Taekwondo Kick Pads

On New Year’s Eve, an old friend called to congratulate me on the birth of my son. “Emrys, you’ve been keeping this a secret pretty well! If I hadn’t seen you and your wife taking care of the baby together, I wouldn’t have known you had a child!” I froze in my tracks. How could I not know I had a child? And that I was taking care of him with her? I immediately called my wife, who was still working late, to confront her about it. She just laughed and said our friend must have been mistaken, which was why this whole mix-up happened. But the very next second, our friend sent a photo. In the photo, she was facing sideways, holding a child in her arms, with a man standing beside her. Only his back was visible, but the silhouette was exactly like mine. Her smile was gentle and radiant. At first glance, she looked utterly blissful. I stared at the meticulously prepared New Year’s Eve dinner spread before me and suddenly flung it to the floor. I immediately dialed my brother. He was a lawyer. “Celene Zeller cheated on me. She even had a child. “I want a divorce. I want to kick her out of my company and make her leave with nothing.”

On my twentieth birthday, my father asked me to draw from a box of straws. It was to pick a husband between William Smith and Austin Smith to inherit North Town. The short straw represented Austin, while the long straw represented William. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the long straw. However, I was certain that I did not want to marry Austin. I drew straws for three years, but it was to no avail. I had no choice but to tamper with the straws to marry William as I wished. However, ten years into our marriage, he was no longer gentle and kind. He had turned into a really cold person. He neither returned home nor touched me. Even when I threatened him with a knife, he refused to talk to me. Despite feeling hurt, I was unwilling to let him go. That was until I watched him kick away the only medicine I had for my asthma while I was writhing on the floor. “I was the one who switched out the straws. There was no long straw, yet you forced me to marry you. Mandy died from a broken heart, so you should pay with your life.” When I opened my eyes again, I was holding a short straw. I calmly said, “Since it’s the short one, I choose Austin.”

I won $30 million in the lottery. I quietly told my mom, Helena Nightfall, and urged her to divorce my abusive, gambling-addicted dad, Victor Nightfall. From then on, I would take care of her and give her a life of luxury. She agreed without hesitation, then turned around and told him everything. Dad came to my door and demanded the money. When I refused, he beat me mercilessly. In the end, it was my lovesick mother who searched my room, found my debit card, and took every cent I had. Dad squandered my money on a life of excess. Not only did he kick Mom to the curb and find himself a new woman, but he even handed out my winnings generously to relatives back in our hometown. They lived it up on my money while I—the one who had won the lottery—didn’t receive a single cent. Unwilling to accept it, I went to confront Dad and demand my money back. By sheer coincidence, I ran into debt collectors who were after Dad. Dad shoved me out the door and left me to be stabbed to death by his creditors. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the moment I first discovered I had won the lottery.

Emily Brown, a fiercely determined and intelligent woman, is driven by a burning desire for revenge against the powerful billionaire, Wyatt McKinley. Haunted by her family's ruin, she devises a plan to marry Wyatt through a contract marriage to restore her family’s name. After the marriage, Emily moves into Wyatt’s mansion, which now becomes a battleground for their clashing personalities and hidden desires. Sparks fly as their encounters range from fiery arguments to stolen moments of unexpected tenderness. Wyatt, the enigmatic and possessive billionaire, is not one to be easily controlled. Intrigued by Emily's audacity, he delves deeper, determined to unravel the truth behind her proposal. With each revelation, Wyatt's protective instincts kick in, blurring the lines between his possessive nature and genuine concern for Emily's well-being. As Emily and Wyatt discover their love for each other, obstacles surface. Rivals from within the corporate world emerge, seeking to dismantle their tenuous alliance. Secrets buried deep in the past threaten to shatter the fragile trust they've built, putting their budding romance and shared future in jeopardy. The more they navigate the treacherous waters of their contract marriage, the more they must confront their deepest desires. Will their contract be the catalyst for their downfall, or can they find solace and redemption in each other's arms?

I'd never forget how cold the icy waters of the Sandford River were. In my previous life, I was Dalia Valentino, the future Donna of the Rossi family that they'd already acknowledged. But later on, I got betrayed by my fiance, Marco Rossi, and my cousin, Alice Palermo. They stole my betrothal contract away and took over my family's resources. In the end, they used me as a human shield and got me killed during a crossfire between our families. The moment I felt a bullet penetrating my chest, I saw Marco protecting Alice. As for my childhood friend, Riccardo Corleone, who had always watched me from behind, rushed over to me like a madman. He scooped my cooling corpse into his arms before letting out an anguished roar. That was why after I got reborn, I didn't hesitate to kick Marco to the curb and marry Riccardo, resulting in me becoming the Donna of the Corleone family. I thought Riccardo was my savior. Little did I know that fate was just playing a crueler prank on me. Both men had always been in love with the same woman this whole time. In this case, I decided to quit this game of romance and deceit.

