Otherwise

My best friend asked me to conduct a blood test on her before she got married to the richest man in the city. That was how I found out that she had AIDS. Due to patient confidentiality and her claim that her fiance would not mind, I did not tell him about her diagnosis. Later on, he contracted AIDS as well. When this happened, my best friend went online and pointed the finger at me. “Maya Sullivan intentionally kept the results of my blood test a secret. That’s why my husband got AIDS. It’s all her fault!” Even my boyfriend added fuel to the fire. “This isn’t the first time Maya has set Pearl up. She only got AIDS because Maya used an infected needle to take her blood sample!” No matter how much I insisted otherwise, everyone kept hounding me about it. To avoid the fallout, I was forced to move myself and my parents to another city to start fresh. However, in a fit of rage, Pearl’s husband crashed into our car and killed all of us. He was later sentenced to death, so Pearl inherited all of his assets. She then lived in luxury with my boyfriend. When I opened my eyes again, I discovered that I had gone back in time. It was the day that Pearl had undergone her health checkup.

Right after Ethan and I announced our mating ceremony, his childhood sweetheart from the pack, Sophia, came rushing back. And she flat-out demanded I go through a "bloodline trial." "Someone like you, a wolf outcast, you're definitely up to no good. You have to pass this month-long bloodline trial before our pack will accept your mating!" With Ethan basically giving them the nod, Sophia and her pack betas put me through hell. They deliberately messed with my moonlight alchemy circle, almost tore my mind apart. The backlash from the moon energy tortured me until I almost broke. My body felt like it was being ripped to shreds. They contaminated my sacred water potions. The choking fumes nearly suffocated me. The betas were cruel and vicious. "She's just a lone wolf anyway. If she dies, no pack will back her up." Then, Sophia stole the Moon Goddess sacred artifact my grandma left me—the Moon Alchemy Cauldron. She taunted me, all cocky. "If you've got the guts, try summoning the Moon Goddess's power on the blood moon night to take it back! Otherwise, I'll use your family's crappy old cauldron as a chamber pot!" I’ve had enough. I’m so sick of these ‘trials,’ and there’s no way in hell I’m mating with Ethan.

[WARNING: This story contains mature themes with profanities, hardcore graphical explicit sexual situations, and others. Strongly recommended for 18+ only. Otherwise, read at your own risk.] Jack was still a child when his father abandoned him to Marianne, his lovely and caring stepmother. Through the good and bad times, they only have each other. But what if Jack suddenly admits that Marianne is the only person he wants to be with and love forever? A forbidden love that overflows like magma, so intense and hot that it burns with every touch. How will this kind of love survive in a world full of uncertainty, temptation, and mistakes? What if there are people who constantly try to keep them apart? Jack once told Marianne, "I don't give a damn about anyone. I want you to be mine! And it's fine with me if our love for each other burns me. Just want me and love me until the end, I am more than willing to be burned to death." Can their love last all the way to the end? NOTE: This is an English translation of a Tagalog story with the same title and author. The author wishes to apologize for any errors in vocabulary, spelling, phrases, or other translation issues found in this novel. In the future, this book will be further edited and polished to make it more suitable for English readers. For the time being, please enjoy it and don't forget to leave comments or feedback. Have fun reading! (The Tagalog/Filipino version is also available in this app).

I grew up alongside Griffith, the Alpha of the Avalora Pack. Everyone said I was the luckiest woman in the entire kingdom of Mycintia. Griffith rejected the mate bond arranged for him by the Moon Goddess to be with me. He declared to the world that I was his one and only love. But after my miscarriage, I accidentally overheard him speaking to the healer, "Find a way to drug the Luna and remove her womb. Make sure she can never bear children again." Then, I saw him gently caressing another woman's stomach and saying, "Give her the best prenatal medicine. I want her to give birth to the strongest and most intelligent child." I knew that woman. She was Giselle, the fated mate the Moon Goddess had originally chosen for him. Griffith's voice turned grave as he issued his next command. "The Luna must never find out about this. And you must take care of her health at all costs. Otherwise, you'll suffer the consequences." Pain sliced through me. I had never imagined that the man who once swore he loved me more than life itself could betray me so cruelly. In the end, I left without a word. Since they wanted to be together so much, I stepped aside to let him and his destined mate be together. Yet, he told me later that after losing me, he lost the ability to love.

At the celebration where Lorenzo Alvarez is crowned the new mafia boss, his men arrange a few performances. A dancer in a backless top and short skirt twists around the pole under the lights. "Don't look," he murmurs, covering my eyes with his hand. "This kind of cheap entertainment isn't worthy of you." His men jump in immediately. "Lorenzo still spoils Ms. Valenti after all these years. That kind of devotion is rare. We're so jealous." "A man as loyal and single-minded as Lorenzo is hard to find." I rest a hand on my belly, planning to tell him tonight that I am pregnant. But when I return from the restroom, I see the same man who had just held me in his arms leaning back in his chair while the dancer straddles his lap. Lorenzo slips his business card and a thick fold of cash into the waistband of her skirt. He laughs, relaxed and unbothered. "Isabella is wonderful, sure, but life needs a little passion. This ragazza is just something new. A bit of fun. "Keep your mouths shut. Don't go running to Isabella and upset her. Otherwise, you'll have a problem." Cold rushes through me. I do not approach or confront Lorenzo. I simply take out my phone and answer the email I have been avoiding for days. "I agree to participate in the confidential experiment."

