Hand To Myself

For four years, I worked three jobs to support my husband, Edward Godfrey, while he chased his PhD and battled ALS. And somehow, in all that time, I'd never stepped foot on his campus. Not because I didn't want to. Every time I brought it up, he had some excuse ready. When graduation came, I asked to go to his hooding ceremony. He shut it down fast. "It's just a formality. A bunch of lab nerds. You'd be bored. Once I bring the diploma home, we'll have a candlelight dinner." I didn't argue. Just helped him straighten his doctoral gown. But I couldn't hide how excited I was. So I dressed up. And secretly followed him. Onstage, Edward stood beside his wheelchair, voice thick with emotion. "I want to thank my wife. She stood with me in the lab, even while pregnant, helping me grind out countless precious data points." I froze. My hand pressed against my flat stomach. Cold crept down my spine. For four years, I'd busted myself raw to support his PhD. I went from the girl everyone on campus admired to a fish seller, reeking like seafood every day. Worked so hard I miscarried twice. So who exactly was this "wife" he was thanking?

When my husband and I drop by his childhood home for Christmas dinner, my mother-in-law, Melissa Potter, is the only one busying away in the kitchen. Everyone else is on their phones. I've just taken a seat when Melissa begins to lecture me. "What, are you just going to sit your ass down and wait for food to come? Don't you know when to lend a helping hand? Am I supposed to exhaust myself for your sake?" From time to time, she keeps rattling the pots and pans loudly. "I can't believe those with healthy bodies want a 70-year-old like me to serve them! Does anyone here have any conscience?" Feeling a little uneasy, I gave my husband a tiny nudge. "Why don't you help Mom out?" After Melissa hears my suggestion, she gets even more pissed off. Thinking that this is my first Christmas with my in-laws, I don't really want to cause a scene here, so I get up to my feet and help her out. But the moment I enter the kitchen, Melissa delegates all the tasks to me. I endure my fury as much as I can while finishing the Christmas dinner preparations. When I'm about to head back to the dining table and dig in, Melissa suddenly speaks up. "Hold up. We got scores to settle before dinner."

My childhood sweetheart, Nate Green, left me again and again, always for my stepsister, Jules Howard. Still, I forgave him and waited for him. I was stupid enough to believe he would come back one day, triumphant and sworn to marry me. Then, one day, he made Jules pregnant and promised her that their child would inherit the Silvermoon Pack. In that instant, every scrap of my hope, every night spent waiting, and every fantasy I’d let myself have was crushed beneath his feet. So, I turned away and took the hand of his younger uncle, Elliot Green. Because of my choice, Elliot became the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. Nate would never know the truth: I was the Luna the Bryce clan had always claimed as fate. Whoever beside me would be the one ordained to become the next Alpha. Later, under a full moon, Elliot and I stood on the ceremonial dais and accepted the blessing of the Moon Goddess. In that moment, Nate’s face turned white as paper. Finally, he understood that what he had thrown away wasn’t just a woman who loved him; it was the future of an entire pack. He used to treat me like dust. Now, he knelt among the ruins, frantic and broken, while I smiled down from my high place, cold and unmoved, never looking back.

She once humiliated herself by falling for him. She was set up which led her to his bed and she ended up in a situation she couldn’t even explain. Now, she was pinned against the wall in his office, her hands held above her head. Her back arched slightly, even her body betrayed her, she could see the city view beside them like nothing unusual was happening. “Sir...” She gasped the moment she felt his hand slide beneath her skirt. She regretted wearing a skirt. It had already been pushed up, revealing far more than she was comfortable with. Even with his one hand holding hers, he still has his fingers teasing her slick entrance through soaked lace. She couldn't describe how embarrassed she felt in that particular moment. He smirked and leaned toward her ear “I should hate you,” he whispered “but ever since I saw you naked, I’ve been so obsessed. I want to screw you so hard you will forget everything in the world, but how deep I can bury myself inside you until you’re screaming for more.” She took a deep breath. “This is wrong, Mr…” She swallowed hard. "Please… I still want to live...ahh… boss…” Her protest broke into a soft moan as his fingers went deeper and slowed like he was enjoying every second of her losing control. “Damn…” she gritted her teeth, trying to keep her voice down, afraid someone might hear them through the door. “You’re still pretending?” he chuckled in amusement, he intentionally kept his movement slowly. “My king… please…” she finally said what he had been wanting to hear. She had always been too proud to accept it. They used to hate each other. But could hate really turn into something this intense… this uncontrollable?

