will visit you a few days later." I can feel my blood running cold in my veins as I stand in the living room with a glass of water. As I approach Lydia, I do my best to keep my voice light and teasing. "I just heard you say the word 'mommy.' Do you have an illegitimate child out there somewhere?" Lydia rubs her nose, her tone now awkward. "You might be hearing things. It was just my friend's child…" My heart plunges into my stomach pit at her words. I've been in love with Lydia for ten years. It's only natural that I know how she acts whenever she's lying.

"Everything's fine, honey." That's what Steven has been telling her for months. But tonight, at their wedding anniversary party, Shirley can't shake the feeling that something's off. Her husband, once so present, now seems distant. His evasive glances, his forced smiles... and that text message he tried so hard to hide. "We can't keep going like this. You need to tell her the truth." The message flashes on his phone screen, and Shirley feels her world tilt. Seven years of marriage, a picture-perfect life: a flawless home, an adorable daughter, a loving husband... or so she thought. But behind the closed doors of their home, lies are piling up. And Shirley, the former NYU prodigy who sacrificed everything for her family, is about to confront a truth that could shatter it all. Betrayals, buried secrets, and impossible choices-Shirley is thrust into a maze of deception where every revelation brings her closer to a heart-wrenching decision: stay and forgive... or risk everything to reclaim herself. "Sometimes, the truth doesn't set you free. It tears you apart."

A rogue attack shattered my wolf, costing me my birthright as the pack's heir. But my mate, Alpha Kael, seemed devoted to me. For three years, he injected me with a "Lunar Essence" he claimed would help me heal. I thought he was the only wolf who truly loved me. I never imagined he was poisoning me with Silver Dust, a suppressant designed to crush my wolf's spirit. All to ensure my wolf would never reawaken, securing my adopted sister Selene's claim as the pack's Alpha heir. My hands shook, my world turning to ash, as I opened his safe. Inside was the proof. From the rogue attack to the loss of my wolf, it was all a conspiracy orchestrated by Kael and Selene. That night, I pulled the burner phone from my drawer and dialed a number I'd sworn I'd never call. "Grandfather, I'm coming home. I'll be there in seven days. Please send someone for me."

“I want you to ruin me." He pulled back just enough to look at me, a slow, predatory smirk gracing his lips after I’d whispered in his ear. “Be careful what you wish for, little wolf,” he murmured, the name a dark caress. ************************ I vowed to stand by my Alpha. Until I discovered his secret. For six years, I believed my husband’s distance was because of his duty. I thought our cold, sexless marriage was my fault.I was wrong. The truth was on his phone, hidden in a cascade of messages that shattered my world. Now, the wife he ignored is gone. In her place, is a woman who has nothing left to lose. And when a devastating stranger with golden eyes offers me a night of reckless passion, I don’t say no. I ask him to ruin me. But my escape is short-lived. My one night stand is about to walk back into my life, and he’s the one man my husband should fear the most.

To pay off my student loans, I started doing spicy streams online. I never thought I'd actually blow up. Every night, my audience floods the chat, fawning over my face and my body. I love the attention, and I work hard to give them what they want. Until I was dropped into a horror game. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a rotting corpse. And for some reason, my livestream was still running. When the game’s Boss told us all to pick a weapon to die by. The other players all chose to die of old age, or peacefully in their sleep like a baby. I turned my phone to face the boss. "My fans think you're hot," I stammered. "They want me to be killed by... well, by the weapon between your legs. They said 'deeply.' Is that... an option?" The other players whispered among themselves. “This woman must have a death wish.” “Just watch. The Boss is about to tear her to shreds.” But no one expected the Boss to blush.

On the very day I sold my company shares to raise money for my wife’s medical treatment, my phone flashed with a notification about a trending post. "My husband or my lover, which should I choose?" An anonymous reply shot to the top of the comments. "Why choose? I want both." What followed was a casual, shameless confession. A staged car accident right after the wedding, a fake overseas treatment plan, parents who helped maintain the lie, and millions siphoned off under the excuse of life-saving medical fees. The money was never for treatment. It funded luxury vacations, hotel suites, and a long-term affair. Someone asked if she was afraid her husband would find out. Her answer was chilling. "Why would I be afraid? He thinks he took my first time and swore to take responsibility for me forever. He doesn’t know it was just a repair surgery I did for his sake." The post ended with a vacation photo. A woman in a bikini, smiling under the sun. And on her waist, a tattoo with the letters 'NG.' The same tattoo worn by my wife.

I have a case of acute pancreatitis. I head to the hospital, but the doctors there refuse to treat me. Why? Because my husband is a doctor in the emergency room, and he's instructed everyone not to treat me. In my past life, he would show up with a single phone call. But, after his true love dies in an accident, he pushes the blame on me. On my mother's birthday, he poisons my whole family and repeatedly stabs me with a scalpel. "Does it hurt? Jackie was in much more pain before her death. If not for you, she wouldn't have gone out in my place. You killed her, so I'm making you and your family die for her!" When I open my eyes, I'm back to the day when I get acute pancreatitis after drinking the bar dry for his sake. This time, he runs to Jackie Morse without hesitation. He thinks he's made the right choice, but he later comes to me and grovels at my feet, begging me to take him back.

While pregnant with twins, I'm abducted three days before I'm due to give birth. My husband, Sheldon Jackson, refuses to deliver the ransom money himself. Instead, he wants to save Madison Smith, his sister-in-law, who was also taken at the same time. In order to guarantee Madison's safety, he leaves the task of saving me to someone else. "I have to protect my brother's unborn child. Harry is my most trusted subordinate. He'll definitely bring you back home safely!" However, Sheldon doesn't know that Harry Smith wants me dead. "The children she's carrying are bastards!" he says to the abductors. "We can't let them live—both the twins and the woman." I beg the abductors to let me talk to Sheldon one more time to reveal the truth, but he hangs up on me because of Madison. When he finally remembers me, he receives a phone call from the abductors. "We've dealt with your wife for you, Mr. Jackson."

My husband doesn't love me or our daughter. It's been six years since she was born, but he's never held her. The doctors say he has an emotional disorder, and that he doesn't know how to express the way he feels. But when his true love returns, he smiles at us for the first time. He even brings our daughter a gift. I think it's because he's finally seen sense… until she and I see the photo he uses as his phone's wallpaper. In it, his eyes are crinkled as he smiles. He has one arm around a little girl whose front tooth is missing, and he holds his true love's hand with the other. My daughter tugs on my hand, and her eyes redden. "Mommy, do you think we should leave? Should we give Daddy three final chances? Let's leave him if he still doesn't want us after that."

When my roommate learned that getting pregnant in university came with special treatment, she brazenly posted on the campus forum, openly recruiting a "baby daddy." [Requirements: over 5'11", eight-pack abs, handsome, assets in the millions, no bad habits.] Afraid she would ruin her life on a moment of reckless impulse, I snatched her phone, deleted the post, and gave her a serious rundown on the risks and consequences of early pregnancy while still studying. After much deliberation, she was finally persuaded. But a month later, a classmate struck it rich by getting pregnant. She not only married into a wealthy family, but also received a million-dollar childbirth bonus from her in-laws. My roommate was driven mad with jealousy. She stormed into the dorm, shrieking at me at the top of her lungs. "If it weren't for you, I'd be a rich wife by now! You owe me my life!" As she screamed, she stabbed me over and over, venting her rage until I was dead. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day she first posted on the forum, brazenly searching for a baby daddy.