Rotten Tagalog

They say I killed my father. They say I ordered my maid, my dearest friend, to poison him. They say she confessed before taking her own life. Lies. The real murderer stands before me, weaving her web of deception and has the entire Royal court in her grasp. Queen Andessa, my wicked stepmother. My father’s killer. She has stripped me of my title, my crown, my very birthright, and has offered me up as a tribute to the Dragon King of Drakarith. A mercy punishment, she calls it. But I am not broken. She thinks she has won. That I will succumb to defeat and forget who I am. But she's wrong. I am Dahlia Rhadaya Balerion, the rightful Queen of Velmira. And I will return to reclaim what is mine and rip out Velmira's corruption by its roots. Starting with Andessa's rotten fertilized eggs. My callous step-siblings. Velmira is my home, my kingdom, and I will not let it rot under the rule of vipers. But reclaiming what is mine will not be easy, especially trying to achieve that from the dragon lands of Drakarith, under the watchful vigilance of Azraelyrs, a dragon king I have heard rumors about his cold-heartedness and rules with an iron fist. To survive, I must play the game of seduction and manipulation against my enemies. To win, I must be sharper, stronger, and more ruthless than I have never been before in my life. Let the games begin.

They say fated mates are sacred, practically unbreakable. But Aiden wasn’t mine, and I wasn’t his. That didn’t stop me from loving him like he was the last man left in this cursed world. He swore he didn’t need a bond to love me. Said it was pure. Said he’d love me unconditionally. Said he’d choose me—always. But now he’s in our bed, moaning another woman’s name like a prayer. Wearing a forbidden pendant laced in black magic—magic strong enough to block the mate bond so I wouldn’t feel the betrayal. Too late, Aiden. I felt it. Like a dagger slicing straight through my soul. And just as I hit rock bottom, he shows up. A young, enigmatic Alpha—feared, powerful, far too young for me. Alpha Damon. He’s asking questions about illegal mate bond magic. Magic my husband used to cheat without consequences. Magic that ties back to a dark conspiracy. Turns out, my perfect little marriage is just the rotten tip of a magic-smuggling empire. Damon wants my help. Needs me close. Says I’m the only one who knows enough to crack this wide open. But every time he says my name, something in me stirs, something I swore was long dead. I shouldn’t want him. I couldn't him. He’s too young. Too dangerous. Too…everything. But goddess help me—he’s the first man who’s ever looked at me like I wasn’t something broken. Like I wasn’t disposable. Like I was worth fighting for.

Led by my ex-boyfriend, the police raid the base of the major crime syndicate. The antagonist takes his own life, and the only person who could prove my identity as a top-secret undercover operative died two weeks ago. My ex-boyfriend drags me into court. He wants my memories extracted so I can face public judgment and sentencing. Nevertheless, I have no intention of explaining myself. "I plead guilty. Grant me a swift death." The masses are outraged, despising me with every fiber of their being. "Ha! You despicable traitor! You monster! You're a rat who exposes undercover journalists, yet you dare ask for a swift death? "This is the world of a novel. The maximum penalty for a guilty plea is euthanasia, but if judgment is passed by the court, you will suffer endless torment until your last breath!" "You don't deserve euthanasia. You belong in hell!" Rotten eggs and stones pelt me mercilessly. Even with my face now covered in blood, I make no effort to avoid the assaults. I only longed for death. My ex-boyfriend glares at me coldly. "You betrayed me. What right do you have to ask for a swift death? Your memories must be extracted and judged in court. Death will come only after your torment!" They are the ones who demand my memories be extracted and judged, yet after seeing them, why are they also the ones who go mad with regret?

To help my sterile Alpha mate Marcus Blackwood conceive an heir, I had used many hormone injections. My belly was covered with purple bruise marks from all the needle punctures. But after our son Connor was born, he was very weak and even ran much slower than the other pups. Marcus looked at Conner coldly and snarled at me, "It's all your rotten bloodline! You've brought shame to the Blackwood pack!" Later, he held his mistress Scarlett's pup—a three-year-old pup who was strong enough to beat an eight-year-old pup—and publicly rewarded Scarlett with a new Porsche. But when my five-year-old Connor accidentally knocked over his milk, Marcus kicked him in the chest and called him worthless. He even locked my son, who was afraid of the dark, alone in the drafty woodshed at the countryside estate during winter. Every day, Connor got only one bowl of spoiled food, until he starved to death. When I found Connor, his small body was already ice-cold, still clutching the family portrait I had drawn for him in his little hands. After that, Marcus tortured me to death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at our engagement party. Marcus publicly took Scarlett's hand in front of everyone. "I’m breaking off my engagement with Hazel Whitmore! She is just a foolish she-wolf who can only birth idiots! Scarlett is the one I love!" I realized that he was also reborn. He wanted to humiliate me in front of everyone again. But he didn't know that without my exclusive genetic healing technology, he would remain childless for this entire lifetime.