Fake Chat

On the day my twin sister, Alexia Cavanaugh, and I turn 22, I collapse and find out that I have late-stage cancer. Ignoring the doctor's advice to be admitted, I walk out of the hospital. All I want is to spend one final birthday with my family without a single worry. But when I arrive at the party, a server stops me at the door and tells me the venue has been reserved exclusively for Alexia. Outsiders aren't allowed in. Through the glass, I watch as my brother holds a cake and my father places a birthday hat on Alexia's head. Even my boyfriend is there, smiling as Alexia makes a wish. I stand there for half an hour, gripping my phone, before my boyfriend finally answers my call. "I was just at the hospital. I—" He cuts me off. "Ophelia, you've always been healthy. It's Lexi's birthday today. We should talk later." Isn't today my birthday too? My mother died giving birth to me. The doctor later explained that I deprived Alexia of nutrients before birth, which left her frail from the start. And just like that, everyone decided I should always step aside for my twin, who was born five minutes before me. I ball up the report with my cancer diagnosis and toss it in the trash. I'm done letting their favoritism hurt me. I've never received their love anyway, so I choose to leave for good.

Using an alternative account, I secretly join a cycling group chat that my husband, Liam Johnson, is in. One day, an announcement is made in the group chat. "We'll be organizing a weekend mountain biking activity with an overnight stay, with two people sharing a room. To add some excitement, we'll be drawing lots for room assignments." I can't really understand it. Curious, I ask, "What if a man and a woman end up drawing the same room?"

On the tenth day of my postpartum recovery, my husband, Deputy Commander Harvey Wyatt, uploads a photo of me breastfeeding my newborn in a disheveled state to the department's group chat. Obviously, that photo was taken without my knowledge. "See? After having a kid, she's as loose as a sack. It makes me sick just looking at her. I much prefer my side piece, who's nice and tight." A few female colleagues send sweating emojis to the group. The majority of the chat, however, consists of the male colleagues' perverse silence. While I continue to burp my baby with one hand, my tears land on the screen. In order to give birth to this baby, my pelvic bone was sawn in half, which causes me so much pain that I can't even walk properly. But all I get in return is my own husband body-shaming me in front of hundreds of people. I don't bother arguing with Harvey at all. Half an hour later, I drag my broken body all the way to the commander's office with a divorce agreement as well as the chat history over the past ten days, which has been printed out, in my hands.

For five years, I was Alpha Damon’s secret. On the surface, I was his personal Beta. His most trusted second-in-command. In private, I was his fated mate. The one he was obsessed with. He wanted to be inside me every night, to lose himself in my body forever. Then, I got pregnant. I was so excited to tell him we were starting a family. But when I went to find him, he had another she-wolf pinned to his desk. His bite marks littered her skin. "I waited ten years for my fated mate, but she never came," he growled. "Chloe. You will be my chosen mate. My only one." Her answering moan shattered my soul. My wolf howled in agony. The pain of his betrayal was so intense, I felt a horrible cramp. Then, blood. I lost our baby. When I woke up in the hospital, I made a call I hadn't made in five years. "Brother," I choked out. "That arranged mating with Alpha Ethan? I'll do it."

Zoe Jensen's parents kick her out because she doesn't want to share them with Alice Reed. She ends up homeless on the streets. She ultimately dies of starvation. When she's reborn, she finds herself standing before Alice. The latter is crying and begging her. Zoe is delighted by this. Alice can have her parents if she wants them—Zoe doesn't want to lose her life because of them again!

My husband died unexpectedly, and my mother-in-law adopted a newborn boy. She said she wanted to keep this child by her side as a reminder of my husband. Therefore, I raised him as my own child. Later, when he grew up, I gave him the company with peace of mind. The first thing my son did after taking power was to have someone lock me up in the basement and torture me. He said, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn’t have been separated from my parents all these years." At the moment of my death, my husband, who had supposedly passed away for many years, appeared with his first love in his arms. "Sophia, how does it feel to be cheated for more than ten years? Fortunately, you raised a son for me so that we can live happily without you." Angered to death, I could only watch the three of them. When I opened my eyes again, I returned to the day when my husband died unexpectedly.

