The Cruelest Month

My mom is a famous perfumer who's well-known in town. But her perfumes are charged per session. One session costs 200 thousand dollars. She only takes in ten customers per month, too. Those who have used the perfumes my mom has concocted will be enveloped by the perfumes' unique fragrance that leaves an unforgettable impression on those who have smelled it. In fact, the fragrance is capable of covering up the customers' body odor, no matter how strong it is. One session will leave the customers with enough fragrance that lasts for a month. Countless celebrities and rich women specifically travel to this town just to frequent my mom's business. Everyone sings praises about my mom, claiming that she's the mistress of all fragrances who's here to bless humanity with her gift. But I know that my mom isn't as amazing as everyone thinks she is. The only reason why her business is booming like this is all thanks to the "thing" that she keeps locked up in that room…

My mom is critically ill. Before she passes away, she wants to see me married. It takes 27 days of pleading before my boyfriend, Kyle Grayson, says yes. I wait at the city hall until the doors close, but he never shows up. That same day, his childhood sweetheart, Ruby Callahan, posts their marriage certificate online. "Time flies. Three days more and we'll be a month in." Only then does it hit me. The very first day I begged, Kyle was already Ruby's husband. Right then, a text from Kyle lights up my phone. "Holly, Ruby's family was pushing her into marriage. I couldn't stand by and watch her marry just anyone and ruin her life. We'll be divorced in three days. I'll marry you then." Three days later, he shows up at the city hall in a suit. But all he gets is a text from me. "Goodbye for good, Kyle."

My best friend called me sobbing at two in the morning, saying she owed three hundred thousand dollars in online loans and was begging me to save her life. I told her I'd help cover half. She grabbed my phone and transferred all three hundred thousand. "It's just money—why are you being so stingy? You make six figures. Helping me out shouldn't be a big deal." I swallowed it. A month later, she posted Maldives vacation photos on Instagram. When I asked when she planned to pay me back, she replied—right there in the comments, where every mutual friend could see— "God, stop nagging. Maybe spend that energy making more money instead, you cheapskate. So annoying." I screenshotted everything. Then I opened the civil complaint I'd already drafted. This kind of best friend? We could catch up in court.

Danica wakes up beside a strange man in the morning. The next day, she finds herself becoming the surrogate to a mysterious man, in the bid to save her twin sister Daniella from a ruthless mafia boss. But what she doesn't understand is, why did he change the rules? He wants her body once every month till she conceives yet; she can't see him face to face... Sneak peak; The moment he took a step, Danica recalled his promise and yelled, "Wait!" He halted but didn't turn his head in her direction. "Hmmm," he hummed. Danica couldn't continue to live in anticipation of a faceless man coming to her room 4 times a week. She gathered her last courage and said, "you promised to let me see your face." Loney stiffened for a few seconds. He was a man of his words therefore, he had to face the unexpected. No matter what, it was bound to happen.

After I switched from a private company to a foreign enterprise, my salary rose accordingly. My husband, who was always frugal, suggested that I hand over my entire salary to him. He claimed it would be used for daily household expenses. Watching him calculate the numbers, I asked, “What about your salary?” He said casually, “I’m saving it for our retirement.” I said nothing and followed his instructions. I spent my entire salary within a month. My husband finally felt uneasy when he saw how many packages kept showing up at our home. Seeing his doubts, I happily said, “You’re the one who said to use my whole salary for household expenses.” He exclaimed, “What are we, the Rockefellers?! How can one month cost this much?” That was funny. It turned out that he knew that a normal family’s expenses would never take my entire salary.

