Joke Logic

My fiancé, Aaron Willis, treated me like a prize he could toss across a poker table. One drink, one careless joke, and he lost me to his twin brother, Kevin Willis. They were both heirs to the Redwood Pack. I didn't cry or make a scene. I acted like I didn't know a thing and followed that quiet, cold wolf out the door. I stayed in his bed the entire night, tangled up with him until morning. At dawn, when Aaron came looking for me, I made sure I was wearing Kevin's shirt. Right in front of the staff, I let my voice turn soft and teasing as I complained about how out of control he had been the night before. Then I let one of Kevin's heirloom cufflinks slip loose and roll straight to Aaron's feet. His face went instantly gray, the arrogance in his eyes shattering. I rose onto my toes, slipped my arms around his neck, and murmured against his ear, "The way you had complete control over me last night… I really liked it."

On the day that I returned to the country, Lola Lawson, the one who was once the love of my life for ten years, sent me a picture of a baby. She told me to think of a name and meet her at the city hall to register the baby, as she had prepared a welcome-home gift for me. So, I rushed over with bags full of baby supplies. But when I arrived, she and her girlfriends were bent over with ridicule and laughter. "I told you! Even though he was gone for a year, he's still a loyal lapdog! Just a wave of my hand and he'd even be willing to raise someone else's kid for me!" She sized me up with mocking amusement. "Kevin Sheraton. How could you still be this naive? Just one joke and you come running?" They laughed without any restraint, calling me names and hurling insults, saying I'd do anything for Lola. But when I walked past them and took a number to register my own child's birth, and later wrapped my arm around my wife as the three of us took a family portrait, Lola's eyes were completely reddened with tears.

On our engagement day, my fiancee, Lucille Perry, had her childhood best friend, Derek Miller, show up with a box of handmade cookies as a gift. Out of basic courtesy, I picked one up and took a bite. Derek and a few of his buddies burst out laughing. "This mama's boy can't even recognize his own mother's ashes!" My stomach churned violently. Shocked and furious, I lunged at him to throw a punch, but Lucille desperately held me back. Derek looked at me smugly and grinned. "Since you already ate it, why don't you tell everyone how your mom tastes?" I was so angry that I kicked him right in the face. However, Lucille turned around and slapped me hard across the cheek. "Spencer Bourdain, is this really necessary? Can't you take a joke? Eating a little bit of ashes won't kill you. Look at how petty you're being!" My heart went completely numb. I quietly pulled out my phone and sent a message to a certain number. [The wedding reception is ready. All we need now is you, the bride-to-be.]

Roxanne Grant has always been one to live her life according to her rules. Blessed with a handsome and capable fiancé and a dream job, she couldn’t have imagined a life better, until she discovers that her fiancé had been cheating with his secretary for a long time. Enraged and heartbroken, Roxanne decides to take revenge but accidentally bumped into Lance Laurent, Los Angeles’s hottest bachelor and heir to Laurent cop and the stepbrother of his fiancé. After that one steamy night, things began to get more complicated, spiraling out of Roxanne’s control and down a lane of lust. And much to her surprise, the L.A’s hottest bachelor doesn't plan on letting go of her anytime soon. ** ** ** "Thinking of another man while having me? Tell me, is my time a joke to you, woman?” Lance had grabbed her chin to meet his gaze harshly. With his words, Roxanne grinned as she placed the last of her concerns behind. Wrapping her legs around his waist and pulled him closer, she answered him in a slurry voice. “You have my full attention now, so you better make it worth the while.”

Rowan Remington finally accepted my marriage proposal.  He told me to dress up, saying he had prepared a surprise for me.  But when I arrived in my finest attire, Rowan did not present himself as the groom.  Turning to my half-sister, Lisa, with a playful smile, he said, “You always complain that weddings are tedious and dull. Today, I’ll show you an interesting one. What do you think?”  Just then, my elder half-brother, Miles, loudly declared, “The wedding is on hold!”  Suddenly, my childhood friend, Nathan Keller hurled a water balloon—prepared in advance—at me and it smashed down on my head, completely drenching me.  Rowan arched a teasing brow at me. “It was just a joke, Tessa. You didn’t actually think I was going to marry you, did you?”  The so-called wedding was nothing more than a farcical performance to entertain Lisa, who was suffering from depression.  As I stood in stunned silence, Rowan chuckled and added, “If you’re that desperate to get married, why not pick someone from the guests and tie the knot right now?”  So, I did.  I walked down the aisle with a new groom in hand.  That’s when they panicked.

