Maniac

In the stillness of my penthouse evenings, where my world ignited by Adrian’s touch, I was, for all purposes, the luckiest woman in the world. And I am, or was, Cecilia Lancaster, a dreamer who fell for Adrian Blackwood’s dark and brooding good looks, every moment, every laugh, every tear, all with my ride or die best friend, Isabel Chen. We formed a group of unbreakable relationships or so I believed—only until one afternoon shattered all my world. The pregnancy test shone brightly, a mini spark of joy amidst all our glitz and mayhem. However, barging into our bedroom like a maniac, I destroyed the image: Adrian and Isabel, locked in an embrace made for lovers, sheepishly gazing at me. The twist hit like thunder. "Love? Never," Adrian growled, his slap echoing my breaking heart. "Your father's reckless deal killed mine in that boardroom betrayal. I married you for vengeance to strip away your happiness like he did ours." Isabel's revelation stabbed deeper"I'm pregnant with his heir, Cecilia. The family you could never build." I fled into the raging storm, devastated, and whispered to my unborn child, "We'll make our own light, baby," before a screech of tires and oblivion claimed me. They mourned me as dead. 5 yrs later, Adrian's empire was flourishing, built on an unfulfilling revenge—until Isabel's web unraveled: her "pregnancy" a cruel fabrication in an attempt to trap him. As Adrian wrestles with the second opportunity to succeed, to win back the family he never knew, hidden truths abound: allegations of company treachery, Isabel's vendetta comeback, and my wavering recollections on the cusp of igniting fresh hurts. Can love truly be reborn from the flames, or shall the central conflict: forgive or fury?consume us all?

I was a stray pup. At five years old, several elite warriors captured me and threw me in front of the Alpha heir, Lucas. I heard his wolf talking to Lucas in his mind. "Lucas, this damn little thing is a hybrid of a werewolf and an evil witch. The prophecy shows she will be extremely vicious in the future, even killing your Mate. For the Moon Goddess, you must kill her now to protect your future Luna." Lucas agreed carelessly. But when he saw me, he froze. "Seriously? Dude, you’re saying this tiny thing is a homicidal maniac? How vicious can she be? Cursing the future Luna with a lollipop?" I tugged the corner of Lucas's expensive shirt, and looked up. "Big brother, I'm so hungry." He looked at my body, starved to just bones, and hesitated. "Anyway, the mate hasn't appeared yet. Might as well let her eat first. Even when we execute rogues, we usually let them eat their fill before killing them." His wolf replied, "Makes sense... but after she's full, you can't hesitate again!" From that day on, he raised me, this mixed-race brat, like a little sister in his pack. For over a decade, he and his wolf plotted countless times how to kill me, but always found various excuses to postpone the execution. Until I was 16, my brother was injured and lying in the healing center, but his wolf, having lost its will to live after being rejected by its mate, was unable to heal itself. The healer said my brother was going to die. I didn't try to stop him; I just found that playboy from school who had harassed me. I forced him to send my brother a mind link. "Alpha, I just wanted to say, Emma's body is really... really banging. I'll take good... care of her for you." I even chimed in through the mind link with a flirtatious whine. "Jason, don't be like that, Lucas will get mad... stop it." Less than half a second later. An earth-shattering roar came. "Son of a bitch! Jason, get the fuck away from her!" "If you touch a single finger on her, I'll tear you to shreds!"