Healing Myself

After Nathan Seville stands me up for the seventh time we're supposed to register our marriage, I finally cut all ties with him—completely and on my own terms. If he shows up at a gathering, I don't go. If he's invited to perform at the college anniversary, I leave early. The moment my company decides to work with him, I resign on the spot. Even on Christmas Eve, when he shows up at my house with gifts, I make up an excuse about needing to visit someone. Calls? Blocked. Socials? Deleted. My strategy is simple—cut it all off. I don't reach out, and he has no way of finding me. For the first 30 years of my life, I spent most of it loving him with everything I had. I cared for him, supported him, and waited for him. But after being left hanging for the seventh time at the City Hall, I finally wake up. I don't want to live like this anymore. Even if I end up alone, it's still better than spending night after night waiting in an empty house that never feels like home!

When we were about to head to the amusement park, my Beta boyfriend, Drew, brought along a woman and her daughter. There happened to be one seat short in the car. Drew told me to get out and give my seat to the two of them. “Laura has a kid with her. Let them go first. I’ll come back for you later,” he said. I calmly stepped out and watched as the car slowly pulled away from the pack. Three hours later, they arrived at the amusement park for the fireworks and feast. When a friend asked Drew why he still hadn’t come back to get me, Drew was patiently helping Laura light a giant firework. He wasn’t in a rush at all and even said, “It’ll be fine if I pick Sienna up later. She won’t mind. I’ll coax her a bit, and she’ll stop being mad.” Anger only worked on people who cared about someone. My dad, mom, and brother never cared, and now, not even Drew cared anymore. It was time for me to leave for good.

I woke up staring at divorce papers—from the guy I'd crushed on all through college. My name. His. Right there on the page. He said I cheated. Last thing I remembered? Getting ready to finally tell him how I felt at our graduation party. Now suddenly, we've got a four-year-old. And him? He looked at me like I was some rando off the street. No trace of the sweet, soft guy I used to know. Just ice. What did I miss? What the hell happened in the last five years?

My stepson pushes me down from the second floor, all because I accidentally break a bowl. He stands over me, looking down with a cold, emotionless gaze. "You're just a stand-in my grandfather forced on us. Don't even think about replacing my mother!" I stare up at the boy I've raised for eight years, and his indifference cuts deeper than any wound. Blood slowly trickles down from my forehead. Fighting through the pain, I dial a number. "Whatever debt I owed has been paid. It's time for me to leave." Coincidentally, I already have the divorce agreement that his father has signed.

My wife is a pilot. We had our wedding three years ago, but she's stood me up 18 times since then when we agreed to register our marriage. The first time she stood me up was when her apprentice took his first flight. I waited outside city hall the whole day for her. The second time she stood me up was when she turned around after receiving a call from her apprentice. She left me by the roadside. Later, whenever we set a date to register our marriage, her apprentice would run into all sorts of trouble. Finally, I decided to leave her. But after I board a flight to Avalonia, she chases me all the way there like she's lost her mind.

Alpha Fabian's first reaction to learning I was his fated mate? Rejection. But drunk at the bonfire festival, he couldn't fight the pull of fate. He marked me. Marking a rejected mate came with a price. His power weakened. Forced into a bond with me, he despised me. For two years, I bled for him. I did 100 impossible things, just hoping for a single glance. I snuck into forbidden lands for rare herbs. I negotiated with enemy packs. I fought on the front lines for him in pack wars, always coming back covered in scars. But the one he truly loved was my adopted sister, Gloria. Even my own parents, the pack's Beta, hated me. I was their lost daughter, raised by rogues for fifteen years. But they only had eyes for their perfect, obedient adopted girl. Then, on my 100th task, I nearly died in the Valley of Shadows. When I woke up, I had amnesia. I was done chasing a cold mate and a family's love I'd never have. And when I finally walked away, Fabian discovered the truth. It was never me who couldn't live without him. It was always him.

. นี่หรือคำว่ารัก ? “ หยุดนะมิน พี่บอกให้หยุด จะไปไหน ! ! ! ” “ ปล่อย ฉันไปที่ไหนก็ได้ที่ไม่ต้องเห็นหน้าคุณ ! ” “ อย่าฝันไปเลย ” “ มินหยุุด ! ” การฉุดกระฉากดึงและผลักของทั้งภวิชทั้งมินตราทำให้ทุกคนชะงัก มินตราสะบัดมือออกจากเขา ภวิชเองก็เริ่มโกรธจัดแล้วเหมือนกัน “ พี่บอกให้หยุด มิน ปัง ๆ ๆ ๆ ” เสียงปืนหลายนัดที่ดังขึ้นมาทำให้ทุกคนตะลึงตกใจ รฎายกมือขึ้นปิดปากไม่คิดว่าเขาจะกล้าทำ ภวิชมองปืนในมือตัวเองที่เล็งไปที่มินตราเขาเล็งลงพื้น ทุกคนในบริเวณนั้นไม่มีการเคลื่อนไหวใด ๆ มินตราเองก็นิ่งงันไม่แพ้กัน เขายิงเธออย่างนั้นเหรอ เขาทำแบบนี้ได้ยังไง ควันจากกระบอกปืนที่ยิงลูกกระสุนออกไปทำให้ภวิชถึงกับมือสั่น ไม่มีใครในบริเวณนั้นขยับไปไหนสักคน อากาศบริสุทธิ์ไม่น่าพิสมัยเช่นเดิม มันอึดอัดยิ่งกว่าอะไรดี...

‘เจวิส’ สำหรับเขา ผู้หญิงก็แค่อาหารว่างตอนอยู่บนเตียงก็เท่านั้น ! “เลว? หึ ก่อนหน้านี้เธอไม่ได้พูดแบบนี้”

เขาเข้าใจว่าผู้หญิงในความมืดคือเด็กคนเดิมที่ถูกส่งให้มานอนด้วยเป็นครั้งที่สอง จึงกระทำกับเธออย่างไม่ปรานี แต่พอถึงตอนเช้า แม่เล้ากลับโทรมาขอโทษว่าเด็กแอบหนีไปก่อนหน้านั้นแล้ว เลยไม่รู้ว่าตัวเองมีอะไรกับใครเพราะตื่นมาแล้วไม่เห็น เห็นแต่สร้อยที่สลักชื่อ 'รวิกานต์ นิรากร' ตกอยู่หน้าห้องน้ำ ผ่านไปปีกว่าเขาได้เจอกับเธออีกครั้ง แต่ไม่รู้ว่าเด็กที่เธออุ้มมาเลี้ยงในที่ทำงานด้วยคือลูกของตัวเอง

Without Kaelen's knowledge, I had his little plaything sent out of North America. That same night, he cast a blood-vine curse on my parents, banishing them to the wilds—a wasteland prowled by rogues. He was going to trade my parents' lives for the whereabouts of his plaything. Kaelen pushed a communication crystal in front of me. Inside it, my parents were ensnared by blood-red vines, the thorns digging deep into their flesh. Drops of dark crimson blood fell, one by one, onto the barren earth. A countdown timer pulsed in stark red digits on their chests. 23:59:59 23:59:58 He sat across from me, a black suit tailored to perfection molded to his lean, powerful frame. His long fingers tapped a light, steady rhythm on the solid wood table, as if he were waiting for a trivial business deal to close. "Estelle, you have twenty-four hours." His voice was low and calm, laced with a venomous tenderness. "Tell me, where did you send Cassandra?"