Said Another Word

On my 18th round of IVF, I accidentally overheard a conversation between my husband and his secretary. Yvonne asked, "Babe, do you really have to have a baby with her? What about us?" Zayn explained, "Don't worry. I've already switched the eggs with yours. So, Candice will actually be carrying our child, and you won't have to suffer through pregnancy. When the child grows up, all the Summers fortune will be his!" I pretended I did not hear a word, focusing instead on raising the son I worked so hard to bring into this world. 18 years later, my son was celebrated as a "computer genius", and he returned home after earning his doctorate. I transferred all my shares and real estate to him without hesitation. That was when Zayn finally decided to come clean and said, "Candice, the truth is, Luca is actually mine and Yvonne's. Let's get a divorce, and it's time for Lucas to be reunited with his biological mother." I simply smiled and replied, "I agree to the divorce." After weaving this web for 18 years, it was finally time to reel it all in.

It was not until after I married Bennett that I found out he had a clingy little childhood friend who loved to play the victim. On the very first day of our marriage, at dinner, I simply asked Bennett to pass me a bite of food. She immediately exploded. "Holly, you're disgusting! Bennett already used those utensils, and you seriously asked him to serve you food? What, don't you have hands?" I froze, completely blindsided. Before I could even react, Bennett put down his spoon and went straight to her, wrapping her in his arms like she was the one who had been wronged. Then he turned to me and said I should just get my own food from now on. However, honestly, wasn't it normal for a husband to serve his wife a bite? What was so outrageous about that? I barely got a word out before Bennett shut me down in a low, firm voice. "That's final. If Rosie doesn't like it, then we're not doing it. End of discussion."

"You really not going to tell her?" I stop but didn't look in her direction. "What?" I asked although I know what she was referring to. I didn't want to tell her. This was something I was running from since beginning but the reality keep slapping it on my face. She stood and walked in my direction until we were face to face. She look directly in my eyes as if trying to read my dark soul. "That you belong to the same blood you hated the most." she said, her words loud with every word she spoke. "That you are a god." The thunder in the cloud matched the storm inside me. Esma's life changed completely when she finds out that she is mated to the cursed alpha, alpha Reed Xander. After a roller-coaster ride of rejection and heartbreak and constant fear of an unknown enemy, she still have new challenges and her own inner demons to face. "Everything is not what it seems like." The words of moon goddess were fresh in her mind. "There's a reason why I choose you for him, you are his destiny."

"I am not used to losing. Never had," he uttered, glaring at her reddish face that was wet with tears. "But, if by any slight mistake, someone dared to even touch a single hair on your head without my permission, I would lose." His intense gaze became deep. "And when I lose," moving closer until she was just a breath away from him, he ended, "my loss is another's invitation of death." Her eyes got bigger and wider. "I will burn this very fucking city down if I have to." She backed herself feeling totally empty to think of anything. In the middle of everything happening, her wound was torn open. The same wound which was caused by him only a week ago. "And I mean every word I say." His warmth-radiating fingers on her jaws burnt her skin. WARNING: This book contains strong language, dubious situations, deception issues, manipulations, abduction and dark romance.

I sued Damon after two years of suffering with his changing behaviour. Damon had another woman. I assumed that our marriage had failed and was on the verge of collapse. However, who would have thought that when I agreed to the divorce, he would torture and lock me up? "You're not going anywhere, Addy. I'm not letting you go at any time," he said with emphasis. "Isn't this what you wanted? Divorce. So you can live free with your lover from my shadow." Damon grinned. A grin that I find horrifying. "You think I don't know, Addy. You've found another man, haven't you? That's why you agreed to my lawsuit two years after I filed it." He has become such a changed person. He has become an invulnerable monster. Can I get a divorce from him?

After three years of pretending to be dead on livestreams, I finally earned enough money to treat my daughter. I was about to go home and tell my wife and daughter when I overheard a call between the platform administrator and my wife. The administrator said humbly, “Chairman Morgan, Mr. Wells’s livestreams have generated tens of millions in revenue over these years. “The company withheld ninety-five percent of it. Should we keep withholding more?” Stacy fell silent for a moment before answering, “No need. Three years of testing him is enough. He barely moves year-round. He even developed muscle atrophy and didn’t tell me.” John’s voice came through the phone next. He said, “Stacy, Sam can even pretend to be dead, so what if this is an act too? “Besides, Emma’s already used to Sam being gone, so she probably won’t accept having a dad again anytime soon.” After some hesitation, my wife said indifferently, “If that’s the case, then withhold it for another six months.” I smiled and tossed the diagnosis report confirming amyotrophic lateral sclerosis into the trash. There was no need for them to test me anymore. I no longer needed to pretend.