​"Pirmahan mo ang divorce papers at umalis ka na. Sofia is back, and I no longer have a use for a substitute like you." ​Sa loob ng isang taon, naging masunurin at mapagmahal na asawa si Aria kay Xander Black—ang mailap at ruthless na billionaire. Ngunit sa gabi ng kanilang anniversary, hindi regalo kundi papeles ng paghihiwalay ang ibinigay nito sa kanya. Itatapon lang pala siya na parang basura dahil nagbalik na ang babaeng tunay na mahal ni Xander. ​May lihim si Aria. Hawak niya ang isang positive pregnancy test, ngunit nang makita ang lamig sa mga mata ni Xander, pinili niyang manahimik. Hindi deserve ng lalaking ito ang kanyang anak. Nang walang salita, pinirmahan ni Aria ang papeles at naglaho nang parang bula. ​Pagkalipas ng Limang Taon. ​Bumalik si Aria sa bansa, hindi na bilang isang api, kundi bilang isang matagumpay at sikat na fashion designer. Ngunit ang mas ikinagulat ni Xander sa kanilang muling pagkikita ay ang batang lalaking kasama ni Aria—isang "mini-version" ni Xander na may parehong matatalim na kulay-abong mga mata. ​Nag-apoy ang galit at pag-aari sa dibdib ni Xander. "Kaninong anak ito, Aria?" mariing tanong niya habang isinasandal ang babae sa pader. ​Ngumiti lang si Aria nang may pait. "Anak ko siya, Mr. Black. At ikaw? Isa ka lang estranghero sa amin." ​Gagawin ni Xander ang lahat para bawiin ang kanyang tagapagmana, ngunit sapat ba ang yaman at kapangyarihan niya para muling makuha ang pusong dati niyang winasak? Isang bilyonaryo ang luluhod—mapatawad lang ng babaeng kaisa-isang minahal niya.

"Whose illegitimate child are you pregnant with?" My parents demand to know, looking crazed. They want to know whose child I'm carrying. I look at them and laugh. "One of the kidnappers, of course." My parents and brother are stunned, and they turn ashen. I continue softly, "Don't you guys remember? The kidnappers asked for a ransom, but you guys were only willing to save your other daughter. You wanted to teach me a lesson." Mom collapses on the couch. "That can't be. We wanted to teach you a lesson so you would stop bullying Eden. I didn't… We didn't…" I crouch before her. "You guys never expected the kidnappers to violate me, right?" I don't wait for an answer. "Do you think a few kidnappers would have morals and ethics?" She parts her lips to speak, but I don't give her the chance. "I was covered in injuries when I got home. Why didn't any of you ask me about them? "You guys took Eden away without bothering to save me. You didn't return for a day, for two days, for a month… Did you think the kidnappers would think that they could still receive the ransom?" They should be happy now—I'm about to die.

My parents' enemy kidnaps me and livestreams chopping off my fingers just to force them to show up. For a time, the entire Internet searches for my parents. But what they don't know is that the captain who appeared in the livestream is my biological father. At that moment, he's on a beach in Hashford, setting off magnificent fireworks for his adopted daughter. And on their barbecue table, the livestream of my fingers being severed is playing. Later on, when I survive long enough to be rescued, I reach out my mangled hand to touch my parents. They recoil in disgust and leave without looking back, taking the adopted daughter out for Wersole food. But they don't know that the thing hidden within my mangled palm will make them regret their actions beyond measure.

Damian was the fearsome don of a mafia family, but I was his sole weakness. In order to marry me, a poor girl from the slums, he was punished by his family sixteen times, and the scars on his back remained terrifying, even to this date. To make me happy, he killed one of the best arms dealers in the world just to get the blue crystal I had mentioned offhandedly once. He built a manor named “One and Only” for me and swore that I was his one and only true love. I had thought that our happiness would last forever, until the day I saw him cradling a pair of twins in another manor. The twins’ mother was my mortal enemy. She had once had someone break my ribs and stuff dirt into my mouth. Hence, on the day of our wedding anniversary, I prepared a grand gift for him: a private jet that exploded and plummeted into the ocean, along with a charred wedding ring. In my world, betrayal never led to forgiveness, only abandonment.