Despair

My husband’s childhood friend was trapped in an elevator for half an hour. In his anger, he stuffed me inside a luggage bag and locked me inside. “You’re paying double for all the suffering Grace went through.” My body was forced into a curled-up state. I had a hard time breathing. I cried as I apologized, but all I got was my husband’s cold reproach. “You’re going through the entirety of this punishment. Once you’ve learned your lesson, you’ll behave.” He then locked the luggage bag in the closet. I screamed in despair and struggled to break free. My blood seeped out of the bag and soaked the floor. Five days later, he felt sorry for me and decided to end the punishment. “Let this punishment be a warning for you. This time, I’ll let you go.” Little did he know that my body was already rotting inside the luggage bag.

My younger sister, Sophie Sawyer, got pregnant before marriage, gave birth to a baby boy in a small clinic, and then disappeared. The doctor used the address she left behind to find my family and handed the child to me. My parents knelt and begged me to raise him, and that was how I, an unmarried young woman, struggled through life with a child on my hip. When I finally managed to raise him, Sophie came back, standing beside a big-shot boss dripping in gold. She held her son and cried, accusing me of being jealous of her, stealing her child, and tearing them apart. My nephew cut ties with me without hesitation, choosing her over me. My parents kicked me out of the house. The neighbors all condemned me. In despair, I jumped to my death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Sophie gave birth.

What would you do if three hot men came to your doorstep claiming to be the father of your kids? I would slam the door against their faces. ***** Briar Ashford had everything—an ideal marriage, a loving mate, and a baby on the way. But her world shattered when she discovered her husband’s affair with her closest friend. The betrayal led to the loss of her baby and a burning desire for revenge. In a moment of reckless despair, she had a one-night stand with a stranger before fleeing to start anew. In her new town, the moon goddess grants her a second chance at motherhood, but the blessing comes with unexpected twists. Seven years later, Briar’s past collides with her present when three men show up at her doorstep, claiming to be the fathers of her children. How was this possible? She only had a one night stand with one man. Want to know more? Read and find out.

The rules were never written, only expected—strip, gel up, lie still, and wait for him. Vera never expected her life to take this turn. It was never easy, but she never imagined it would end in his bed like this. Her fate was sealed the moment her father gave her as a token of peace to Roman Bendetti. He is her vendetta. The worst part? Her husband, Roman, is in love with someone else. Her name slides from his lips whenever he’s with her, worshiping her while Vera lies in his shadow. Just as Vera has resigned herself to a life of despair, something shifts. Everything changes when a new lord starts to crawl out of the shadows, claiming Vera as the queen of his world. What will Roman do? Will he let her go? Because letting her go means his throne is in danger. And what about the one thing he wanted from her all along?

Both Sienna Zeller, a top-tier actress, and I went into premature labor, and my husband, hailed as the star obstetrician, pulled a deformed baby from me. The shock nearly broke me. I sank into despair, only to accidentally discover that Sienna was my husband's first love. He had deliberately caused my early labor, planning to swap my healthy baby for hers, all to protect her image. Sienna played the perfect mother in public while secretly abusing my daughter until she was left mentally impaired. Heartbroken, I went to rescue my child, only for my husband and his first love to conspire, shoving us both down the stairs to our deaths. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I gave birth. I touched my unborn baby and vowed that this time, that cheating, cruel man and that treacherous woman would pay.

After years of suffering abuse at the hands of her mate, Blair Gaines resorts to desperate measures to escape. To disguise herself, she uses a witch's charm to cloak her shifter scent and moves to Orange, California, in hopes of starting a new life and picking up the pieces of her broken self. Hurt, broke and on the verge of despair, she gets some relief when she finds a job, and things are finally starting to look up until she meets the CEO, Mac Walsh. Her wolf declares Mac is her mate, but that can't be true because she already has a mate and as far she knows, wolf shifters only mate once in a lifetime. No second chances. Plus, Mac is everything Blair despises; an alpha male, loud, brash and grumpy. But then, she soon begins to see a side of Mac that affects her more than she cares to admit. Could fate be playing games or is something more sinister happening under the surface?

On New Year's Eve, my daughter was critically ill. As she took her last breath, she said she just wanted to see her father one last time. But I couldn't bear to tell her the truth that her father was with someone else's child, lighting fireworks and celebrating New Year's Eve together. Beside me, calls continued being made, but none of them went through. My daughter passed away with regret in her heart, and I followed her into despair, jumping to end it all. Now that I've been given a second chance to live again, I looked at the man in front of me whose eyes were full of guilt and helplessness. However, my heart remained calm. "Just this once, Mariah. Tonya is sick, and she really needs me—" I cut him off and went to pick up my daughter. "Get out of my sight."

My wolf was cursed. I had three days left. But my parents and my mate, Alpha Edwin, forced me to surrender my Luna title to Meggie. All because she claimed a curse was killing her, too. In my despair, I agreed. The moment our mate bond shattered, the backlash nearly broke me. With tears in my eyes, I asked them, "If I died, would you even miss me?" They told me to stop faking it, their expressions ice-cold. But they didn't know. Meggie's curse was a lie. And mine was all her doing. It wasn't until my wolf faded to nothing that Meggie's true colors were revealed. Only then did they scream at her, blaming her for my death. But Meggie just snarled back, "I wasn't the only one who killed Hazel. You all did, too, didn't you?"

On the day of the SAT exam, my girlfriend’s childhood friend, Benedict Casper, forgot his admission ticket at home. She insisted on retrieving it for him, but I begged her not to go. In the end, Benedict missed his final chance for taking the exam and, overwhelmed by despair, he jumped to his death. Years later, my girlfriend, Ella Simpson, and I graduated from Whitmore Institute of Technology, landed high-paying jobs, and built a picture-perfect marriage. But on the anniversary of Benedict’s death, she stabbed me repeatedly, her voice trembling with rage, “You killed him. If I’d gotten his admission ticket, he would’ve never jumped.” When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the exams. Ella’s frantic voice rang in my ears, “I have to go back, Dominic. I need to get Benedict’s ticket!” This time, I smiled and said, “Go ahead. Be careful on the way.”

I used to be the perfect daughter for my father, marrying Alpha Alexander for the benefit of my home pack, even though Alexander refused to mark me and insisted our marriage was merely a contract. I then became the perfect Luna for my Alpha husband, still hoping I could win his affection one day and we would be real husband and wife. But everything changed the day I was told that my wolf had gone dormant. The doctor warned me that if I didn’t mark or reject Alexander within a year, I would die. However, neither my husband nor my father cared enough to help me. In my despair, I made the decision to stop being the docile girl they wanted me to be. Soon, everyone called me crazy, but that was exactly what I wanted—rejection and divorce. What I didn’t expect was that my once arrogant husband would one day beg me not to leave…