The Magician's Elephant

I had agreed to pay 10,000 at the wedding. At the very last minute, my mother-in-law, Alice Thompson, suddenly raised it to 500,000. I went to confront them. My husband, Dylan Forrest, kept his head down, pretending not to hear a thing as he looked at his phone. Alice rolled her eyes, clearly about to brush me off with some excuse. But instead, the truth spilled out of her mouth against her will. "Of course we have to take advantage of you being pregnant and unable to run to squeeze as much money as we can. It's the perfect timing to use it to buy Gideon a house, paid in full!" The words were like a silent explosion. I was so furious I actually laughed. "So, that's the plan? You're trying to strip me for everything I have? If I don't pay, does that mean there's no wedding?" Alice clamped a hand over her mouth, panic flashing across her face. But her voice came out louder than ever, like it was blasting through a speaker. "If you don't pay, then get lost! You're just a pregnant, used woman. Who else would want you besides Dylan?" The guests erupted instantly. Dylan's face went pale as paper. I smiled. Then a mechanical voice rang in my head. "Honest Lies System activated. Malicious fraud detected. Reward granted: 100 billion. Match assigned: the richest man in Lumeria at the next table." "Fine," I said softly. "You said it yourself." I wanted to see just how the Forrests planned to show their faces tomorrow after every ugly truth they'd tried to hide was dragged out into the open.

He wasn't looking for love, the pack needed a Luna, and he needed a wife. Someone he was incapable of loving and Celia Wright was the perfect she-wolf for the role. But everything changed when the council gave him Kayla Wright instead. He didn't want her. She was not only beautiful but she seemed so naive and kind. He didn't like the fact that she made his cold heart flutter and the desire to take her in his arms, rip off her clothes, and claim her, was driving him insane and it awakened his inner beast. Alpha Asher, the most dreaded and dangerous Alpha King in the council. He was known for ruthlessness and wicked deeds. A vicious being that dished out punishment like a pack of candy and killed mercilessly without batting an eye. He was handsome, powerful, wealthy, and widely feared in the whole universe. After he unknowingly killed his mate through the manipulation of an evil sorcerer. He lost it and became a feral being whose only quest for blood was insatiable, and he vowed never to fall in love again. But everything changed when he was offered Kayla Wright in replace of her sister. He had to fight whatever attraction or feelings that were forming between them because he was still in love with his dead mate Emily. What happens when his dead mate suddenly comes back to life, and he is torn between doing what is right and following his heart? As the story unfolds, Alpha Asher finds out that the three women in his life came for different purposes. One will stop at nothing to be with him because of power and wealth, One was on a revenge mission to kill him, and the other one was his destined mate.

After three decades of fighting each other, the humans and the werewolves had signed a peace treaty in Alexandra's hometown. She was summoned by the Alpha to marry the playboy billionaire, Luther Sinclair, to strengthen the treaty. But she knew that peace was the last thing that humans were aiming for because from the beginning, they were the ones who were more beastly than the wolves. They had always wanted to eliminate every single wolf in town. Alexandra became Luther's wife; he was the Governor's son and her stepping stone to infiltrate the humans' society and to fulfill their revenge plan. Her mission was to spy on him and make him fall in love with her and dispose him once she had uncovered all his family secrets. But there was a problem. She didn't expect the strong attraction she had felt for Luther. He was a tease and a devil in disguise who would never let himself be pushed around. And he had a mission, too: to own her heart, body, and soul. In this new battle where the loser will be devoured and only the wicked will win, can she still guarantee her victory?

"I agree to the divorce," I said as I dialed my mother-in-law's number. "Matteo Bellandi will never agree to divorce me, so you need to arrange a new identity for me. I need to disappear completely. He must never find me." Despite six years of marriage, I never conceived a child. In the Mafia world, how many men remarried for the sake of an heir? Yet Matteo always stood firmly at my side. To have a child, we tried everything—ninety-nine rounds of IVF that resulted in ninety-eight failures. The final pregnancy ended in fetal demise. Matteo held me and said, "Whether we have a child or not, I will always love you." Everyone said he was deeply devoted and that I was fortunate. Even I believed it. I believed it was my body that was defective. I believed I was the one holding him back. Until that day, when I went to the hospital for a follow-up exam. I saw him with my own eyes, pushing a mobile hospital bed into a VIP suite. On the bed lay a young woman named Sienna Vale, who had just given birth, holding a pair of twins—a boy and a girl. The congratulations inside the room were sharp and piercing. They praised his good fortune and Sienna's superior genes. They said the children were born to inherit the Bellandi empire. They mocked my education and my background and said I could not produce a "high-quality" heir. "Who do you think you are, daring to speak about her? My wife is not someone you get to judge. If I hear one more word of disrespect toward my Donna, you'd better weigh the consequences yourself," Matteo rebuked them coldly, preserving my dignity as Donna. In that moment, I finally understood that the marriage I had been so proud of was nothing more than a joke in everyone else's eyes. If that was the case, I would end this love story everyone envied with my own hands.

