Devotion Words

On the third day of kneeling before the statue of the Moon Goddess and praying for Ryan Summers, a sudden row of glowing text appeared right in front of my eyes. [Ryan really is a piece of trash. His little childhood sweetheart, Rowena Blake, ran off the moment she learned he was going to hold a bonding ceremony, so he actually faked his own death just to chase her.] [Ryan and Rowena are out there whispering sweet nothings to each other under the flowers and moonlight, while Jenna Cuttridge cried her eyes nearly blind over that scumbag.] [Too bad Jenna never finds out that Ryan tricked her. When he comes back from playing dead, she even happily marries him.] So this was the miracle the Moon Goddess had bestowed upon me. Thunderstruck, I grabbed my phone and called my Alpha father, Jake Cuttridge. "Dad, remember that alliance bonding you mentioned last time? I agree to it." Half a month later, the news that I would be entering an alliance bonding with an Alpha from the Northridge Pack spread throughout the entire wolf kingdom. Ryan's friend, Luke Carter, who had been in on his plan, rushed over and demanded, "Ryan just died not long ago, and you're already so eager to find the next guy?" "He's dead. I can't possibly stay single for him my whole life."

My husband's ex, Sarah Miller, once ditched him to chase a rich guy. When she came back, she was crippled, dragging along two scrawny kids. The day I found out I was pregnant, Jake Carter demanded a divorce. "Sarah is too weak to manage alone, and her kids need someone. I've got to step up," he said. I nodded calmly and went straight to the hospital for an abortion. In my past life, I fought to keep the baby and refused the divorce, even exposing Sarah's dirty secrets to the world. Her reputation was ruined. She became a pariah, and eventually, she took her kids and ended it all. In her blood-soaked suicide note, she blamed me for driving her to despair. Thus, Jake hated me to the core. He hired thugs to assault me, posted the video online, and spread lies that I was a cheater. In the end, he threw me and our child into the sea. As I died, he snarled, "This is what you get for killing Sarah!" When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day he demanded a divorce. This time, I agreed on the spot. Jake was thrilled, dreaming of winning Sarah back. What he didn't know was that, in my past life, I uncovered why Sarah was dumped. Her private life was a mess, and she caught AIDS.

Leonard Burton and I are childhood sweethearts, bound by a family-arranged marriage. After we marry, we live a loving, harmonious life. In a terrible accident, he even gives up his only chance at survival to save me. After Leonard's death, we find a journal among his belongings. In it, he records the three years he was missing after falling off a cliff—years spent with another woman he deeply loved. But his parents had forcibly separated them and arranged our marriage instead. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had continued to protect that woman from afar, silently and faithfully. At the funeral, Leonard's mother, Charlotte Newman, is inconsolable. "Leonard, it's all my fault. Would you still be alive if I'd let you marry Yelena back then?" His father, Samuel Burton, glares at me with hatred. "He fell off that cliff saving you. He died in that crash shielding you. Why do you bring him nothing but harm? Why aren't you the one who's dead?" Yes, why is it not me who's dead? I look at Leonard's familiar, smiling face on his gravestone before running at it and smashing my head on it. When I open my eyes again, I'm taken back to when he just returned from that small fishing village. This time, I choose to let him go and give him what he wants. Finally, I see Leonard again.

My uncle’s rival, Emmett Meyer, saved me twice. The first time, I was drowning after a shipwreck—until he cut through the waves on a speedboat and dragged me ashore. The second time was after someone had slipped drugs into my drink. That night, I seduced him, a hardened man ten years my senior. In the dim glow of a private room, he guided my hand downward and growled, “I want you so bad, Babe.” He took me ruthlessly, ignoring my sobs and pleas. From then on, Emmett—the untamable “Prince of Silverbridge”—abandoned his reckless ways and devoted himself to me. Or so I believed. Then one day, he coaxed me into his Rolls-Royce and captured our tryst on camera. I flushed with embarrassment and secret delight. Later, as I hurried after him to return some documents he had left behind, I heard the sneers whispered in the hallway: “You’re so wild, Emmett. Everyone heard your girl moaning.” “Damn, the car rocked so hard I thought you’d break it.” “Hey, if Franklin Reed ever finds out that his precious niece has been your plaything for three years… think he’ll have a heart attack?”

