En Multiple Identities

En mi vida pasada, mi hermana Marina y yo dimos con dos huevos misteriosos y los pusimos a salvo. Del suyo nació una serpiente de hielo, y del mío un fénix envuelto en llamas. Marina me arrebató el fénix que yo había criado con tanto cariño, pero nunca pensó que acabaríamos viviendo un apocalipsis de calor extremo. Ella se murió asfixiada por el calor y, en su último aliento, logró persuadir a Iván, mi esposo —la serpiente de hielo— para que me estrangulara. Pero nadie imaginó que volveríamos al mismo día en que esos dos huevos empezaban a romperse. Esta vez, Marina se quedó con Iván. Creía que, con él a su lado, podría salir adelante sin problema en ese infierno de calor, confiando en su poder helado. Pero lo que no sabía era que, para mantener su fuerza, esa serpiente necesitaba alimentarse de sangre fresca todos los días.

I fell for Don Lorenzo Moretti the second I saw him. Hard. As a mafia princess, I wasn't supposed to chase anyone. But for him, I swallowed my pride and made him my mission. A year later, he finally had me, pinning me to the bed as he moved inside me. His eyes were pure fire, and in that mo ment, they saw only me. For ten years, we were electric. We fucked in five-star hotels all over the world. We just fit. I was his lucky charm at the poker table. I took shots for him until I bled from my stomach. I even took a bullet for him. Then came our engagement party. Lorenzo left me standing there alone. Said something "came up." I went back to our apartment, only to find him kissing my stepsister, Juliana. That’s when I knew. He had always loved her. I was just a stand-in. He tried to explain, words tumbling out in a panicked rush, promising a bigger, better party to make up for it. A laugh, cold and hollow, died in my throat. I turned my back on him, pulled out my phone, and called my mother in Sicily. "I'll marry into the Romano family."

En el quinto año después de emigrar, mi esposo, Iván Rodríguez, trajo a su amor de juventud y su hijo a casa directamente, dijo. —Mónica y su hijo acaban de llegar, se quedarán en aquí por unos días. Por eso, tuve una fuerte discusión entre él y yo. En el día de mi cumpleaños, Iván me entregó un acuerdo de divorcio y me apuró: —Fírmalo rápido, Mónica necesita la Green Card de aquí, nos divorciamos temporalmente. Frunció el ceño, queriendo entender bien la situación. Pero Iván me señaló con el dedo en la cara y me dijo que no tenía ni un poco de compasión. Después del rato, vio la publicación de Mónica Gómez en Instagram: “¡Iván se divorció por mí y por mi hijo! Por fin tenemos un lugar donde quedarnos.” Le dio un like en silencio, y después de firmar el acuerdo de divorcio, solicitó a la empresa para regresar a mi país.

I told Charlie my biggest secret—I was the long-lost daughter of the powerful Moore family in Dreslane. He swore he'd help me reunite with them. But the night before I met them, the Moore family made a grand declaration—they'd already found their missing daughter. A ceremony was set. I rushed there, heart pounding, only to see Charlie standing beside his childhood friend, Raine. She was being introduced as the Moore heiress. And somehow, she had the exact same birthmark as me. Before I could do anything, Charlie locked me in a restroom. "It's just a name," he said. "You still have me. So why does this matter? Raine's parents died saving me—she never had a real family. For my sake, can't you just let her have this?" Then, to erase any doubt, to make sure Raine could live as me without fear—Charlie took a knife and carved the birthmark off my body. The shock. The pain. I lost my three-month-old unborn baby that night. And as I lay there, blood soaking through my clothes, I finally gave up.

Just because his first love's younger brother accidentally fell into Shadow River, my Alpha mate, Ethan Horn, forced me, the only Spirit Soother of our pack, to go and rescue him. When I sank to the bottom of the river, I chose not to save him. When the man was pulled out of the river, the healer lamented, "If it were a few minutes earlier, Leo might have been saved. What a pity." Ethan's first love, Serafina Pike, had her wolf soul shut off and soon passed away because she missed her younger brother, Leo Pike. From that moment on, Ethan, who had once loved me, hated me to the core. Without giving me a chance to explain, he slit my throat with a silver blade and ruthlessly sealed my wolf soul. Later, he believed the heresy of the witch about soul sacrifice and nailed me and our young daughter in coffins before burying us alive by Shadow River as sacrifices to resurrect his beloved Serafina. In the end, the woman he deeply loved did not come back to life, and my daughter and I died with endless resentment. When I reopened my eyes, I had returned to the night when Ethan forced me to jump into the river to save Leo. I tied up the specially made rope and asked him for the last time, "Are you really sure that you can bear the consequences after I rescue him?"

