G L O O M Y Unscramble

Miguel, I'm happy for this moment..." Ximena wrapped her arms around his neck as she cooed lovingly, mixed with the gasp due to the finished 'strenuous action', Just Before she could mutter "I love you", the man murmured in a hoarse voice. "Tan..." Ximena froze. Tan was Tania Roberto, the first love of Miguel Ricardo. Tania hasn't returned to the country, she has stayed abroad all these years. But, Just yesterday, she arrived back in Mexico. Moreover, she had sent Ximena several provocative text messages. She wasn't yet over her Ex. "Ximena, I'm back! You have to vacate from the Ricardo family! I'm back to take back what rightfully belongs to me." "Miguel and I are childhood sweethearts. Did you think you could replace me in just a few years? Get out! Get back to the Streets where you're likely to belong. You're doomed to remain in the streets forever."

At an interview, my husband, Julian White, reveals that he has already allocated his assets properly. The host in charge of interviewing him makes a joking remark that he must have left large amounts of money to his son and wife. With a gentle smile on his face, Julian denies it softly. "I only left them enough money to sustain their lives. The rest of the assets are reserved for my adoptive daughter, Rosy, only. "This is a promise between me and her mom. I had promised her that I'd make sure her daughter would lead a lavish and worry-free life at her grave." When I hear Julian's statement, I pause in my actions of preparing a meal for the children. Then, I look up at the television in disbelief. Meanwhile, Julian is prattling on and on about his deceased first love, Vivian Bennett. Some time later, the host speaks up again. "Does your wife know about this?" Julian is left feeling taken aback for a moment. But his smile doesn't change at all. "She won't disagree with my decision. Over the years, she's been nothing but great to Rosy. Heck, she's even better than most caretakers out there." I take off my apron and walk out of the kitchen. Then, I scoop up my son, Jude White, who's in the middle of picking up toys for Rosy, into my arms and return to my room. It's been six long years, and I've finally had enough with this family. Since Julian doesn't intend to give me and Jude anything, then he can find himself another "caretaker".

I've been in a five-year relationship with my mate, Alpha Callum Nash. However, he has delayed the Luna Coronation Ceremony 52 times so far. The first time it was held, Seraphina Vance, an outsider Omega whom Callum had taken in, lost control of herself and shifted into a wolf on the training grounds. He quickly returned to the grounds to soothe Seraphina, but in doing so, he abandoned me in the sacred grounds for the entire day. The second time it was held, Callum had sensed that an elder was making Seraphina's life difficult halfway through the ceremony. He immediately interrupted the vowing ritual and headed back to the pack just to defend Seraphina. As I stood on the altar on my own, I could hear the rest of the pack making fun of me. Since then, whenever the Luna Coronation Ceremony is held, Seraphina will keep coming up with different problems that require Callum's immediate attention. In the end, I've completely given up on Callum, so I decide to sever our mate bond. On the day I leave the pack territory, Callum, who's no longer able to pick up my scent, goes crazy.

I've returned to the country on the night of New Year's Eve. At the welcoming party, my girlfriend, Sabrina Monroe, suddenly produces a diamond ring and goes down on one knee. "Although this proposal is delayed by three years, our love is never late. Will you marry me, Colin Lawrence?" All of our friends begin cheering on us. Everyone is practically waiting for me to nod and accept Sabrina's proposal with tears in my eyes. They've completely forgotten about the fact that I prepared a lavish marriage proposal for Sabrina on New Year's Eve three years ago. Back then, she had told me that she'd show up on time. But that night, I was the only one present in a fancy suit. I waited the whole night for Sabrina, and yet she never showed her face. All I received was a phone call. "Matthew has fallen ill. I'm too busy taking care of him, and I can't leave his side at all. Let's put a raincheck on the marriage, yeah?" So, I left the country on New Year and accepted the marriage alliance my family had arranged for me. This means I'm already married to someone else for three years.

As soon as I've moved into my new home, Rebecca Zangler, the white-collar office worker who lives across from my apartment calls the cops on me. Her reasoning is that I've been peeping on her whenever she's taking a shower because my unrequited love toward her has transformed into brimming hatred and resentment. When the police show up, Rebecca starts crying her heart out. Then, she begins berating me. "You pervert! Every night, you're the one peeping at me with your binoculars! You even uploaded my photos to the Internet! "I saw everything, you know! Those eyes of yours are nothing but lecherous! You really are disgusting!" My neighbors begin pointing at me while mumbling about me. Someone even comes over and starts roughing me up and calling me a scumbag. "Perverts like him should be chemically castrated!" "He looks decent at first glance, but you'll never know that he's actually a peeping Tom!" When faced against everyone's backlash, I take off my sunglasses quietly, revealing my cloudy eyes. "Officer, may I ask how can a blind man like me peep on others in the first place?"

