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I was the odd one out in the Chicago mob. Other men's women spent their time fighting for affection, clawing for power, watching out for the homewreckers. Not me. I spent mine cleaning up after my boyfriend, Don Vincent Maro. His political rivals — I squared away. His brother's messes — I handled overnight. The women he kept on the side — I dealt with personally. Last month it got worse. He asked me to go chase off a man who'd been hanging around Sofia, his new girl. Sofia pouted. "Elena really can do everything." Vincent said, "That's why I keep her around." Sofia asked, "Won't Elena be upset?" Vincent paused. "Her? She's used to it." Seven years. No title in the Maro family. No public acknowledgment. Just one function — fixing things. This time, I was tired. I slid the last stack of documents across to Vincent. He signed them one after another without looking up. When he was done, he asked: Anything else? I said: No. It's all handled. What he didn't know was that at the bottom of that stack was the document terminating every identity I held inside the Maro family. The moment his pen touched that page, I no longer belonged to the Maros. And I no longer belonged to him.

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.

Bunso sa magkapatid si Carmelita. Madali sana ang buhay niya dahil nakapagtapos na ng pag-aaral sila at tanggap na ang kanilang pamilya sa kanyang lolo at lola, pero habang na sa sinapupunan palang si Carmelita may marka na ng isang sumpa ang kanyang pagkatao. Sa edad na labing-walo tatalab ang sumpa. Sumpa na makakabago ng paningin ng ibang tao sa kanya at ang kanyang paningin sa sarili. "Carmelita, Ganyan na ba talaga ang tingin mo sa akin? Do I look that desperate for a child?"

มันเป็นเรื่องที่ยากที่จะบอกว่าเราสามารถเลิกชอบคนคนนึงได้เพียงเพราะเลิกติดต่อกัน… แต่สำหรับฉัน หากชอบใครสักคนไปแล้ว.. ฉันคงจะชอบเขาตลอดไป แม้ว่าการสารภาพรัก มันจะไม่สำเร็จก็ตาม “ถามตัวเองให้ดีว่าที่ทำอยู่เนี่ยต้องการอะไร อยากให้พี่เบชอบ? อยากเป็นเมีย? หรือมีไว้แค่เป็นแรงบันดาลใจในชีวิต ถามตัวเองดีๆ ถ้าได้คำตอบแล้วแกจะเป็นพวกคลั่งรักอะไรมันก็ไม่จำเป็นแล้วป่ะ? ถ้าคลั่งรักแล้วชีวิตดีขึ้น ก็คลั่งไปเถอะ” นี่คือประโยคที่นินิวพูดกับฉัน ฉันตั้งใจมาเรียนคอร์สภาษาเพราะอยากดูเก่งในสายตาของพี่เบ รุ่นพี่ที่ฉันแอบชอบมานาน แต่ก็มีเหตุที่พี่เขาต้องไปต่างประเทศ ฉันเลยอาศัยช่วงเวลานี้เพิ่มความรู้ให้กับตัวเอง จะได้เป็นผู้หญิงเก่งเก๋ในสายตาของคนที่แอบชอบบ้าง แต่แล้วรักครั้งแรกของฉันก็มีอันต้องสั่นคลอน เพราะอาจารย์ที่สอนภาษาให้ฉันดันหล่อบรม! แถมยัง… น่ารักน่าเต๊าะชะมัดยาดเลย "เธอตั้งใจมาเรียนหรือตั้งใจมาหาผัวกันแน่?" "ตั้งใจมาเรียนสิ แต่จุดประสงค์ก็.. อยากได้ผัว มันก็ไม่ผิดนิคะ^^" "ทำไมละคะ? อาจารย์หวงหนูเหรอ?"

Five years ago, my girlfriend, Stacie Garcia, got crippled in an attempt to save me. Out of guilt, I stayed by her side and took on all the hardest grunt work so that I could use all of the money I've earned on her. But when I'm in the middle of cleaning a Porsche's dealership, I witness Stacie flirting with another young man there. To my shock, she's even standing without any problems. Stacie tells the man in a generous manner, "Which car do you have your eye on? I'll buy you any car no matter how expensive it is as long as you like it!"

