Isaac Foster Without Bandages

I knew Adeline Shaw had been entangled with her childhood sweetheart for over a decade, but I still dove headfirst into our relationship without hesitation. Then came our engagement day. Adeline got a call that her childhood sweetheart had collapsed and was in the hospital. Without a second thought, she dropped everything - dropped me - and rushed to his side. My grandmother, who witnessed this whole scene, hurried after her. In her rush, she was struck by a car. By the time they got her to the hospital, it was too late. We couldn't save her. That's when I finally let go. She was never truly mine, and I shouldn't have tried to force what wasn't meant to be.

A fierce storm erupts on a mountain peak at 25,561 feet, trapping me in the mountain camp under heavy snow. My husband, the leader of the mountain excursion squad, ignores my desperate pleas and hands the last oxygen tank to his beloved true love. "You're a professional climber—you won't die from missing a few breaths," he snaps. "Olivia has always been frail. Without oxygen, she's done for!" I watch as the two of them lean on each other, making their way down the cliffside, and I fall into complete despair. He's already forgotten that my body hasn't been able to survive without oxygen at high altitudes since saving him two years ago.

Arturo Abruzzi tore the world apart to find the woman that he loved, who mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Feeling empty without her. Cold. Numb. Hollow. Feeling like he was better off dead. Better off six feet under the ground. And there were times when he would provoke his assassin to pull the trigger. Wishing that his suffering would be put to an end. Asking God to drag him straight to hell. After all, hell was the resting place for criminals like him, wasn't it? The final destination for Mafia men? But years later, fate caused their paths to collide again. To cross again. Except this time, she was married to someone else...

When love is repaid with humiliation, pain turns into strength. Aruna came carrying medicine and a slice of birthday cake for the man she loved—Revan. But when she arrived at his house, what she found was not the warm smile she had longed for, but a sight that shattered her heart: Revan kneeling down, proposing to another woman in front of everyone. The medicine she had bought with her hard-earned money was thrown away. The cake she had made with love was crushed underfoot without mercy. And Aruna… was left behind without an explanation—only pain and a pride torn to pieces. On her way home, an accident took not only her strength but also the life of the unborn child she carried within her.

Pagkatapos ng tatlong taon naming pagdadate ni Nathan Foster, inakala kong alam ko na kung saan kami tutungo. Pero hindi siya kailanman nagpropose sa akin. At sa halip ay nagawa pa niyang malove at first sight sa aking stepsister. Naging direkta at walang tigil ang ginawa niyang panliligaw dito na hindi nagiwan ng pagdadalawang isip sa aking isipan. Pero sa pagkakataong ito, hindi na ako nagbreakdown o naghintay pa sa mga mangyayari habang umaasa na babalik pa siya gaya noon. Napagdesisyunan ko nang makipaghiwalay. Itinapon ko ang lahat ng regalo niya sa akin, pinagpunit punit ko rin ang wedding dress na lihim kong binili at noong kaniyang kaarawan, iniwan ko sa aking nakaraan ang Riverdale. Nang sasakay na ako sa aking flight, nagmessage si Nathan sa akin: “Nasaan ka na? Hinihintay ka ng lahat.” Ngumiti ako, pero na ako nagreply sa kaniya habang binoblock ko siya sa bawat platform. Wala siyang ideya na dalawang linggo na ang nakalilipas mula noong tanggapin ko ang proposal ng aking college senior na si Eustace Cooper. Nang lumapag ang eroplano sa bagong siyudad na aking titirhan, nakahanda na kami ni Eustace na simulan ang bagong yugto ng aming mga buhay nang magkasama—bilang magasawa.

On our seventh wedding anniversary, Harrison Drummond arrives with the woman he's been seeing behind my back. Tears fill Kate McCauley's eyes. Before I even have a chance to speak, she drops to her knees in front of me. "Ms. Kershaw, love isn't about who came first or last. Harrison and I care for each other with all our hearts. Please, let us be together." I turn to look at Harrison. With a heavy heart, he lifts Kate into his arms. The man who's always obsessed with cleanliness now wipes her tears away, not caring about the mess she leaves behind. Without raising his gaze, he says, "Kate has been by my side without any official name or title. I owe her that much. Don't worry, she's not after anything else. Having her here is no more than adding an extra pair of cutlery at the table." With that, he carries Kate into the bedroom and closes the door behind them. He seems to have completely forgotten that today is our wedding anniversary. Does he even remember the other woman who followed him without status seven years ago? I stare at the glowing "Happy Anniversary" sign resting on the table. In that instant, I realize there is no future left for us.

On her fourteenth birthday, Kira watched in horror as her parents were beheaded before the entire pack. They were accused of orchestrating the Luna’s death, branded as traitors, and executed without mercy. Years passed, and Kira lived in the shadows of that terrible day. Labeled the daughter of traitors, she was forced to serve at the pack house, enduring cruelty and scorn from the pack members. The triplets, sons of the murdered Luna, hated her most of all, despising her for the supposed sins of her parents. But on her eighteenth birthday, everything changed. Kira discovered the impossible—she was fated to all three brothers. Each one, upon realizing the truth, kept it hidden from the others, secretly battling their rage and disgust. Their first instinct was to reject her. Desperate, Kira begged for time. Three months. That was all she needed—long enough to strengthen her wolf, to endure their rejection without losing herself completely. They agreed. But three months is a long time. Long enough for hatred to fade. Long enough for forbidden desire to take root. And long enough for each brother, in secret, to start falling for the one girl they vowed to despise. When the time is up, will they still be able to let her go? Or will she become the one thing they can’t live without?

Fate has been cruel to Yessa, she has been raped and locked by an unknown man and into an accident that leads her to fall into a coma. When she wakes up, she remembers nothing. She just found out that she is married and has a son. She start living her life in the name of Annastasia without knowing anything in her past. With the thought that everything is fine, fate interferes again in her life. Yessa's seemingly perfect life overturned when she meet Ried, the person she abhor the most and the man whom she had forgotten. He was the man who abused and ruined her life, and also the father of her son. She worked for him without knowing the true identity of the man.

Esperanza believed motherhood would complete her life. Instead, the day her child was born became the day she lost everything. Her baby, her marriage, and every piece of trust she ever gave. She didn’t fight back. Not then. Months later, she returns as a woman no one can silence. Powerful, composed, and ready to reclaim the life that was ripped from her hands. That’s when she crosses paths with a man who protects without asking, understands without prying, and stands beside her like he has nothing to gain… or everything to lose. The people who once used her are about to discover that Esperanza didn’t break. She only waited. And now, she’s back to take what was hers.

Addie has been blessed with one of the five gifts from the moon goddess, however it doesn't seem like a blessing. It is a gift that follows a bloodline and only gets passed along when the one holding the gift dies. Left with no family and hunted for her gift, Addie has learned how to survive without a pack and without friends, packing up and moving on when someone gets too close. In a small town in Idaho, someone has figured out her secret and Addie is ready to go on the run again until she is given a choice, cooperate or watch her one friend die. Choosing the life of her friend, Addie becomes a prisoner, bred for her gift and her bloodline. Will she escape and find her true mate?