The Forty Five

At our college graduation, my fiance suddenly proposed to Lillie Stewart, my best friend, in front of everyone. I became a joke in front of everyone. Right after Lillie accepted my fiance’s proposal, Lloyd Becker, heir to the biggest mafia family on the West Coast, publicly said he loved me. Lloyd was known in the mafia world for being serious and never getting involved with women. So, when he showed an interest in an orphan like me, it made the news. We got married, and for five years, he was so sweet and treated me like a princess. But one day, I accidentally overheard him talking to his friend. “Lillie is already set to become the future lady of the Gacira family. Are you really going to keep the act up with Nelly?” “If I can’t have Lillie, it doesn’t matter who I marry. As long as I’m with Nelly, Lillie can live peacefully.” He even gave Lillie the symbol of the Becker family’s lady. He helped Lillie build her career while letting me fade into the background. After five years of marriage, I finally understood. On our fifth anniversary, I pretended to die in a shooting so he could be with the woman he truly loved. But instead of being happy, Lloyd completely broke down.

Five years ago, on her birthday, Joan Lancaster was served with divorce papers by the one man whom she had loved with every fiber of her being. The same man who had sworn to protect her, cherish her, and never betray her, Dean Armstrong. He cast her aside without remorse, replacing her with his secretary and stripping her of everything but her dignity. Broken, wounded, and abandoned, Joan disappeared into the night with secrets only she knew, only to return five years later as a different woman. No longer the trembling, forgiving wife Dean once knew, Joan stepped back into his world as the untouchable Ice Queen, a woman whose rise to power had struck fear in the hearts of the Chicago businessmen. But she wasn't just back, she was back for revenge. And she wasn't going to stop until she stripped her ex-husband of everything that made his name. Once a powerful man, Dean found himself begging the woman he once discarded. The woman who now had the strings to his life and could do with him as she pleased. In a world where love had once broken her, Joan would prove one thing: some women don’t come back to be loved. They come back to be feared.

“I sacrificed my entire life for you. I have given you everything, sacrificed everything for you. I refuse to settle for scraps, I refuse to settle for this betrayal.’’ “You stopped being anyone that mattered the day you abandoned your crown. You became my wife, my mate, my little pet. The entire world hates you, the only person who can save you is me. So do good, little wolf, and remember your place.’’ He turns, walking back to where Veronica stands, but I’m not done. “I am Riley Moonshadow, daughter of Alpha…’’ My words are cut short when Jason matches back to me, and in seconds, he does the one thing he’s never done in our marriage. ____ For five years, the alpha princess became a disposable Luna who endured her husband’s cruelty. That life shattered the night she found him in bed, passionately riding his sister. For five years, she sacrificed the power of her royal wolf to be with him. She grew weaker because of him, and he repaid her with betrayal. As he plots to steal her crown and break her completely. But as the true power of a nightblood awakens inside her, she finds more than her strength. She finds love.

Welcome to Vedrah! A world where no one leaves alive... unless she does. --- Natzy Ziam was born with a dark mind and violent urges. Her mother tried to change her, but a lifetime of betrayal, loss, and heartbreak pushed her into the person she feared the most. She embraced the darkness and became the Psychopathic Executioner, killing cheaters and carving her mark on their foreheads. 'You deserve it.' But everything ends the night a driverless bus appears and drags her into Vedrah Prison, a world where the most guilty souls are sent to suffer forever. Vedrah has one rule. Every five days, a test begins. Survive or perish. And to escape, Natzy must find relics hidden across five deadly regions and earn the Mark of the Guardian, the being who created Vedrah. The world is filled with giant beasts, flesh-eating trees, bloodthirsty insects, and horrors that roam day and night. Along the way, she meets Naro, a quiet boy who reminds her of her brother, and Kyle, a man who keeps risking his life to protect her. Natzy hates kindness, but his presence slowly shakes the walls she built around her heart. In a place where love is a weakness and death waits at every step, Natzy must choose what she truly wants. Survival, redemption, or the small hope of peace beyond hell.

I spent five years pursuing Jaden Montgomery with every ounce of my strength. After my 100th confession, he finally went from being my best friend's brother to my fiancé. On a night with a full moon, as I stood there in my dress, ready for our mating ceremony, I overheard his conversation with a friend. "Jaden, are you really going to hold a mating ceremony with Arabella?" "Of course. Lillian's a fragile Omega carrying my pup, and my Alpha father is quite displeased about this situation. Holding the ceremony with Arabella will put his mind at ease." Jaden laughed carelessly. "Aren't you worried that Arabella will find out and go after your precious Omega? She's the princess of the Northern Silver Wolf Pack, after all." "She won't. She loves me to death and would never harm my pup. Besides, she's gentle and obedient. Making her my future Luna will ensure my precious Omega stays safe." My mind went blank. In my desperate flight from the scene, I accidentally wandered into a patch of wolfsbane. When I woke up, I remembered every wolf except Jaden. So, when my parents called to tell me to return for the arranged mating, I immediately arranged to leave in five days.

