Invisible Face Tape

I thought I was finally living my dream—studying at the same school as my childhood boyfriend. But the moment I caught him secretly kissing the campus queen who had always bullied me, my world shattered. He didn’t defend me. He chose her. Heartbroken and humiliated, I walked away. Then at my lowest, when I was cornered and shoved to the ground again, my face smeared with dirt, I saw him—my mate. The queen bee’s perfect fiancé. The future Alpha of the strongest pack. Yet his eyes were cold as he told me, “Keep our mate bond a secret. I will never be with you.” I did what he said. But why did he keep stepping in to protect me? Why did he hold me like he would never let go?

On my first day back with the Cannon family as the true heiress, I heard the voice of the family’s guardian spirit. “You must stop your father from investing in the West City project. There’s an ancient tomb beneath the site. He’ll lose everything.” I convinced my father, Aaron Cannon, to abandon the project and invest in North City instead. But a factory next to the North City site had a toxic gas leak. Dozens of workers died overnight. Aaron lost his entire fortune to the compensation. While the family was drowning in despair, the guardian spirit spoke again. “Money can be earned again, but it’s a pity your mother will die in a car crash tomorrow when she goes out to borrow money from an old friend.” I immediately stopped my mother, Sally Cannon, from leaving the house. She avoided the car accident but tragically died from a sudden heart attack. With tears streaming down his face, Aaron told me she had been having chest pains for days but had endured the pain. She had only decided to go to the hospital today because she could not bear it any longer. My blood ran cold. By stopping her from going out, I had ultimately caused her death. Overwhelmed with grief, Aaron drank pesticide and died on the spot. Overnight, there was no one left in the family but me and the fake heiress, Pearl Cannon. To repay the debts and support my education, Pearl took on three jobs a day. Then, the guardian spirit spoke to me once more. “Your sister has been dragged into an alley. Go save her now!” I rushed to the location. I arrived breathless and frantic, but I was already too late. My sister lay in a pool of blood. She was not breathing anymore. I thought, ‘Mia Talbert, it’s all your fault! You’re a curse. You should’ve died instead!’ Consumed by despair, I jumped from a tall building and ended my miserable life. When I opened my eyes, I had traveled to the past.

On the way back to work after the New Year, my wife Liana Corn and I got into a car accident. Opening my eyes again, I realized that we had returned to the time we just started dating. In our previous life, we were married for eight years. Life was good, but she refused to have any children. Later, I learned that she had always kept her childhood sweetheart in her heart. After our regression, I decided to set us both free. We both deleted each other's contacts without a word, stopped seeing each other, and became complete strangers. Eight years later, Liana became a top investor. At our class reunion, she made a high-profile announcement with her childhood sweetheart Serge Gibson. Seeing that I had come to the reunion alone, she teased me. "Ryan Carter, I know I'm attractive. You love me for two lifetimes and still can't let go, but you don't need to cling to me like this." I pretended not to hear and took my son by the hand. Liana's face instantly turned pale, her eyes bloodshot. "Didn't you say you'd love only me for life?" she demanded. "How can you have a son with someone else?!"

“You wicked woman! You dare kidnap my daughter?" He growled, gripping her small wrist tight. Samantha squirmed, “You're mistaken, Sir, the child is not yours but mine!” “You dare say that again? Then explain the resemblance between us?” He retorted with raw hatred. Taken aback, all the color drained from Samantha’s face upon the realization he was right. How the hell did she overlook that? No, how the hell was it possible that he was the father of her child! ~~~~~~ It was an unspoken secret that Samantha's twin sister committed a grave sin in her marriage, thus Samantha became her sister’s substitute to bury that infidelity. However, on their 3rd wedding anniversary, Samantha discovers her husband’s infidelity. But that wasn't enough reason for her to -divorce him because she didn't want her daughter fatherless. But one act, one single act almost cost her life and that of her child and Samantha declared defeat, serving Zeke Frost the divorce papers, and left without looking back but with promises to revenge! However, fate had another path in store for her when she encountered the devil himself; Dalton Montclair. The most gorgeous man in the world and the youngest bachelor in the city. He's ruthless, he's got the looks, money, and fame. But what more? He's got a striking resemblance with her son!

It's Family Day at my daughter, Hannah Neel's, preschool, but my wife, Samantha Miller, says she has to work and tells both Hannah and me not to go. Seeing the disappointment on Hannah's face breaks my heart, so I bring her to school anyway. As soon as we step through the gates, I see Samantha. She's holding her childhood friend—Oscar Barnett's—hand, with a little boy clutching her other. The three of them look like a perfect family, laughing and chatting, as if they belong together. When Samantha sees us, her smile fades, and she lets go of Oscar's hand. "Zach, it's not what you think. Oscar's raising his son alone. Today's his fifth birthday, and he just wanted to give him a little taste of a mother's love," she says quickly. I study her for a moment, then kneel and gently take Hannah's hand in mine. "Sweetheart, say hello to the lady."

