Message In A Bottle

I was the real heiress who had just been found and brought home. After I returned to my family, my parents did not favor the fake heiress like the rumors claimed. Instead, they put me first in everything. I quickly integrated into this social circle, and even the fake heiress' childhood friend, Drake Weston, showed interest in me. On the day my father asked me to choose a marriage partner, I was walking toward Drake when pop-up messages suddenly appeared before my eyes. [Don't choose him. He's always loved the fake heiress. He's only getting close to you to seize the family assets in your hands. If you choose him, you're as good as dead. He'd risk his life for the fake heiress, and she's been trying to kill you all along.] I stopped and turned toward the Lockwood family's illegitimate son, Callum Lockwood. Another pop-up message appeared before my eyes. [Choose him. He's kind-hearted and family-oriented, and he's secretly in love with you. You won't go wrong choosing him.] In my previous life, I was misled by the pop-up messages and chose Callum, who seemed harmless. It turned out he was the one who loved the fake heiress. Less than a year after our marriage, they plotted together and killed me. Only after I died did I learn the fake heiress had manipulated all those pop-up messages. She even killed my parents and inherited all my family's assets. This time, I chose Drake without hesitation. The fake heiress and Callum completely lost their composure.

On the night of their second wedding anniversary, Adrian Cole publicly declared his love for his wife, Ava, gifting her a rare sapphire pendant that became the talk of the city. To the world, they were the perfect couple envied and admired but behind closed doors, Ava’s reality shattered. A single anonymous message exposed everything, Adrian’s personal assistant, Livia, wearing the same pendant, wrapped in his embrace. While society praised his devotion, Ava sat alone in a house that no longer felt like home, choking on betrayal she had unknowingly endured for years. For too long, she had played the obedient wife, enduring the scorn of her in-laws and Adrian’s cold excuses that his affair meant nothing, just a “momentary indulgence.” Confident she was bound to him by her family’s financial struggles, he believed she would never leave… even if it meant raising another woman’s child. But he was wrong. Quietly, Ava began to dismantle everything. She gathered evidence, secured her freedom, and walked away without a trace of the fragile woman he once knew. The woman who returned was no longer soft or submissive, but a brilliant and popular figure in the world of medical innovation, one whose name commanded respect. By the time Adrian realized what he had lost, it was already too late. Because the woman he once discarded now stood beside a far more powerful man, not just any man but his own UNCLE who looked at him with cold amusement and said, “Be careful with your words… That woman you call your wife now belongs to a world you can’t reach.”

J’étais en couple avec Éric Simonot depuis trois ans, mais il n’a jamais voulu me demander en mariage. Ou plutôt, il refusait de le faire. Puis, il a eu un coup de foudre pour ma demi-sœur, Stéphane Cousteau, et s’est mis à la courtiser ouvertement, sans aucune retenue. Cette fois, je n’ai ni pleuré ni attendu patiemment qu’il revienne vers moi une fois qu’il aurait fini de s’amuser, comme je l’avais fait dans le passé. J’ai rassemblé tous les cadeaux qu’il m’avait offerts et je les ai jetés. J’ai aussi découpé en morceaux la robe de mariée que j’avais achetée en secret. Le jour de son anniversaire, j’ai décidé de quitter Paris, seule. Juste avant d’embarquer dans l’avion, Éric m’a envoyé un message : « T’es où ? Tout le monde t’attend. » J’ai esquissé un sourire et j’ai bloqué toutes ses coordonnées. Il ne savait pas qu’il y a deux semaines, j’avais accepté de me marier avec Clovis Lavanchy, un ancien camarade d’université. À l’atterrissage dans ma nouvelle ville, Clovis et moi allions nous marier.

The most popular girl from my high school is getting married. She invites everyone in our class to the wedding. I want to act like I don't see the message, but she deliberately tags me in the group chat. "You kept pretending to be a rich girl like me in high school, but I don't hold it against you. In fact, I'll allow you to attend my wedding tomorrow to see what the rich life is like." The other classmates speak up. "You're so generous, Haley. It's no wonder you can marry someone from the Baumer family. I can't believe you can even forgive someone as materialistic as Emma!" "Does someone like Emma Larkin even deserve to attend Haley's wedding? She's so full of herself." As the insults become worse, Haley Stockwell steps forward to keep the peace. "Come on, let's put this behind us. I'm not bothered by these things since it's been so long. Anyway, let's not bear a grudge against Emma when she's already so poor and ugly." Everyone in the group chat starts singing her praises and calling her kind and innocent. I sneer. Haley is the one who kept pretending to be rich—I'm the true heiress from an affluent family, yet she made me out to be a liar. She turned me into the target of everyone's insults. I check the digital wedding invitation to see that the venue is my villa. The groom looks familiar—isn't he my husband's driver? I smile at the thought of what's going to happen. I reply, "Sure! I have to attend your wedding!"

