She Chose Herself This Time Novels & Stories

My marriage to Dante Moretti shocked everyone. I’ve got a fiery temper and I don’t back down. Three years into our marriage, the entire Chicago underworld knew we were at each other's throats. Except in bed. There, our bodies just fit. The only time we weren't at war was when we were tangled in the sheets, lost in a storm of desperate kisses and raw pleasure. Countless times, he’d tell me he was obsessed with my body, always right as he was sinking into me. I thought it was his way of saying he was falling for me. That all came crashing down at an auction, when he snatched my mother's heirloom from me, only to give it to her—a fragile-looking girl named Ava. That’s when he showed me a cruelty I’d never seen. "It's time for a reality check, Elara," he’d said, his voice cold as ice. "Marrying you, fucking you… it was all just to keep the peace between our families. Ava is the one I want to protect." But the day I finally left Chicago, the day I announced our divorce to the world… That cold, calculating Mafia Don hunted for me like a man possessed.

I've waited five years for my mafia fiance, Daniele Moretti, while he keeps pushing our wedding back again and again. I've turned down every man who approaches me and put up with all the snide comments from high society. On the eve of exchanging our marriage alliance contract, thanks to a bet with his lover, Daniele decides it's hilarious to switch the groom's name. He replaces himself with his uncle, Samuele Moretti, a man who is practically on his deathbed. Daniele laughs as he brags to his friends, "Regina's obsessed with me. When she finds out, she'll cry and beg me to change it back." I stand just outside the door and hear every word. On the day of the wedding, I take Samuele's arm—the "sickly wreck" Daniele keeps mocking—and walk him up the aisle. When Daniele finally shows up late with his lover and tries to turn the ceremony into a spectacle, I slap him across the face. Now he's the one who has to call me Aunt Regina.

My dad is locked up in a cargo container filled with explosives at the docks. The Genovese family has sent me a video. Apparently, the explosives are set to detonate in 20 minutes. I quickly call my fiance, Dante Luciano, for help. He's the Don of the Luciano family. As long as he's around, no one will dare to lay a finger on my dad. When Dante answers my call, he promises that he'll bring his men to rescue Dad right away. But when the convoy is on the way to the container, he claims that he has more urgent things to do, so he turns the car around and leaves. I drive toward the docks like a madwoman. There, as I watch the countdown on the video ticking down, I keep spamming calls on Dante's phone. When I call him for the 77th time, Dante finally answers it. His voice is as cold as ice. "Stop bothering me with such tricks, Lina." "But my dad will die for real—" "Then let him die." Just like that, Dante ends the call. The countdown strikes zero, resulting in Dad getting blasted into smithereens. The next thing I know, Dante's mistress, Bianca Magoni, has uploaded a photo to her social media feed. It features Dante, who's in the middle of cutting the steak for her gently. "I made an off-handed comment about wanting to eat steak, and now Don Luciano is personally cutting it just for me." It turns out that the so-called urgent business Dante has is cutting the steak for his beloved mistress. My heart dies on the inside. Hence, I fake my death and vanish from Dante's life. Later on, Dante kneels before me after searching everywhere for me like a madman. "Lina, please don't abandon me! I'm begging you, please!" I just smile at him. "You got the wrong person, sir. That's not my name."

I knew from the exact moment I had my eyes on her. That what we're going to have isn't something simple, monotonous relationship often the common werewolves have till they die. Her physical condition was tiring her out, the abuse, the humiliation cutting her deep down, but still her eyes sparkled as she was hoping for something. Not only hoping, I was certain that she'd make it to reality, that's how determined her pheromones felt. The curvy reddish black hair hanging from her shoulder, sharp doe eyes highlighting her symmetrical face, the new blossoming figure, the subtle submission yet the aggressive domination surrounded with mystical aura, natural since she's an Alphaess. Luck wasn't with her at that time, but I predicted precisely that she'd come out of it, everything and everyone would be under her control. Hell, since that moment I wanted to be with her, I didn't care if it was love, or I was just a way of getting her revenge, or I was a tool. I promised myself that I'd do everything which works in favor, as her sweet yet powerful voice was ringing in my head making me slightly shiver, I never felt anything like that before. "May I help you with anything, Alpha Lorenzo?"

