The World After The End

As I head to see my boyfriend, Howard Schultz, who is working late, I get into a car accident. I call him dozens of times for help, but he doesn't answer a single one. Staring at his brightly lit office building not far away, I sink into despair. When I wake up in the hospital, I see a post from his subordinate. It's a picture showing the reflection of the two of them in the glass door, standing far closer than they should, with the caption, "What do I do when my boss is scolding me late at night?" Unwilling to believe it, I call him again. This time, he finally answers. My voice trembles. "Howard, I got into a car accident…" "Celine, I'm still working. I'll send my assistant to take care of it, okay? Be good. I'll see you after I come back from my business trip." I try to say more, but his angry shout suddenly cuts through the line. "Crystal Jennings! You're only allowed to bring one suitcase for this trip. Why do you have three? Do you think we're going on vacation?" Crystal Jennings—the new intern Howard just hired. I stare at the disconnected call, tears drying on my cheeks. I then call my parents instead. "I agree to the engagement you arranged."

I had been Silas Sterling's mate for seven years. We decided to get tattoos of each other's names. This was a Binding Tattoo that represented eternal love in the Moonstone Wolf pack. It had the power to bind mates eternally. When I got the tattoo, I realized the malicious words 'Public Male Amenity' had been tattooed on my chest. It chilled me to the bone. My adopted sister, Greta Pound, was the one who tattooed me. She covered her mouth as she laughed. "Don't you always enjoy attracting the attention of all the male werewolves by dressing so skimpily in the pack, Freya? I'm just helping you to publicize this." Greta was a female werewolf I had saved. Why was she treating me this way when I treated her like my sister? I grabbed her hair angrily, but Silas pushed me violently to the side as he pulled Greta protectively into his arms. He frowned as he berated me unhappily, "Greta was just joking with you. Why are you so mad about it?" I stared at his bare chest where my name should be tattooed. However, the name 'Greta' was there instead. She looked up at me from Silas' arms and smiled innocently yet tauntingly at me. "Silas said our names rhymed, Freya, so I played a joke by tattooing my name on him. You aren't mad about this, are you?"

After spending the past month working overtime and burning the midnight oil every day, I finally closed a business deal that's worth 50 million dollars before the company's annual dinner. My boss, William Lewis, begins giving away the end-of-the-year bonuses with a wide smile on his face. "The finance director helped our company save three million dollars worth of taxes. He will receive a villa by the river as a gift." "The head of IT led the team and solved various difficult problems. He shall receive 200 thousand dollars in cash." "Lily Lane, the receptionist, has always shown a great attitude whenever she greets the clients. She shall receive a Hermes bag." When it's my turn, I wipe the sweat off my palms before accepting my bonus. But upon opening the giftbox, I see three entrance tickets to the local zoo instead. "You must be sick of receiving commissions all the time as the sales director. Why don't you take advantage of this holiday to spend some quality time with your family?" On the way home, I dial a number. "Mr. Skylar, there's a problem with the 50-million-dollar contract. Let's discuss it later."

Reyna Cage, a devoted housewife who has always strived to keep her marriage alive, finds her husband cheating on her. She demands a divorce because she's tired and can't continue with the marriage but Alexander refuses. Reyna leaves the house in tears and she collides with a stroke of luck that changed her life drastically. Three years later, Reyna returns and Alexander Cage is in a jaw-dropping shock when his wife gets announced as Mrs. Reyna Hudson, the sole heir to the Hudson vast fortunes. How is Alexander going to take this news? Would he believe it or would he realize his past mistakes and ask for a second chance? A chance to turn all his wrongs into right and become a changed person for good. A chance to treat her better than the way he did before, to love, care, and remain a faithful perfect husband towards her? Would Reyna grant him this chance?

