Every Scar Will Build My Throne

I was supposed to be the pampered youngest daughter of the Falcone crime family. My fiancé was Lorenzo, the heir to the Caruso dynasty. I had three brothers who were the most feared men on the streets. But everything changed the moment my long-lost older sister returned. "Isabella was kidnapped by our enemies when she was three. She went through hell until the family found her at eighteen. Why can’t you just cut her some slack?" "Elena, if Isabella hadn't gone missing, the Don would never have had you just to fill the void. You owe her your life. What right do you have to compete with her?" Time and again, I stepped back into the shadows for my sister. But on the night before my wedding, Isabella called Lorenzo. "Lorenzo... I’m at the Old Port docks. There’s a strange car here and three men just got out... I’m so scared..." Lorenzo didn't even wait to hear the rest. He slammed on the brakes and kicked me out of the car in the middle of a torrential downpour. I clung to the door of that black Maybach, begging him. "Lorenzo, it’s the night before our wedding. This is rival turf." "Just this once, for the sake of the family’s reputation, can’t you choose me?" Lorenzo grabbed my wrists and shoved me away. "If anything happens to Isabella, I swear I’ll send you to hell myself!" But those "three men" Isabella mentioned? They were actually our three brothers, who were only there to watch the ocean and set off fireworks with her. That night, my three brothers and my fiancé were at the seaside, showering her with affection. And I died in an abandoned slaughterhouse on the edge of the city. This time, I finally gave way to my sister completely. But tell me—when you saw my corpse, why were you all crying?

Ever since we brought our six-year-old daughter, Elise, home, she's been keeping her distance. My husband, Patrick Sheeter, chalked it up to "adjustment issues." Told me to bring her more gifts when I got back from my overseas trip. I was halfway out the door when I heard her voice in my head. 'Should I tell Mom that Della always hits me? 'Dad says Mom hates tattletales. Especially me. 'But if I keep quiet, I might not make it till Mom gets back.' My stomach flipped. I turned around. Elise was curled up in the corner, eyes glassy with tears. Silent. But I still heard her. 'Maybe I lived again just to see Mom one more time.' Patrick, noticing I was frozen, casually reminded me I was gonna miss my flight. Right. Like that mattered. I turned and slapped him so hard. Screw the business trip. I was staying. Let's see who's got the guts to mess with my kid now.

When my stepsister, Kate Lawrence, is poisoned at the full moon ceremony, my father, Jack Blackwood, condemns me at once, convinced that I am the one behind it. He clamps silver chains around me and drags me into the manor's dark underground cell. His eyes burn hatefully as he snarls, "You wretch! How could I have a daughter like you? Rot in here!" I drop to my knees on the cold floor and try to explain, but the sentence he throws over his shoulder as he turns away snuffs out the last of my hope. "Even if she dies in there, no one shall go in! Whoever lets her out will die with her!" The cell severs the mind-link completely, so no one hears me screaming. Seven days later, he finally remembers me, not knowing that I'd already died on the fourth day when the silver burned through to the bone.

“Strip!” A cold command sent chills down my spine. “What the hell?” I thought. Before I could get any words past my throat, a tall, dark figure stepped forward. “Get undressed,” the man growled. His voice was like waves crashing against rocks and his command, one that almost brought me to my knees, made my stomach flip. A night at the club brings Elodie closer to her destiny, but she vows to stay away from Chase because he was trouble with a capital T. Fate brings them even closer when she realizes he was to be her step uncle. A human and an Alpha, their worlds don't mix as far as Chase knew but what he didn't know was Elodie wasn't an ordinary human girl as he thought.

My student, Renee Blue, comes from a poor family, and her mother suffers from uremia. Out of sympathy, I lent her some money. She promised to pay me back after graduation. However, on graduation day, she handed me an ultrasound and told me, "Your money comes from your husband anyway, right? I’m pregnant with your husband’s baby, so I won’t be paying you back. Also, you should step aside." I was in shock… because my husband had been dead for seven years. It wasn't until I saw Renee with my driver that I understood how she got pregnant.