After Maria catches her fiancé cheating on her with her sister, she records a video and shows it to her parents. Her parents refuse to cancel the wedding and get her sister and fiancé married instead. Maria is heartbroken and wants revenge so she makes a deal with the ruthless Alvize Giovanni who also wants revenge on her father. They plan a fake marriage but the more time they spend together, the more the lines between them blur and Maria can no longer fight the feelings she harbours for Alvize. Too bad Alvize only has vengeance on his mind and no room for love in his heart.

During a family dinner, I, Ingrid Sutherland, bring up divorce. My husband, Samuel Ziegler, lets out a cold laugh in exasperation. "Are you mad just because I peeled a banana for Whitney two days ago? I can't believe you're still throwing a tantrum over that now! She's my sister-in-law. What's wrong if I show her a little bit more care?" He did the same thing in my past life. Ever since his older brother, Charles Ziegler, got seriously hurt, Samuel always put me last and prioritized taking care of the supposedly weaker Whitney Lovette. Whenever I voiced my dissatisfaction, he would criticize me while standing on an irrefutable moral high ground. He would say, "Why can't you be more understanding and cut Whitney some slack?" When it was Whitney's birthday, she proposed going on a skiing trip. But then, an avalanche hit us. Samuel protected her the whole time and led her down the mountain. However, he left me to die in the avalanche. It was then I realized that Whitney was not just his sister-in-law, but also the one he loved. When I remain silent, Samuel chuckles derisively. "You'd better not regret it." It's like he's sure I'm just throwing a tantrum. In one fluid movement, he glides a pen across the bottom of the page, confident and composed. But this time, I'm really giving up on him for good.

I witnessed my life from above to the ground, as my head sink at the bathtub floor...a hand reach out to me. "Come with me, I will help you get your place in the society again." I didn't know that was a trap, a smile meant to deceive me. It is too late when I found out the manipulation, I already fall in love with the man who betrayed me.

Before my wedding, I was three months pregnant. My fiancé, Felix, told me we should hide the pregnancy to protect my "reputation". Then, the very next day, I saw him announce that he was the father of his "savior" Isabella's child. It was only then that I discovered Isabella was his first love. After I found out, Felix tearfully begged me to give him time, promising a huge wedding for us right after Isabella's baby was born. But I had already planned to leave with my baby. I just never expected that Felix's mother would be the one to ruin everything. I watched, helpless, as they treated my child like a bastard and forced me to have an abortion. I left, my heart turned to ash. Felix cut ties with his family over it, kneeling and begging me to come back. He promised me everything—wealth, status, company shares. But I no longer cared. I already had everything I truly wanted.

Sienna Carter never wanted to be part of Damien Cross’s world. She built her life on independence, fighting to keep her struggling business afloat. But when a devastating financial blow leaves her with no options, she’s forced to make a deal with the most ruthless billionaire in the city. Damien Cross doesn’t believe in love. He believes in power, control, and getting what he wants. And right now, he wants Sienna. Their arrangement should be simple cold, transactional, without emotion. But from the moment she steps into his world, the lines begin to blur. Sienna challenges him in ways no one ever has. And the more he tries to keep his distance, the more obsessed he becomes. What starts as a deal quickly turns into something far more dangerous something neither of them are prepared for. Because in this game of power and passion, the greatest risk isn’t losing control. It’s falling in love.

On the night of her eighteenth birthday, Nyx’s world shattered. Her parents celebrated her twin sister and ignored her entirely, a final insult after years of coldness and favoritism. Humiliated and aching to escape, she walked straight into Basque—the city’s most dangerous club. There, under flashing lights and the pull of reckless music, she caught the eye of a man everyone feared—the ruthless mafia boss who owned the night. One drink, one touch, one reckless decision… and by morning, he was gone. A month later, Nyx learned that she was pregnant. Her family’s rejection turned vicious, and she was cast out with nothing but her shame and the child growing inside her. Six years of struggle followed—cheap apartments, dead-end jobs, and a daughter who became her only reason to fight. Then fate threw him back into her life. A chance encounter. A cold stare. A card pressed into her hand. Days later, tragedy struck—her little girl was left clinging to life after a hit-and-run. Desperate and out of options, Nyx went to the only man who could save her… unaware he was the father. His price? "Give me your body,and I'll give you money" Now, Nyx must decide to sell her body to the devil who destroyed her, or watch the only person she loves slip away. But in the shadows of power and lust, nothing is as simple as a deal. And the devil always collects more than you owe.