The Knife Of Never Letting Go

"You're breaking up with me kasi sa tingin mo mas magaan? Ganoon ba iyon?" ang mahinahon pero puno ng hinanakit na tanong-sagot sa kanya ni Uriel. Sinubukan niyang magbuka ng bibig para magpaliwanag pero walang anumang salita siyang naibulalas kaya nagpatuloy ang binata. "Kasi wala pa tayong isang taon kaya iniisip mong hindi pa kita ganoon kamahal?" noon na galit na napatayo si Uriel. "Very childish, and I should tell you, that was the most bullshit excuse that I have ever heard!" ang galit na sagot ni Uriel na tila ba hindi narinig ang sinabi niya. Malakas na sampal ang pinadapo ni Therese sa pisngi ng binata dahil doon. "Sa tingin mo madali ito? Ginagawa ko ito para sa'yo!" "Really?" ang binata na mapait pang tumawa. "para sa'kin o para sa sarili mo?" "How dare you!" si Therese na muling napaiyak. "Well same here! Bakit sa tingin mo ba may magbabago sa kundisyon mo kapag inalis mo ako sa buhay mo?" "Tumigil ka!" "No! Hayaan mo akong magsalita okay? You've done too much talking already so I guess it's my turn now!" Natigilan si Therese sa nakita niyang magkahalong galit at paghihirap sa mukha ni Uriel kaya hindi siya nakapagsalita at umiiyak na pinakinggan ang lahat ng sinabi ng binata. "Masakit oo, at ako mismo natatakot na ngayon palang. But I'm not like you. Kasi kahit natatakot ako at nahihirapan, sinusubukan ko paring ihanda ang sarili ko. Pinag-aaralan kong tanggapin ang lahat. Kasi gusto kong maging masaya ngayon, habang nandito ka pa, habang kilala mo pa ako," ani Uriel na tuluyan na nga ring napaiyak. "Simple lang naman ang gusto ko, bigyan mo ako ng role sa buhay mo, kahit maliit lang," ang pagpapatuloy nitong pakiusap saka nagpahid ng mga luha. "U-Uriel," aniyang isinubsob ang mukha sa palad saka napahagulhol.

Lillian’s marriage to Alpha Keegan was never built on love, but she never imagined how far she’d be pushed. With a cold, indifferent husband and a manipulative mother demanding constant financial support, Lillian’s life has become a cage. When Sienna, the woman Keegan is clearly in love with, enters the picture, Lillian’s place in her own world crumbles—especially when she learns Sienna is pregnant with Keegan's child. After a minor injury leads to an unexpected hospital visit, Keegan’s sudden concern feels more like a performance for his family than genuine care. But when he demands she donate blood to save Sienna, Lillian’s breaking point arrives. Tired of being a pawn in a game of indifference and manipulation, Lillian decides it's time to leave. But escaping the man who controls her fate and the pack that doesn’t understand her pain will be no easy task. With a shattered heart and no allies, Lillian must find the courage to break free and reclaim her life. Will Lillian rise above the betrayals, or will she remain a shadow of the woman she was meant to be?

After my rebirth, I vow to stop clinging to my fated mate—the man I grew up with—Damon Hale. When he gathers all the healers in the pack for a party in Alohara, I book a flight to Harborwatch. When he complains that my scent makes him and his wolf sick, I move out and hire a deep-cleaning service for 500 dollars. When he orders me to stay away from his pack, I quit my job as Alpha's private healer and take up freelance work in Coghaven to support myself. Finally, he says my existence might mislead his precious stepsister into thinking he still cares for me. So, I nod and accept Coghaven Alpha's hand in marriage, along with the keys to an 18-million-dollar villa as my wedding gift. Now, I trade all the desperate love I gave him in my past life for clear-eyed, rational deals. After all, I spent everything I had and risked my life for him, only to be betrayed. When his stepsister dies from wolfsbane, he calls me her murderer and condemns me to a death sentence under the pack law. In this life, I shall live for myself. … At Howlfest, I'm walking hand in hand with my Alpha when Damon suddenly blocks our way and fixes his bloodshot eyes on me. "Come back to me, Thalia. If you do, I shall forgive you for your reckless mistake." I sneer and reply, "Can you afford a villa like the one my Alpha bought me?"

Connor Lockwood abandons me at the hospital's entrance even though I'm bleeding in the middle of my pregnancy. He insists on sending his client, a divorcée, home. The blood flows down my legs, but he hurries off without another look back. He should've been at the hospital and by my side, but instead, I see him in his client's social media update. It's captioned, "Thank goodness for my wonderful lawyer. Do you know who gets to have hangover soup when they're drunk? Me!" I spend the rest of the night wide awake. The following morning, I calmly dial a number. "Dad, I've made up my mind. I'll return home in three days to take over the company."

