Once A Year

By the time I return home from a business trip, it is past midnight. However, my wife, Celeste Beaumont, isn't home. A man's shirt that isn't mine is lying on the couch. When I call her, she tells me that she's working late at the office. "Whose shirt is it on the couch?" I ask, cutting straight to the point. She playfully scolds, "Who else would it be? It's a gift for you, so hurry up and try it on." I skeptically put it on and immediately feel how tight and uncomfortable it is across my shoulders. "This is an L, babe. I've always worn XL." Celeste runs a clothing company. She's the one who handles all my clothes and even uses my body measurements for her menswear line. There's no way she doesn't know my size. The line goes quiet for half a second before she thoughtfully says, "It's from my new menswear collection. "I had pieces custom-made for you and Felix, so I must've grabbed the wrong piece. I'll swap it tomorrow." A beat later, her voice carries a little sob as she continues, "Babe, I've been so exhausted without you these past few days. I've missed you so much…" It's past midnight. As I listen to the undeniable weariness beneath her affectionate, playful words, my heart aches in distress. I can't help chiding myself for overthinking. However, after hanging up, realization hits me. Her brother, Felix Beaumont, and I are about the same build. He's always worn XL.

She was a prostitute, she needed money, and she had to be a substitute to get the money she needed. But, why should she become a substitute for someone else who ran away from her fate? Why should she marry a man she didn't love? Her mother prayed that she would find a man who loved her and give her happiness, but she ended up marrying a man who only knew to torture her and gave her sadness. After all, that was the price she should pay for her mother's life.

Clara Black, a wealthy heiress from Glenford, openly declares that she only dates men for a month at a time and never gets emotionally involved. Men eager to climb the social ladder line up across the city, hoping for a chance. After all, when she is in a good mood, she rewards them with a villa. When she isn't, she still gives them millions of dollars when the relationship ends. People in Glenford laugh at me, calling me the most humiliated live-in husband they've ever seen. They're convinced that I'll endure it for the rest of my life. That is until Clara brings home a college student named Leonard Frost. Leonard looks ordinary, yet he becomes the first man to break her one-month dating rule. Clara then gives me two options. One option is to accept an open marriage and let Leonard have equal footing with me. The other is divorce, with half of her assets given to me and a clean break afterward. Her close friends watch from the sidelines, certain that I'll keep enduring everything for the sake of money. Yet I choose the second option without hesitation. In my previous life, I chose to endure, only to have Leonard take advantage of me even more. He forbade Clara from touching me and refused to let her bear my child. In my old age, I could only look on with envy as Leonard enjoyed a household full of descendants. Even after Clara passed away, she didn't mention me in her will at all. Every part of her estate fell into Leonard's control. I kept the title of Clara's husband, yet I lived my entire life completely alone. Now that I have been reborn, everything is clear to me. I will take the money and walk away, severing all ties with her for good.

I'm eight months pregnant, and I suddenly go into early labor. But my husband, Aldrich Lohan, locks me up in the basement and gives me a tocolytic injection to stop my labor instead. He does all these just to ensure that his sister-in-law's baby is born before mine, so that my child won't fight for the inheritance rights. "Anton saved my life," Aldrich says, referring to his elder brother. "But now, he's gone, succeeded only by the baby in Chrissy's womb. I must let her baby inherit all the rights. Chrissy lost everything, but you're still here, enjoying everything I'm giving you like you're entitled to them. So what if you compromise a little bit for her sake?" The contractions in my lower body are hurting more than I can bear. I'm on the verge of passing out as I grab on to the hem of his pants and beg, "I swear that I won't let my child claim his inheritance rights! Please, just send me to the hospital. My child will die otherwise!" However, Aldrich just kicks me aside. "Chrissy has been pregnant for nine months. How can you be giving birth in just eight months? How would I know whether or not you're just inducing birth on purpose? I don't care. I won't let anyone steal the inheritance rights from Chrissy's baby, even if there's just a minuscule percentage of it happening." In the end, Chrissy successfully gives birth to her child, and it's only after that that Aldrich finally remembers me in the basement. "Bring Kelsey to the hospital and make them bring out the best medical equipment to ensure the safe birth of my child." His personal assistant, Edgar Salome, shivers as he says, "But Mr. Lohan… Mrs. Lohan and her child have both died…"

"My plan was reckless but simple: find a pure-blooded werewolf, seduce him, and let him mark me. TONIGHT." Flora Graham is cursed—a hybrid without a wolf, doomed to die before her eighteenth birthday unless she’s marked. For five years, she believed her boyfriend, Donovan, would be the one to save her. But on their anniversary, he shattered her heart, choosing his fated mate over her. With time slipping away, Flora makes a desperate choice. One night. One stranger. One bite to break the curse for good. But the werewolf she seduces isn’t just anyone—he’s Alaric Blackwood, the powerful Alpha of Moonvalley Pack. When he marks her, the curse vanishes… only to return three days later, stronger than before. The Moon Goddess has punished her, but for what? Now, with her life hanging by a thread, Flora must uncover the dark truth behind her curse before it’s too late. But as she searches for answers, Alaric refuses to let her go. Why does he act like she’s his? And what if the one destined to save her… is the one she’s trying to escape?

