This Is Not Goodbye

Mom accidentally adds me into a group chat called "Happy Family". In the group chat, I saw Mom, Dad, and a stranger who's nicknamed "sweetheart". They are in the middle of organizing a birthday party for him. However, the thing is, tomorrow will be my birthday, which they have forgotten for the tenth time in a row. Mom says, "The venue must be dreamy. I want him to feel like an actual prince." Dad transfers a huge sum of money to "sweetheart". "Money is no problem! Just don't let Christopher find out about this. It'll screw things up for us!" I quietly take screenshots of everything, planning to find a chance to expose my parents' true colors and end everything with them once and for all. At that moment, my younger sister, who's always been great at her studies, sends me a screenshot via our private chat. It's a screenshot of the chat history between her and Mom. "Mom, have you made preparations for Christopher's surprise party yet? You promised me that this is the last time you'd lie to him!"

My adoptive brother, Don Cassian. I loved him. The rival family drugged him. He had me pinned down. His hands on my breasts. He was hard, his eyes filled with a desperate hunger for me. But I shoved him off. Ran out the door. And called my best friend, Camilla. "Cassian's in the master bedroom. Get here. Now." I locked myself in the bathroom, letting the cold water wash away the fire he’d started in me. I remembered the last time. In my past life, when Cassian kissed me, I didn't say no. We made love all night. I thought my ten-year crush was finally mine. Then came St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Vitelli family's sapphire ring, passed down for three generations. The blessing of the Elders. I had everything I ever wanted. But the day after the wedding, I got the news. My best friend, Camilla, was dead. An overdose of antidepressants in her apartment. I was on the phone, crying for her, when a knife went through my chest from behind. I turned. It was Cassian, his face twisted with hate. "If you hadn't blackmailed me with those ledgers—if you hadn't forced your way into my bed—Camilla would still be alive. You have to pay for this!" That's when I understood. He never married me for love. It was all because of a whisper from Camilla: "Aurora controls the family's money. She can ruin you with a phone call." And a warning from the Elders: "Don, you must marry her. She knows too much." So this time, I stepped aside. I let them have each other. But why? Why did he come after me, his eyes red, looking like he'd lost his mind? "Aurora," he begged. "Why don't you love me anymore?"

Stella was heartbroken, she is pregnant and her husband who was supposed to love and cherish her and took in his first love Mary who was also pregnant and forgot about her existence, he forgot her peanut allergy just because the first love loves peanuts causing her to end up in the hospital. Andrew her husband kicked her out of the master bedroom to stay in it with his first love and then when she thought he had done enough, he exchanged her and gave her to kidnappers to get Mary to safety and she lost her child in the struggle but a mafia boss came to rescue her. “Marry me and be my contract wife for a year, I will pay you well,” Jonathan the mafia boss said and she accepted.

I stood between both of them masking my son from his gorgeous daddy but my stubborn son cocked his head and gave his dad a very beautiful sunburnt smile. I couldn't help but chuckle my baby is too cute. "Mommy, is this Daddy?" Oh my God! I looked behind us at Jale who was only a few steps away from us. I bet he clearly heard what my son had just asked me. The was he was looking at me with curiousty, I knew he wanted an answer to that question too. Who am I even kidding from his viking gold hair, brown chocolate eyes, his fair skin, to proud attitude. Everything he was was the same thing my boy was. Chase was a true young version of his daddy but I would never let him know that. I crouched down in front of my angel and kissed his forehead before answering his question. My eyes shot up at Jale again who pretended like he was looking at something on his phone yet his phone's screen was blank then. After making sure he had his attention to us, I cupped my baby's cheeks and made him look into my eyes. "No honey, this man is not your daddy but uncle. He is uncle Jale." I could see Jale's face fall from the sides of my face. Suck a jerk! What did he expect that I was going to say Chase is his son. That is something I would never do in my life. I would never let Jale into my son's life. I will never let him know he is my baby's daddy because he doesn't deserve my little boy at all. He doesn't deserve us after all the horrible things he did to me five years ago.