"Little wolf, I'm sorry, but there is pack business to be dealt with." Raven's phone interrupts our fifth anniversary dinner. As his mate and Luna of the Silver Moon Pack, I have grown accustomed to such disappointments. But when I discover his "pack business" was to comfort his dead Beta's widow—his former flame Astrid—my perfect world begins to crumble. *** Sylvia thought she had everything: a powerful position as Luna, a responsible and loving Alpha mate, with only her inability to conceive casting a shadow over their happiness. But Astrid's calculated manipulations shatter these illusions one by one, pushing Sylvia toward an abyss she never saw coming. The man she thought loved her unconditionally repeatedly chooses another, and even her fertility struggles seem to hide darker secrets. "You're still my Luna," Raven whispers, his touch both familiar and foreign. "Nothing has changed." "Everything has changed," Sylvia responds, her voice breaking. "You chose her over me, again and again."

During a train ride, I happen to notice an intimidating-looking man staring at his phone while seated next to me. Surprisingly enough, an R-rated scene is playing out on his screen. Out of the kindness of my heart, I remind the man not to watch such things in a public setting. Without raising his head, he replies coldly, "This is the security footage of my home." Feeling very awkward, I quickly apologize to him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that. I'm really sorry." Just as I'm about to say something else, the male protagonist of the footage suddenly raises his head. At that moment, I feel my blood going cold in my veins. After all, he's Reynolds Mitchell, the fiance with whom I'm supposed to partake in a mating ceremony next month.

Jems Dawson thought she had a normal life until a powerful mafia boss set his sights on the empire her great-grandparents had built. To force her family into surrendering everything, Don Emilio makes Jems his target, since she is the only child of Richard and Emily Dawson. Assigned a mysterious bodyguard for her protection, Jems is unaware that he is more connected to her than anyone could ever imagine. What Jems doesn’t know is that the danger surrounding her is only the beginning. As secrets buried deep within her father’s past begin to surface, everything she thought she knew about her family starts to unravel. Amidst the chaos, she finds herself drawn to the hottest boy in Lincoln High School, the one she hates the most, Ethan Raynolds, who is known for being cold-hearted. He helps her during her darkest moments, showing her a side of himself she never knew existed. Will she embrace this newfound love, or hold on to the enmity she’s always had toward him?

In the third year of my relationship with Jason Chase, he told me he wanted to give me an unforgettable birthday. I never expected that that would mean pressing me onto the icy ground and letting other men humiliate me. I lifted my head with difficulty, trembling as I clutched at the hem of his pants. I asked, "Jason… why?" He looked at me with contempt and kicked me away without any hesitation. He said icily and ruthlessly, "Christine Light, this is for Lisa. I've been waiting a long time to avenge her." I closed my eyes as my heart shattered into a million pieces. Later, just as he wished, I decided to end my life. But then, he broke down in tears, begging me not to leave him.

Three days after my boyfriend’s adopted sister died a tragic death, I clutched a so-called "hush money" check in my hand and became an accomplice in everyone’s eyes. My boyfriend once knelt in the pouring rain to beg me, and his sister’s five-year-old daughter cried and begged me to testify, but I refused them both. Ten years later, when I was dying of cancer, my boyfriend had become a billionaire. The first thing he did upon returning to the country was to forcibly extract my memories, even though I would suffer endless pain. "Elara, you vain, heartless monster! Lily and I must have been blind to ever treat you like family!" "Lily has been dead for ten years, and you’ve been walking free with that dirty money the whole time!" "Today, I’m going to find out exactly who paid you off—the person you protected just for money!" My boyfriend held a press conference to publicly crucify me for my crimes. But after seeing the whole truth, he went completely insane.

On the day I was kidnapped, my husband was looking after his sick sweetheart. I called him, asking him for help. Yet, he merely replied coldly, "Danica, you are a bad liar." After that, he heartlessly hung up the phone call on me, causing me to get brutally murdered by the kidnappers. I failed to show up as scheduled on the day we agreed to finalize our divorce. He called me in exasperation, only for the phone call to be answered by the police. "Mr. Ferguson, are you a family member of the deceased Danica Reed?"