Once Upon A Time There Was

I was the stand-in who looked most like my husband's first love. He put me through countless plastic surgeries, both major and minor ones, until I became her exact likeness. But then, she came back from the dead. All it took was her saying, "I don't like anyone looking like me," and he sent me right back to the operating table once more. I begged him, telling him that my body couldn't handle it anymore. Alas, he only looked at me with irritation. "Seeing that cheap imitation of her face just disgusts me," he sneered. "No matter how close you come, you'll never be her." In the end, I died on that operating table. Yet, he went mad, trying desperately to recall what I once looked like.

Two years ago, as a graduate of Werewolf Medical School, I volunteered to go to the most remote and poorest pack, as it had always been my dream to help werewolf patients in need. I heard from my teacher that the werewolves in the Rogue Pack were the poorest and that their living conditions were the worst. Most of the werewolves there were old and weak, so I volunteered to go to that pack as soon as I graduated. After I arrived, I helped them build an infirmary and even set up a blood station. Every year, I led them in voluntary blood donations. But one time—right after I had taken a short break following a blood donation—they turned on me. They slandered me, calling me a selfish and heartless healer. Worse still, they accused me of faking illness, claiming I was lying comfortably in bed while patients were dying—refusing to lift a finger to save them. Not only that, they stormed into the infirmary, seized all my herbs and equipment, and completely trashed the place I had built for them with my own hands. Recalling the days I had spent day and night healing them—only to see my infirmary destroyed and my dream shattered—I let out a bitter smile. I picked up the phone and called the dean of my home pack. "I'm ready to return," I said. "I want to serve the patients in our own pack." Then, without a trace of regret, I left that place behind. However, after I gave up, the whole pack regretted it and begged me to return.

Mabait. Inosente. Mapagmahal. Ganyan inilalarawan si Megan Gonzales, isang dalagang lumaki sa pagitan ng liwanag at dilim. Anak ng isang babaeng bar performer na mas mahal pa ang pag susugal kaysa sariling anak, natutunan ni Megan na ang simpleng pamumuhay ay sapat na—makatapos ng pag-aaral, makakain sa tamang oras, at maipaglaban ang mga taong mahal niya, kahit ang kapalit ay ang sarili niyang kalayaan. Hanggang sa isang gabi, tuluyang naglaho ang natitirang liwanag sa buhay niya. Sa isang underground human auction—isang gabi ng kasinungalingan, kasakiman, at kapangyarihan—ibinenta siya ng kanyang ina kapalit ng pera. Isang murang halaga, isang kahindik-hindik na kataksilan. Ang mga bid ay mabilis na tumataas: lima... sampu... tatlumpung milyon. Hanggang sa isang malamig, mariin, at makapangyarihang tinig ang sumigaw. "Isang daang bilyon. Para sa kanya." Tahimik ang mundo. Tumigil ang lahat. Doon siya unang nasilayan ni Lucien Alcaraz—isang negosyante sa itaas ng mundo, kilala sa yaman, talino, at kawalan ng puso. Ngunit sa gabing iyon, sa ilalim ng mga ilaw ng kasalanan, nakita niya si Megan. Hindi bilang isang produkto... kundi isang bagay na dapat angkinin para sa kaniyang sariling intensyon. Sa pagitan ng kasunduan at lihim na damdamin, matutuklasan ba ni Megan na ang tunay na halaga ng isang tao ay hindi nasusukat sa perang ipinambibili sa kanya? Mararanasan ba niya ang pagmamahal na ipinaglalaban siya? Halina`t subaybayan ang kwento nang ating bida.

In order to protect my father, I was tortured for ten hours, but my father was busy celebrating his adopted daughter’s eighteenth birthday. With my dying breath, I called my father and said, “Dad, it’s my birthday today. Could you wish me a happy birthday?” “You crazy monster! You got your mother killed in order to celebrate your birthday! How could you still ask me to celebrate your birthday? You should just die!” With that said, he hung up. The next day, my corpse was placed in different flower pots and put in front of a police station. My father was in charge of inspecting my corpse, and he could immediately tell that the murderer did this for revenge. What they did to me was cruel and made a mockery of the police’s authority. But he did not manage to tell that the deceased was the daughter he hated.

