Formal Dog Dress

I ended a pregnancy before it reached three months—and he never even knew. He was too busy rekindling things with his ex, still tangled in old flames. To make her feel comfortable, he gave her my master bedroom like it was nothing. He even turned what was supposed to be our engagement party into a welcome party for her. He let me become the laughingstock of everyone around us. So I turned away, cut up my engagement dress, and agreed to marry the man my family had chosen for me.

My mother marries into the Patterson family with me after her divorce. She marries Thomas Patterson, the dean of a veterinary hospital. Meanwhile, I marry Walter Patterson, a firefighter captain and Thomas' son. On this day, there's a huge storm. I'm almost due for labor, but I still head to the hospital to pick my mother up after an operation. We head to the subway, but it ends up being flooded. I endure the labor contractions and call Walter with trembling hands, wanting to ask for help. He finally answers after hanging up on me 18 times. "What the hell do you want? How stupid can you be, calling me in such a huge storm? "I'm saving lives here! Tracy's foot was cut by glass while being saved, and I've just bandaged her wound. Now, I have to take her dog to Dad's hospital so he can save it. The dog is hanging by a thread; if you need help, get some other firefighter to do it! Don't pester me!" Later, the rescue team arrives. My mother and I are pushed to the back of the crowd, and people won't stop shoving us around. The floodwater rises, and I have no choice but to carry her on my back while trudging along the corridor. This continues for three hours. When we're finally rescued, my mother is already unconscious, and I end up losing my child, who's almost to term. My mother and I look at each other tearfully in the ward we share. I say, "Mom, I'm getting a divorce." She says, "It's not a big deal, sweetheart. I'll do it with you. I've done it once before—I know how this goes."

The sixth year I gave up my family, my name, everything, to be with Marcus. That’s when I found out I was just a stand-in for the one he could never forget. And now, she was back. I accepted my family’s arrangement. The marriage alliance. The day my engagement dress arrived at the office, Marcus looked pissed. “I thought we agreed we’d get married when my career was more stable.” I said nothing. But when the wedding invitation arrived, Marcus finally broke. The groom wasn't him. It was the heir to the Moretti family.

Vivienne Fox has a fuck buddy or friends with benefits but no strings attached, with Darius Kaelen Frost, the formidable Alpha of The Moonshadow Pack, known for his icy demeanor and his disinterest in romantic entanglements. He believed love to be superfluous, yet trusted Vivienne as his sole companion in matters of intimacy. Secretly, Vivienne harbored a hope that Darius might choose her as his mate, but she knew that was unlikely, given his singular focus on her physical presence—their clear agreement. However, everything changed when Darius's destined mate, Princess Celestria, emerged, and she’s meant to be the Moonshadow Pack’s Luna. It was a devastating blow when that day, Viviene finds out about her pregnancy with Darius's child—a taboo in their pack, where such unions without a formal mate were scorned. Faced with this dilemma, the doctor offered Vivienne a chance to vanish quietly, to protect herself and her unborn child. Darius, oblivious to her pregnancy, severed the deal with Vivienne for Celestria, dismissing Vivienne as inconsequential without knowing she carried his child. In a desperate bid to shield her child from the pack's judgment and the possibility of ruining the Alpha’s reputation, Vivienne fled without a trace.

Ciara Cabral was kicked out by her mother as soon as she turned sixteen. She’s not part of the family her mother was building with a man not her father. She found herself homeless and helpless. A week into the streets, Renzo Pantoja approached her and offered her a place to stay, having experienced homelessness as well and knowing it must be more difficult for a young girl. He’s usually not at home anyway, too busy working here and there, building up his savings, and chasing the financial freedom he craves. Life isn’t easy, though. There are plenty of challenges. Lacking formal education, Renzo’s finding it difficult to secure a regular employment with good pay and benefits. Even so, he promised himself – never again is he going to sleep on the streets. He’s a hard worker and diligent in whatever jobs he got. Too busy with everything else, he didn’t bother finding love again after his ex-girlfriend turned him down for someone richer. Years passed and Ciara continued her admiration of him. It took him a long time, but one day, he finally recognized her presence as a grown-up woman. But it was then that the complications began. Would he be able to overcome everything and be firm with his decisions?

After three miscarriages for Xavier Lowe, I see it—my mother-in-law has three years left, my father-in-law nine years, and my sister-in-law two years. I say nothing. After the third miscarriage, my mother-in-law blames me, calling me a curse who "kills" children. My sister-in-law sneers, saying she almost died in a car crash the year I married Xavier—as if my bad luck dragged her down. My mother-in-law snaps, "She can't even keep a child. It must be because she's cursed!" Xavier just stands there, silent. He doesn't say a single word for me. I know that, deep down, he believes that I bring bad luck. Maybe it's also because he already has someone else—his secretary, Yvette Snyder. His mother has always liked her better, and he clung to her the night I lost my third child. I don't explain because I know the truth will only destroy them faster. On my 28th birthday, I catch a glimpse of my own countdown in the mirror. On that day, I take a leave of absence. I go to the funeral home and pick out an urn—pure white, just like the wedding dress I once wore. Wearing a beautiful floral dress, I text Xavier, asking him to meet me at the lake where we first met ten years ago. I wait from daylight until nightfall as my countdown ticks to zero. I die, and he never shows up.

In order to raise money for her mother's medical treatment, Heather, framed by her step sister Helena, accidentally had sex with a strange man named Killian and received a reward from him but Heather was too late and her mother died in the hospital. Devastated and heartbroken, she left the country after finding out that she is pregnant for the strange man. Five years later, Heather returned to her home town as a successful wedding dress designer but things got in between her and Killian again. Sex, love, hate and traps became the weakness of Heather, Killian and their suspicious allies.

I love dogs! Ngunit lumaki ako na hindi man lang nagkaroon ng aso. My parents wouldn't let me. Magastos at mahirap daw mag-alaga. Ngayong hindi na ako nakatira sa poder ng mga magulang ko, pwede na akong mag-alaga! Parang nakikisama ang langit dahil isang araw, may natagpuan akong isang aso. Isang malaking aso! Nanghihina ito at may mga sugat rin. I brought it home to tend to its wounds. Pinakain ko rin ito and I decided to take care of it. But, one day, my dog started acting weird. Palagi itong nagpupumilit na sumama sa loob ng banyo kapag maliligo ako. He would always sit still and watch me while I take a bath. It's kinda creepy.

My brother convinced my father to give me to the principal of an elite high school. When the principal was treating me like a dog, they showed off to the world with the money and the spot in the high school they had exchanged me for. I knew nothing about this and waited for them to rescue me. It was not until the principal showed me a video of how they were living a proud and happy life that I broke down in desperation and helplessness. On my third failed attempt at escape, the principal whipped me with a leather belt until I was almost dying. After that, he let his precious son, a German shepherd, torture me to death. When I next opened my eyes, I had returned to a time when none of this had happened yet. Well, my dear father and brother, do you think things would work out the way you want this time?

Building an empire comes first. Or it did until I met her. My family’s billion-dollar hotel chain has been my life for as long as I can remember. Travel. Women. Wealth. That’s all I know, until fate grabs me by the throat and decides to not let up. She’s a beach body, a beautiful, curvy California girl who hasn't found the right person to give into yet. I would have felt the same, but something about her has me pacing the floor at night. And my father sent me out to her hotel specifically. The sly dog knowing that she’s exactly the woman I need in my future. But it’s not that easy. It never is. Not until our love produces a little one. Then everything changes. Especially me. Now I want more than just one night. I want forever.