On my birthday, I passed out at home alone for more than two hours. My Alpha, Augustus Brock, took our son and went to an amusement park with Christine Terra, who had just severed her mate bond. Someone snapped photos of them, and the images went viral on social media. [Brock Pack's Alpha is enjoying a sweet family outing with his mate and heir. His Luna's face is revealed for the first time!] In the photo, Augustus held our child in one arm while wrapping the other around the woman beside him. My son, Ethan Brock, who had always been a neat freak and never let me touch him, had actually kissed that woman on the cheek. He was grinning from ear to ear. I lay on the floor. The harsh glow of my phone screen hurt my eyes. I then heard Augustus' voice through our mind link. "I'll celebrate your birthday with you next time. Christine just severed her mate bond and isn't in a good mood. I'm taking her out to cheer her up. Stop making a scene." Right after that, Ethan's voice followed through the mind link. "Mom, I want Christine to be my new mom! From now on, it's enough if you visit me once a month. If you come too often, she won't be happy about it." My phone buzzed. It was a message from an unknown number. [You know who he really loves. I've regained my freedom. If you know what's good for you, sever the mate bond yourself.]

On the anniversary of our Mating, my legs were wrapped around my Alpha, Adrian, as we shared a deep kiss. My fingertips brushed against the hidden pocket of my silk dress, my hand tightening around the pregnancy test I had concealed there. I felt the faint flutter of a new life inside me, planning to give him this surprise as the perfect end to our evening. Just then, Adrian's Beta, Ethan, spoke in a low, teasing tone, using the Old Tongue. "Alpha, that little sister-in-law of yours… the newly matured she-wolf, Zoe. How did she taste?" Adrian's low, suggestive chuckle reached my ears, quiet yet piercingly clear. He replied in the same ancient language. "You know a freshly ripened pepper? Hot, with a real kick." His palm was still caressing my waist, yet his gaze had drifted elsewhere. "Just keep it quiet. If my Luna finds out, it's all over." The other Betas let out knowing chuckles, raising their glasses in a silent promise to keep his secret. But a chill washed over me, and my inner wolf went still, as if it had died. He didn't know I had studied the Old Tongue for my research on werewolf trauma. I understood every word. I held back my tears, forcing myself to appear unfazed, maintaining the composure expected of a Luna. Instead of confronting him, I sent a magically shielded message to Elder Slone of the Werewolf Healers' Association, accepting the invitation she had extended to me. In three days, I would join a secure werewolf rehabilitation program as their new Lead Therapist and disappear from Adrian's world forever.

On the night of New Year's Eve, I wake up in a hospital ward with an IV drip connected to the back of my hand. A nurse passes me the hospital bill. "It's 300 dollars in total, including the emergency treatment fee and the cost for a bottle of glucose drips." When I turn on my phone, I feel my heart sinking. I only have 29.01 dollars left in my bank account. The wallpaper of my phone is a countdown of my family contract's app. Today is the date when I have to renew my family contract for the year. In order to accumulate enough money to go home, I've been working as a staff member in concert venues. Earlier, I had collapsed backstage, so I was quickly sent to the hospital. The dial tone keeps beeping for a long time. Finally, my mom answers my call in what seems to be a noisy background. "Mom, I'm at the hospital right now. I need 300 dollars to pay the hospital bill." "You're at the hospital?" Mom's voice turns shrill immediately. "Why did you visit the hospital during the holidays? You really are a jinx!" "I fainted earlier. I was working at a concert venue—" "What? So, you refused to do chores at home during the holidays! Instead, you decide to work at a concert venue?" Mom interrupts immediately. "I don't have 300 dollars on me! You'd better come up with a way to pay that bill of yours!" "Mom…" My hand tightens around my phone. "Today is the last day of my family contract's renewal period. I'll renew the contract once I pay the bill." "Renew the contract, huh?" Mom just sneers at me. "That's a part of your duties! How dare you use it against me! Helena Lambert, if you don't renew the contract today, you can forget about calling me 'Mom'!" After that, she ends the call. I can only grip my phone to the point that my fingers turn white. After that, I tap on a social media app in hopes that I can borrow money from my friends, only to see the latest post on the social media feed. My younger sister, Hannah Lambert, has posted a photo collage there. "I'm here with my parents to watch my favorite singer's concert! Snagging tickets to the first-row seats is definitely worth it!" The background of those photos is the same concert venue where I work part-time at. It's the most expensive venue in town. Apparently, tickets cost 2,900 dollars each.

