Last Of Us: Outbreak Day

Conan Hamilton's true love secretly wears my wedding gown. She's pregnant, and she slips and falls when we argue. After being taken to the hospital, she's told that she'll never have another child. Conan is furious. He banishes me abroad to be a nun. A year later, he comes to the nunnery to take me home. However, all he finds is that I've long since broken free. I even have a child in my arms. His eyes are red as he snarls, "Are you trying to use the child to force me to marry you? Or do you just want to mock Queenie for not being able to bear children anymore?" He has no idea that the child isn't his. He also doesn't know that I'm about to marry someone else.

My dad collapsed from a sudden heart attack and died. The shock hit my mom like a freight train, and she blacked out cold. By the time I raced home from college, his body had already been reduced to ashes in the crematorium. Grief barely had a chance to sink in before the debt collectors pounded on our door. That was when the ugly truth emerged. My dad had secretly racked up billions in loans, saddling my mom and me. A year later, the relentless harassment from those goons drove my mom to despair. She ended her life, and I was forced to drop out of school, scavenging dumpsters just to scrape by. But fate had a cruel twist in store. I spotted my "dead" dad, alive and thriving, hosting an extravagant birthday bash for his secret son. I stormed in, desperate for answers, only to be hurled out by security. My head cracked against the pavement, and everything went black. When my eyes fluttered open again, I was inexplicably back on that fateful day of my dad's heart attack.

The day I found out I was pregnant with twins, Vincent Castellano celebrated like a man who had been handed heaven. Fireworks over Brooklyn. Vows whispered against my stomach. Promises that his empire, his loyalty, and his life were mine. That same day, I found out the hospital built in my name had been sheltering his affair. While I was throwing up and fighting to keep our babies safe, he was holding another woman in the next room. So I made my choice. I would keep the twins. But Vincent Castellano would lose all three of us.

I've died on my wedding day. When I'm in the middle of getting cruelly tortured by the thugs, my parents, older brother, and my fiance are all comforting my younger adopted sister, Arianna Capuano, who's bawling her eyes out. Before I die, I've called them for help. But Diego Atzori, my fiance who's the next Don of the Atzori family, sounds extremely angry at me when he picks up the call. "Carlotta Capuano, Arianna's life is more important than our marriage! Stop putting on an act just to attract attention!" The call goes dead. My life is also entering its countdown. I can only lie in my own puddle of blood, my body broken and mutilated, until I stop breathing entirely. No one can find me at home. They think I'm just throwing a tantrum because the wedding has gotten canceled. Perhaps I've chosen to run away from the altar just so I can attract their attention. What they don't know is the fact that I've never left home. In fact, I've died in the basement of my own house. I died right beneath their feet.

My husband, Julian Sutton, is busy with work on the day of my prenatal checkup. His childhood sweetheart, Vera Levine, with whom he's been amorous for years, offers to drive me. On the way there, she suddenly swerves and rams into the back of a truck. The car is flattened. Julian is a doctor in the emergency room, but I don't call him. Instead, I dial 911 and wait for assistance. Why? I called him in my past life, and he took me to the hospital. Our child was saved, but Vera died due to significant blood loss. Julian claimed not to blame me and even arranged for me to stay in a private hospital ward. But on the day I was discharged, he dragged me to Vera's grave and stabbed me. I lost the child and was on the verge of death as I stared into his bloodshot eyes. They were filled with unbridled hatred as he snarled, "Vera wouldn't have died if you hadn't grabbed the wheel! Don't think I'll believe you just because you're acting innocent! An eye for an eye—I want you to die for her, but only after experiencing the pain she felt in a hundredfold!" He twisted the blade and stabbed me repeatedly. My blood splattered on Vera's gravestone, dying it red. When I open my eyes again, I find that I've been taken back to the scene of the accident.

Sera Blackwood is a bond-breaker, one of the last wolves alive who can sever the mystical mate bonds that tie supernatural beings together. This power she possesses, has made her a target for ten years. Every bond she breaks leaves a permanent black mark on her skin and takes a piece of her soul. She's already broken four. One more trial will kill her. When she crosses into Northern Territory to save a dying wolf, she meets Kade Thorne, the Alpha King, and feels the unmistakable pull of a mate bond forming between them. But Kade's already bound to someone else through a false mate bond created by dark magic. It's slowly poisoning him, and he has months to live unless Sera can break it. Breaking his bond means using her power a fifth time. It means risking her life to save his. And with an ancient witch hunting her, a jealous false mate who'll kill to keep her claim, and a mate bond she never asked for pulling her closer to Kade, Sera's running out of time and options. Kade won't let her die for him. Sera won't let him die at all. Together, they'll have to fight enemies on all sides, uncover centuries of dark secrets, and also prove that the strongest bonds aren't written by fate, but they're forged by choice, sacrifice, and a love worth dying for.