I was always flying for work, so I left the whole renovation thing to my husband, Daxton Pruitt. This time, my flight got scrapped last minute, so I swung by the house to check in. The second I stepped inside, some woman named Mona Scambley, who claimed she was the designer, chucked a stack of invoices at me. Couples' lingerie display case: $15,000. High-end waterbed: $40,000. One glance at that pile of overpriced tacky nonsense made me nauseous. My brows pulled tight. "Ms. Scambley, this is a private house, not some couples' motel. What is all this?" Her face flipped in a heartbeat. She jabbed a finger at me. "The owner gave those orders. You're just the site supervisor. Disobey me again, and I'll have Mr. Pruitt fire you!" Then she spun around and called Daxton right there. I laughed, cold and low, about to ask what kind of clown show designer he'd hired—until I heard his voice. Gentle. Doting. "This is Mona and my love nest. We'll do whatever we want. Don't like it? Get out." I smiled, snatched the list from Mona, and nodded. "Sure." One week later, that overpriced waterbed showed up—Daxton, very much not smiling.

His right hand left his pocket and made its way to my face. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. He moved even closer, his face a few inches away from mine. His finger left my hair and gently drew invisible lines down my cheek. I felt a wave of electricity course through my being, my eyelids flickered shut and my lips parted slightly in anticipation. “Ingrid?” the softness in his voice made my knees tremble and when I felt his arm wrap securely around my slim waist, I leaned into him mindlessly. “Be mine.” ----------------------------------- To Ingrid nothing is more important than her job, not until Kareem stepped into that elevator and made his way into her life. She is in for the ride of a lifetime as Kareem brings with him, scandals and his vicious ex, who would go to any length to get him back, even if it means ruining Ingrid. Will Ingrid decide to take the risk and give love a chance? Or will she turn her back on what might be a ride to happily ever after?

The first day I return to the country, my future mother-in-law, Sophia Damer, smacks a check against my face and says, "Here's five million dollars. Leave my son alone. The Simpsons cannot accept a gold-digging nobody like you!" Before I can even explain myself, the young woman in a white dress hiding behind her says, "Please don't do this, Sophia. If this young lady treats Jay well enough, I don't mind caring for him with her, too." I chuckle. So, Sophia and Crystal Richmond, my half-sister, think that I'm the evil mistress who tried stealing her man away from her, when Jayson Simpson was my boyfriend the entire time. And yet, Crystal still thinks that she's the legitimate one instead. However, seeing that Crystal still doesn't know who I really am, I pick up the check without even looking at it and stuff it into her V-neck dress. "Nice acting. Here's your reward." Then, I take out a black card and fling it onto the table. "Here's ten million dollars, lady. Tell your son to stay away from me and stop bothering me. I find him disgusting! "Oh, and by the way," I say, pointing at Crystal, who is still being shielded behind Sophia's body. "Might I remind you that this young woman you're protecting is just the bastard kid my dad brought home last year. "If you're thinking of using her to get close to the Richmonds, I'm afraid that you're barking up the wrong tree!"

"Bella? You mean that wolfless piece of shit? I'm just fooling around with her. I don't need her. She's useless. She's poor. She feeds on me more than I ever feed on her and worst of it, she won't even spread her legs. What the fuck do I need from a trashy woman like her?" *********** Bella Montagu, adoptive daughter of Luna Cora and Alpha Grey has her heart shattered by her five years boyfriend on the day of graduation. Out of anger, she rejects him, together with her wolf and returns to the pack only for her father, Alpha Grey to cast her out and imprison her, saying he never liked her and she was of no use to him from the start. With the help of Luna Cora, the only woman who has ever loved her, she escapes only for fate to play a cruel thing in her face, in the name of Kai Marlakey, the alpha of the Ashwood pack. With a broken heart and a man mourning the loss of his poor mate, would things ever work out between them? Would Bella be able to find her real identity? And what if she's not as cursed as she has always believed? What exactly does fate have in store for Bella and why does it keep tampering with her? Find out in this sweet romance.

On my eighth Mate-Marking anniversary, I had carefully prepared a special celebration ceremony. My Alpha mate, Derek, told me the pack had an emergency and the ceremony was canceled. When I arrived at the venue, I was shocked to see the ceremony proceeding as planned. Scarlett, once my best friend, was walking hand-in-hand with Derek onto the ceremonial platform. Her daughter and my son were being led by their hands, one child with each adult. The four of them stood closely together while other pack members, unaware of the truth, praised them: "The Alpha of Shadow Pack and his mate look so happy together." I stood up in the crowd and applauded: "I didn't know Shadow Pack had replaced their Luna with an Omega. They make such a perfect couple." The next moment, Scarlett's face turned pale as she collapsed on the platform. I ignored the chaos and walked straight home. The following day, Derek stormed back home and confronted me: "Scarlett's condition has barely improved. Why did you have to provoke her?" My son pushed me and accused: "It's all your fault! You made little Emma cry!" I pulled out the mate-bond dissolution agreement and threw it in their faces: "Yes, it's my fault. So I'm stepping out. Now you four can be one happy family." But my mate and son suddenly began to panic.