Nine Minutes

Today is my wedding day. When we reach the ring-swapping ceremony, my wife, Ariana Holmes, suspends the ceremony for three minutes, simply because a man has barged into the venue. He glares at Ariana darkly. "Ariana Holmes, you've tattooed my heart on your chest, yet now you're marrying another man? Are you forcing me to carve my heart out of your body?" As soon as his words fall, he lifted the blade in his hand. Realization dawns on me. It turns out that the heart tattooed on Ariana's chest isn't mine, but rather, her first love's. At that moment, Ariana, who was all docile and quiet earlier, shudders violently. She slides the ring onto my finger haphazardly before rushing toward Ivan Hatfield. "What the hell do you want from me, Ivan?"

On her first day in a new town, Jessica Day saves the life of Oliver King mere minutes after he rescues her from the wolf stalking her in the woods. But there's more to the mysterious young man than his rugged good looks and charming personality. There's something dark and irresistible about him that draws Jessica into his supernatural world. Ollie's next in line to be the alpha of Forest Hills' largest werewolf pack, but a deal with Death herself has marked him for an early grave, and he's not exactly trying to save himself from this grim fate. Unable to deny their mutual attraction and the bond growing between them, it's up to Jessica to rescue Ollie from death's embrace and find a way to free him from his dark destiny before the villainous thing haunting Forest Hills finds her first. (Image in cover by Prettysleepy from Pixabay)

On the night of her engagement, Gianna Moretti’s world shatters—her fiancé tangled in bed with her best friend, her family ready to cast her aside, her future ripped away. But when she crosses paths with Dante Russo—the ruthless heir to New York’s most powerful fashion empire—one impulsive choice changes everything. In twenty minutes, Gianna goes from betrayed bride to Mrs. Russo. Their marriage is a deal. No love. No betrayal. Just survival. But the deeper Gianna is pulled into Dante’s world of wealth, secrets, and ruthless ambition, the more blurred the lines between revenge and desire become. As her step-sister plots murder, her ex-fiancé claws his way back from ruin, and long-buried family secrets claw their way to the surface, Gianna must decide: will she be a pawn in their game—or the queen who burns their empire to the ground?

By accident, I stumbled upon my husband's secret. There were cameras covering every corner of our house, but I stayed silent and pretended not to know about them. One day, I faked leaving home and hid in the closet, only to hear my husband fooling around with his mistress. Jared's breath was short from exertion. "Faster. We have less than 20 minutes before Vanessa gets back." His mistress giggled. "Relax. Her eyesight is terrible." Jared growled. "Shut up! Vanessa is my wife. Say another thing about her, and I'll throw you out!" What he didn't know was that my eyesight had been cured. My vision was as sharp as anyone else's. I stepped out of the closet with a choked sob and called my brother. "I'll go to Murica."

“Lucien has exhausted my patience,” I said. The wolves flinched backward and a tremor ran through the silverfang forces. “You have ten seconds.” I took a breath. “Nine” *** Betrayed on the very night of her wedding, framed for the murder of the Alpha King, and executed alongside a stranger she barely knew, Princess Mia Esbond expected the story to end in blood. Instead, she woke up at the banquet the night before it all happened. This time, she’s not here to survive, she’s here to burn everything down. Allies will turn into enemies. Enemies will become weapons. And in the heart of it all stands Orion Vale, the infuriating, dangerous heir who might just be the only one she can trust… if she doesn’t kill him first. *** “You wanna know what I've become,” I asked, driving my blade through his neck. “Alpha-Killer should be appropriate.”

In the fifth year of Gwyneth Payne's marriage to Asher Crowe, he tells her thrice that he wants to bring Liana Quayle along with them when they migrate. Gwyneth puts down the dishes she's just prepared and asks him why. He's frank with her. "I don't want to keep this from you anymore. Liana lives in the residential area beside ours. She's spent nine years with me, and I owe her too much. I must bring her with me when we migrate." Gwyneth doesn't cry or kick up a fuss. Instead, she books a ticket for Liana on their flight. Asher thinks she's finally seen sense. On the day they leave the country, Gwyneth watches Asher and Liana board the flight. Then, she turns and boards another flight that will take her back to her parents' home.

I came home a day early from my business trip and hid in the closet to surprise Eric Carter. At seven, he told the housekeeper to cook several dishes. At nine, he told me hoarsely that he had taken a bath and changed the bedsheets in my room. He was sure that I would love it. I did not believe him because I had heard him moaning in bed with Willow Summers for three hours from the closet. Willow Summers was his childhood sweetheart and my sister. I clicked on a webpage from my cell without hesitation. "Miss Summers, your appointment for creating a fake death has been confirmed. Time of Death: One week later Location of Death: The wedding hall on the top floor of the Century Building Cause of Death: Suicide from jumping off a building!"

At the company's year-end awards ceremony, just as it is supposed to be my turn to go on stage and officially announce the relationship between my wife and me, my wife's first love suddenly proposes to her in front of everyone. Angela Reed does not refuse. Instead, she laughs brightly and promotes Samuel Hayden to the new department manager. Employees throughout the entire company cheer loudly for their romance. Seeing that I have no reaction, someone beside me cannot help but ask, "Ronald, you've worked for Ms. Reed for nine years. How can you show no response at all?" I smile as I walk onto the stage, take off my wedding ring, and toss it to Samuel. "How can you propose without preparing a ring? Here—it's yours."

I miscarry after happening upon my husband, Xavier Leeson, being intimate with someone else. He kneels before me and explains that his loyalty toward me has never swayed. I look at the man who's loved me for nine years and waited for me for five years. Ultimately, I still choose to believe him. After an arduous process of trying to conceive another child, I finally get pregnant again. That's when I accidentally overhear him complaining to his colleagues. "The thought of her being with her ex for five years makes me think that even the children she has are dirty." It shall be as he wishes, then. When he performs his next abortion, he's abhorred when he learns I'm the one he's operating on.

Ignoring the ridicule of others, Dahlia Green pursued and stayed with arrogant Mr.CEO Gideon Evans for nine years, from the time she entered second year of college until the present. The people around Gideon always looked down on her and mocked her for being just a lucky gold digger. Until one day, Dahlia decided to regain her self-respect and leave Gideon. They started betting to see how many days she could stay away from him. She calmly sipped a glass of wine: "I bet my whole life." From behind, Gideon hugged her tightly: "Haven't you caused enough trouble yet?" She slowly left the familiar warmth, her eyes no longer filled with love like before: "Mr. CEO Evans, please pay attention to your actions, we have broken up."