After I help my boyfriend register his company and successfully land his first deal, he finally decides to make our relationship public. But his junior from college, who's always had this weird hostility toward me for no reason, beats me to it by sliding into the seat next to him. She leans against my boyfriend's chest, her voice smug and satisfied. "Didn't you say you'd wait until the company officially launched? So why the rush now?" My boyfriend says nothing. Instead, he hands her a share certificate and announces to the entire room that she's the company's largest shareholder. The room explodes. Everyone starts whistling and cheering them on. The junior takes the opportunity to kick me while I'm down, throwing insults my way. My boyfriend doesn't just fail to stop her. He actually joins in with his own snide remarks. "Sure, you helped me set up the company and brought in our first client, but she's the one who can actually take us somewhere." I don't get angry. I graciously acknowledge the junior's new position. I want to see how far they would get without me, their biggest asset and most valuable connection.

"How could a man who spends his nights elbow-deep in rogue carcasses compare to a pure-blood like you? You’re the Quinn heiress!" I heard those words from the man I loved for seven years, spoken to my own half-sister. At the Grimford Medical Sanctuary, I was the 'Ice Judge,' a elite forensic healer whose scent was stained by death. To Evan Mercer, I was just a ladder to climb—until he decided to kick it away, plotting to let my mother die to secure his place in the Quinn bloodline. But I am Dr. Jack Quinn, and I don’t break. I hunt. Desperate for a way out, I accept a dangerous deal with Elder Magnus Blackridge: marry his grandson to save my mother. I expected a cold business arrangement. I didn't expect Alpha Ronan Blackridge—the towering, lethal commander of the Blackridge Enforcement HQ. He smells of cedar and dominance, and he looks at me with eyes that have haunted my dreams for a decade. In a world of fated mates, hockey ice, and pack wars, the hunter has finally found his match. Genre: Modern Werewolf Romance / Urban Fantasy Tags: #FatedMates #Betrayal #AlphaHero #FirstPersonPOV #SecretIdentity #IceHockey #UKWerewolves #MorgueToRiches #GrumpyXGrumpy

The she-wolf handling our trade route is new. And she demands freebies with every single deal. "I'll take this shipment of Moonstone. Throw in an extra two kilos. Or my Alpha will want answers." "Freebies aren't in the contract," I said, frowning. "Are you always this stingy? A little goodwill builds empires, you know." I couldn't be bothered to argue. I gave her a little extra each time, just to shut her up. But she got greedy. Every deal, she asked for more. Until today. She finished her inspection, then turned to leave without paying. I immediately blocked her path. "You haven't paid." She rolled her eyes. "I've counted. We've made fifty deals. Even supermarkets do 'buy ten, get one free.' Can't you spare me this one? Don't be so petty!" I almost laughed. Me? Petty? This is a multi-million dollar deal. I kept my cool. "No means no." She slammed her hand on the table, her eyes wide. "What did you just say? My brother Jett is the Delta of our pack! You give this to me, or I'll have him tear a pathetic delivery grunt like you to shreds and kick you out of this territory!" Oh. She has no idea. I am the heir to the Red Rock Pack. Even their Alpha answers to my father.

It is the third year of the apocalypse. All water sources have been thoroughly polluted, making even a single bottle of clean water extremely rare. Every base has to send out search teams to find new water sources for all. My husband, Jasper Curran, is a geologist, and so, he is able to locate water sources that are still pure and unpolluted. However, when someone holds a knife to my throat for the last bottle of water—thinking that he will do anything to stop them—he hands the only bottle of clean water to Avery Grayson, the person who claimed she was my parents' real daughter instead of me. "Ave is thirsty. She's been suffering since she was little and she even had her parents taken by you, Arianne Grayson," Jasper says. "Just let her have the water." Jasper's expression is too calm and collected, as if my life is not on the line because of him. "They're just trying to scare you. You've enjoyed so many years of being spoiled with a luxurious lifestyle anyway. So what if you get bullied a little?" The people then kick me to the ground in a fit of rage as I watch Jasper huddle Avery into his arms and disappear into the desert. I get beaten up so hard that my chapped lips crack and start bleeding once again. I look at the menacing faces around me and quickly exclaim, "Wait, wait! I can help you find clean water too!"

While waiting for my husband to pick me up at the parking lot, I came across a trending topic in my city. "How do I deal with an overly-clingy wife?" Amidst a flurry of boastful, lovey-dovey comments, one female username caught my attention. "Just pretend to be incompetent! My childhood friend was forced to marry someone he didn’t love. I gave him the idea to pretend to be directionally-challenged, which he has done for five years now. "When his wife got pregnant, he secretly mixed lubricant into the shower gel, causing her to slip. Then, on the way to the hospital, he pretended to get lost. He deliberately circled the suburbs several times, which led to her miscarriage and now she can't have children anymore." "Coincidentally, today is supposed to be the selection day for her promotion to professor. He offered to drive her to work, but he actually plans to pretend to get lost to make her late so that I can get promoted instead. "When she fails the selection, he’ll use that as a chance to convince her to quit her job, turn her into a useless housewife, and then kick her out!" Reading this suspiciously familiar experience sent a chill down my spine. Before I could ponder further, I heard my husband’s apologetic voice. "Sorry, honey, I got lost. I hope this won't affect your selection."