I agreed to transfer schools with my childhood friend who was constantly being bullied, but she backed out on the last day. Her friend teased, "I can't believe you pretended to be bullied all this time just to get rid of Harry. He's your childhood friend. Are you really willing to let him go to another school all by himself?" Lena said indifferently, "It's just another school in this city. How far could it be? I've had enough of him always being around me. Getting some distance between us is just what I wanted." I stood outside the door for a long time that day before deciding to turn and leave. However, on the transfer application, instead of writing Haleswood High School, I wrote the high school that my parents wanted me to go to, which was abroad. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Lena and I had been worlds apart from the very start.

There's this unspoken rule in werewolf high society: no matter how tight the mate bond is, business banquets mean booking a hostess. Six years into our bond, my Alpha mate—Brian Stormclaw—met one. Louise. A scrappy Omega with too much pride and not enough sense. When he offered her his black card, she pushed it back and said, "I'm not some Alpha's pampered pet." Brian? Instantly hooked. Like the Moon Goddess herself had dropped her in his lap. He chased her like he wanted her mark on every pack crest. But he forgot something—I was the Luna he wrote ninety-nine love letters to before I said yes. I didn't beg. Didn't snap. Every time he chose her over me, I lit another letter. First one burned on our anniversary—he bailed to wait outside Louise's flower shop, just to walk her home. Letter thirty-four? He left me stranded in a dangerous hunting ground to keep her company. Said she was scared of the dark. Fifty-two? Torched the second he replaced our wedding photo with some sketch she made on. ... And when the ninety-ninth turned to ash, so did whatever was left of us. I walked away. For good.

"Call me sir." He demanded."What?" I heard it correct yet asked again to make sure did I hear correct? "Don't your thick head get things at once?" He asked furrowing his eyebrows without moving his gaze from mine. No way I am going to call him sir. Thick head! It's the second time he told that. What does he think of himself?I cleared my throat and spoke. "Firstly, I'm not going to call you sir. I'm not your slave to do so. And secondly, I don't have a thick head." I protested. "Slave? Seeing a word by its abbreviation." He quirked a brow. "Your thick head has a little knowledge in it." This time he inched more close while the corner of his perfect shifted to a smirk. Move back, Mister!"Yes, I do see a word by its meaning," I said, trying not to fall in his gaze. (S.I.R = Slave - I - Remain) He got closer and closer and stooped near my ear while keeping his hands on the table, either side of me. I could feel his brushing against my earlobe when he spoke in a low deep voice. "If you don't, I'll cancel this deal." 'No! I can't let this happen.'~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I am either drown into the deep green sea or flew up into the bright blue sky, for sure I was lost in his blue-green eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Time marched by days into months and months into a year. Everything in my life has changed but one thing remains the same. Years ago I would've never pictured my life the way it is now.

Mate. I froze mid-step, Venom has never said that word before. I've suddenly forgotten the Rogues I was chasing, my whole attention now on the emotions I was feeling. My vision sharpened, focusing on the faint sound of labored breathing just ahead. My heart hammered in my chest as I walked closer, the bond pulling me forward with an urgency I hadn’t felt in decades. The first thing I saw was her hair, a messy dark bun with strands of white, unusual yet unique. She sat curled up against the base of an old tree, arms wrapped tightly around her knees, shoulders trembling. Her thin, tattered sweater barely shielding her from the cold air. She looked... fragile, a word I never thought I’d associate with my mate. Ariel’s life has been anything but easy. Orphaned as a child and left in the care of a cruel stepfather and stepbrother, she’s endured years of emotional and physical abuse. Despite her circumstances, she’s always felt something stirring beneath the surface—an unexplained restlessness, vivid dreams of running under the moonlight, and a deep connection to the forest around her. Zayn, the alpha of the Shadowcrest pack, has spent years searching for his fated mate, the one who would complete him and stand by his side to no avail…he had finally given up on ever finding her. His pack thrives under his leadership, but his heart has grown weary, doubting the Moon Goddess’s promise of a mate. When a chance encounter leads him to Ariel, he’s stunned to discover that the fragile, broken girl is his destined partner—and more than that, she’s a wolf completely unaware of her true nature.