Ten Years Late

After being in love with Dylan for seven years, I planned to propose to him at his birthday party. But then I overheard him speaking to his friend in Italian: "You like Lydia? I'll give her to you. I'm tired of her anyway. Sarah is better—she's a dancer, young and sexy." He thought I couldn’t understand, but he didn’t know that I had learned Italian for him. I threw away the ring I had designed for him, tore apart the wedding suit I had sewn and left. Our friends were all speculating how long it would take before I came back. Dylan sneered with disdain, "She’s just an orphan with no family. Where could she go without me? Three days at most." But to his surprise, I never returned and found a new home.

Annalisa Greenwood spent four years being invisible in her own marriage. She was the orphan girl her Alpha husband never wanted, the Luna he tolerated, the wife he looked through rather than at. When she fell pregnant with his child, he called her a liar. When she lay bleeding on the floor of his estate, he walked away. So she disappeared. Three years later, she has built something from the wreckage — a career, a home, a life. And a son with his father's eyes and a heart that has fought to beat since the day it was formed. But the world has a way of closing distances that were never meant to stay open. A medical crisis spreading across the major pack territories has only one solution, and Annalisa is the one who found it. The summit that could save hundreds of pregnancies requires one thing she has spent three years avoiding. A room with Antonio Greenwood in it. He has been searching for her since the night he came home and found her gone. He has been living in the ruin of what he did and what he failed to understand until it was too late. He does not yet know about the boy with amber eyes who builds puzzles and argues about wolf genetics and has a heart that needs his father's presence to fully heal. Some debts cannot be paid with an apology. Some doors, once closed, open onto something entirely different on the other side.

Olivia Carter once believed that love could grow after marriage. For three years, she stayed beside the cold and powerful CEO, Sebastian Knight, enduring his indifference and the humiliation from his family. But everything shattered the night Sebastian chose another woman and threw divorce papers in front of her. Heartbroken and betrayed, Olivia disappeared from his life without a word. What Sebastian never knew was that she carried a secret that would change everything. Five years later, Olivia returns—but she is no longer the weak woman everyone once mocked. She has become a fearless and powerful woman with her own empire, and by her side stands a brilliant little boy who shares the same cold eyes as Sebastian Knight. When their paths cross again, the ruthless CEO who once abandoned her begins to realize the truth he ignored for years. But this time, Olivia Carter is no longer the woman who begged for love. Now the powerful CEO must chase the wife he lost, face dangerous enemies, and prove that his regret isn’t too late. Because some mistakes cost more than a broken heart… They cost the family you never knew you had.

"Sign the contract, or lose everything." I stared at the papers that would seal my fate—a three-year marriage to Julian Blackwood, the ruthless billionaire they call the Ice King. My family didn't ask. They demanded. My father's company was drowning, my stepsister's engagement had exploded, and I was the replacement bride they could sacrifice. Just another transaction. Julian made it clear on our wedding day: "Don't expect affection. Don't expect companionship. Certainly don't expect love." He refused to kiss me at the altar. He gave me a bedroom down the hall and told me to stay out of his way. I was Mrs. Blackwood in name only—a contract, a convenience, a means to an end. I accepted it. I had survived twelve years of abuse in my own home. I could survive three years of indifference in his. But then Nate, Julian's best friend, showed me kindness, and suddenly my cold husband became possessive. When my sister attacked me, he became protective. Now the man who promised me nothing is fighting his own father to keep me. The marriage that was supposed to be fake is becoming terrifyingly real and the secrets about my mother's death are threatening to destroy everything. They said Julian Blackwood destroys everything he touches. What they didn't tell me... is that sometimes destruction is exactly what you need to be reborn. With a pregnancy involved, how was I going to end this three-year marriage peacefully?

On our third wedding anniversary, I received a cake from my husband. It had the names Clarisse Burke and Antonio Carey written on it, along with Happy Third Anniversary. But I felt like I'd been plunged into ice. That wasn't my name. Clarisse was his secretary. Sure enough, I saw my cake in Clarisse Burke's latest post, labeled Iva Grant and Antonio Carey. [Three years, and someone's already treating me like his wife.] Below, there was a comment. [Delete that post! The cakes got mixed up. Don't let Iva find out.] That was when I realized he had planned every romantic surprise in pairs. Holding my phone, I laughed at his pathetic attempt to cover it up. But I was done. I started planning my exit.

