Good Pick Up Lines

On Valentine's Day, I set up a candlelit dinner and waited. At 9 PM, my husband, Alfred Johnston, finally texted. [Something came up at work. Don't wait for me.] Then I saw her post. [On a business trip with the CEO for Valentine's Day. Every hotel is fully booked—awkward...] Vivian Bianca, his secretary. Attached was a photo of a guy in a bathrobe, standing by a floor-to-ceiling window. The comments were all 'ooh, CEO's so hot and girl, you're in for a night.' Vivian? Just dropped a smug emoji. So that's what "something came up" meant—a romantic getaway with his secretary. I screenshotted it, posted it on my own feed, and added a smiling emoji. A second later, Alfred called, fuming. "Vivian was joking! Why are you so petty? She's young, not as calculating as you!" I didn't let him finish. "Then let's get a divorce. That way, I won't have to care when you screw around and catch something."

My husband, Caleb Price, and I, Sienna Hart, have been married for many years. Our relationship is going strong, and our son, Tobey, is thoughtful and kind. I've always believed we would spend our whole lives together. What I don't expect is that Caleb would hurt me and Tobey three times because of the same woman. The first time, we agree to celebrate Tobey's birthday, but Caleb forgets his promise because he has to pick up his first love, Lila Monroe, from the airport. When I return home from a business trip, all I find is my heartbroken son. The second time, Caleb secretly takes our son and Lila to the amusement park. He doesn't know that Tobey is allergic to peanuts, and he ends up in the hospital. The third time, Caleb repeatedly promises to pick Tobey up from school alone, but when Caleb hears that Lila is ill, he tells Tobey to go home by himself. On the way home, Tobey is kidnapped. After he's rescued, he spends three days in the hospital in critical condition before pulling through. Each time, Caleb apologizes with utmost sincerity and swears that there won't be a next time. Maybe he's forgotten, but I once told him that I'd only forgive him three times. So, when he finishes apologizing and thinks life will return to the happy days it was before… It doesn't. Yes, I forgive him, but I'm also taking Tobey and leaving him—forever.

After betrayal shatters her world, 17-year-old Julianne Ashwynd wants nothing more than to disappear. But when a glowing mark appears on her skin and powers she can’t control begin to stir, disappearing is no longer an option. Drawn to Blackthorn Academy—a school that shouldn’t exist—Julianne finds herself surrounded by Vampires, Werewolves, Incubi, Dragon-born… and somehow, Julianne fits right in. With her past cloaked in mystery and her magic dangerously unstable, Julianne must unravel the truth of who, and what, she is. But the four supernatural boys who orbit her each carry secrets of their own. One will betray her. One will protect her. One will awaken her magic. And one may claim her heart. But trusting the wrong monster boy could mean the end of everything.

After losing her daughter to a cruel betrayal, Evelyn is done being loyal. Her mate—Adrian, the Alpha she once trusted—broke his promise, chose another, and left their daughter to die. When Evelyn discovers the truth, rage takes over. One night of blood and fire forces her to flee her pack, hunted like prey. Wounded, broken, and barely alive, she crosses into forbidden land—territory ruled by the mysterious Lycan King, Damon. The villagers say he’s a monster. That he’s ancient. That he kills without mercy. But when Evelyn sees him for the first time, something deep inside her stirs. It’s not love. It’s not desire. It’s something older. Something dangerous. Known to all as a force to not mess with. Damon isn’t just powerful. He’s watching her. Waiting. And Evelyn begins to wonder if crossing into his world wasn’t a mistake… but fate. He sees the fire still burning in her. She sees the ruin buried in him. And in the ashes of everything she lost, something new begins to rise. A bond neither of them expected. A war neither of them can avoid.

That winter, our whole family went skiing in Aespen, Amestia. It was a popular spot for werewolf nobles and the wealthy. Then, the avalanche struck. My father's first instinct was to scoop up Summer—his sleeping adopted daughter—and flee. My mother, panicked, still made sure to grab the stray puppy Summer had found. They returned to the Moonshadow Pack that same night, posting a flood of photos online and rejoicing over their miraculous escape. Not one of them remembered me. Their biological daughter was still buried beneath the snow, waiting for rescue. When I was finally rescued, I did not look back. I took my mentor's offer to study abroad and left the pack behind. I moved to Cascade City to study medicine. No more pleading, no more shrinking myself in hopes of earning back my family's love. Yet they only seemed more disgruntled. "Rose, why aren't you competing with Summer for our attention anymore?"

The day Pedro Palmer's mom was supposed to get my kidney, I ghosted. He waited outside the OR for ten hours. What did he get? A death notice. After that, he went full beast mode on his career. Five years later, his company blew up. Media darling. CEO. Power suit. And yeah, he was holding another girl's hand, all smiles for the cameras. "Do you have anything to say to Ruth Rackham? We heard she supported your early days," a reporter asked. Not even a pause. "Yeah. Thanks for vanishing. For letting my mom die with questions. For wrecking me. She taught me not to trust anyone." He stepped in closer, eyes cold. "This is what you wanted, Ruth? Too bad. Love's gone. And you? Not even worth my hate." That's when Nellie Lyon, the reporter, went pale. "Mr. Palmer... Ruth Rackham died five years ago. She was the test subject. She donated her body—before she passed..."

I knew that my father did not like me since I was young. When I wanted to commit suicide to end the pain caused by my illness, he was celebrating another child’s birthday. He hated my mother and me alongside her. So, when I told him that I was sick, he did not believe me. “Is this your new tactic to get money from me?” No one believed that the daughter of the Powell family could die because she was too poor to pay the hospital fees. My father did not believe it either. However, when he saw my dead body, the famous actor who hated his daughter actually went insane.

"I reject you! Lucas Archer Farrow from the White Walkers Pack! From now on, I will be nobody's Luna but myself!" The youngest multi-billionaire Alpha in werewolf history turned out to be a woman. Leah Lewyn walked out of the airport in low profile and was immediately surrounded by hundreds of paparazzi. "Why did you reject your ex-husband, Alpha Lucas of the White Walkers?" a reporter asked. "Are you kidding me? I've got my own wolf pack to run and a gazillion-dollar fortune to inherit," she replied. "Is it true that you're currently having affairs with 8 young actors at the same time?" another reporter inquired. "Give me a break," Leah rolled her eyes and chuckled. "They're young aspiring contract models." She barely finished her words before someone walked out of the crowd and stated in a cold voice, "She is currently having an affair with no one else but me, her one and only ex-husband." "Miss Lewyn, I've got a wolf pack to run and a gazillion dollars as well. Why don't you come and be my Luna, so you can inherit my money?"

We'd been legally married for seven years, yet my CEO "fiance", Jared Lane, had ditched me at the altar thirteen times. At our first wedding, his assistant, Maeve Fischer, scraped her leg. I spent the entire day waiting alone at the ceremony. At our second wedding, he heard she was sick and tossed the wedding ring away to rush to her side. On every wedding day after that, some accident would conveniently happen to her. By the 13th time he bailed, I had had enough and decided to walk away. But when I found comfort in another man's arms, Jared lost his mind trying to win me back.

Some people come into our lives some will stay and some will leave. Any of that two I believed that we don't meet people accidentally. We meet them with purpose, to teach us something or to simply add value to our life. Sedriano the man who came into my life, the man who made my world upside down. The man who values loves and gives me pain. The man who gives me butterfly kisses on my stomach. We were too young when we fell in love but I was so sure that it will last. With the promise, we made together with his bitter goodbye. This is our story.