Three years ago, I drugged the mafia heir, Vincent. After that one wild night, he didn’t kill me. Instead, he fucked me until my legs went weak, gripping my waist and whispering the same word over and over: “Principessa.” Just as I was about to propose, his first love, Isabella, returned. To keep her happy, Vincent let a car hit me, had my mother’s heirlooms thrown to stray dogs, and sent me to prison… But when I was finally broken, flying to Boston to marry someone else, Vincent tore New York City apart to find me.

“I am betrothed to marry you…” Esmé mumbled, shivering from her shoulders down her spine. Maybe it was because her clothes were soaked from the rain or the cold stare that the man was grazing towards her—piercing, cold, and judging. "You’re sexy underneath those already-drenched clothes. I could understand if you wanted to tempt me. But you’re crazy enough to tell me you’re marrying me,” he said with a smirk. She never thought she’d be on her knees in front of any man, crying and begging for him to take her in. Left with no options but to beg for shelter at the hands of the most dangerous mafia in their city, Esmé lets go of shame and pride just to talk to the man who is promised to her. With no parents to support her claim that she is betrothed to the billionaire mafia praised by many, she only has her words which he labeled as lies. But Esmé won’t give up that easily, especially when she has dedicated her life to honor her parent’s words before they were assassinated. It was then that Esmé knew she had to stay alive to avenge her parent’s death. But nothing comes easy, especially when it’s a forced marriage to a man who doesn’t want her. By virtue of courage, trust, and seduction—Esmé will go to the depths of hell just so she’ll get his attention, devotion, love... and never let her go.

My boyfriend has depression. To help cure him, I pass on the opportunity for a recital abroad. Instead, I accept commercial gigs so I can rake in the cash. After one performance, I see my boyfriend holding hands with a woman who looks like me in a private room. He wears a sharp suit and smiles so brightly that he doesn't even look ill. The people around him cheer and tease him. "You really are different with your true love back in the country. When are you two going to make things official?" "I heard you'd been dating another woman for seven years, though. Do you love her?" Charles Foster smiles indifferently. "I was just having some fun with her. Only an idiot like her would take me seriously." I sob with devastation while hiding behind a door. Suddenly, I feel like a fool for spending seven years with him. I call my mentor, who suggested that I take part in the international piano competition. "I will take part in the competition."

The day my family and the Fido family decided I should marry Callum Fido, I shocked everyone by rejecting the arrangement. Without hesitation, I instead chose Jaxon Fido, Callum’s uncle. Everyone was stunned. After all, everyone in Central City knew I, Moon Sawyer, had loved Callum more than I loved myself. When I was young and naive, I had declared I would marry no one but him. I followed him for ten years and lost who I was in the process. If he told me to go left, I would never dare turn right. If he told me to jump into the ocean, I would have done it without thinking. In my past life, I got to marry Callum, just like I always wanted. But on our wedding day, he shut the door in my face. He pressed the knife he had personally sharpened against my chest and said, “The one I love and want to marry has always been Ruby. The only way you’ll enter this house is as a dead body.” Ruby Sawyer was my sister. The Fido family had called him ungrateful and forced him to go through with the marriage. But after the wedding, he kept looking for women who looked like Ruby and flaunted his affection for them in front of everyone. He let every one of his mistresses insult me, belittle me, and walk all over me. When I was pregnant, I was pushed down the stairs, and both my baby and I died. With a second chance at life, I chose to stay away from him and let him be with Ruby. But I never expected that the day the Fido family agreed to my new engagement, Callum would completely lose his mind.

By year four of our marriage, Scott had picked up a college girl—Gigi. Bright, beautiful, full of life. She had him, a billionaire, eating street food and chasing after her favorite esports player. Scott called. "Not coming home. Watching Joel Arnoult's match." Beside him, Gigi scoffed. "That boring old woman—does she even know who Joel Arnoult is?" They had no clue. The second the call ended, Joel had me pinned in the back of a dimly lit car. His teeth grazed my neck—sharp, teasing, a little painful. "Leila, if I win, how are you gonna reward me?"

The first thing Stella Judd did after she was reborn was kneel in front of her parents to beg sincerely, "Mom, Dad, if I have to marry into the Chilton family, I want to marry Eric!" Her parents were surprised. "Don't you like Noel, Stella? Don't you remember that Eric is Noel's uncle?" Something flashed across Stella's eyes as she was reminded of a memory. She spoke sadly, "I know what will happen if I continue liking Noel. I can't ever be with him. "Mom, Dad, I've never asked you for anything. As a heiress who has enjoyed a luxurious life in this family for as long as I can remember, I know it's my responsibility to uphold this marriage alliance. This is my only request, so I hope you can agree to it."