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Eighteen and desperate due to my mother's illness, I enter the orbit of Enzo Lombardi, a powerful, feared mafia boss. He treats me with impossible sweetness, and I find myself sinking into his possessive love and lavish spoiling. Everything changes the day a woman named Isabella Gallo shows up. She claims she's the one Enzo truly loves, and she laughs as she slides a two-million-dollar check across the table, demanding that I leave him. I turn down the money. She then suggests we both send him a message at the same time and see who he cares about more. Holding on to one last bit of hope, I text Enzo that I'm in a car accident. Isabella, on the other hand, tells him her plane is about to land. I wait for his reply, but nothing comes. Instead, I watch as Isabella picks up his call. At that moment, I understood it was time for me to go.

Dad attends a banquet with his ex-girlfriend, and they make headlines. Everyone mocks Mom for this, saying that she hasn't gotten anything out of her relationship with Dad. They make fun of her for giving up her successful career for his sake to end up with nothing—she can't even tell a homewrecker off. Mom looks at me tiredly after bawling her eyes out. "He let me down first, so I don't want him anymore. Do you want to leave with me, Rosie?" Just then, my phone pings. I've received a text from my boyfriend of seven years. "I'm just going through the motions and registering my marriage with someone else, Rosalie. You'll still be my girlfriend!" After a brief silence, I nod and tell Mom I'll leave with her. On the day of the double weddings, Mom and I disappear after a fire at our villa.

My boyfriend is a forensic doctor. I've been abducted and tied to a bomb—there's only ten minutes to detonation. The abductors force me to call my boyfriend, but all I get is a scolding. "What the hell do you want, Michelle? What are you playing at, using your life as an excuse just because you're jealous? "Vi's cat has already been stuck in a tree for three days. She loves it like it's her life! If you delay me from saving it, you'll be a murderer!" I hear a coquettish voice ring out on the other end of the line. "Thank you for this, Kev. You're amazing!" I recognize that voice—it belongs to my boyfriend's childhood friend. I text my boyfriend when the bomb is about to explode. "Farewell forever. I pray we won't meet each other again in another life."

My sister-in-law, Cynthia Ziegler, has my name written on her cancer diagnosis report. As such, the entire Ziegler family assumes that I'm the one with cancer. Overnight, my husband, Leonard Ziegler, sends a text message to his mistress, Irene Ludlow. "Our time will soon come! That old bat is about to die at last, so I'll finally be able to marry you!" My grandmother, Amanda Powell, cries and clings onto my hand, begging me not to seek treatment. She is not only discussing with Leonard on how best to split my insurance money after my death but also employing various methods to hasten my death. However, they are all unaware that Cynthia used my medical insurance card when she went for her physical examination. I feign sadness and nod with tears in my eyes. "I won't seek treatment, Mom. Let's not seek treatment no matter who is diagnosed with cancer."

The night I find out I'm pregnant, my family's villa suddenly goes up in flames. I endure the suffocating smoke and run the risk of being disfigured as I run to my son's bedroom. However, it's empty. Just then, I hear his excited exclamations outside the window. "Monica, you look so cool when putting out fires! I bet you'll get first place in this upcoming Firefighter Challenge!" I'm about to head downstairs to lecture him when a wall collapses and crushes me. As I drift in and out of consciousness, I hear my stern, stoic husband praise Monica Sloan for her courage. If I'm guessing correctly, my husband and son have started this fire to please her. I stare at the door, which is so close and yet so far. I send out one final text before dying of asphyxiation.

