James Joyce The Dead

Everyone in the city knows Nathan Cooper only agreed to marry me because he had no choice. No matter how many times I tried to seduce him over the past seven years, he would just run his fingers over his rosary beads. Never once had he shown a trace of desire in his eyes. It isn't until that night, when I see him answer a long-distance call from his first love. Upon hearing her voice, Nathan loses control. It's as if heat was surging through his body like a live wire. The next day, Lily Hunt flies back. Nathan shoves me out of the car and drives off to pick her up. As I fall from the bridge and lose my memory, news of Nathan's proposal to his beloved sets the whole city ablaze. The next day, he shows up late to the hospital. As Nathan stands by my bedside, he says he will marry me, but only if he can hold a wedding ceremony with Lily. Then, he announces the wedding date. I lean against his bitter enemy, Luke Patton, and look at Nathan in confusion. "Sorry, who are you?"

Camila thought she'd hit rock bottom when she discovered her husband's infidelity with her own cousin, but that devastating betrayal turned out to be only the beginning - a life-altering accident would soon strip her of her very identity. But when she was forced to fake her own death and assume a new identity, she realized she had been accidentally given a second chance. This new life came with a new discovery that Camila, the once shameful and disgraceful wife of the powerful Miller family, turned out to be a force to be reckoned with, a rival worthy of respect, and a woman not to be underestimated. Not even her husband stood a chance.

My student, Renee Blue, comes from a poor family, and her mother suffers from uremia. Out of sympathy, I lent her some money. She promised to pay me back after graduation. However, on graduation day, she handed me an ultrasound and told me, "Your money comes from your husband anyway, right? I’m pregnant with your husband’s baby, so I won’t be paying you back. Also, you should step aside." I was in shock… because my husband had been dead for seven years. It wasn't until I saw Renee with my driver that I understood how she got pregnant.

After failing to kill each other for eight years, two rival mafia families — the Hayes and the Vilantros — must now join forces to eliminate a greater threat: the ruthless Peterson Russian Mafia. Aries Hayes can either work with her longtime enemy, Adam Vilantros, to protect their families and sort out their hate later… or take them both down. But as sparks fly and alliances blur, Aries faces a dangerous question: is Adam truly on her side, or just playing her heart to win the war? As betrayal, bloodshed, and forbidden desire explode around them, one thing becomes clear: it’s her life or his. Over her dead body… or his!

My husband has a PhD in medicine. He's fair, just, and kind… until the day his true love kills someone in an accident. He uses all the medical knowledge he has to help her get off scot-free. He turns the corpse into preserved specimens and displays them in his lab. When he's dealing with the corpse, he sees that there's an embryo in the womb. He's always been calm and composed, but he can't stop his heart from racing at the sight. What he doesn't know is that the corpse is mine, and the embryo is his child…

Juliana da Vinci, went all out in rage to avenge the death of her family after her return from Malaysia in the year 2023. In the course of seeking vengeance, she learns she is the daughter of a prime angelic king and a werewolf's luna. An unraveled origin turned out to be a twist of faith which brought her into a contract relationship with an alpha werewolve. When the bond between them grew stronger, she had a one-night stand with him and became pregnant with his child. As she grew stronger, she became a threat to the vampires and an enemy to a league of angels sent to bring her home, because she now has the power of an angel and a werewolf combined. When the vampires who murdered her parents found out about her pregnancy, they came up with a plan to kill Juliana. Their plan causes them to make a deal with the angels, to help them capture the alpha, which will in turn devastate Juliana. When the alpha was captured, Juliana turned into their worst nightmare, assassinating them one after the other with accumulated wrath of vengeance for murdering her family and for taking into captivity her only lover. Her rage brought her enemies to her knees, putting to flight the angels, who soon left the vampires to face what they had unleashed alone. She again freed her mate and together they both went out with the pack to raid the camp of the vampires and to bring victory and peace to their domain: a battle that turned into a blood bath. Questions are, who is going to survive when all hell lets loose. Will there ever be room for a happy ending?

When the mafia heir, Marco Gallante, barged into the family vault with his mistress, I was standing before the Virgin Mary statue, cross-checking bloodstained ledgers. Fiore Albero cowered behind him, pointing at the ledgers in my hands and shrieking, "Marco, I'm scared..." I did not even bother looking up, just flicked the ash off my cigar. However, Marco kicked the desk over with one swift boot. "Chiara Moltisanti, Fiore can't stand the sight of all this blood and violence. Sign the divorce papers, now!" I stared at the mess scattered across the floor, thinking back to the pregnancy report the family doctor had handed me just ten minutes ago. The Gallante bloodline was dying out in this generation. Ever since the eldest son, Luca Gallante, died in that accident, Marco became the sole heir. The Don, Carmine Gallante, dreamed of nothing more than a legitimate boy of pure blood to carry on the family name and glory. So, I smiled, bright and sharp, with unmistakable mockery. "Perfect. Since you want true love, then the Don's throne will never be yours." Besides, I never wanted Marco, that useless fool. What I wanted was the Gallante empire, a mafia dynasty spanning three continents with 100 years of roots, and the control that left him with nowhere to run and no legs to stand on. This time, I would cut him out completely, keep the bloodline, and sit at the head of the family.

Althea Johnson did not walk blindly into darkness. Before the contracts, the demands of blood and legacy — Dominic Valtieri had loved her. It was fierce, dangerous, and real enough to make her believe she could stand beside a man the world feared. Behind his ruthless reputation, she had seen a man capable of choosing her. For a while, he did. Until the weight of his name consumed him. By the time they marry, Dominic is no longer the man who once held her like something precious. He is colder, controlled by a dynasty that demands an heir and sees love as weakness. Still, Althea clings to the ghost of what they once were, hoping the man she loved is still buried somewhere inside him. On their wedding night, that hope dies. There is no tenderness—only possession. No love—only purpose. She is not a wife to him, but a necessity. When she discovers she’s pregnant, the truth becomes unbearable. Dominic did not choose her again. He chose what she could give him. An heir. A legacy. A continuation of a name built on power and fear. To him, she is no longer the woman he loved. She became a vessel. But grief hardens into something far more dangerous than heartbreak. Because Althea remembers who he used to be — and that memory burns. If legacy has consumed Dominic Valtieri, then she will become the one thing his empire never accounted for: defiance. She will not allow her child to be raised as a pawn in a dynasty built on fear. She will not let love be twisted into ownership. And if she must burn his empire to the ground to set her child free— She will.

The first experiment in the world of retrieving memories after death succeeds, and my memories are going to be broadcast live all over the Internet. My dad has just learned about my death, but he only says in a disgusted tone, "Who would want to see the memories of someone who is selfish, mean, and has nothing commendable at all about them? Today is the wedding day of Zoe and Cameron. Pause the live broadcast and stop being so sickening!" Zoe is my stepsister, and Cameron is supposed to be my fiance. After that, my father finds out the truth from the live broadcast of my memories. He begs for my forgiveness tearfully but… I'm already dead.

A high-profile rape case rocks Corvessa City. During the autopsy, I examine the deceased's private area as part of the standard procedure. My wife, a police captain, blows up in front of the onlookers. "Don't we have a female medical examiner in our unit? Do you realize you're re-victimizing the deceased? And your wife is standing right here. Are you really that desperate?" The crowd turns on me in a heartbeat. Bowing to public pressure, the department suspends me and tells me to keep reporting in at my own expense. I hand in my resignation on the spot. Without me, nobody in Corvessa City is going to crack this case.