To pursue the goblin prince Cole Hutch, I devoted five years of my life. However, on the very day I'm about to marry him, dressed in a wedding gown, I overhear a conversation between Cole and his friend. "Cole, are you really going to marry Lilian?" his friend asks doubtfully. A shadow flickers across Cole's eyes. "Of course. The Heroic Alliance has been eyeing our kingdom for a long time, and now that Shia is pregnant with my child, the alliance elders are displeased with me. Marrying Lilian is the perfect way to appease them." "Aren't you afraid Lilian will find out you've been seeing someone else and go after Shia?" The friend asks again. Cole replied, "She won't. She's madly in love with me. She'll keep the secret for my sake. She's gentle and easy to control. As long as I marry her, we can at least delay a war against our kingdom, and Shia will be safe." My entire world shatters at that moment. In my daze, I get ambushed and gravely wounded. And when I finally wake up from my unconsciousness, I remember everyone, except Cole. So, when the leader of the Heroic Alliance contacts me to ask me to return for an arranged marriage, I immediately book a portal back seven days later.

My best friend, Sabrina Reeves, hates children. She wants a child of her own, but she doesn't want to give birth to her own child. So, she sought me out and asked me to help give birth to a child for her. She even claimed that her child would be my child, and that they'd take care of me when I grew old. I thought she was crazy. Also, I warned her that it was illegal to find a surrogate mother in our country. Out of fury, Sabrina cut off all ties with me and called me a shameless wretch. "It's just giving birth to a child! I can do that too!" But Sabrina started smoking, drinking, and bar-hopping a lot. She could never get pregnant no matter what. After that, her husband brought his mistress and illegitimate child home before kicking Sabrina out. "Even a hen is capable of laying eggs! I've married you for so long, yet you can't even get pregnant! You really are a loser! "I never said anything about you wanting your best friend to give birth to my child! But you can't even get that done! Isn't this all your fault?" Sabrina pinned the blame on me. She slashed my stomach open repeatedly with a blade. Just like that, I died from the sheer pain. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the day Sabrina asks me to help give birth to a child for her.

During a road trip with my girlfriend, we accidentally collided with a limousine. Just as we were joking about having to pay an outrageous sum in compensation, the owner stepped out of the car. He greeted us warmly, asked if we were hurt, and even insisted we didn't need to pay a dime. But that simple gesture sparked a huge misunderstanding in my girlfriend's mind. At the proposal ceremony, she flat-out rejected me, ran to the restroom, and called her best friend to vent. "They're both Vanders, but Josh is a penniless loser, and Alexander is the richest man in the city! "The fortune teller said my true love's surname is Vander. If that's the case, why can't it be the richest man instead of Josh? "I looked it up. That car owner is Alexander. And he didn't even want me to pay for rear-ending him. He must have fallen in love with me at first sight! "In love, there's no such thing as first come, first served. I won't accept Josh's proposal. I'm going to marry the richest man!" A shiver ran through me. My years of devotion to her had moved only me. What she didn't know was that the 'richest man' she was dreaming of marrying wasn't anyone else—he was my father.

My best friend, Mia Sullivan, had gone abroad for three years. When she finally came back, she was in tears. She said she had been dumped by a scumbag, was pregnant, and had nowhere to go. I felt terrible for her, so I not only let her move into my house but also asked my husband, Hudson Darby, to take extra care of her. That was until I found a prenatal checkup receipt in the study. The patient was Mia, and the family member who had signed was Hudson. I worried I was jumping to conclusions, so I shoved it back and rushed out the door. After I got downstairs, I realized I had forgotten the files I needed for my meeting, so I headed back up. That was when I saw Hudson and Mia in each other's arms. "What if Charlotte finds out the baby I'm carrying is actually yours?" Mia asked. "Don't worry. Charlotte trusts us so much, there's no way she'll figure it out," Hudson replied. In that moment, the seven years of love I had given him instantly turned into a cruel joke.

“F*ck, you’re so tight, babe!” I put a hand over my mouth as I peeked through the gap in the door. “I like it! I like it! Harder, Dan!” Gia moaned, nearly losing her mind. “I don’t think we’ll be able to do this anymore, since you’re getting married tomorrow,” Gia said, breathless. “Even if I’m married, I’ll still pound you hard like I’m single,” Daniel replied between breaths, continuing to thrust into Gia—while Gia glanced toward where I was and smirked at me, as if to mock me. Yes—she could see me clearly. And it felt like she asked Daniel that on purpose, as if it was something they did all the time. I used to think Daniel was such a gentleman because he never asked me for that kind of thing. Turns out, he was getting it from someone else. Inside the room, I could see my fiancé, Daniel, completely naked behind his childhood friend Gia—who was also completely naked. I didn’t even realize the tears were falling until I felt them on my cheeks, still staring at their filthy act. I thought I would be the one to surprise him—but I was the one who ended up shocked. I didn’t stay to watch what happened next. I left and wiped my tears away. “Just wait,” I whispered into the air, “and you’ll see how Althea Bailey gets her revenge…”