Farley Family Crest

My father cheated. I cut him out of my life. To get my forgiveness, my father put Lucas Moretti, the Don of New York, in my bed. I fell for Lucas, fast. He knew how to play gentle. Night after night, he’d hold me tight, fuck me like he owned me, and whisper how obsessed he was with me. Six months later, I was pregnant. I was the princess of New York's underworld. My father and Lucas gave me everything. They treated me like I was made of glass. But the day of the baby's blessing at the church? They were a no-show. My father said there was family business to handle. Then I got an anonymous link. A wedding. Live. In the video, my father, Lorenzo, was walking his mistress, Carla—the woman who killed my mother—down the aisle, a happy smile plastered on his face. And the other happy couple? My fiancé, and my father's bastard daughter, Sofia. I could hear Lucas’s voice clearly: "Well, Bella used to bully Sofia. I'm just helping her get the justice she deserves... As for Bella, it's time she was unburdened from a life she isn't built for." "I'll take over the Gallo family shares for her," he continued, "so she and our child can live without a care in the world." My father’s voice followed. "Bella’s too much like her mother—ambitious. That’s not a good thing for a woman." As my world shattered, a text from an unknown number lit up my screen: "Marry me, and the child you're carrying will be the sole heir of the Russo family."

My three older brothers, Marcus, Jeremy, and Andrew Graham love me to the moon and back. Marcus clumsily practices peeling apples for me when I lie on a hospital bed. Jeremy blushes as he buys sanitary pads and prepares a warm drink for me when I have my period. Andrew spends all his pay to buy me new clothes and even declares, "Whoever bullies you will pay the price." He isn't shy to express his brotherly love for me. I once believed that my life would stay happy like this forever. However, my adopted sister, Mackenzie Falk, accuses me of swapping the graduation thesis she has been working on for three years. I suffer a heart attack on the spot.

The night of my first shift at eighteen, my two older brothers brought home a twelve-year-old orphaned Omega. My alpha brother seized the rare healing herb I'd spent all my savings on—herbs meant to ease my first transformation—and gave them to her instead. "You're strong enough," he growled. "You don't need such precious herbs." My beta brother snarled with fury, pointing toward the door. "Get out! Don't come back!" I said nothing more, just grabbed my packed bag and left. They assumed I was merely throwing a tantrum, that I'd return in a few days. My brothers, finally free of my presence, took the orphan girl on an international vacation to the Caribbean islands I'd always dreamed of visiting. Many days later, when they returned to the pack, they were shocked to discover I'd accepted an offer from the neighboring pack's Head Healer. The position required fifteen years of isolated herbal research. I could never return home. That night, they fell apart.

When my family was at its poorest, a wealthy family found me and claimed that I was their real daughter. The school heartthrob I crushed on? He was my fiancé all along! Still reeling from all these surprises, a mysterious message suddenly popped up in front of me. "This is where everything changes. The cannon fodder is taken home by the female lead's parents, forced to drop out of school, and then gets pregnant by her fiancé. In the end, everyone thinks she's a harbringer of misfortune, and she's beaten to death." My hand froze as I held the paternity test results. My mom's eyes filled with tears as she took the report from me. "My poor child, you've suffered enough all these years! Don't worry. Just come home with us and rest. You're our daughter now. The family business is enough for you to live comfortably forever. You don't even need to take the SAT if you don't want to." The school heartthrob lowered his head and whispered sensually into my ear, "Listen to me, Lucia. Studying is hard. I'll take care of you from now on."

My world fell apart on the day of my Luna ceremony. My mother and older brother approached me with bad news. My younger sister, Lilith, was cursed and did not have long to live. They wanted me to fulfill her only wish before death. She wanted to replace me as my Alpha, Fenris', mate. That included giving her my Luna ceremony. I was shocked and angry. I looked at Fenris as I expected him to reject this ridiculous suggestion as well. However, he nodded. "Don't worry, Selene," he said to me. He sounded so sincere. "This is only temporary. Once we've fulfilled Lilith's last wish, you'll be my mate forever." I was adamant about rejecting that suggestion. It was too crazy! However, my 'beloved' brother, Damian, forcefully dragged me off into the Dark Forest, where it was rampant with wild beasts. That was also when I realized I was pregnant with Fenris' child. My pregnancy weakened my strength tremendously, and I was mauled by the wild beasts while still alive. By the time everyone remembered me, all that was left of me was a rotting corpse lying in the forest.

