Is Prologue Before Or After Novels & Stories

When Seth Gibson told me his legs were crippled and that only snowmelt from a mountain's peak could cure him, I did not hesitate. I scaled the mountainside, climbing over 15,000 feet just to get some snow for him. When I staggered back, bruised and scratched, cradling the snow outside the hospital room, I overheard cruel voices down the corridor. "Seth, today's the deadline. Nevaeh still isn't back. Could she have died up there?" "I heard that the mountain's pretty high. She might have gotten altitude sickness. What a shame! She's already risked herself for Seth ninety-nine times. This was supposed to be the last time before the game ended." "Serves her right! She used to bully Janice, Seth's childhood friend, didn't she?" I saw Seth through the crack in the door. He was standing at the window, his legs perfectly intact, and his expression ice-cold. "Enough," he said flatly. "If she dies, the game ends." I froze in disbelief until it finally sank in. Seth had been pretending all along. A laugh nearly escaped me. What a relief! I could finally get rid of this weight on my shoulders. I pulled out my phone and called his uncle. "I'll marry you," I said.

The Beast King, Tharion Kael, has spent half his life on the battlefield, yet he has no heir. So, he summons every woman rumored to be blessed with fertility into the palace. Favored by fortune and against all odds, I, as a descendant of the Carp Clan, conceive. To keep me safe during my pregnancy, Tharion hides me away in a remote, deserted palace, guarded in secret by his Nightguards. But just as I am about to give birth, I unexpectedly crossed paths with the Vixen Consort, Lyra Swifttail, who wanders into the Forsaken Wing by mistake. She swishes her tail playfully, eyes sparkling with amusement as she looks at my round belly. Her smile is utterly captivating. "I didn't expect to find a little carp having an affair here…" With a spell, she drags me away, forcing me into my true form. Then, one by one, she scrapes the scales from my body until I am raw and bleeding. She has her catfolk attendant pour scalding oil over my wounds and orders guards to violate me until I am left broken like a rag. When I finally lose consciousness, she slashes me open with a claw and rips the stillborn child from my womb. She presents it with both hands to Tharion, who has just come to visit. She says, "Your Majesty, what perfect timing. I caught a carp sneaking around the Forsaken Wing. This is her illegitimate child!"

My mate Garrett inherited the Alpha position after his brother, the former Alpha of the Silver Claw Pack, was killed in the war against the Rogue wolves. And along with it, he inherited his sister-in-law Sarah. From that day forward, he gave me his love, but gave his resources and privileges to his sister-in-law. He claimed she would face cruelty from pack members without the protection of an Alpha, so he took her to Moonhaven Sanctuary—the most secure settlement in the entire Northern Territory—while leaving me behind in the abandoned, low-ranking wastelands of our pack. Every month, he wrote me five letters expressing his longing and affection, yet gave all hunting spoils and money to his sister-in-law. When Rogue wolves invaded, my mate dispatched the pack's strongest forces to protect her and her two children, while my two pups didn't even wait for my return from the hunt. They died cold and hungry, torn apart and devoured by Rogue wolves. Later, I finally managed to wait for my mate Garrett's return. He didn't shed a single tear for our children and told me he wanted to break our bond. "Ember, Sarah can’t keep Luna position anymore so that she can't enjoy the privileges that come with it. My brother died protecting me, so I must protect his widow and her children. " "Don't worry, once her children grow up safe and strong enough, I'll break the bond with her and re-establish our mate bond, because I only love you." He continued. The backlash from the broken bond tortured me until I was barely alive, and I ended my own life. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day my pups were brutally killed. This time, I didn't leave my children to go hunting. Instead, I took them with me to claim everything that rightfully belonged to us...

After three years of pretending to be dead on livestreams, I finally earned enough money to treat my daughter. I was about to go home and tell my wife and daughter when I overheard a call between the platform administrator and my wife. The administrator said humbly, “Chairman Morgan, Mr. Wells’s livestreams have generated tens of millions in revenue over these years. “The company withheld ninety-five percent of it. Should we keep withholding more?” Stacy fell silent for a moment before answering, “No need. Three years of testing him is enough. He barely moves year-round. He even developed muscle atrophy and didn’t tell me.” John’s voice came through the phone next. He said, “Stacy, Sam can even pretend to be dead, so what if this is an act too? “Besides, Emma’s already used to Sam being gone, so she probably won’t accept having a dad again anytime soon.” After some hesitation, my wife said indifferently, “If that’s the case, then withhold it for another six months.” I smiled and tossed the diagnosis report confirming amyotrophic lateral sclerosis into the trash. There was no need for them to test me anymore. I no longer needed to pretend.

