Forced Face Sitting

My father-in-law said he wanted to experience "how the young folks have fun these days," so I took him to my wife's newly opened upscale cocktail bar for a quiet drink. I’d just finished ordering him a custom cocktail when a man from a booth across the room swaggered over, glass in hand. His eyes scanned the drink menu on our table, and a condescending smirk twisted his lips. "Only ordering the cheapest well drinks?" he sneered. "Brought the old man here to enjoy the free air conditioning? Trash like you belongs in a dive bar. Who even let you in here?" Anger burned in my chest. I stood up, my jaw clenched. "We're paying customers. What's it to you?" But before I could say another word, his face darkened with pure rage. He snatched the half-finished beer bottle from our table and smashed it on my head. "My girl owns this place!" he snarled. "Even if I crack your skull open, I can afford the payout! You filthy pauper—either get on your knees and lick my shoes dry, or get the hell out of my sight. You're an eyesore." The beer dripped down my face. My hands trembled with fury as I wiped it away. Then, a cold calm settled over me. I opened my phone, switched to the camera, and went live. "Alright, everyone," I said into the screen. "You won't want to miss this. We're going live to catch my cheating wife and see the double life she's been leading."

Since the age of 12, Aurora had known that she would be Raymond’s future Luna and wife. However, just before inheriting his Alpha position, Raymond found his fated mate—a rogue girl named Giana. Forced by his parents, Raymond had no choice but to marry Aurora. Yet on their wedding night, he abandoned her to be with Giana. Tormented by the mate bond, Aurora ended up having an ONS with a handsome and charming man. But how could that man turn out to be Raymond’s best friend, the Alpha King’s nephew, and notorious playboy—Kane…?

Georgia fell for Alpha Evans the moment she laid eyes on him…and discovering he was her mate only sealed it. She fled from a forced marriage to a Lycan King, choosing love instead. For two years, she gave Evans everything. But love wasn’t enough. On their anniversary, he brought home Anastasia. His first love and chosen mate. Georgia tried to endure it… until Anastasia shoved her down the stairs, costing her their baby. And Evans? He didn’t even flinch. That was her breaking point. “Sign the divorce papers, Evans. I’m done with you!!” Evans only laughed. “You’ll regret this, Georgia. You’ve got a few days to come to your senses. Don’t forget you’re a nobody. You have nowhere to go. You’ll eventually come crawling back.” That’s what he thought. He believed Georgia was just a poor, helpless orphan..exactly what she wanted him to believe. But Evans had no idea who he was messing with. Georgia wasn’t just anybody. She was the daughter of Alpha Blackwood…the strongest, wealthiest Alpha in all the packs. Now she’s back to reclaim what’s hers.

For the nursery's Family Day, my husband, Gary Lane, said that he was busy at work and told our daughter, Emily Lane, and I not to participate in the event. I looked at Emily's disappointed face, my heart ached. Therefore, I decided to take Emily to the event myself. As soon as we arrived at the nursery, we saw Gary carrying a little boy in one hand and holding his childhood sweetheart, Shannon Harvey's hand in the other. They looked like a family of three and were very happy. That was until they saw me and Emily. Gary furrowed his brows a little and then let go of Shannon's hand. "Don't get me wrong, Jasmine. It's not easy for Shannon to raise a child as a single mother. It's the child's fifth birthday today. She wanted him to experience some fatherly love." I looked at him meaningfully, squatted down, and held Emily's hand. "Honey, say hello to Mr. Lane."

On my boyfriend, Draco Leroyce's birthday, I take him to a newly-opened fancy restaurant of my own for his birthday meal. Thinking that we'll be having a birthday cake for dessert later, Draco and I decide to order a set meal that includes a pizza and a plate of pasta. With a smile, I hand the menu over to the waitress. She plasters a fake smile on her face as she grabs the menu. But she secretly calls us "broke ass bastards" in Virellian. I draw my brows into a deep frown instantly. "What did you just say?" The waitress is momentarily stunned. Then, she shoots me another fake smile. "I said I'll prepare your food right away." I just sneer back at the waitress before responding to her in fluent Virellian, "You were calling us broke ass bastards."

At just 19, Sienna lost her parents and, as the Alpha’s daughter, was forced to inherit the pack early. But on the eve of her wedding, her fated mate—Julian—betrayed her. If she didn’t go through with the marriage, she’d lose her right to the pack’s leadership the very next day. With no other choice, she married her parents’ most trusted Gamma: Asher Blake. What she doesn’t know? Asher’s real name is Alaric Valmor—a noble Lycan prince and the true heir to the kingdom...