Before Christmas Eve, all of Nowevik was betting. Not on money. On me. Would I finally pull the winning lot? Would Leon Fabian finally take me to his family estate for Christmas? The Fabians had a rule. A new bride had to attend the Christmas Eve dinner with the whole family before she counted as one of them. I'd been married five years. Five years. The lot never landed on me. I'd become Nowevik's favorite joke. This year, the winning ticket went to a nightclub hostess. She lounged on Leon's lap and flicked it onto the table in front of me, smiling like she'd already won. The room went silent. Everyone waited— for me to lunge at her like I had the last four years. Claws out. A scene. But I didn't move. "Congratulations." Leon leaned in, breath warm at my ear, smiling like he'd just proved something. "Wynne, you're finally learning how to behave. Keep this up and you might actually become a proper lady of my house." I lowered my eyes and tore the ticket in half. My face stayed blank. Leon had no idea the five-year deal between my brother and me was already over. Soon, he'd come take me home.

I'd been married to Joshua Merck for five years, but we still didn't have kids. To stay healthy, I took those pricey custom vitamins he ordered from overseas—never missed a dose. Then my cousin came back from studying abroad, took one look at the bottle, and was like, "That brand doesn't even make custom vitamins." I sent them to the hospital for testing. The lab report hit me like a truck—birth control pills. Powerful ones. Suddenly, all those mornings with Joshua hovering over me, acting so concerned while I took my "vitamins," made sense. The whole thing had been a lie. Five years of lies. Just as I was gearing up to confront him, my phone buzzed—a group chat notification. Shirley Hoare had tagged Joshua. [Honey, I had a prenatal checkup today, and the doctor said I'm carrying twins! Your family's about to get two grandchildren at once—excited?] My heart turned to ash. Everything clicked. Fine. We were done. I pulled out my phone and replied to my childhood sweetheart's message from three days ago: [After watching the northern lights, I still wanted to see penguins in Antarctica.]

When the power meter in the house trips, Mom's foster daughter, Juniper Hawthorne, is trapped in the dark for five minutes. Even though I have claustrophobia, Mom locks me in an empty, pitch-black room. "You knew Juniper was terrified of the dark, yet you intentionally shut off the power just to frighten her! I'll teach you how to behave today!" I cry and beg her not to, but all I receive in return is a harsh slap. "Claustrophobia? That's just what happens when a kid grows up too spoiled." Late that night, I sense someone breaking into the house. The first thing I do is to call Mom, a renowned criminal psychologist, for help, only to be yelled at. "You're still really getting into this role just to fight Juniper for attention, aren't you? "Kidnappers, huh? Well, go ahead and die so you'll stop bothering me!" As she wishes, I'm brutally tortured and killed. My body is buried beneath Mom's favorite flowerbed. After I die, my soul is trapped in the body of a cat. All I can do is helplessly circle Mom until five days have passed. The police arrive with a mangled body and request her help in creating a portrait of the killer.

I had funded Tilly Jenkins for five years—and spent those same five years chasing after her. Just when I thought I had finally won her heart—when I believed she was ready to spend her life with me—I discovered the truth: the one she had loved all along was her childhood sweetheart, the boy who had grown up by her side. I, on the other hand, to her, was nothing more than a privileged elite who used money to grind her pride into the dirt. A few years into our marriage, she secretly transferred my assets away—and even had a child with that childhood sweetheart of hers. In the end, I died filled with resentment, trapped in a raging fire. The flames reflected the sight of the three of them together, smiling like a perfect family, while I cried myself to death in despair. After I was reborn, Tilly's childhood sweetheart shoved me hard, sneering with open contempt. "What do you take us for? Toys for rich people like you?!" I slipped my bank card back into my pocket at once. "Sorry, having money doesn't mean I'm brain-dead. I'm not interested in trashy toys like that."

Olivia was proposed to by her lover Jacob, but she couldn't agree. They could not make love or even kiss. Because this was a vampire-ruled country, werewolves were vampires' slaves. All werewolf women must remain chaste, because every young girl was a tribute waiting to be chosen by a vampire. Once a girl turned 15, she would enter the annual lottery. Only girls who were not chosen five times in a row were allowed to fall in love with their mate, and vampires considered five years of waiting a mercy. Olivia had not been selected for four consecutive years, and as long as she failed again this year, she could marry Jacob. This year's tribute lottery was special, and all tributes would be dedicated to the legendary Vampire Duke Damien. Olivia was lucky not to be chosen. Unfortunately, her sister became a tribute. To save her sister, Olivia volunteered to be a tribute. Unbeknownst to Olivia, her blood had aroused Damien's interest. When a vampire came looking for the blood pet chosen by Damien, an accident caused Olivia to swap identities with another tribute. Olivia planned to escape, but was found by vampires and became their appetizer. Just as Olivia was about to fall into nothingness, she heard an indifferent voice.“Who allowed you to hurt my pet?”