Story About Pride

I was a fat, orphaned Omega girl. At 17, my stepbrother discovered my diary—filled with shameful fantasies about him—and from that moment on, he couldn't stand the sight of me. Now my stepbrother is back, graduated, and we ended up having a one-night stand.But he kept humiliating me, saying he only slept with me because of the mate bond.Then he announced his engagement to a highborn beauty. And just when I thought it couldn't get worse? I'm pregnant. I ran away, heartbroken and heavy with his child, never imagining he'd regret it—begging me to come back at any cost...

I am the wife of the capital city’s esteemed tycoon. We were married in secret for three years. At the celebratory banquet, I was about to make our relationship public. However, his first love, Juvelia Shaw, stumbled into the hall clutching her torn collar. “Edwin, save me! Peri Sanders brought along her penniless brother. He just forced a kiss on me in the lounge! “He says he’s your brother-in-law. If I want to get into the Gough family, I have to please him.... Argh! I have been defiled!” The room fell deathly silent before erupting into a chorus of finger-pointing and curses. They accused me of forcing my brother to assault the esteemed tycoon’s woman just to secure his favor. Edwin Gough’s eyes blazed crimson. He ripped off his coat and wrapped it tightly around Juvelia. Then, he flung a glass of red wine at my face. Gritting his teeth, he glared at me. “Peri, bring out that beast of a brother of yours!” “Since his mouth is so vile, let’s pull out his teeth and cut his tongue off to feed the dogs! Otherwise, I’ll make the entire Sanders family pay with their lives!” Amidst the crowd’s looks of contempt and disgust, I burst into laughter. My brother had long since lost his voice. Three years ago, in a fire, he had inhaled excessive smoke while saving Edwin, which had destroyed his vocal cords. His tongue was gone too.

At dinner, my wife's little brother Darren shot me a nasty look. "Other guys hook their wife's brother up with houses and cars. Mine won't shut up about covering a lousy twenty grand. "Wade Watson, transfer your house to me today, or I swear, I'll make my sister divorce you." My hand stalled mid-serve as I placed food on my pregnant wife's plate. That house was all my parents left me. Best school district in the city. Worth over three hundred grand. I looked at Vanessa, waiting for her to back me up. For the baby. She slammed an abortion appointment slip onto the table. "It's because I married a useless guy like you that my brother still isn't married. Wade, you get one choice—the baby or the house."

I check on family businesses in the countryside with my girlfriend, Mildred McClure, in tow. At noon, we stop by my uncle, Barron Cortez's, place for a simple lunch. Just as we are getting ready to leave, his new wife, whom he married just six months ago, Hilda Ross, rushes out and demands that we settle the bill. "Elden, you two just had the Supreme Farmhouse Set Meal, which is 1,888.80 dollars, and your girlfriend picked three organic, pesticide-free tomatoes in the garden. That's 199.80 dollars. "With an 80% service charge, your total comes to 3,800 dollars." Mildred is stunned. "Elden, do we have to pay to eat at your uncle's place?" I start to feel embarrassed, and my expression darkens as I look at Hilda, my supposed aunt, who's barely any older than me. "I've grown up eating at my uncle's place and never paid a single penny. Besides, your prices are downright outrageous!" Hilda calmly whips out a price menu and righteously declares, "That's all ancient history. Now, we're running a farmhouse business where all prices are clearly marked, so everyone pays the same rate. "Barron said you're some big boss in the city. Surely you're not going to stiff us over a little bill, are you?" She steps in front of the gate to block the exit with her body and shoots me a contemptuous look. "Even family settles their accounts. If you don't pay up today, don't even dream about stepping through this door!" While Mildred panics, I laugh in disbelief before taking out my phone and dialing Barron's number. "Uncle Barron, Hilda wants to settle accounts between family, so don't you think it's time we settled our accounts too?"