My husband’s company went bankrupt, and his creditors quickly came over to threaten him. Then, of course, they asked me for the money. Milo Cardilo, my husband, was worried that they would hurt me, so he shielded me and said while crying, “Stella, the company owes ten million dollars. Let’s fake a divorce and split our assets. That way, I won’t drag you down with my debts. Trust me, honey. Once this is settled, we can get married again.” His sincerity and selflessness touched me. When the creditors came to drag him out of his company to beat him up again, I stepped forward. “I’m Stella York, and my father is the Don of the Rosa Family. Let my husband go, and I’ll give you the money.” But when I went downstairs to call my estranged father, I heard my husband talk to his creditors. “Don’t believe her. How could she possibly be the Principessa of the Rosa Family? She must be bluffing to stall for time. Make your act more convincing. Puncture all the fake blood bags I have on me! Once she signs the agreement to walk away with nothing, I’ll pay you ten times the acting fee!” My heart went cold. So, when it was time to sign the divorce agreement, I agreed without hesitation. Milo sighed in relief, but what he did not know was that he was going to pay the price for his deceit.

On the day I return to the pack once again, my future mate, Kellan Cohen, throws a fancy banquet for me. My younger sister, Lia Smith, asks me loudly while holding a champagne flute, "Ella, I heard that you were exiled to the wilderness where the lowly inbreds roamed instead of patrolling the borders. Is that true?" Everyone gasps in surprise upon hearing Lia's question. Kellan shoots Lia a glare immediately. If this were to happen a year ago, I would've taught Lia a lesson right there and then. But instead of getting mad at her, I even take off the bracelet, which is a family heirloom, and put it onto her wrist just to thank her for showing her "concern" toward me. Not only that, but I also bring up the fact that I want Lia to replace me as a candidate to host the next day's offering ceremony with Kellan. Mom is happy to see me behaving like this. As she pats me on the head, she says, "It seems that Ella finally has learned how to play nice." But Kellan just stares at me with mixed emotions swirling in his eyes. "Didn't you claim that you'd rather die than hand over the position to Lia?" I just sigh quietly on the inside. He's right, but the truth is, I'm about to die.

Celeste Vane was twenty-four when Diana Hale dismantled her family’s company with a legal maneuver so precise it left no trace of wrongdoing — only ruin. Four years later, Celeste returns. She walks into Hale Group as a junior financial analyst, unseen and underestimated. But she has already spent years quietly acquiring fragments of the very system that destroyed her family. Every step inside the company brings her closer to reclaiming what was taken. And closer to Marcus Hale. Marcus is nothing like what she expected. Controlled, perceptive, and infuriatingly fair, he is the one man who sees the real structure of her mind — and the one person she cannot afford to be seen by for too long. Celeste is not there to survive Hale Group. She is there to dismantle it from within. But the longer she stays, the more the lines blur. Marcus begins to trust her. And against every rule she has lived by, she begins to trust him back. Then there is Diana Hale — watching Celeste’s rise with quiet precision, as though she has been expecting her return all along. As buried financial truths surface and old alliances fracture, Celeste faces a choice she never designed for: the revenge she built her entire life around, or the man who makes her question whether the woman she became in pursuit of it is someone worth keeping. When Diana finally moves, Celeste will have to decide what reclamation actually means — because what she built in the wreckage may be worth more than anything taken from her.

My fiancé stood me up at our rehearsal dinner at the Sterling family estate. Just before midnight, I got a message from Miles. Kate's pregnant. It's not my kid. But I have to marry her. The kid needs the Sterling name to be seen as legitimate. Our wedding is off for the next three years. We have to keep our distance until then. You need to handle the Alliance elders. Whatever you do, protect Kate from them. Tell everyone you're the one who called it off. I stared at the screen and typed back a single word. Fine. I was done with him. I never wanted to marry him in the first place.

I was the stand-in who looked most like my husband's first love. He put me through countless plastic surgeries, both major and minor ones, until I became her exact likeness. But then, she came back from the dead. All it took was her saying, "I don't like anyone looking like me," and he sent me right back to the operating table once more. I begged him, telling him that my body couldn't handle it anymore. Alas, he only looked at me with irritation. "Seeing that cheap imitation of her face just disgusts me," he sneered. "No matter how close you come, you'll never be her." In the end, I died on that operating table. Yet, he went mad, trying desperately to recall what I once looked like.

"No! Please" "Please, don't touch me down there, Jian Ying" I said to him with a rather high tone. He looked me straight in the eye with his hand still on my thigh and replied. "I like it there!" "You...you can't do that" I wriggled out of his hold and that got him angry. "You are my wife and every single part of your body is mine! Including...down there! So keep that mouth shut! Spread your legs wide for me and lie there!" He shouted at me with a serious expression. I had never seen anyone who was more shameless than him. "I'm not your wife yet Jian Ying and besides, I'm still young" I was perspiring all over. He smirked at me and said with his dominant voice. "Oh, yes you are!" "You are at the ripe age for it and besides, in a few days time, our marriage will commence. So, why wait?!" And before I knew it... "Ahhh....!" ____ Follow Chen Lijuan and Jian Ying to Love's web! A wet dream mate who becomes the lost betrothed wife! ***** Happy Reading Everyone! Please, stay safe. #For me and for all. Love from Author Elaami.