I Need A Hero

After Lunara Vespirin collapses from an overtime shift, she's shocked to find out that she has transmigrated into a beast world novel. It appears that the original villainess' father, a wandering beastkin named Caius Vespirin, has kidnapped five beastmates so that he can forcibly mate them to her. Right now, said beastmates are on the verge of dying after enduring the torment the villainess has unleashed on them. Soon, they will unleash their dark sides, resulting in the villainess, a.k.a Lunara, dying a terrible death. Lunara quickly comes up with a plan overnight, which involves her clinging to Caius for survival, seeing as he's the strongest beastkin ever. At the same time, she plans on dissolving the mate contracts with the beastmates and staying away from them forever. Using the pocket dimension, Lunara soon busies herself in gathering beast crystals, planting crops, and doing her best to survive in this alien world. But the way her beastmates look at her starts to get tinted by complex emotions. Emory Nagar, a snake beastkin, coils his tail around Lunara, his gaze deep and affectionate. "Luna, you can forget about dissolving my mate contract as long as I live and breathe." Galen Tideborn, a gorgeous merman, wraps his arms around Lunara's waist, his voice extremely enticing. "I'll sing for you all the time. Just don't abandon me, okay?" Levi Janvier, a lionfolk, lowers his prideful head before he begins nuzzling Lunara on the cheek. "I will give my life to you as long as you stay by my side, Lunara." Kieran Crimsworth, known for his seductive charms of a fox, murmurs into Lunara's ear, "I'll make you pay back double for what you did to me in the past, Lunara." The cold and aloof crane beastkin, Cyril Swift, looks down at Lunara coolly. "I don't care who you are or where you're from. You're the only mistress that I will ever have." Lunara is perplexed, to say the least. "Huh? I thought you all hate me because of forced mating! Why is it that you're unwilling to dissolve the mate contracts when it's time for us to do so?"

Two broken hearts. One fake marriage. A thousand buried secrets. Eva thought love would be enough to keep them together. Ten years loving Stephan. Five years married to him. And one tragic accident that shattered everything they ever were, she’s left with a stranger wearing her husband’s face. Until the day she finally walks away. And that’s when she meets Micah, her ex-husband’s enemy, the man who once set her marriage on fire just by existing. He proposes to her a dangerous deal: a one-year marriage that will make Stephan regret ever letting her go. But what starts as a game to wound her ex soon spirals into something raw, tender, and terrifyingly real. Only, Micah isn’t what he seems. Behind his easy smile are secrets she was never meant to find, secrets that could destroy them both. And when the truth comes out, love might not be enough to save anyone. When the lies unravel… will her heart choose forgiveness — or freedom?

That night and the tree house witnessed her unfeigned love for him. But promises are always meant to be broken. Laurise Ann Madrigal devoted her heart to Allison Bien Villacorta, whom she secretly in love since she was sixteen. But her heart was broken when the man she madly in love betrayed her. Years passed, she married Kiro Guevarra. And now that Allison came back to her life and try to chase her again. Is Laurise Ann far from that Little naive and fragile girl? Is it just repugnance she has for it or did she remain madly in love with him?

Imagine finding out your current lover is your deceased fiancee's murderer, what would you do? Continue the relationship? Or bring him to justice?

For the past three months, I've slept only three hours every day just so my team and I can create an app. Thanks to our hard work, the app goes absolutely viral to the point we've garnered over 100 million registered users on the first week of its launch. At the afterparty, my wife, Stacie Woodward, announces that her godbrother, Tory Frost, who's the PR manager, will be the one receiving the million-dollar bonus. She then tosses me a few 50% discount coupons that can be used in shopping malls as my bonus. "You're just a code monkey—why do you need that much money anyway? You can have these discount coupons. Use them on anything you want. At least buy some nice clothes for yourself. Don't go around wearing these rags. You'll just end up humiliating me more." I plead to her in a low tone, "Have you gone crazy, Stacie? My dad needs the money for the best medication in order to save his life! Can you please stop joking around?" But Stacie clings to Toby's arm, looking high and mighty. "Your dad's dying, isn't he? He might as well stop wasting the public resources! I can always choose him a better grave and hold a nice funeral for him when his time comes!" As I look at Stacie's smug face, I just smile at her instead of getting mad at her. She must have forgotten that the app's core algorithm and the user growth model are built using my private, undisclosed technology stack. That means the copyright is mine and has nothing to do with the company. I just smile while nodding at Stacie. That night, I activate the technology stack's self-destruct and migration protocols.