Far from the world of Earth lies a vast realm of ancient kingdoms, each striving for power, stability, and survival amid ever-shifting alliances and rivalries. Bound by tradition, these kingdoms practice a unique marriage ritual that determines political ties and future heirs. When alliances are to be strengthened, princes from friendly realms gather in a grand ceremonial arena, where a chosen princess demonstrates her abilities—speed, strength, magic, or flight—while the princes pursue. Her eventual capture symbolizes destiny, unity, and the merging of two royal bloodlines. For two days, the princess and her chosen prince remain secluded, honoring the sacred customs that seal their kingdom’s bond. Afterward, she returns to her homeland to undergo traditional examinations confirming whether the alliance has borne fruit. If so, she journeys to her prince’s kingdom to complete the remaining steps of the ritual and prepare for the future of both realms. Through these time-honored customs, kingdoms rise or fall, heirs are shaped, and political landscapes shift—each marriage carrying the power to redraw borders, forge unity, or ignite new conflicts in a world that forever hungers for expansion.

The Crescent moon pack has been isolated from the world for nearly three years after an internal coup. No one has heard anything since the border’s shut. The Werewolf King has had enough and ordered his Alpha to find out the pack's secrets. Alpha Cyrus, nephew to the King and next in line for the throne is becoming increasingly frustrated. The King insists on choosing a mate so Cyrus can take the throne. Cyrus knows the King won’t give up the power that easily. Cyrus dutifully travels to the Crescent Moon pack expecting a routine audit. He soon realises his trip will change everything. Walking into the border, he meets none other than his mate, but she doesn’t seem to realise it and is too close with a different Alpha. The more time Cyrus spends on the pack the more it’s dark past comes to light. Will his mate feel the bond? Will old debts rip the pack apart? Who is this Alpha Fin that isolated the pack? And why is the King so determined the pack opens their borders again?

Mira has always lived in the shadow of pack politics, her heart tethered to Lucian, the powerful Alpha of Blackpine. When Lucian chooses duty over desire and claims another as his mate, Mira’s world shatters. Alone and carrying Lucian’s child—a secret that could ignite war—she flees into the wild, determined to protect her unborn pup from the harsh traditions that once bound her. Lost and vulnerable, Mira stumbles into the territory of Rowan, the enigmatic Alpha of Silverpine. Unlike Lucian, Rowan offers acceptance and a chance at a new life, vowing to protect Mira and claim her child as his own. As Mira’s bond with Rowan deepens, she finds herself torn between the pain of her past and the hope of a future she never dared imagine. But Lucian cannot let go. Driven by regret and an unyielding need to reclaim his child, he risks everything to breach Silverpine’s borders, threatening to ignite a conflict that could destroy both packs. As loyalties are tested and old wounds reopened, Mira must choose where her heart—and her child—truly belong.

The day before our engagement, my fiancé, Shawn Williams, said he would accompany me to look for a wedding dress. He still was not there by the time the bridal shop closed. I received a text from him on my way home. Shawn said: [Britney said she ran out of pajamas, so I'll accompany her to go shopping.] I called him, but his junior answered the phone. "Shawn is taking a shower. I can pass along a message if you have something to tell him." Shawn and I had been in a relationship for four years. Whenever I had something important to do, his junior would suddenly need his help with something trivial. He would always abandon me and rush to her side. As expected, he did not hesitate to abandon me on a day as important as today. Feeling exhausted, I calmly replied, "Tell him the wedding is canceled. I don't want to marry him anymore."

The day Jasper Carter's terminally ill ex, Natalie Klutz, gave birth, his parents—Josephine and Raymond—hired ten bodyguards to keep me, his actual wife, out of the hospital. But I never showed. Josephine clutched Natalie's hand. "She's not getting near you or the baby." Jasper wiped Natalie's forehead. "Relax. Dad's got men at every door. If Emily shows, we'll toss her." Hours passed. Still no me. Jasper finally let himself breathe. He didn't get what my deal was. He was just granting Natalie's dying wish—to be a mom. The second the nurse handed over the crying baby, he smiled like everything was finally worth it. If I came tomorrow and said sorry, he'd forgive me. Hell, he'd even let me raise the kid. What he didn't know? I had just submitted my paperwork. I'd leave the country, join Doctors Without Borders, and ghost him for good.