It was Christmas Eve. Once again, my parents left me alone at home, chasing triple pay at work. However, after twenty years of the same lonely holiday, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to sit in the quiet house by myself again, so I packed up some sandwiches and went to them. What I didn’t expect was to see them stepping out of a luxury car, arms linked with a boy who looked about my age, laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world, heading straight into a five-star hotel. “Mom, Dad, is it okay to leave Suzie all alone at home like that?” My mom waved it off and said, “It’s fine. She’s used to it.” My dad just brushed it off with a chuckle. “She’s nothing like you. You're our real treasure.” Upon hearing that, I turned and walked away. They'd been pretending to be broke all these years, lying to me about working overtime, about scraping by. Well, fine. If they don’t want me, I’m done wanting them, too.

On my son, Nicholas Grafton's birthday, I've gone to great lengths to prepare a delicious carnivorous feast and a beautiful pendant meant for protection. But that's when I overhear Nicholas speaking with my Alpha mate, Tobias Grafton. "Daddy, I've already promised Aunt Whitney that I'd go to the amusement park with her on my birthday. But Mommy insists on celebrating my birthday with us. "What should I do? I want to celebrate my birthday with Aunt Whitney more, but Mommy doesn't like her at all. This makes me very troubled…" I freeze on the spot. At the same time, my face goes pale. Soon, I receive a mind-link message from Tobias. "I have something to do tomorrow, so lunch is now canceled." The next day, I head over to the amusement park, as though my sixth sense was leading me there. As expected, I spot Tobias and the others. Nicholas can be seen sitting on Tobias' shoulders while shrieking excitedly at the top of his lungs. Whitney Lockwood, my half-sister, shields Nicholas protectively the whole time. The three of them look so close, like they are the actual family here. Tobias' head is lowered at all times, his gentle gaze constantly fixed on Whitney's face. As I stare at them from my spot, I let go of everything related to them all of a sudden. After looking down at the diagnosis report that shows the confirmation of late-stage silver poisoning, I turn in an application to dissolve my mate bond with Tobias without hesitation. Now, I no longer want anything to do with Tobias and Nicholas anymore.

My dad’s crush came back, and my mom decided to fake her death. “Jane, I’m the main character of a tragic story. If I don’t fake my death now, I’ll end up miserable. “Go tell your dad that Quiana killed me.” In my past life, I had done exactly as she said. My dad had flown into a rage and destroyed the Sullivan family. After that, my mom returned to the land of the living. I thought our family would finally be whole again. Instead, she clung to Dad and cried. “I gave Jane my contact information. How could she say I was dead?” To punish me, my dad locked me in a cold storage room. My mom shot me a cold look. “That’s what you get for calling that woman pretty.” In the cold storage room, at −58°F, I froze to death. When I opened my eyes again, my mom had already faked her death and ran off with her devoted admirer. I looked at my dad and asked with an innocent expression, “Dad, what does eloping mean?”

After my beloved boyfriend dies in a fire, my sister marries a rich man. So, I marry her husband, Jason Grant's father. We go from being sisters to being mother and daughter-in-law. We're still a family, aren't we? Later, Jason pins me to a corner while breathing heavily. "Money is all you want, right? I can give you everything he can. Wouldn't it be much better for you to be with me than with a paralyzed old man?" Oh, he's got this all wrong. Money isn't what I want. His life is what I want.

While taking the high-speed train home, I came across a post online. “My brother-in-law is pushing thirty, but no wedding bells so far. Would it bother you if he came back to visit all the time?” The comments were all over the place. With the post blowing up, the poster started arguing with commenters. “It’s bad enough that he doesn’t start his own family, but he took one of my yogurts. I can’t stand him. “Geez. Does he know nothing about keeping boundaries? I’ve been dying to put him in his place. “I converted his room into my walk-in closet. Well, that should show him for staying here.” At that point, I stopped reading. Since I paid for the family home back then, one room would always be reserved for me. As I stepped off the train, my mother texted me. “I booked you a room at the hotel, Miles. “You might want to skip staying home this time.”