I went into labor. And my mate, Alpha Alistair, locked me in a silver cage. The bars throbbed with curse runes, burning my skin. He did it for Livia. His dead brother's mate. Her pup had to be born first. That's when I learned the truth. He'd been poisoning me for months. All to make sure Livia's child would be the next Alpha. He called it "calming tea." A daily dose of poison to slow my pup's growth and delay my labor. But my body had other plans. My pup refused to wait. I went into labor at the same time as Livia. When he found out, he accused me of faking it. Of begging for sympathy. He let them poison me with wolfsbane. I lost my pup. A piece of my soul died with him. With my last breath, I reached out. To the one person who could save me. My brother, Alpha King Lucian. He came like a storm of rage. He burned the packhouse to the ground, with me inside. A phantom fire for all to see. Then, he plucked me from the flames. Only then, surrounded by the smoking ruins of his pack, did Alistair fall to his knees. His howl of regret tore through the night. For 99 days, he howled at the moon. Begging the Moon Goddess to return just a sliver of my soul.

To my parents, I was their obedient and kind daughter. To my students, I was their gentle and understanding piano teacher. To my audience, I was the star performer at the cabaret. Of all these different identities, my favorite was by far the last. I enjoyed the hungry gazes that fell on me, searing my skin like flames. I enjoyed the juxtaposition between my different identities, never tired of playing different roles. In a sense, I was born to act, and I was passionately devoted to each of my identities. So, won't you come watch me dance?

Los dos hermanos con los que estaba comprometida se enamoraron de la hija adoptiva de mi familia. Para ganar su cariño, me engañaron para que me rapara la cabeza y, acto seguido, me encerraron toda la noche en una pista de esquí. Por petición de mis padres, aguanté todo en silencio. Pero un día, mi hermana se cortó un dedo mientras pelaba frutas, por lo que ellos me obligaron a ir al hospital para donar dos litros de sangre. Lloré y supliqué, pero alegaron que ese era el castigo que merecía por haberla maltratado. Fue en ese momento que perdí toda esperanza… y me subí al carro del hermano mayor de ellos. Sin embargo, aquellos dos, que no dejaban de decir que querían cancelar el compromiso, terminaron llorando de arrepentimiento el día de mi boda.

El día de mi boda, mi hermana menor regresó al país de improviso. Mis papás, mi hermano y mi prometido me dejaron sola y se fueron al aeropuerto a recibirla. Mientras ella subía a sus redes una foto grupal, presumiendo que todo mundo la adoraba, yo marqué una y otra vez: me colgaron todas las llamadas. El único que contestó fue mi prometido: —No hagas un drama; la boda se puede volver a celebrar. Ese día me convirtieron en el hazmerreír de la boda que tanto había esperado. La gente señalaba, se burlaba, y yo tragué en seco. Respiré hondo, arreglé todo yo sola y, en mi diario, escribí un número nuevo: 99. Era la decepción número noventa y nueve. Entendí que no iba a seguir esperando su amor. Completé la solicitud para estudiar en el extranjero y empaqué mi maleta. Todos creyeron que, por fin, me había calmado. No sabían que ya me iba.

Durante cinco años, lo apoyé en silencio, ayudando a mi novio a pasar de ser un simple asistente legal a socio en Ponce & Beltrán Abogados. En la ceremonia anual de premios del despacho, yo estaba emocionada, lista para celebrar con él y darle una sorpresa. Pero entonces lo vi subir al escenario con una compañera. Estaban uno al lado del otro, con una cercanía que no dejaba lugar a dudas. —Rodrigo está donde está, gracias a mí, gracias a que estuve detrás de él planeando cada paso. Tania presumió, con una sonrisa victoriosa. Él sonrió y le dio la razón. —Es cierto. Sin Tania, yo no estaría hoy aquí. La sala estalló en una ovación y todos los presentes se apresuraron a felicitarlos. Yo, de pie entre la multitud, sentí que el suelo se abría bajo mis pies. Salí del salón y le marqué a mi asistente. —Retírale todo el apoyo de nuestros contactos a Rodrigo y cancela cualquier colaboración que tengamos. También vamos a dejar de usar influencias para apoyarlo en ese caso irregular que tomó. Que asuma las consecuencias solo.