On My Own Pretending He's Beside Me

At the engagement party, the champagne tower is only half-built when Marcus Harrison answers a phone call. He glances at me and says, "I have to go. Lily collapsed at the airport." I say, "If you leave, we're done." He leaves anyway, in front of 200 guests. He carries Lily Bardot in his arms, wearing the coat I gave him, as he drives away in my car. The next day, he sends me an email that reads, "Lily will be moving into my apartment. She needs me, and I hope you can understand. Once Lily gets better, we'll get married. Please trust me." I stare at the screen and suddenly laugh. So what he wants isn't someone who loves him. It's someone who needs him. And I'm too independent, so I don't make the cut. That evening, I scroll through my contacts and find a number I've never given a second glance to. It belongs to someone who's been waiting for me for 23 years. I dial it. "Tomorrow night, 7:00 pm. Meet me at the restaurant by the sea."

My best friend was a "mistress breakup consultant". I had lent her money to start her business, and her very first job turned out to be breaking up my own marriage. "Jessie, what's the point of a loveless marriage? You've wasted Harold's time for five years. Are you really going to keep clinging to him and making him miserable for the rest of his life?" my best friend asked. I laughed at the self-righteous nonsense she was spouting and had security escort her out. She came right back, though, this time with a so-called "Anti-Mistress Alliance", live-streaming the chaos as they broke into my company. "The one who isn't loved is the real intruder!" "Fight for love at all costs!" They chanted while smashing up my office. I watched them calmly, waiting until they wore themselves out before pulling out a contract. "The 100,000 dollars you borrowed from me has been overdue for six months. If you don't repay it soon, I'll be forced to take legal action. "And, the lab equipment you've destroyed is valued at 5,550,000 dollars. You'll need to compensate me at full price. "Otherwise, I'll see you in court."

On my eighth Mate-Marking anniversary, I had carefully prepared a special celebration ceremony. My Alpha mate, Derek, told me the pack had an emergency and the ceremony was canceled. When I arrived at the venue, I was shocked to see the ceremony proceeding as planned. Scarlett, once my best friend, was walking hand-in-hand with Derek onto the ceremonial platform. Her daughter and my son were being led by their hands, one child with each adult. The four of them stood closely together while other pack members, unaware of the truth, praised them: "The Alpha of Shadow Pack and his mate look so happy together." I stood up in the crowd and applauded: "I didn't know Shadow Pack had replaced their Luna with an Omega. They make such a perfect couple." The next moment, Scarlett's face turned pale as she collapsed on the platform. I ignored the chaos and walked straight home. The following day, Derek stormed back home and confronted me: "Scarlett's condition has barely improved. Why did you have to provoke her?" My son pushed me and accused: "It's all your fault! You made little Emma cry!" I pulled out the mate-bond dissolution agreement and threw it in their faces: "Yes, it's my fault. So I'm stepping out. Now you four can be one happy family." But my mate and son suddenly began to panic.

Juggling her career and family, Thea fought to keep her marriage alive after her husband lost his job. She hired a nanny to help—never guessing she was welcoming her own replacement. “The three of us look more like a family than with you, mommy.” That was the final nail. She walked away. No custody battle. No tearful goodbyes. Just silence. And from that silence, she rose—stronger, sharper, and impossible to break. Enter Ezra Harrington. Billionaire. CEO. Her boss. Cold-blooded in more ways than one. He wants Thea—but not just in the boardroom. He’s hungry for more. Her blood sings to him. Her strength tempts him. Her fire threatens to consume him. But Thea doesn’t kneel. Not for love. Not for monsters. Not even for the devil in a custom Armani suit. Now her past is clawing back— A husband begging for a second chance. A child she never stopped loving. And a vampire boss who'd destroy the world to keep her. T.W: Dub-con, vampirism/alpha dominance, workplace relationship, dark romance etc.

“Klein you…” My voice catches in my throat as I attempt to speak again. I shut my eyes close, let out a heavy exhale before prying my eyes open again to continue. “Are you having an affair?” I ask, my voice raspy and watch his eyebrows nearly fly off his face from sheer shock and mortification. His countenance morphs into a bewildered expression and I once more, regret ever opening my mouth. “What if I am? Are you going to ask for a divorce?” I stare at him, silent and unmoving, with my heart threatening to hop out of my chest. When he realizes that I have no response to his question, he gives me a reproachful head shake, while sighing like I absolutely exasperate him and says: “I didn’t think so. You can think whatever you want about what’s going on between Jasmine and I. I don’t care.” ... Our marriage was a business alliance. The perfect marriage in the eyes of the public, but a complete sham in reality. He said affection is the one thing I will never get from him and I learned not to crave it. I was the perfect trophy wife... until the kiss. It changed everything.