My boyfriend's childhood sweetheart, Janine Swettenham, returned to the pack, alone and heavily pregnant. To protect her reputation, Aiden Monroe decided to mark her. I asked him in disbelief, "What about me? What about our baby?" He just shrugged and said, "Janine’s not like you. I’m the only family she has left. She can’t handle the gossip. Just wait for me. Once she has the baby, I’ll mark you." However, Aiden forgot that I don’t have any family either. While the entire pack mocked and slandered me for being pregnant out of wedlock, Aiden was by Janine’s side, holding her hand through every hospital visit. That’s when I finally understood that some favoritism didn’t need a reason. I left in fury. Then, the accident happened. I lost the baby. Broken and numb, I chose to walk away from it all. I left both him and the pack, vanishing from his world completely. Five years later, I returned, accompanying my mate on a business trip to the Silverglade Pack. Craving the taste of old memories, I went to the pack restaurant alone. I never expected to run into Aiden again. He looked at me with that same cold gaze and said, "You’ve caused enough trouble, haven’t you? The kid must be four by now. Bring him back. He can grow up alongside Janine’s child."

Hailey has been in love with Derek since their first day in college. Just when Hailey finally works up the courage to confess, Derek’s highschool ex, Jessica, shows up again. And before Hailey can blink, Derek’s back in Jessica’s arms. Heartbroken and drunk, Hailey slept with the man who she believed was Derek. Similar face. Similar voice. Similar intoxicating pull. But by morning, Hailey realizes it was a mistake. Hailey’s world collapses even further when her mom announces a surprise engagement and takes her to meet her new fiancé. Her mother’s soon-to-be husband? Derek’s father. And his other son Tyler? Hailey's One-Night-Stand. Living under the same roof with these two stepbrothers is hard enough for Hailey, while more secrets about their family are just beginning to surface....

“You want one hundred thousand dollars for your body, fine. Produce me an heir within six months and the money is yours when the baby is born.” The coldness in his voice sends a shiver up my spine. “Are you serious?”“Yes.”“B-but what about the other part of my request?” I stammer out.“What other part?” he asks with his eyebrow raised.I clutch the contract close to my chest. “The part where I get to leave. If I have your baby, Ansel, can I take the money and walk away?”When I was bought at an auction by my ex-boyfriend whom I hadn’t seen for many years, he signed a contract with me, as long as I gave birth to him a child, I could get the money and leave. but after I gave birth, he regretted it.

My college dormmate, who spread nasty rumors about me, sends me an e-invitation. "I'm marrying the richest man in the country and will soon be a trophy wife—I'll be leagues above you. Seeing as we were once dormmates, I'll begrudgingly allow you to be my bridesmaid. Don't miss this chance!" I frown. What is wrong with Jasmine Teach? I'm the country's richest person. When did a man overtake me? I want to block her number and delete the conversation, but I check the e-invitation to be sure. I'm stunned when I see the photo of her husband-to-be. Isn't that Harold Jackson, my husband? He's supposed to be on a business trip. My lips curve in a cold smile, and I type a response while gnashing my teeth. "I'd be honored to be your bridesmaid. I'll prepare a huge surprise for you, too."

As the Alpha Princess, Elizabeth is asked by her Alpha King father to marry one of the famous Alpha heirs triplets—Alexander, Kai, and Ronan Ashford. Elizabeth's lover, Gideon, is about to return from the army and proposes to her, but her father does not agree to their union because of Gideon's inferior Gamma status. In order to get rid of this arranged marriage, Elizabeth and her father agree that she would hide her identity and enter the school where the triplets are studying, and as long as one of the triplets falls in love with her without knowing who she is, she will agree to marry him. Her father agrees to help hide her identity. Elizabeth enters the school in disguise and happens to meet the Ashford triplets. Elizabeth tries to hide her identity in front of the triplets, but they seem to have seen through her disguise: ”Why l think you’re lying, Princess Elizabeth?”

I looked at the naked stranger lying asleep beside me. Lightning flickered, illuminating his muscular body only in glimpses. He was covered in mud and blood, and though in human form now, he still looked wild and monstrous. I’d never found myself lying beside any naked man before in my life. He pulled at my clothes, and I let him rip them off. The thunder came closer, booming right overhead. We kissed with a frantic passion and grasped at every inch of each other. One of the only normal human girls at the Werewolf Noble Academy, I was at the bottom of the social order from the start. But even worse than that, just about everyone at school picked on me for being fat. One day I slept with a stranger in an accident. He is the second prince of the werewolf world, and wants to marry me!