I was treating some friends to dinner at the private club my cousin owned. When we wrapped up, I waved over a server. "Just put it on Nick's tab." The server nodded, but a manager I'd never seen stepped in to block her. Wearing a smile that never reached her eyes, she said, "Sir, Bosco is a members-only establishment. We don't offer tabs." I felt a flicker of irritation. "I'm the owner's cousin. Just let him know." She let out a sharp, mocking laugh and slapped a bill onto the table. Eighty-eight thousand. Exclusive suite atmosphere maintenance fee, ten thousand. High‑end social network filtration fee, twenty thousand. Spontaneous entertainment ambience enhancement fee, fifteen thousand. And a mess of other miscellaneous charges. Since when did Nick's place dare to bleed customers dry like this? "What's wrong? Can't pay and now you're trying to name‑drop?" She looked me up and down with an arrogant tilt of her chin. "I've seen plenty of our boss's relatives. Not one of them is as broke, pretentious, and shameless as you." Right in front of her, I dialed Nick and put the call on speaker. "Ten minutes," I said. "Make sure she disappears from my sight. Otherwise, I'm revoking your authorization for this club."

For five years of their contractual marriage, Serena couldn’t even catch a glimpse of her husband Alexander Vanderbilt who fled the country right after he signed the papers. She couldn’t even see him when his assistant came with divorce papers. Unbelievably, their first encounter unfolded as one night of intoxicated intimacy, with both failing to recognize one another. The next morning, she realized what had happened but when her husband still did not recognize her, she did not bother to inform him. Serena believed their paths would never cross again, only to discover that this was the commencement of their intertwined destinies. The next time Serena met with Xander, she used her middle name 'Ava' and her mother's maiden name 'Alvarez'. Recalling the virgin that had shared his bed the previous night, he almost mistook her as a prostitute until he saw her designs for his new house which, according to rumor, he bought for him and his soon-to-be bride and also his first love, Victoria. How ironic. Fate dictated otherwise and true love indeed saves the day as the more they interract, the more Xander started to feel something for Serena while Serena herself remain cool and composed, which only made him even more curious! If only he knows that she is still his wife...

"Selene, your bloodline is too lowly. You don't deserve to be a Luna! You must let your Alpha mark his sister-in-law!" My mother-in-law despises me because I'm a lowly Omega. When my mate's brother dies in an accident, my mother-in-law wants me to allow my mate, Eugene Latham, to have pups with his sister-in-law, Kristy Unwin, because of her superior bloodline. Otherwise, Eugene will lose his right to become Alpha! Eugene wraps his arms around me tenderly and says, "You're the only one in my heart, but you need to understand that the pack can't go without an Alpha. I'll announce to everyone that you're my Luna once Kristy's pregnant and I become Alpha, okay?" I love him deeply, so I believe him. However, when Eugene goes from sleeping with Kristy once a month to sleeping with me once a month, I realize he's no longer a mate who belonged to me alone. When Kristy announces that she's pregnant and that she and Eugene are going to get married, I'm the only one who's kept in the dark. My heart shatters into pieces when I see the glimmering Luna's ring on her finger. If this is what Eugene wants, I'll fake my death and leave him. I won't ever return.

"One more step and I will make you regret" He hissed with his burning gaze on me. My body stiffened and I remained still at the same place. His threatening words choked me. I pitied myself for how helpless I'd become. But my intrusive thoughts said otherwise, what if I didn't listen to him and ran further away from him? I felt a pair of hands rise to my shoulder. My breath became unstable feeling his skin on me. "Good girl" he hushed in my ear letting out a silent gasp due the surprise act of his. I think I have just let my mind win over the fear I had for him. ~~~~~~~~~ Aster Di Fazio gets tangled into an arranged marriage with the heir of one the wealthiest families, Adagio Amato-the most feared and filthy rich. He never goes against his parents and hates the idea of commitment. As for Aster, she was a simple girl with a loving heart. She has always been under her parent's shield and was showered with love and comfort-a heart of generosity and happiness. They're opposite to each other in every way possible, but they carry the same last name. This marriage didn't look promising and every member of their family knew that. It is no more than a contract after which all of it will be burned and blown away with wind. Well, that's what everyone thought.

"After seeing all this, will you still be able to love me? You surely are not. That's why I was telling you to change your decision otherwise you won't have to see all this." With his one finger, he wiped her tears. His eyes were fixed on her horrified turn yellow pale face. "My love which has been in my heart for years can't be ended in a moment on seeing all this. And my decision will not change till my last breath." In weeping, she went on sitting on the floor. She was on the trajectory of that love where there was no going back. "If this is your final decision then fine. After that nikkah (marriage agreement) don't keep any kind of expectation from me." On her stubbornness, he controlled his rage and said in defeated voice. "If you get tired from fulfilling this one-sided relationship then remember I'm always willing to let you go back. You can free yourself from this relationship." After done with his saying, he turned back abruptly. While Hadia hide her face in her hands and started crying profoundly at what he said to her. Will Wadan accept and fell in love to Hadia who he raised since her childhood? Or Hadia will have to forget him and give up on her love just because he doesn't her worthy to love?