Right after finishing a meeting, I opened a forum and saw a warning post. The location tag was our company. The title read: “Red flag! What a cheap company. Anyone who joins is a total sucker. They can’t even afford a decent coffee break.” The photo attached showed the expensive coffee and five-star desserts I had just asked my assistant to distribute to everyone. I frowned and tagged the entire group chat, asking if anyone had suggestions about the afternoon tea. A Gen-Z intern who had just joined, Julian Hayes, instantly replied with a voice message: “Boss, no offense, but these assembly-line desserts are full of trans fats. Nobody would eat them.” “A truly humane company hires a Michelin chef to cook and slice everything fresh on site. That’s what real respect for employees looks like.” I laughed in disbelief. Our company’s daily coffee break budget was thirty dollars per person—already considered top-tier in the industry. So I replied, “Since it’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s taste, we’ll cancel afternoon tea from now on and convert the budget into cash for everyone instead.” Less than five minutes later, that post was updated: “Guys, can you believe this? I made a perfectly reasonable suggestion and the lame boss immediately canceled the whole coffee break perk! This is the true face of corporate greed—can’t handle even a little bit of honesty!”

"She’s just a legal vessel for my heir. Once the child is born, I’ll dispose of her." Those ruthless words shattered Serena’s three-year marriage to billionaire, Rafael Navarro. Hidden in the shadows, she watched her cold-hearted husband passionately entangle with his own stepsister, realizing she was merely a biological pawn meant to bear a healthy child to bypass their twisted, genetically doomed bloodline. Disgusted and fiercely protective of the newly discovered life growing inside her, Serena refused to be their sacrificial lamb. On a violent stormy night, she orchestrated her own tragic death, plunging a car off a cliff and burying her naive love at the bottom of the deep abyss. Five years later, the weak, discarded wife is dead. In her place stands Dr. S, a globally feared and untouchable medical genius. Karma strikes with absolute vengeance when the child Rafael ultimately had with his stepsister is born with severe, rotting genetic defects. Desperate and out of options, the once-arrogant billionaire is forced to his knees in public, offering his empire to beg Dr. S for the boy's life, completely oblivious that the ruthless woman looking down at him is the wife he drove to her grave. But Rafael's ultimate descent into madness begins when he crosses paths with Serena’s four-year-old prodigy possessing his exact emerald-green eyes, a son who coldly looks right through him, leaving Rafael to burn in the ashes of his late regret.

Before my boyfriend, August Cadwell, marked me, we went to register our mate bond at the Pack Affairs Department. Without a word of explanation, he unexpectedly had someone throw me out of the office. Then he walked in with his childhood sweetheart. He didn’t even blink when he saw me sitting there on the ground, shaking with disbelief. "Hailey's pup needs to be part of the Aurelis pack. The best and quickest method is for her to register a mate bond with a werewolf from the Aurelis pack. As soon as we sever the mate bond, I'll form a mate bond with you." Everyone assumed the lovesick version of me would wait just one more month for him. After all, I'd already waited seven long years. But that night, I did something unexpected too. I accepted my parents' arranged mate bond and quietly left for the Lymerian pack, disappearing from his life entirely. Three years later, I returned to my original pack to visit my family. My mate, Ryder Weyland, was now the lycan chairman. Because of an urgent council meeting, he arranged for someone to collect me from the airport. I never imagined that “someone” would be August. The moment he spotted me, his eyes immediately landed on the sparkling bracelet on my wrist. "Isn't this a knockoff of the bracelet Ryder Weyland, the lycan chairman, spent two million dollars on for his mate? Didn't expect you to turn this vain after just a few years. "You've caused enough chaos, haven't you? It's time to return. Hailey's pup is now of school age. You can take on the responsibility of pick-ups and drop-offs." I gently ran my fingers over the bracelet on my wrist. Little did he know that this was the cheapest one Ryder had ever given me.

Seven years into our marriage, Zane Grimes and I remained childless. He once held me close, his voice tender and earnest. "Don't overthink it. I've never cared for children. You're all I want in this life." But on the day his company went public, as the ceremonial bell echoed through the hall, the doors burst open. My sister stormed in, cradling a wailing infant. "Zane, this is your son! How can you abandon us?" Zane's face paled as he turned to me, his eyes brimming with panic and a silent plea. Unbeknownst to him, I had long known about his betrayal and the child.