I spent five years chasing Tyler Watson, only to get kidnapped right in front of him. He just stood there and watched. As a result, I suffered. After I escaped, he acted all high and mighty and proposed to make up for his tiny bit of guilt. The second we got our marriage certificate, the Simp System’s voice rang in my head. “Congrats, host! You’ve completed your mission.” Just like that, my sanity finally returned. While Tyler waited in a hotel for me to bring him contraceptives, I went live to expose his cheating. For good measure, I even called the anti-vice office to report my dear husband for soliciting prostitutes.

“..ชิ๊! ไอ้ผู้ชายคนนั้น ทำลูกค้าพ่อฉันสับสนไปตั้งหลายคน ตัวขัดลาภจริงๆ!” หญิงสาวผมยาวหน้าหมวยสบถด่าร่างสูงหน้าตาหล่อเหลาอยู่ภายในใจ เธออุตส่าห์ตามสืบข้อมูลของเป้าหมายมาหลายเดือนเพื่อที่จะลากให้มาเป็นลูกค้าประจำตำหนักเพราะเห็นว่าอัศวินน่าจะรวยและกระเป๋าน่าจะหนักเอาการ และแถมยังเป็นเพื่อนกับโทนที่เคยมาที่นี่เป็นครั้งที่สอง การเดินเข้าไปยื่นผ้าเช็ดหน้าให้บนรถประจำทางในวันนั้น.. ไม่ใช่เรื่องบังเอิญ แค่เป็นวิธีหลอกถามข้อมูลแบบตื้นๆในระดับคนแปลกหน้า.. “...ฉันต้องทำให้นายมาเป็นลูกค้าพ่อฉันให้ได้!”

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.

The Day I Was Reborn, I Rejected the Alpha In my previous life, on my third year as Luna, I took an arrow tipped with wolfsbane meant for my Alpha mate Julian. My wolf was nearly killed, and I lay comatose for three full years. When I finally woke, Julian held my sister Lyra's hand and told me they were in love. He wanted me to step aside. My adoptive mother, Eleanor, pressured me to accept it. I refused. When the three of them closed in on me, I appealed to the Council of Elders. In the end, the Council ruled that Lyra be exiled. She couldn't bear the humiliation, and took her own life. Julian let me keep my title as Luna, but he hated me for the rest of his life. He would look at me with cold, dead eyes. "You should never have woken up. Then I wouldn't have lost Lyra." My adoptive mother blamed me too — for killing my sister, for destroying our family. Seven years later, grief and alcohol had hollowed Julian out completely. On his deathbed, the cold mask slipped. He gripped my hand. "In the next life... will you let me have Lyra?" Something in me went numb. After Julian was gone, the pack fell apart without an Alpha. Every one of them cursed me for being the one still alive. In the fighting that came after, my own pack handed me over to a rival pack. They put a dozen arrows through me. I died alone in the wilderness. When I opened my eyes, I was back — back to the day I first woke up.

Kim Evelyn—known to those closest to her as Ivy—never imagined her third wedding anniversary would turn into a nightmare. Her husband, Rico, didn’t just betray her—he brought his mistress into their bed. The pain and humiliation scorched her heart, leaving her no choice but to walk away from the home that once symbolized their love. But Ivy’s escape led her into a night that would change everything. Beneath the glimmering lights of an upscale bar, she met Joshua Miller—a dangerously charming man with a captivating smile and an offer too tempting to resist. Revenge. Sweet, calculated revenge. But there was a catch: Ivy had to surrender herself to a game far more seductive than anything she’d ever imagined. As vengeance ignited and passion flared, the line between game and reality began to blur. Dark secrets loomed. Hidden dangers stirred. And Ivy was forced to make an impossible choice—move forward and risk losing everything, or retreat into the scars of her past. Can Ivy take control of this wicked game? Or will she end up the pawn—consumed by desire, ambition, and a betrayal more dangerous than the one she fled?