The night before the marking ceremony, Joanna Grant kills my father by running him down with her car. At the same time, my fiance, Samuel West, breaks the pack's betrothal agreement and asks to end our engagement. The next day, Samuel and Joanna show up at the marking ceremony that was meant for me. With the entire pack as their witnesses, they pray to the Moon Goddess for her blessing. Just then, I arrive at the ceremony with the surveillance footage from the crash, demanding that Joanna pay with her life for what she's done to my father. Joanna is arrested by the Alliance guards, yet I am exiled from the pack and cast out as a Rogue. Out on my own, hunted and mauled by wild beasts, I am rescued by the Alpha of the Redmoon pack, Alexander Rowe. He saves me when I'm on the brink of death and then proposes to me, pulling me out of hell itself. But after two years of marriage, I overhear a conversation between Alexander and his Beta, Marcus Hale. "Alpha, you forgave Joanna in the Luna's family's name and helped secure her release. If this ever comes to light, the Alliance will arrest you, too." "She'll never know," Alexander says. "Joanna has served a year in prison. That's enough. She deserves the chance to move on and find happiness." So, the marriage I think saves me turns out to be Alexander's carefully planned trap all along. I decide it's time for them to pay the price.

Arla-Rosa gave her heart to the wrong man and paid the ultimate price, her life, and the lives of her unborn children. Betrayed by her family, ruined by love, discarded like trash, she was left to die in the cold, her trust shattered and her spirit broken. But death was not her end. It was her rebirth. Waking six months before the night of her greatest betrayal, Arla is no longer the naive, trusting girl they destroyed. This time, she sees the daggers hidden behind smiles, the poison laced in sweet words. This time, she has no intention of forgiving. No plans to surrender. No mercy to spare. Armed with the knowledge of what’s to come and a heart forged in fire, Arla-Rosa is ready to play their games... only now, she is writing the rules. And when the final reckoning comes, they will learn one brutal truth: The phoenix does not forgive. It burns.

Arianna Reynolds, second year med school student of King's University attracts the hottest player to ever exsist in the city of London, Damon King, who practices his internal training for cardiology. She was betwichingly gorgeous, and alluringly innocent. A perfect angel with good grades and a little devil who loves chaos. Damon King, the most arrogant badboy and the most cruel heartbreaker. His world toppled when she entered all in her glory as his junior. She excited him, and challenged him when she acted blind to his charms. His excitement turned to anger when she punched him. He was evrything she hated in a guy. Nonetheless, she found him slowly changing for her. Her brown orbs always seemed to tempt his heart with whirlpool of exotic emotions and he was sucked into it when ever she locked his gaze with him. ------------- "You are mine Ria," he yelled slamming her onto the nearby locker. "No," she deadpanned with annoyance. "I love you," he confessed nearning her petite figure, invading her personal space. Her breath clogged for a second as she was stunned with his confession. Her eyes hardened again when she said," No, you wanna play with me." Pushing him back lightly she looked away. "I need you Ria, trust me. It's no sick game of mine. I am had over heels for you. Please, just give me a chance," he begged her with moist eyes, closing the distance again. Her stance grew guarded as the cruel heart breaker was confessing with vehement emotions stirring in his eyes. "Prove that your intentions are true," she said pushing him back from her personal space. Leaving him drown in her thoughts, she walked away from him. "You are mine Ria. I will prove myself worthy of your love. You belong only to me," he promised to himself watching her retreating figure.

I was the real daughter of the Sinclair family, yet I was the one abandoned when their fake daughter and I were kidnapped and taken to the top of a building. They were given a choice between the two of us, and they chose to save the fake daughter, letting me be pushed off from the eighteenth-floor balcony. Even though I survived, I was completely disappointed in them. Then, their attitudes changed overnight. My parents, who despised me, started asking me about my likes and dislikes. My brother who wished me dead, started suddenly giving me precious jewelry. Even my fiancé, who always claimed I was nothing compared to the fake daughter, started to prepare for our wedding. To say I was confused was an understatement.

My mate, Theo Burke, dies in a fight. Our son, Jax Burke, has now lost his father. Liam Burke, Theo's twin older brother, consoles me by saying, "I will treat Jax like my own son." He keeps his word, taking excellent care of Mia Parker, his mate, and me. However, I happen to overhear a conversation he has with a witch, Agatha Rune. "Give me more of that potion that masks my scent. I can't let Olivia find out that I'm Theo." This is how I find out that my mate isn't dead after all. He has simply adopted Liam's identity and now spends every night in bed with Mia next door. In order to get an heir with a purer bloodline, he assumes the identity of his dead twin brother and breeds with Mia. What he doesn't know is that I'm the daughter of the most powerful Alpha King in the Southern Woodlands. As it stands, a far superior bloodline flows in Jax's veins.

Jace Maddox is a billionaire tech CEO known for his cold heart and strict routines. Behind closed doors, he's a man haunted by betrayal, grief, and secrets too heavy to share. River Hale is an ex-military bodyguard with nothing left to lose. Disgraced and angry, he’s hired to protect the one man he can’t stand, Jace Maddox. When a dangerous scandal threatens to destroy Jace’s empire, the only way to survive is a fake relationship. A staged romance to control the media. But fake feelings start to feel real. As secrets unravel and enemies close in, both men must face their pasts, and the truth about what they’ve come to mean to each other.