Elara thought her life was perfect. Betrothed to a prince, raised by the Alpha and Luna, and days away from unlocking her wolf. But on her 18th birthday, everything shattered. Branded a liar, stripped of her name, and cast into slavery, she watched another girl steal her place as the Alpha’s daughter. Betrayed, banished, and broken, Elara was dragged into the darkness of the unknown… only to discover a deeper fate that ties her to a cursed Alpha, a buried truth, and a power she never knew she had. Her fall was only the beginning of her journey.

In the fifth year of being exiled to a deserted island in the international waters by Chelsea Herrera, I finally learn how to stay extremely humble. When Chelsea brings Derrick Carpenter, a university student she keeps, and a Doberman to the island just to pick me up, I get down on my knees as though it's the most natural thing to do in the world. Then, I wipe the sand off Derrick's shoes with my sleeve before bending over to use my back as their stepstool. "From now on, you're in charge of taking care of Ricky. He and Dobey are your family now." I nod with a small smile. After Chelsea has usurped my family's businesses and forced my parents to jump off a building, she chooses to abandon me on a deserted island so that I can learn to obey her commands. She has succeeded in everything she's done. By the time I finally get to return to the familiar villa, everything there has already changed. I wake up at 4:00 am every morning in order to prepare a nice breakfast for Dobey the Doberman. After that, I groom it properly. At 9:00 am, I've prepared the outfit Derrick will be wearing for the day. Then, I'll travel to a boxing gym so that I can serve as his human punching bag. At night, I prepare some alcohol and snacks while listening to Derrick and his friends laughing at me. They then proceed to discuss how to tame me, the formerly arrogant scion hailing from the ex-richest family in the elite society.

No matter how hard she tried, Darius always met her with nothing but cold indifference. He forgot her birthday. Dismissed her achievements. Even their daughter turned her back on her, choosing Emma—the woman with a sweet smile and a heart full of lies. One glance from Emma mattered more to Darius than all the years she stood by his side. One whimper from Emma was enough to make him drop everything and rush to her like she was the only woman that ever existed. She waited. She gave her all. And in return, she was left behind—again and again. Even her own daughter stood with Emma now. So she finally made her choice. She left. She was once a blazing star in the AI world—a prodigy feared and admired. And now, she was done playing the quiet, obedient Luna. She stepped back into the battlefield, into the world that once bowed at her feet. The she-wolf doesn’t stay silent forever. Silence was never her nature. Fighting was.

Andrew was the youngest Alpha the Northern packs had ever seen.   On his twenty-eighth birthday, he accepted a she-wolf as a gift — right in front of everyone.   For the first time, I dropped the obedient act. I smashed the champagne tower, threw my ring at him, and called off our engagement.   Then I packed my bags and left the pack I'd called home for seven years.   Everyone said I was a rogue with no one to turn to — that I'd come crawling back within three days.   Andrew didn't even care. "She's a rogue I took in. Without the North, where else would she go?"   But three days came and went. Then dozens more. I never went back.   The first time Andrew reached out through our mind-link, he found nothing.   I'd already severed the connection.   Later, when news broke that I had mated with Austin, Alpha of the South, it sent shockwaves through the werewolf world.   Andrew showed up at my door, desperate, begging me to come home.   Austin smiled warmly, his arm curling around my waist. "Andrew, what exactly are you discussing with my Luna?"

On the seventh year after we moved overseas, my 13-year-old daughter, Anna Jackman, is hailed as the internationally renowned piano prodigy. No matter how difficult the song is, Anna is capable of weaving beautiful melodies with it. But there's only one song that Anna refuses to play. It's a seemingly ordinary lullaby. She's worried that she might end up forgiving that despicable man again once she plays it on the piano. So, when said man, Micah Jackman, turns up on our doorstep with a piano that's handcrafted by a master craftsman and asks Anna to play him the lullaby, she just shakes her head calmly in return. "I don't know how to play that song, sir." Micah's eyes redden immediately. He grabs Anna's hand and navigates it to the piano keys. "That's impossible! Aren't you a piano prodigy, Anna? Haven't you always wanted to have a piano of your own? I've already bought you your own piano this time! From now on, if you have any wishes, you should tell me, and I'll grant them for you." Anna draws back her right hand coldly. "It's fine, sir. I can earn my own money to buy my own piano. You should take the piano back to your daughter." Micah feels as though his heart has plunged into the abyss. He immediately pulls Anna into his arms. "What are you talking about, Anna? You're my only daughter!" But Anna looks a little puzzled. "Didn't you say that Ms. Sinclair's daughter is the only one worthy of becoming your child? Didn't you give the piano you promised for me to Ms. Sinclair's daughter?" Having reached that point, Anna just smiles nonchalantly at Micah. "It's fine, sir. Since you like Ms. Sinclair, you can just raise her daughter. I'm already content enough with Mom by my side."