"Run, Bella Popovski. Run whenever you see me. For in this lifeline, I'll be the one to drive the wedge that will kill you to your heart" he whispered in my ear in a cold voice, making me shudder and recoil. Scared at how serious he sounded and how, before everyone present, he had managed to make me so scared being near him. Would i survive him? Or would I like he claims I did, be the one to stab the wedge into his heart before he does so to me? ********** Bella Maxwell Popovski was born a mistake—an unclaimed daughter raised as a servant in her own father’s house. Weak, wolfless, and unwanted, she dreamed only of escaping Moonstone Pack… until fate cursed her with the cruelest bond of all. Marked by Alpha Jaxon—the man who despised her and loved another—Bella endured three years of cold nights, shared beds that were never hers, and a mate who gave his passion to her stepsister instead. On the night their bond should end, betrayal sharpens into humiliation, lust into hatred and love into blood-soaked revenge. Locked away, sold to rogues, and pushed off a cliff, Bella awakens to a dark truth. Hunted and burning with forbidden desire, Bella must run—because the bond she rejected refuses to break… and the monster calling her name is far more dangerous than the alpha who broke her heart. But who does she run to when the mate bond forces her to choose?

" He took everything from me,yet I still crave his touch." She was the last surviving Kane, the enemy he swore to destroy. He was the ruthless Alpha who stole her in the dead of night. Elara Kane thought the massacre that took her family was just another pack war. Until Damien Voss, the dark Alpha of the Voss pack, kidnapped her and made her his captive. Now, trapped in his shadowed mansion, Elara feels the dangerous pull of the mate bond she never asked for. His touch sets her body on fire, even as his secrets threaten to tear her apart. "You belong to me now, little wolf," Damien growls, his amber eyes burning with raw possession. "Fight me all you want. But your body already knows the truth, you're mine to claim, mine to protect, and mine to ruin." But when a rival Kane Alpha reveals the bloody truth about the night her parents died, Elara’s world shatters. Damien survived the massacre by making a deal soaked in blood. Was her capture truly fate or the cruelest part of his revenge? As ancient forces awaken and war erupts between packs, Elara must choose: Run to the blood family that wants her back, or surrender to the forbidden obsession of the Alpha who stole her heart and maybe her soul. In a world ruled by claws and fangs, one wrong choice could mean death. But resisting the Alpha’s dark desire might be the deadliest sin of all.

Out of the blue, I get a call from the Department of Labor. The officer tells me they received a complaint, accusing me of gender discrimination. Apparently, my treatment of the male and female employees is extremely unequal. I'm left feeling utterly bewildered. Out of compassion for my employees, I give the female employees paid leave during their periods and pregnancy. I also give the male employees the benefit of a family support allowance. I've never discriminated against anyone because of their gender, and neither have I ever mistreated any of the employees. But then, I proceed to see the social media post that has gone viral. "A certain company gives male employees an additional allowance of a thousand dollars a month! Male and female employees are given different treatment!" Having caught on right away, I call a staff meeting and announce, "All of the company benefits have been canceled. You will only receive the basic benefits listed in your employment contract." Everyone goes up in arms.

One sarcastic TikTok. That’s all it took to turn Lila’s perfectly average high school life into a full-blown circus. When her private joke about Jason Cole—the most popular (and most irritating) guy in school accidentally goes viral, everyone suddenly believes they’re dating. Jason, of course, plays along. Why wouldn’t he? He gets attention, free perks, and his ego boosted to the size of the football field. But now Lila’s stuck in a deal she never wanted: pretend to be Jason’s girlfriend for a month in exchange for something she needs. Simple, right? Except Jason isn’t making it simple. He’s charming when he wants to be, annoyingly sweet when she least expects it, and suddenly Lila can’t tell what’s fake and what might actually be real. High school was complicated enough without fake boyfriends, viral rumors, and confusing feelings. But falling for Jason Cole? That was never part of the plan.

She never saw it coming. One day, the man she loved was just... gone. All she had left was a single, cryptic letter, received mere hours after he had proposed to her. ​The very next day, she found out the devastating truth: he had married the billionaire's daughter. The pain of his betrayal was almost unbearable, but the deluge of unanswered questions was even worse. Why did he leave? What had she done wrong? ​A month later, he returned—not just as a widowed billionaire, but as her new boss. She was now his secretary, forced to sit across from the man who shattered her world. He was full of regret, practically begging for a second chance. He claimed he had made a terrible mistake and desperately wanted her back. ​But soon, she would learn the truth behind his sudden departure—the real reason he had abandoned her. And that truth? It cut deeper than any betrayal ever could.