"So, what do you think about my brilliant idea?" he continued this time, with a glimmering smile on his face. "My name is Ghino Frost, by the way. Just like you, I was betrayed and cheated by the ones I loved the most."     Ghino's proposal completely tempts me as it makes me realize the reason why I dream of someone impossible. Dylan is my best friend - the love of my life.     And it appears that my one-of-a-kind dream - holding his hands - kissing his lips - and making love with him forever stays in a dream. Dylan and I will never happen.     But I badly need anything that can distract me and survive for the night. Just for the night. "Fine," I finally spoke up after a few minutes of considering everything. "Let's do it. Let's have sex."

When Vera Sinclair’s longtime boyfriend dumps her for the heiress she unknowingly replaced, she’s devastated but not broken. For years, she played the role of the perfect girlfriend, filling in the gaps while he pined for another woman. But now? She’s done being second best. Just when she thinks she’s free, a powerful billionaire, Asher Donovan enters the picture with an intriguing proposition. He needs a fiancée to silence his family’s constant matchmaking, and Vera, with her newfound indifference to love, is the perfect candidate. But Asher isn’t just any billionaire, he’s her ex’s former business rival, the one man who can make her ex regret ever letting her go. As Vera steps into the world of high society on her own terms, she realizes that being a “substitute” was never her destiny. She was meant to be someone’s first choice. And this time, love might just come with the sweetest revenge.

We should have been born to hate each other, but love has a will of its own, and I can't turn my back on you even though the whole world hates me. * I turned toward the woods and squinted. Then I smelled something in the air. A scent so strong that it makes me freeze. And shortly after, I heard a howl of pain, just a moment, but enough to make me sure something was wrong. I clutched my bag, ready to open it to grab my phone when something jumped over the fence between the school and the woods. It landed right in front of me, and I thought I was seeing a werewolf. But no. it’s not a werewolf like I’ve always known. He stood on his two feet. And blood was smeared on his snout and his silver-feathered, clawed hands. I can’t scream. I could only stand transfixed while my eyes locked on his eyes which were as dark as the night sky.

Kaelan noticed I hadn't filed a single medical or living expense request in the pack’s resource channel for a week. He must have thought I’d finally kicked my greedy human habits. At dinner, he tossed a black card at me. It cut a cold arc through the air, landing beside my plate. “Your father’s treatment for next month. The wolf gene serum, the lab fees—it’s all approved.” His voice was pure Alpha command. An order, not a suggestion. “Bringing you and your father here was a risk. I fought the Elders for you. You are my mate. Stop begging for pack funds like a common stray. It’s a bad look.” He didn’t know my fingers were ice-cold when I picked up the card. The papers to sever our mate bond were already signed. So was my will. The hoodie I wore when I left was a faded thing he’d tossed at me three years ago. No one would believe it. The fated mate of an Alpha who ran a corporate empire… had to send a photo of a $10 painkiller receipt to a Beta assistant for approval. All because he thought a fragile human like me was a leech who couldn’t be trusted with cash. But a week ago, when my father’s lupus caused his organs to fail, I needed $50,000. He needed a dose of pure gene repair serum, synthesized in the pack’s high-tech med-bay. I begged him on my knees. His childhood friend, Seraphina, just laughed. She froze my request, saying she was helping me break my bad habit of “cashing in on my mate status.” Kaelan never knew I endured that humiliation just so my father could stay alive in his top-tier medical lab. Now, my father was dead. The medicine was cut off, and his ashes were already in the ground. I didn’t need to be his obedient little pet anymore.

I was the princess sent over by the Werewolf Kingdom for an arranged marriage. I was also meant to be the blood bag of Count Dracula. In my past life, I helped him rule the Bloodsucking Empire. I willingly allowed him to drain my werewolf blood and even risked a dangerous pregnancy by having a baby of mixed bloodline. However, all Dracula did was watch his frail childhood crush dig out the baby from my body to save her life. It was only before I died that I realized he had never loved me. All I was to him was a mobile blood bank. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the Blood Moon Party when I was five months pregnant. Dracula raised the knife with silver blade in his hand. "Be good. All I need is some blood to save Anna." This time, I did not fight back as I did in my previous life. Dracula mistook it for obedience. He had no idea that the Werewolf Princess who had once loved him with her life had become mates with the highly aggressive Alpha King of the Werewolf Kingdom.