Haunted by her sister Sofia’s murder, marked by the signature black rose of the powerful Moretti crime family, FBI Agent Elena Rossi goes deep undercover as “Lia Moretti.” Her mission: find the killer and burn the organization from within her greatest obstacle: Dante Moretti, the lethally perceptive underboss who sees through her disguise almost immediately. Instead of exposing her, Dante makes her a twisted offer: her secrets become his to control, and in return, he grants her his protection from the rest of the family, for whom discovery means a death sentence. Forced into his trajectory as his personal project, Elena walks on a razor’s edge between her mission and her survival, while Dante’s cold dominance ignites a dangerous, all-consuming passion. As Elena digs for the truth, she finds her sister’s trail leads shockingly close to Dante himself. Her investigation is a minefield of conflicting clues, betraying her badge and her sister’s memory with every moment she spends in his arms. When a black rose appears on her own pillow a direct threat and her FBI handler forces her to betray Dante, her two worlds violently collide. Exposed and hunted by both the mafia and her own agency, Elena and Dante are thrown together as fugitives. In their raw, desperate alliance, they uncover a truth more shattering than either imagined: Sofia’s death was a message in a secret war within the family, and the real killer is the last person Dante ever suspected. To get justice, Elena must help the man she was sent to destroy and wage a brutal war for the soul of his empire.

“Wendy, are you absolutely sure you want to sign this document?” The Elder’s voice rang in my ears—cold, distant. “Once your bond with Alpha John is dissolved, you’ll lose everything tied to the Blackthorn Pack.” I gripped the pen so hard my knuckles turned white. “Yes. I’m sure.” But just as the tip touched the paper— BANG! The door was kicked open with a violent crash. Alpha John stormed in, eyes bloodshot, and wrapped his hand around my throat. “You dare?!” Blood slipped from the corner of my lips… but I laughed. Because I knew—he would never discover the truth. That his dear uncle, Alpha Vincent, was hiding in my closet at this very moment. And the fresh bite mark on my lower belly… still burned from last night. As if fate was mocking me, my sweet little sister Penny sent a message right then: “Sis, wanna know a secret? That miscarriage you had? John planned it. He made it happen.” Then the TV flickered to life with a breaking live broadcast— There she was, Penny, gently stroking her swollen belly as she smiled into the camera. “John and I are expecting our baby next month,” she announced proudly to the entire Pack. And Alpha John—my “husband”—stood beside her, lovingly kissing her forehead. Like I never existed. Like I wasn’t the Luna written in law. “Miranda,” my wolf snarled in my head, “Rip those traitors apart—now!” But I didn’t. I wiped the blood from my mouth, and dialed the number I hadn’t called in five long years. “Vincent,” I said calmly, “Come get me.”

Alpha Jakob gave me the grandest bonding ceremony five years ago. I became the world's most envied woman. Five years later, I received a provocative voice message from Jakob's first love, Molly. "I just got back to the pack, and all I needed to do was to play coy with Jakob, and he came right over. Tonight, he originally prepared blue fireworks for me. I don't like blue, but I decided to give it to you since I never liked to waste. You can use it during your anniversary." The day during our fifth mate bond anniversary, I looked at the blue fireworks blooming in the night sky, quietly waiting in my seat as I faced the empty seat opposite me. Molly's provocation came again. A photo of her having a candlelight dinner with Jakob. I didn't cry, and simply submit the application to terminate my mate bond with Jakob to the pack's Elder Council. At this time, my personal assistant told me she saw someone had applied for a grand bonding ceremony. "Luna Cynthia, the bonding ceremony is prepared by Molly for herself and Alpha Jakob. It will take place seven days later. Do you wish to stop it?" "There's no need to. If this is what Jakob wants, I'll make their wish come true." Jakob was still promoting how deep his love for me was, saying that I was the woman he loved the most in his life. But he didn't know that seven days later, I would leave the pack and never return again. That night, he collapsed.