The Mother I Could Have Been

When her rich roommate invited Olive to her summer home for spring break, she had one request. Do not sleep with my brother. How hard is going to be to comply to that request? And what will be the fall out if she doesn't?

My mother has volunteered at our neighborhood church for over a decade. Christmas drives, Sunday service, any neighbor in trouble, she's the first one there. Everyone says God sent her to us. She thinks so too. She says God wants her to be generous, so she is. The thing is, when no one's watching, the generosity always comes out of my pocket. After she remarried, she doted on my half-sister Serena. Serena picked up a box of cold medicine for her, and Mom handed Serena the keys to my Tesla. Serena mentioned she needed to renew her car insurance, and Mom wired her the surgery fund I'd been saving for two years for my daughter Emma. That afternoon, Emma collapsed on the floor, lips turning blue, gasping for air. Her medicine was crushed into the carpet. Mom fished the last pill out of her pocket and dangled it in front of me. "Apologize to your sister, and I'll give Emma the pill." I got on my knees. But that same day, she gave away the cardiology appointment I'd spent three months getting. She gave it to Serena. What she didn't know was that the name on the appointment was her own.

When my husband and I drop by his childhood home for Christmas dinner, my mother-in-law, Melissa Potter, is the only one busying away in the kitchen. Everyone else is on their phones. I've just taken a seat when Melissa begins to lecture me. "What, are you just going to sit your ass down and wait for food to come? Don't you know when to lend a helping hand? Am I supposed to exhaust myself for your sake?" From time to time, she keeps rattling the pots and pans loudly. "I can't believe those with healthy bodies want a 70-year-old like me to serve them! Does anyone here have any conscience?" Feeling a little uneasy, I gave my husband a tiny nudge. "Why don't you help Mom out?" After Melissa hears my suggestion, she gets even more pissed off. Thinking that this is my first Christmas with my in-laws, I don't really want to cause a scene here, so I get up to my feet and help her out. But the moment I enter the kitchen, Melissa delegates all the tasks to me. I endure my fury as much as I can while finishing the Christmas dinner preparations. When I'm about to head back to the dining table and dig in, Melissa suddenly speaks up. "Hold up. We got scores to settle before dinner."

My mother-in-law brings a woman from the countryside. She looks like she's up to no good when she asks my husband and I to care for the woman. My husband is a mama's boy through and through. His gaze darts around, and he doesn't object to his mother's words. Is it a trend nowadays for people to serve mistresses on a silver platter? It looks like I'll have to do my best in "caring" for them, then…

Angela spends all her life adhering to all her father's wishes for her, even when it went against hers. She was forced to marry Leo, the mayor's son in order to save the life of the one she loves. Seeing that her marriage was hell, she decided to reunite with the love of her life, putting their both lives at risk.

Lois Marrok was never meant to live. Her stepmother and stepsister stole everything from her with a forbidden wolf-brothering ritual—her wolf, her mate, her destiny. They branded her a sinner, and her mate; the man who should have protected her cast her aside in disgust… Not recognizing their mate bond. Alpha King Karl, cursed and ruthless, made her his slave. Wolf-less, degraded, and unwanted, Lois became the object of his hate, his punishment, his pleasure. Until the torment became unbearable and she ran—swearing never to bow again. But fate was crueler than Karl’s hands. Lois carried with her the one secret that could shatter him—the heirs he believed he would never have. Six unborn children, the throne’s salvation, hidden in the womb of the woman he despises. Now Karl will hunt her. Not for love. Not for forgiveness. But to reclaim what is his—his heirs, his legacy, his power. And Lois will fight him. With her body, her blood, and the fire of a woman who has nothing left to lose.

My mother-in-law, Susan Thorne, was trapped in a fire, and her life was in grave danger. She called me for help. When I arrived, I saw a male actor, Maximus Lance, pouring gasoline onto the fire for a variety show’s effect. I tried to stop him, but he simply threw a lawyer’s letter in my face and said, “Who are you to mess with our show’s filming? I’ll sue you into bankruptcy!” I smashed the camera and yelled that someone was still inside. The male actor just lit a cigarette nonchalantly and said, “So? My wife is the fire chief. She’s the one who told them to light this fire. “Even if someone’s in there, it’s probably just a nobody. She can fix it.” I saw the ring on his finger. It was the ring I thought would be mine. I scoffed and dialed 911. “Hello? I want to report someone for deliberate arson and attempted murder at an abandoned factory.”

When Ava Harrison hide behind the wooden drink cart, she never expects to hear her world unravel word by word. Married for three years to Marcus Moretti, the cold but captivating heir to an international luxury conglomerate, Ava has sacrificed everything, her dreams, her dignity, even her health—to love and support him. But the man she trusted has been lying. And worse? He's been doing it with her sister, Sophia. With a positive pregnancy test clutched in one hand and her dignity in the other, Ava walks away from the man who never truly saw her. But the world won't let her go easily. Not when she's carrying the Moretti twins heir. Ava disappears, not just from Marcus's world but from everything she's known. She changes her identity, finds unlikely allies—including a mysterious masked man with a dark past—and begins a quiet life in Canada. But Marcus refuses to let her go. As he unravels the truth—that Ava was the one who saved his life years ago, not Sophia—he spirals into guilt and obsession. But Ava is no longer the naïve girl who cried in silence. She's determined to protect her unborn children at all costs. And when fate forces her to cross paths with Marcus again, both are pulled into a storm of regret, revenge, and revelations that will tear their world apart. Love, betrayal, and the strength to rebuild— This is a rollercoaster of emotions, laced with secrets, seduction, and the quiet resilience of a woman who finally chooses herself.

She woke up married to a man she doesn’t remember choosing. Everyone says she loved him enough to sign away her life. He says she’s always been his. But Elara remembers only fear… and rain. That night, Mr. Quinn found her beneath the storm—broken, fading, barely alive. And everything she thought she knew about her life began to unravel from there. Her past? A lie. Her enemies? Still watching. And Mr. Quinn… is the only man who ever came for her when no one else did. Now he’s not letting her go. Not even the truth can take her from him.

The day before the final round of Beta selection, I was poisoned with wolfsbane and locked inside my burning house. The fire spread too fast, and my weakened state prevented me from shifting. My wolf, Emma, screamed in my mind, but I couldn't escape. I clawed at the door as the flames seared my skin. When I was rescued, my body was covered in burns, my skin raw and torn. Outside the operating room, I heard my mother sobbing, repeating, “It’s my fault... I locked the door by accident... I never meant to...” Alpha David, my mate, called for every healer to restore me, but his cold words to my mother were chilling: “If Serina wasn’t so vain and selfish, I wouldn’t have had to do this. Becky was fragile, struggling with depression, yet Serina flaunted her success in front of her. This is what Serina owes her.” David’s actions were meant to pave the way for Becky to become Beta, but I was the one who suffered. He claimed to be treating me well, but destroying my health and future didn’t feel like care. I pressed my hand to my bandaged chest, the numbness spreading. Emma growled inside me, weakened by the wolfsbane. I no longer wanted the love of the mother who betrayed me or the mate who was supposed to protect me. I wanted nothing from them anymore.