Teardrops start to fall every time I remember my dad. He didn't just left me with a broken heart but also a crocked life. I grew up to be a very timid girl, palaging binubully at pinagmamalupitan ng mundo. Every time I wake up, I always wonder when will I feel at ease in life? Yung tipong I can be who I want to be and have what I want kagaya ng twin brother ko, sumalangit nawa... He is enjoying the life as a solo child thanks to my mom! Kung sana lang things happened differently baka buhay donya rin ako at walang mangaapi at manglalait sakin! Buong buhay ko, wala na akong ibang ginusto kundi ang matanggap ako bilang ako. Well, I'm not ugly naman and darn! My smiles can melt a man's frozen heart pero joke lang naman 'to kasi NBSB pala ako.. ha ha ha I can have his life, why not? I want to have his life and enjoy everything that he had... I am still the daughter of our father! I'm Izel Sezin and I promise to do the switch!

On Valentine's Day, I wait for my wife, Nancy Curtis, to get off work after preparing a candlelit dinner for our date. But she only texts me at 9:00 pm. "I have something going on at the company. There's no need to wait for me." Soon, I see a Facebook post made by Nancy's secretary, Derek Jones. "I'm on a business trip with my female boss on Valentine's Day. The thing is, the hotel's fully booked. Oops, this is getting awkward…" The photo in the post features a feminine silhouette standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window while draped in a bathrobe. Everyone in the comment section compliments Derek for being lucky, seeing as the boss of his has a smoking hot figure and is extremely charming. Derek merely replies with a cheeky emoji. So, it turns out that Nancy's "business" is having fun with her own secretary, eh? I take a screenshot of Derek's post before uploading it to my own social media feed. I even include a smiley as a caption. Immediately, Nancy calls me on the phone and starts berating me. "Derek was just cracking a joke! Why are you being so petty, huh? And here I thought you were mature!" I end the call immediately before texting her, "Let's get a divorce."

A vampire-witch hybrid who sees her immortality as a curse, and a werewolf doomed to die young… Katharina Haven has outlived countless empires, drifting through the centuries until even existence itself felt hollow. To her, immortality is nothing but a gilded prison, so she began to search for a way to escape it. Yet answers continue to elude her. Until the night a tiny, bleeding wolf pup collapses on her doorstep. Xander Moonstone is no ordinary werewolf. Afflicted by an ancient bloodline curse, he shrinks into a helpless pup on full moons, suffering agony that will eventually kill him long before his prime. Katharina saves him on impulse, unaware that from that moment—or perhaps long before—their fates had already begun to entwine. But when her “little creature” unexpectedly shifts into a full-grown man in her arms, the fragile trust between them shatters and believing she'd been deceived, she drives him out. Fate, however, is not so easily severed. On the next full moon, Xander returns to her, bleeding and dying. And Katharina, against all logic, saves him again. As she digs deeper into his condition, she uncovers the truth behind his curse… and also learns that a cure demands an unforgiving price. To save him, she must die in his place. For a woman who longs for mortality and a man fighting desperately to extend his fleeting life, their love may be the cruelest curse of all.

Lyra Vale has always lived a careful life in a world where humans share uneasy truces with supernatural beings. But when the mysterious crescent-shaped mark behind her ear begins to burn, she’s drawn to Moonmark Ink—a tattoo shop in the dangerous, supernatural-controlled town of Ashridge Hollow. Her plan to cover the mark quickly unravels when she meets Ronan Bane, the magnetic, alpha werewolf who has been haunting her dreams for months. Ronan knows exactly who Lyra is: his fated mate, caught between two worlds as a rare half-human, half-wolf. Their connection is undeniable, but Lyra is unaware of her heritage or the pull of her first moon heat. As desire intensifies, Ronan must protect her from rival packs, prowling vampires, and the political dangers tied to her bloodline—especially if she’s connected to the powerful and dangerous Duskfang Pack. Torn between fear and an attraction that defies logic, Lyra is forced to confront truths about her lineage, the supernatural politics of the Hollow, and the primal bond tying her to Ronan. In a world where trust is fragile and predators lurk in every shadow, surrendering to their connection might be the most dangerous choice of all. Marked by Moonlight is a steamy, suspense-filled paranormal romance about fate, secrets, and the burning pull of a love written in the stars. It is also a four-part series telling the tale of not just Ronan and Lyra, but of the people they trust. Each book blends into the other as they find a way to survive the war to come.

When the college admission notice arrived, I suddenly developed a high fever and was bedridden. My sister encountered a kidnapping on her way to help me collect the notice, and her life was uncertain. My parents hated me deeply. After tearing up my admission notice, they forced me to give up my studies and work in a factory. Later, I experienced a kidnapping as well. After narrowly escaping, I hid in an abandoned factory and sent them a message for help. My dad called me and shouted at me without restraint, “Lena, are you even human? How could you play such a joke on us on Jessica's memorial day!” “Do you have any idea how much your mom and I wished it had been you who died back then?” In my last moments before death, their insults echoed in my ears. I was tortured and killed, turned into a monster, and my body was thrown into a stinking ditch for three full days. Even my father, the most experienced forensic expert, couldn’t recognize me. When my sister returned home with the guy she eloped with years ago, my dad had just restored my appearance through technology. They knelt before my decaying corpse and cried until they fainted.