Icarus Laughed

Three years after Vivian and I married into the Domingo family, our husbands' childhood crush Niama Guido came back to the town. Vivian and I had a whole escape plan. But the night before we bailed, Vivian threw herself off a high-rise. I called her husband, Pedro Domingo. He laughed, his tone nasty and cold. "Reena, my brother asked, since she jumped today, are you going to drown yourself tomorrow?"

He didn't love her but she became his Mrs. Jack. She couldn't interfere with his personal behavior and couldn't tell others that she was his wife. When his ex-girlfriend returned as promised, she handed him the divorce agreement, saying, "She's back, and I'm returning your freedom." But he just laughed and said, "Mrs. Jack, you even have our child. Where else do you want to go?"

Seven years ago, William hugged me under the moonlight and swore that we would never have children and love me for the rest of his life. Seven years later, I ran into him at the hospital. He was accompanying a young woman to do a maternity checkup. Both of them were beaming and happy. William's family questioned me why I couldn't get pregnant.I laughed bitterly and swallowed all my secrets alone. Who knew the bigger secret William hid...

Rosemary believed her marriage to Adrian was everything. Until one night, a mysterious message led her to the Grand Aurora Hotel—where she witnessed her husband celebrating the anniversary of his first love with another woman. Before a room full of guests, Adrian placed a diamond necklace around the woman’s neck and, without hesitation, divorced Rosemary. Humiliated, ridiculed, and laughed at in public, Rosemary’s world shattered in an instant. But could she rise again from the depths of her despair?

Rebecca Augustine married into one of the world's most prestigious families, with her husband being Leonard Babbitt, who is known as the world's most eligible bachelor. People gossiped about her. Looking at her newly purchased top-tier handbags and jewelry, she laughed, "My husband has someone else in his heart. He only married me to please his parents. He gives me million dollar as pocket money every month but never comes home."

End of the year. I was gonna use my bonus to treat Mom to a quick getaway. Instead? No bonus. Four hundred bucks sliced off my paycheck. I shot the HR supervisor a notice—three days to pay up. She laughed. Called me dramatic. Fired me right then. Coworkers backed her. Said I brought it on myself. Said I didn't care about the company. What they didn't see? I laughed the second I got that termination letter. Double severance? Come to mama.

Emaline Liliana's dreams and sleep have always been erotic and lustful, fueled by intense touch, passionate kisses, love, and care. She dreamed of a man with red eyes and two pointed fangs who always smiled and laughed before ending the dream with a bloody scream. A nightmare that is both beautiful and endless. Once the Vampires had taken over the world, the ruthless Vampire King gave the humans a choice: become a source of blood for them, or become their beloved. A place where a human who is both naïve and blind would perish.

​“This is Ava, my mate. Your new Luna.” ​The Alpha’s voice boomed across the clearing, and in that instant, my world came crashing down. ​I stood frozen, the heavy silence of the pack pressing in on me. I didn't know whether to move, to scream, or to simply collapse. My legs felt like heavy, even as my wolf thrashed inside me, recognizing the soul crushing scent of the man standing on the podium. ​Four years ago, he humiliated me in front of the entire school. He made me believe my feelings were something to be ashamed of; a joke to be laughed at. That night, I left everything behind: my home, my pack, and the boy who broke me. ​I never planned to return. ​But standing at the coronation of the new Alpha, fate betrayed me in the cruelest way possible. The mate bond snapped into place with a terrifying force, tying me to the very man I swore to hate forever. ​I try to run. He doesn’t let me. ​Now, I’m expected to stand by his side as Luna, to smile for a pack that once laughed at my tears, and to trust an Alpha who shattered my heart into a thousand pieces. He thinks he can own me. He thinks a bond makes up for the scars he left behind. But he’s about to find out, I’m not the girl he broke. I’m the woman who’s going to bring him to his knees.

I donated 45 million to the city's best kindergarten, but my daughter failed the enrollment interview. She was a polymath. Furious, I demanded an explanation from admissions. She hurled an assessment file at my face. "Your daughter's brilliant, but you're the exact opposite! You're dead last among the parents!" She continued, "The others have tech domes! You're nothing but a regular Ivy League graduate! Your degree's worth about as much as toilet paper!" The other teachers laughed as well. "If we admit her daughter, it's going to look bad on the other kids. She can't take that responsibility." "Yeah, I can't believe she's demanding an explanation from Ms. Johnson. Her husband is the kindergarten's biggest stakeholder. He can make sure her daughter has nowhere to go." The admission teacher shoved me away. With disdain in her eyes, she said, "Out of my sight if you know what's good for you. My husband is picking me up in his Rolls-Royce. His car plate alone is worth more than your life! It's lucky 777! Only one in Georgeport!" Three sevens? That was my husband's car. I laughed mirthlessly and texted my husband. "I had no idea you had another wife behind me."

"Do you think I want to be your wife?" Rose laughed scornfully. "Not in millions of time." "Yes, Rose. You're going to take Rosa's place! I don't need you to be my wife because I just need you to stand there in Rosa's place!" Robert's words were emphatic. "Do you know what happens if you refuse me? First, I will keep Kenzie out of your reach, second, I will deport your father Romeo, third, I will sell you to a brothel!"