Many centuries ago, the humans and the wolf packs lived together and were in peace. Daciana, princess of the Justificative Commands, lives in the Kingdom of Peace. She is fearless, breaks the rule, and wants to be free from her responsibility. On the other hand, Adolf is the son of the known strongest and legendary Alpha Werewolf, Wolfrith. Because of the pressure from his father, Adolf is known to be bashful, isolated, and cold from the pack. However, when an invader, Azariel, steps into their land and challenges the Alpha, Wolfrith, to overthrow his pack and take over. Due to the sudden events, Wolfrith was killed, and Azariel took over everything in the land of Dawn. This shook the packs and the tribe's lives, leaving them dumbfounded. Azariel then swears to kill all the remaining humans and let the Skulks take control. Fear for their lives, the wolves and the tribe fought back but were lost in remorse. Years later, Daciana, who survived the madness in the Land of Dawn, decided to seek revenge for her father and take back what was rightfully theirs. However, after years of separation, Daciana met Adolf, who now looks like his legendary father, the late Alpha Wolfrith, during her journey to save her Kingdom. The two decided to team up to save the Kingdom of Peace while developing feelings for each other. However, a terrible confession shook Daciana's world when she found out who was the reason behind Wolfrith's death and how her Kingdom fell to pieces. Will the two end up together after knowing what Adolf did? Will Daciana still look at Adolf the way he is? Or will she turn around and fight the last standing Alpha in their land?

Right after finishing a meeting, I opened a forum and saw a warning post. The location tag was our company. The title read: “Red flag! What a cheap company. Anyone who joins is a total sucker. They can’t even afford a decent coffee break.” The photo attached showed the expensive coffee and five-star desserts I had just asked my assistant to distribute to everyone. I frowned and tagged the entire group chat, asking if anyone had suggestions about the afternoon tea. A Gen-Z intern who had just joined, Julian Hayes, instantly replied with a voice message: “Boss, no offense, but these assembly-line desserts are full of trans fats. Nobody would eat them.” “A truly humane company hires a Michelin chef to cook and slice everything fresh on site. That’s what real respect for employees looks like.” I laughed in disbelief. Our company’s daily coffee break budget was thirty dollars per person—already considered top-tier in the industry. So I replied, “Since it’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s taste, we’ll cancel afternoon tea from now on and convert the budget into cash for everyone instead.” Less than five minutes later, that post was updated: “Guys, can you believe this? I made a perfectly reasonable suggestion and the lame boss immediately canceled the whole coffee break perk! This is the true face of corporate greed—can’t handle even a little bit of honesty!”

I used to be the perfect daughter for my father, marrying Alpha Alexander for the benefit of my home pack, even though Alexander refused to mark me and insisted our marriage was merely a contract. I then became the perfect Luna for my Alpha husband, still hoping I could win his affection one day and we would be real husband and wife. But everything changed the day I was told that my wolf had gone dormant. The doctor warned me that if I didn’t mark or reject Alexander within a year, I would die. However, neither my husband nor my father cared enough to help me. In my despair, I made the decision to stop being the docile girl they wanted me to be. Soon, everyone called me crazy, but that was exactly what I wanted—rejection and divorce. What I didn’t expect was that my once arrogant husband would one day beg me not to leave…

After getting laid off, I come across a post when I'm looking for a new job. "What sort of job is the most lucrative these days?" There's a comment with the most likes in the comment section. "Find yourself a sugar daddy, duh! My sugar daddy is already the CEO of a company even though he's only in his 30s! He gives me 100 thousand dollars every month. Not only is he handsome and caring, but he's also amazing in bed! Hoo boy, we can keep going around seven times every night!" Someone asks the commentor, "How did you find such an amazing daddy?" "Last May, he was at a bar drinking his sorrows away after an argument with his girlfriend. I consoled him for a bit. That's how we ended up being together. "He kept complaining that his girlfriend was like dead fish in bed, so he was already sick of her a long time ago. You know what men are like, always going for excitement in life." My fingers curled around my phone slightly. Last May, I did get into a huge argument with my boyfriend, Brian Dicht. He never came home that night. The next morning, he returned while reeking of alcohol. I continue scrolling down the comment section, only to see the commentor posting a photo. "See? I was acting all cute and whiny to him just now by telling him that I cut my finger when I was preparing a meal for myself. He agreed to drop by my place to keep me company tonight." In the photo, there's a diamond ring adorning the ring finger that has a plaster wrapped around it. That ring looks exactly the same as the set of engagement rings Brian and I have. At the same time, my phone starts ringing. Soon, Brian's voice drifts from the other end of the line. "Bella, something came up in the company at the last minute. I'm not coming home tonight."