I promise I didn’t do anything that day”. He cups my face and stares deeply into my eyes.      “I want to believe you but I can’t”. I place my hands on his. I close my eyes and let the tears fall.    I feel a soft kiss on my cheeks trailing down to my neck. His hands move up my back as he claims my lips in his. My tears flow freely. He pushes me to the wall gently and claim my lips again. I let my hands do what they have been itching to do and run my fingers through his soft hair.   ******************************************   When Isabel Díaz finds out about her boyfriend and soon-to-be baby daddy’s betrayal on Christmas Eve, she packs up and leaves.     Two years later, she is unexpectedly transferred back to America. She later discovers that this is Jaxon Slade’s doing. Moving back there right before Christmas feels like déjà vu.     Will the health of their child bring them together and allow him to redeem himself or will it drift them further apart?

Today happens to be Yvonne Ziegler's birthday. Yvonne is Shawn Jacobson's, my husband's, newly hired personal assistant. Shawn spares no expense in buying her a villa as a birthday present, and Yvonne haughtily takes to social media to show off on the day she moves in. "I'd like everyone to know that I'm married to a wealthy man now." Shawn comments on the post, saying, "Happy birthday, my beloved Yvonne!" In the picture, Shawn's hand rests intimately on Yvonne's slender waist, leaving no doubt about their intimate relationship. In that instant, the company's group chat erupts into a frenzy of notifications, as colleagues declare their envy of Yvonne and heap praise upon her for being young and accomplished. Oscar Jagger, my childhood friend, notices the picture and immediately tags me in the group chat. He then sends me a pointed, teasing message, saying, "Shawn's display of love is so glaring! Congrats on being cheated on, Leslie!" I manage a bitter, wry smile, taking my time to type out the response. "Do you need a villa as well, Oscar? I'm happy to give you a place—a much nicer one than Shawn's, of course."

I had been married to Derek for six years, and we had a three-year-old son. He was poor, earning only $2,000 a month, but I had no complaints; I took care of everything at home for him. After getting dinner on the table for the whole family, I finally had a minute to check my phone. A video popped up on my feed: a twenty-two-year-old girl from a rural area whose hands, roughened by years of hard labor, looked like they belonged to a sixty-two-year-old woman. I looked down at my own hands, just as worn and scarred, and stared at them blankly before tapping into the comments. I expected people to feel bad for her. However, to my surprise, the comments section was flooded with a single sentiment: "Why would anyone marry a penniless loser?" One of the top-liked comments came from a couple; in their photo, they were pictured holding hands—fingers tightly intertwined—with the girl sporting a massive diamond ring. The accompanying caption read: "A man who truly loves you would never bear to let you suffer." I felt a pang of envy. Given the choice, who wouldn't want a glamorous life? As I was about to close the app, I accidentally tapped on the couple's photo, enlarging it. In the background, previously too blurry to make out, was a face I recognized. It looked exactly like my husband, Derek Sterling. I froze, and almost against my will, I tapped into the account's profile. Post after post of lavish photos of them together flooded my screen. And then I saw him clearly. The scar above his brow, the one he got when a shelf fell on him while protecting me, was still plainly visible. It was my husband. It was Derek.

In our five years of marriage, my husband, Derrick Wickham, bails on me 99 times for his childhood sweetheart, Jessica Harson. This time, after he stands me up, I find two plane tickets to Frantines in his office. "I was planning to surprise you for our anniversary. Since you've already seen them, we'll just meet at the airport," he says icily. I eagerly pack and get myself ready, arriving early at the airport. I wait from the wee hours of dawn till the late hours of night, but Derrick fails to show up. Then, I see a post on Jessica's social media. "It's my birthday today. Though he doesn't have the time to go on a trip with me to Frantines, I forgive him because he brought me to the amusement park instead!" In the past, I'd have called him, crying and demanding answers. But this time, I'm truly done.

I dated Jacob, my Alpha, for five years. Yet on the day of our marking ceremony, he marked another she-wolf behind my back. “Molly is pregnant with my pup, your new heir!” Jacob proudly announced the news. Everyone cheered for them. I stood in the crowd and ignored the challenging look Molly gave me. When the ceremony was about to end, I turned around numbly. I knew that I was unnecessary here, so I went back to the house I shared with Jacob and packed up to leave. I had joined Jacob’s pack because I loved him. Since he no longer felt the same, it was time for me to leave.