We have many perspectives on life. One thing here is about marriage. Throughout Matteo's life he believed in his vision that we should no longer marry or be married, because he had a bad experience with his own parents as well as with his other aquaintances. But, Calix is the opposite of Matteo's view. She is hundred and one percent sure that the married life is happy and genuine, also she sees and witnessed those married couples lead to their 'happily ever after'.

Alice is a werewolf nerd who loves and thrives in knowledge, but she lives in a pack called the Dauntless Pack, where strength is more cherished than knowledge. To be initiated into the pack as a full member, one must be a warrior. After being defeated in a duel ceremony,* Alice is rejected and humiliated publicly by her mate, Alpha Clark, for her lack of strength. *The rejection coupled with the defeat, rusticates Alice out of the pack. Left on her own, Alice goes in search of the Genie Pack, a werewolf pack heard is a citadel of knowledge. She hopes to be accepted there since she also heard that the pack values knowledge over strength. When she reaches the Genie Pack, her hope is fulfilled when Alpha Jay, the Alpha of the Genie Pack, her and makes her one of the teachers in the Pack's college. As time goes on, Alice and Jay become friends, bonding over their love and obsession for books. Their friendship grows into something more as they begin to realize their sizzling feelings towards each other, sizzling feelings that friends aren't supposed to be having for each other. However, a possible rift threatens their blossoming love as Alpha Clark, Alice's former mate comes back to reclaim Alice. The stakes are raised even higher when Jay's runaway mate returns, pleading and doing everything in her power to have Jay back. Will the blossoming love between Jay and Alice win over these challenges? Or will it be snuffed out before the both of them even get the chance to be together?

Sirius remembers being born. He knows who he is. He knows the Commander will come. He remembers before. He knows the future. A hybrid dog/wolf serving the British Military? Look closer. He will pay the debt he owes humankind. Then he will take his rightful place. The first book is his history. The Lycanthrope. The King who needs a Queen. The second book is his future. He will make many sacrifices and face many battles. Sirius must win For the sake of the Immortals, For the sake of humankind For the sake of the Earth.

She left him after that steamy night, and she was confident he would never look for her because he never saw her face because of the mask she wore. But what if fate suddenly pulls its strings and bring them back together? ----- Autumn Aurello did something three years ago. For the sake of money, she did pole dancing in front of someone she admired, not expecting she would give in to the way he stared at her, and to the way he caressed every inch of her skin. After that steamy night, she left him, moved on from that night and got herself a boyfriend. She became a successful painter in those three years and went to Manila. When she came back, she planned to surprise her partner, waiting inside his room only to witness his adultery. Taking her broken heart with her, she hurriedly left his unit but accidentally broke his flower vase. She didn’t have any choice but hide in the next unit which had its door opened. And it was a decision she regretfully made. Because in front of her is Dr. Knoxx Silva, the man whom she had a one-night stand with three years ago. Now that their paths crossed, fate never separated them from each other, especially when Knoxx asked her to become her date in his parents’ anniversary and things took a turn when the supposed-to-be anniversary turned into their engagement party. Now, what will happen to them? Will Knoxx find out about their steamy night? Or will their sudden wedding make him get his mind off from that night?

Hailey meticulously plans a Valentine's Day surprise for her husband, Leo. It's supposed to be a day to mend the growing chasm in their relationship, but fate has a different plan. As Hailey steps into their home, the sight that greets her shatters her world: Leo, entangled in a passionate affair with a woman, right in their bedroom. The betrayal is like a knife to her heart, twisting deeper as the truth unravels. This is not a one-time indiscretion but a web of deceit spun over the years. Hailey's mind races as the reality of her situation settles in. Determined not to be a victim, Hailey vows to seek vengeance. But how? Should she reveal her long-hidden identity as the sole heir to a vast fortune? Or should she embrace the affections of the attentive suitor who has been vying for her heart? As Hailey embarks on her journey for retribution, will she discover a new self amidst the ruins and start anew? From a Divorcee to a Billionaire is created by Ivan TaleSmith, an eGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.