I loved my foster brother, Cayden, for five years—five years of hiding, lying, and choking on the shame that came with every kiss, every touch, every lie. I should have hated myself for it, but I loved him too much for that to matter. I thought we had a future, until his first love, the one who had once shattered him, returned without warning. Suddenly, I was nothing more than a dirty secret. While he smiled at his engagement party, I was lying in a hospital bed, waiting for death, worn down by my heart condition and his cold neglect. I was as good as gone. Until Miles, who would later become my fiancé, saved me. A year later, I came back—with a loving fiancé, a healthy body, and a new life. Cayden seemed broken by my “death,” but all I felt was bitter irony. We were foster siblings, never meant to be together. He was just a mistake from my past, a mistake I swore I’d never repeat. But life didn’t turn out as smooth as I imagined. Miles carried secrets, and Cayden… he wasn’t ready to let me go.

"Ingatlah ini Sukma ... aku tidak akan pernah mencintaimu, seumur hidupku." Jagat menatap Sukma tajam. "Saya tidak akan menuntut apa pun darimu, Mas. Tapi satu hal yang pasti, Saya akan selalu berada di sisimu sampai Saya mati." Hutang keluarga membuat Sukma harus membayar semuanya. Tidak dengan uang, tetapi dengan jiwa dan raganya. Sukma membuang jauh-jauh mimpinya, jika dia akan menikah dengan pria yang dicintai-yang mencintai dirinya sepenuh hati. Di mana Sukma harus menikah dengan seorang juragan bernama Jagatnata dan dituntut untuk melahirkan pewaris keluarga Pramoda.

My uncle’s rival, Emmett Meyer, saved me twice. The first time, I was drowning after a shipwreck—until he cut through the waves on a speedboat and dragged me ashore. The second time was after someone had slipped drugs into my drink. That night, I seduced him, a hardened man ten years my senior. In the dim glow of a private room, he guided my hand downward and growled, “I want you so bad, Babe.” He took me ruthlessly, ignoring my sobs and pleas. From then on, Emmett—the untamable “Prince of Silverbridge”—abandoned his reckless ways and devoted himself to me. Or so I believed. Then one day, he coaxed me into his Rolls-Royce and captured our tryst on camera. I flushed with embarrassment and secret delight. Later, as I hurried after him to return some documents he had left behind, I heard the sneers whispered in the hallway: “You’re so wild, Emmett. Everyone heard your girl moaning.” “Damn, the car rocked so hard I thought you’d break it.” “Hey, if Franklin Reed ever finds out that his precious niece has been your plaything for three years… think he’ll have a heart attack?”

It had been ten years, and Ethan—my mate—and I still didn’t have a pup. One day, he suggested we adopt one from the Werewolf Orphan Charity Agency. “My mate,” he said gently, “pregnancy is too hard for you. You’d have to go through so many checkups and herbs. Your wolf shouldn’t have to suffer like that.” When others heard this, they all said Ethan loved me deeply—that he couldn’t bear to see me in pain. But I saw the truth with my own eyes. He took an infant pup from another she-wolf. “Luckily, Mia isn’t pregnant,” he said. “That way, the excuse of adopting an infant works—and the pup can have a legitimate status in my clan.” I knew that she-wolf well. The same one Ethan used to call a “stupid omega.” Swallowing the bitterness in my heart, I called my mentor at the Werewolf Research Academy. “I want to devote myself to herb research,” I said calmly. Three days from now, during the pup’s first New Moon blessing, I’ll fake my death in a fire. No one will be able to stop me.

I’d been in love with Cassian Cross—my brother’s best friend, the one and only mafia boss in the NYC—for as long as I could remember. On the night of my twentieth birthday, my brother promised me a surprise. I didn’t expect that surprise to be a very drunk, very kissable Cassian. One reckless night. One baby boy. Cassian agreed to marry me after giving birth. But the day I gave birth to Leo, Cassian said nothing. He just packed up and vanished to France for nearly five years. Then he returned with Alessia. His first love. And when she saw Leo and me, she ran away and disappeared. After that, Cassian never left my side. Like he was trying to be the man I needed all along, that we were finally going to have our chance. But fairytales are lies wrapped in pretty paper. On Leo’s sixth birthday, we were driving to dinner. The brakes failed. The car spun onto the highway, flames licking at the engine. Cassian got out. And then he locked the door. “If it weren’t for you, Alessia would still be by my side. Now? It’s your turn to suffer.” It wasn’t until that moment I understood—Cassian had never loved me. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at my twenties birthday. Cassian was in my bed, exactly where I’d left him in the past. This time, I didn’t hesitate. I ran. And on my way out, I made the call I should’ve made the first time. To Alessia.

"She was my siren. My unearthly creature, far more beautiful than any angel. I was getting lost in her ocean blue eyes and she was making my heart skip a beat every time she smiles. She was the beginning and the end of all my days, she was my reason to wake up and live a better life. She was my whole life. And my undoing..."