Thirty-four

BLURB Maya Chen thought the worst day of her life was when her husband Ethan Hart divorced her after three years of marriage, replacing her with her best friend Vanessa. But when the world ends in an extreme cold apocalypse weeks later, Maya realizes her personal hell was only the beginning. Given a second chance when she mysteriously wakes up one month before her wedding, Maya has thirty days to rewrite her fate. She must decide whether to save the people who will betray her, whether to trust the dangerous investigator who offers her revenge, and whether to warn a world that won't believe her about the frozen doom coming for them all. As temperatures plummet and civilization crumbles, Maya discovers that survival isn't just about stockpiling supplies. It's about choosing who deserves to live and who deserves to freeze. And when Ethan realizes what he's lost and comes crawling back, Maya will have to decide if some betrayals are worth forgiving—or if revenge is a dish best served frozen.

When Callum abandoned me, feverish and shivering on a mountain road, just to watch a meteor shower with the young woman he had raised, I decided to divorce him. His good friend, Emmet, advised him to try winning me back. "Look Cal, sisters are sisters, but a wife takes priority. You’d better not mix up what matters most." Callum, however, dismissed the idea with a confident smile. "She’s bluffing. Does she really think she’ll go through with the divorce?" "All these years, I’ve given her a place to belong. Without me, she wouldn’t even have a home. Leave me? She wouldn’t dare.  "Just wait. Before the cooling-off period ends, she’ll come back crying and begging me to take her in."  But thirty days passed, and I never looked back. While he scoured the world searching for me, I sipped tea in a misty mountain villa, utterly at peace. "James," I remarked to my step-brother, "your place truly feels like home."

On my birthday, my boyfriend gave me a pearl bracelet and claimed it would bring wealth. I did not believe it. However, just a few days later, I actually won 15 million dollars. I happily went to claim my prize, but the very next day, my bank balance vanished overnight. Not only that, I was left paralyzed from the waist down, and my appearance aged by thirty years! I cried and went to my boyfriend for help, only to find out that he, once poor, was then driving a sports car. His paralyzed sister miraculously stood up overnight, while even his sixty-year-old mother transformed into a young woman, as if reborn. I confronted him, asking if the pearl bracelet was cursed. He shoved me to the ground, saying, "What kind of crazy person are you? I think you've watched too much TV and lost your mind!" After dying in anger, I was reborn on my birthday. My boyfriend eyed me with ill intent, holding a pearl bracelet in his hand, preparing to put it on me...

HEIR-that is the only thing that Elijah Theodore Martinez, thirty, needs. An heir who can secure all the wealth of his wealthy family. But the problem is that the heir is the only thing he wants, not a mother for his baby or a woman who can make his bed warm. He doesn't want any commitment or relationship with any woman because, for him, all women are the same as his mother. All women are trash and don't deserve any ounce of love from men. A woman is a user like his mother, who left him and his father when his father experienced a financial breakdown. All women are only a thing for him that he can use when he needs them, but throw away easily when he doesn't need them at all. Until he met Eliana Grace Herrera, twenty-seven, a breadwinner for her five younger siblings, who were left with her when their parents died in a car accident. For her, she will do everything for her siblings, even becoming the billionaire's surrogate.

For four years, I was in a secret relationship with Luke Collins. Even his closest friends had no clue. But everything changed when his first love returned. His friends started betting on when he'd break up with his girlfriend. "Right now." I blurted out. I knew because I was about to walk into an arranged marriage with someone else.

Carla Davis, one of the four assistants in the protocol department of a large investment consortium, never imagined having to marry the CEO of the company, The Big Boss, as many called the handsome and single Maximiliano Bastidas. At the same time, she never imagined having to be tied to him for a whole year, much less that he would be her father's enemy, also becoming hers own.

In my tenth year of marriage, my old childhood friend, Joshua Sears, posts a photo on social media. Both Joshua and my wife, Sabrina Lawson, are hugging his son, Andy Sears, and my daughter, Tiana Jenkins, in it. The four of them look very close to each other. The caption accompanying the post says, "Blessed to have the perfect son and daughter." I leave a comment below the post, saying, "Looking good together." A few seconds later, the post is deleted. The next morning, Sabrina rushes home and yells at me. "Ashton Jenkins! Joshua was finally feeling better for once. Why did you have to trigger him again?" Tiana shoves me hard and snaps in an accusatory tone, "It's all your fault that Andy's crying now!" I take out a copy of the divorce agreement and slam it down before them. "Yes, it's all my fault. That's why I'm stepping out of the picture now. Then, the four of you can form the wholesome family you've always wanted."

When Skylar North's twin brother, Valerian North, the only alpha wolf in the North family, is suddenly found dead with a suicide note attached to his body after just two months in the prestigious Alpha high school, Rosendale, his only remaining family, Skylar has questions. Her brother wrote to her every day, and they had so many plans, even on the day he had died. It was impossible that he would kill himself after telling her how much he couldn't wait for the break so he could come home. Taking a leap of faith, she disguises herself as a man and enrols herself into the school, leaving her family name behind. At first, her mission was only to find answers to her questions, but soon, and very dramatically, she gets involved with a clique of four Alphas in training, including the only hybrid shifter, Alpha Eros. Now, she has to navigate her feelings and the gnawing evidence that one of these four princes of Rosendale could be behind her brother's murder.

Skylar Miller, a 21 year old daughter of a drug addict, always loved her boyfriend, Ray in her own way despite always being busy. They have been together for four years, and he suddenly dumped her and it was all her boss's fault. Zane Hills, was the most ruthless CEO and the most powerful, influential and richest in the whole country. After schooling abroad most years of his life, he came back four years ago and took Skylar as his secretary ever since. Accidentally having a one night stand with Skylar when drunk, he proposed a fake marriage contract. She would help him keep blind dates his mother was setting up for him away while she could get the life of comfort without stressing about money which she wanted. But he started to realize he was drawn to her despite agreeing to never fall in love with each other. How long would he be able to resist her? And with danger and dark forces lurking around, would they be able to fight for their love?

Every time my husband cheated, he gave me a bracelet. I collected 99 bracelets in four years of marriage—I forgave him 99 times. He was away on a business trip for three days lately. When he came back, he brought home a rare bracelet worth Ten Million Dollars. That was when I knew it was time to ask for a divorce.