I watched helplessly as my husband chose his pregnant mistress over me, then without thinking twice, he threw me in a dungeon for a crime I know nothing about. It occurred to me that I was just a perfect pawn. At the time he married me, he needed a Luna to ascend the throne, and I was just convenient. But right now that I’ve finally moved out and long gone… his crown was slipping. To regain his power, he comes crawling back, begging for forgiveness, because his new heir from his mistress is dead, and as it stands, I’m the only one who can bring back power to his hands. But unfortunately for him, I’m not the same woman he discarded years back. I don't belong to him anymore, I'm the Queen of the Lycans now!

When I faint due to my hemophobia after seeing blood on the training grounds, my mate, Alpha Yves Golding, is busy applying medicine to his assistant, Renee Lawson, who has only scraped her skin. After I wake up, the first thing I do is drag my weak and exhausted body to the Elders' Council to request something I never imagined I would ask for—to break my mate bond with Yves. Yves swiftly approves the request, then turns confidently to his Beta and says, "Come on, she's just throwing a tantrum. She's an orphan. Other than staying by my side, she has nowhere else to go. She can't possibly leave me for real. "Besides, aren't there three days left until the Council processes breaking a mate bond? When she comes back regretfully to beg me, I'll withdraw the application. As long as the process isn't finished, she's still mine." Then, Yves uploads a photo on Wolf Net. It features him and Renee standing shoulder-to-shoulder while showing off their muscles in the mirror. They are also gazing at each other with smiles on their faces. The caption reads, "Every bead of sweat deserves to be remembered." Everyone showers him with praise, teasing compliments, and blessings, and every single one stabs into my chest like a dagger. Still, I don't fall apart. I calmly pack my belongings and then pick up my encrypted phone. "Uncle Harrison, it's me. Please arrange a flight back to the Silvermoon pack for me as soon as possible." However, after my departure, Yves is the one who falls apart instead.

"I'll never come back to you! Not in my lifetime!" I spat angrily at him. He scoffed, his eyes as dark as ever. "Then, would you rather be dead than be mine?" "What?" "You either come back to me or you die." He blurted out. My eyes widened in shock, was he really going to kill me? "You don't want to die, do you? Then... strip." He ordered, his voice sounded too hoarse. I moved back, looking for a way to escape. "There is no way out Crystal. You either strip or die. I must have you by all means..." ••••••••••• Crystal was hurt and betrayed when the man he loved and cared for left her like that. She saved his life and they were living happily until he left her one day. He didn't look back, he never cared if she got pregnant for him. She had to find out his true identity being Alexander Hunter. The missing billionaire heir of the biggest and richest family in the country. Three years later, fate brings them together again. Crystal is trying everything she can to get away from him but Alexander would do anything to have her back. What's worse? He's forceful with it. He wants no one with her even though he has a fiance. Will Crystal be able to overcome this crisis? What happens when she finds out not everything she saw was the truth? Does Alexander just wants her back or is he doing this for revenge?

My mom made me pretend to be a boy since I was a child, all in hopes of winning my father’s love. As I was about to graduate from college, I decided to leave the country for good. However, I never expected my secret crush to tie me up.

Having a mate was every she-wolves’ dream and November was one of them. Imagine her surprise when she found him, the Alpha of his pack was his mate. She was happy, and her excitement of creating her own fairy tale would start with her mate. She thought everything would be okay, but then her Alpha rejected her, claiming another she-wolf as his mate leaving her devastated and with a broken heart and wolf. For two years, November endured the pain inflicted by the rejection, and every time Knox mated his chosen Luna. And with the help of Wolfnip, she temporarily forgot her pain despite the side effects of the drug. Little did she know, the drug dealer had his eyes on her. His golden yellow eyes focused on her and her alone. Imagine her shock when this man appeared in her pack’s clinic when she was about to give in to death claiming he’d help her to fix her and accept him as her new mate… Will this man be able to fix her broken heart and body? Or was it too late for him? Will November hand her heart or choose to lock it to prevent anyone from hurting her again?