There was an unspoken rule in high society. When families arranged marriages, the woman chose her partner through an auction. I had chased Zayn Farrell since I was young. At the auction, I did not hesitate. I bid at the highest tier and chose him. Not long after our engagement, my parents died in a car accident, and my family fell from power. I thought Zayn would take the chance and leave me, but he still married me. He doted on me and turned me into the woman everyone in Ravenwood envied. I believed I had moved his heart, until his first love, Yara Xavier, returned. The first time I met Yara, she brought her luggage into the Farrell family villa. Soon after, someone threw all her belongings out. The servants later said I had ordered it. I tried to explain, but Zayn did not believe me. He locked me outside and made me kneel in the rain for the whole night. The second time, Yara tripped and fell down a steep slope. She said I had pushed her. Zayn lost his temper and punished me. He made me climb a rough mountain path in high heels. He did not stop until he saw that I was covered in blood. My legs were bruised and swollen. The third time, I found out the truth by accident. My parents died because Yara found out about my engagement to Zayn and had orchestrated it. Zayn married me to keep me close so he could watch me and make sure Yara would never go to prison. My world collapsed. On the day I finally got the evidence and went to the police, Zayn drove his car into me and killed me. When I opened my eyes, I was back at the auction. It was the day I chose my fiance.

After I was brought back from the kidnapping, my mafia boss husband, Jonathan Caruso, arranges for me to live in a new villa. "You've suffered so much over the years, Nat…" Jonathan caresses the scar on my face, sympathy and pain evident on his face. As I listen to his words, I just smirk in return. Sure, he's been keeping up a loving and devoted facade. Unfortunately for him, I've always known that he doesn't want me to survive at all. After all, he's the one who has delivered me into the dark and damp water prison three years ago as a wedding gift for Governor Frederick Romano in order to marry his daughter, Kelsey Romano.

My fated mate, Alpha Cullen, fell for the lies of his first love, Donna, and planned to kill me. But in a twist of fate, we were ambushed by rogues and died together. But with his last breath, he whispered another woman's name: Donna. In that moment, I knew the truth—it had always been her, his real love. When the Moon Goddess gave me a second chance, I was reborn on the day I first met him. One look at the hatred in his eyes, and I knew: he had been reborn, too. So before he could speak, I rejected him in front of the entire pack. Years later, when we met again, he sneered that I was nothing more than a pathetic rogue who tinkered with flowers. But he didn't know I had found a new mate: Orton, the Alpha of Alphas. It wasn't until our son ran to me, wrapping his little arms around my leg and crying, "Mommy!" that Cullen's façade finally shattered. He grabbed my arm, his voice cracking as he begged, "This can't be happening! I'm your fated mate! You still love me… right, Juliet?"

I married Eleanor Vance on the very same day her true love was getting married next door. Just as we were about to exchange rings, the man himself stormed into our ceremony. Red-eyed and shaking, he announced that the only woman he'd ever loved was Eleanor and that he couldn't go through with marrying the fiancee waiting for him, the one battling a terminal illness. Eleanor didn't even look at me. She pulled her hand from mine and ran after him. I was left standing there, humiliated, while my mother was so angry she ended up in the hospital. Later, the abandoned bride and I caught each other's eyes for a moment. I asked quietly, "Do you want to switch grooms?" Three years passed before Eleanor came back. She was crying, saying she regretted everything. But I scooped up both kids from the backseat, one in each arm. I stepped aside and said, "Excuse me. I'm in a hurry to pick up my wife from work."

Blood poured heavily between my thighs, the metallic scent sharp enough to make my wolf whimper in agony. But the pain that tore deeper into my soul was the sight of my Alpha mate running past me without hesitation, chasing the overturned vehicle that had crashed toward Marina’s white car instead. “Marina!” he roared, his Alpha command raw and furious. A voice he had never once used on me in the five years I had stood beside him as Luna. I lifted my trembling hand, my lips parting in desperation. I wanted to scream that his pup was the heir of the pack, the secret I had protected for years was growing inside me. But he never looked back. He gathered Marina into his arms, his grip fierce and possessive, and carried her away as if she were his true mate. I thought that was the worst betrayal a Luna could endure. I was wrong. When I woke in the infirmary, the bond between my wolf and my mate was eerily silent. No Alpha. No pup. Only the cold scent of blood and a set of rejected papers resting beside my bed. I smiled faintly, my voice no more than a whisper. “This time I will be the one who makes Alpha Declan Jordan kneel until he howls in regret and begs his discarded Luna to return.”

The Demon King who unified the entire Old Empire died. The dead Demon King left a rich legacy to his four sons: 　　Territory, Power, Status, Wealth, Strength ...... 　　and a weak human queen who was of little use except for her beauty. 　　According to the tradition of the Old Realm, those legacies not chosen for succession are destroyed and buried with the Demon King. 　　The heroine who still thinks she's in love with an ordinary man: "......" 　　Heroine: "Don't be in a hurry, let me think about what I should do to survive". 　　The heroine is not legally married to the demon king. 　　It's a sweet (?) story about a pretty human tough-guy who seduces innocent demons.