The 99th time my fiancé, Draven, hung up on me, I dragged myself to the family's church, my diagnosis of end-stage renal disease clutched in my hand. "Father, I wish to renounce the Rocci family and break off my engagement to Draven Frost." The words had barely left my lips when my parents burst in with my adopted sister, Bianca. My father, the family's Consigliere, didn't hesitate. He slapped me across the face, right there in front of the priest. "Your fiancé is a respected Capo in our world, and you choose to insult him like this!" "You're dragging our family's name through the mud in front of the whole organization!" My mother snatched the diagnosis from my hand, sneering after a brief glance. "Playing sick for attention again, are you? What is it you want this time?" My adopted sister, Bianca, clung to our parents' arms, her voice choked with tears. "I'm so sorry, sister. You can have my place at the gala. Please, just stop making trouble for Mom and Dad!" I wiped the blood trickling from my nose and calmly repeated my words to the priest. "I am no longer a daughter of the Rocci family. I am not worthy of an alliance with the Frosts." "I will be dead in three days. I want this engagement broken before then."

Carmen wanted to meet the man who took away her innocence and broke her heart into pieces for the last time and move on with her life as there was nothing left in between them but when she returned he trapped her without her knowledge..... My heart was beating fiercely and painfully as I was beginning to shake, his closeness was so overwhelming. When he lay on the he had been somehow vulnerable. The powerful muscle strength of his lean body less obvious but now he was on his feet again and although he still looked very pale he was very strong. The tight black curls were no longer able to give a touch of appeal to his tired face. His physical mental arrogance saw that. His arrogance made me back away like a frightened animal. “You have no right me to ask me questions and I'm not answering them.” I flung at him. “Why did you lie to him? I am no longer your wife anymore it’s just in papers and I just came back to set you free so that we won’t bother each other again. I will tell him about it myself and clarify his misunderstanding. Marc smiled grimly. “I know you will not.” he said taking my arms in one hand, his fingers pressing down into my flash. “Don’t you ever forget Carmen that you are my Legal wife.”

I will cherish you ‘n myself from eternity to infinity. This is a story about a human boy named, Naraja, who will keep pushing forward no matter the pressure.

I, Caspian Montgomery, have returned from the hellhole prison. I’ll use this Nine-Foot Titan Sword to move mountains, part the seas, cultivate myself to ascension, and rule the world.

At Smith family mansion, Camille and her mother Dorca were enjoying their expensive wine as they laughed heartily, it had been easy getting rid of that pest from their lives. " Mother you should have at least accompanied dad to her daughter's wedding," Camille said as she broke into laughter. " Oh dear, you know that I can't allow myself to get embarrassed in front of everyone, I can't have myself associated with Samantha marrying that old fool, it would be a disgrace to our family," Dorca replied sipping her wine ceremoniously. " Why were you at my wedding?" Eliot asked, the question Samantha had dreaded the most.

At nine months pregnant, I suffered an unexpected miscarriage. My husband, Graham Pearson, fought back his own grief as he comforted me. He would whisper to me every day, trying to soothe my shattered heart, "Whitney, we will have children again someday. Our little angel was here for a while, and next time, we'll make sure we hold onto them..." Under Graham's careful care, I slowly began to pull myself out of the numb fog I'd been trapped in. But then, a month later, I overheard him talking to one of his friends. "If Whitney finds out the baby didn't actually die and that you've let Cassidy raise him, don't you think she'll flip out? You've worked so hard to get where you are; you can't let this mess it all up." Graham casually flicked his cigarette, his voice almost detached as he waved a hand dismissively. "Cassidy can't have kids, but she loves children. If this baby brings her joy, it's a blessing for the child, too. "I might never get the chance to be with Cassidy, but letting her raise my son, in some way, feels like a kind of fulfillment..." The truth hit me like a frozen wave, paralyzing me in place. It turned out this whole ordeal had been part of Graham's plan from the start.