How do you turn your life interesting overnight? No idea, but it probably doesn't involve falling through a mirror into another world after popping a pimple... Maisie was your average introvert, looking for a bit of spice in her life. That's probably why she ignored the warning signs that the mirror was more than it seemed. The $5 price tag on a full-length mirror probably should have been a hint, too.

Tamara Winslow stands amid the crowd while clutching two different documents in her hand. One of them shows a diagnosis report on her alexithymia, while the other showcases a divorce agreement. Three hours ago, she had specifically visited the Clerk's Office because the hospital's system had shown her marital status as "divorced". The city clerk looks up at her. "Ma'am, it's true that you and Mr. Braxton Merrick got divorced three years ago." Tamara's expression freezes on her face. "How could that be? We got married three years ago!" The city clerk checks the details once again. This time, he adapts a rather awkward tone. "The results are correct. It's true that you got divorced three years ago. In fact, it took place… on the seventh second right after you got married…"

On the day Andrew Selwyn is elected as the pack's Beta, we promise to have our bonding ceremony a month later. Seven days away from the ceremony, he suddenly decides to pursue his first love, Lucy Grimm. He wants to make up for the time they had lost apart. If he gets back together with Lucy, he hopes I will give them my blessing. If he can't win her over, he'd let go of his obsession and return to complete the ceremony. He'd spend the rest of his life loving and protecting me. Gazing at his sincere expression, I smile and say, "Alright. As long as it makes you happy, I won't stop you." The moment he turns and leaves, I can no longer hold back my tears. All along, Andrew's heart belonged to someone else. Later, I contact my best friend, Selena Jones, through the mind link. "My bonding ceremony has been canceled," I say flatly, my voice thick with helplessness. "Didn't you want me to lead the research team at your institute out of town? I'll do it. When do we leave?"

Today was my birthday—the day Jason promised he would propose. Instead, I found him in bed with my cousin. My heart shattered into a million pieces. I had grown up in my uncle and aunt’s house after losing my parents, enduring their cruelty and coldness, and Jason had been the only light in my dark world. Now even he sided with the people who had tormented me the most. As if betrayal weren’t enough, my own family drugged me, planning to hand me over to some man to secure a business deal. I thought my life was over—until fate intervened. I ended up in the bed of Adrian, Jason’s untouchable, powerful uncle.  One night changed everything. I had decided to bury it forever in my heart, but he grabbed my wrist and said slowly, “If all you need is a marriage… how about we get married?”

A car accident left my mother-in-law bleeding and desperate for help, but her plea was heartlessly rejected by her own daughter. Even on her deathbed, my mother-in-law's only wish was to see her one last time. However, she was busy staying by her first love's side, euthanizing his dog. "You better stay as far away from me as possible! My mom's perfectly fine!" she shouted before hanging up on me, only to spend the night tangled with her first love in a hotel room. It was not until after the cremation ceremony that she returned—carrying a birthday cake. What greeted her was not a celebration but her mother's funeral. She cried, sobbing uncontrollably, "Mom! You haven't even celebrated my birthday yet! Don't leave me!" I stared at her and pulled the divorce papers from my bag. How fitting. This time, I was leaving too.

Mary Preston and her family fled to another country, leaving everything behind. Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by unfamiliar faces, in a foreign land, speaking a language she didn’t understand. A few years later, at the tender age of 19, she ended up married to Maximus Palmer, the grandson of the powerful Catherine Palmer. Mary loved him with all her heart, but he never felt the same. He married her out of obligation, not out of love. One misunderstanding after another pushed their marriage into a downward spiral, filled with infidelity, abuse, and endless disillusionment. For years, Mary lived under the shadow of another woman, enduring the pain until she finally found the courage to ask for a divorce. Her decision took Maximus by surprise, and he refused to let her go. But fate had other plans, and a tragic event forced the divorce to happen sooner than anyone expected. Afterward, Mary tried to rebuild her life, hoping to find love again and happiness that would last. But the scars from her past made it hard for her to trust or believe in love again. She faced many moments of anguish, sadness, and loneliness. Yet, through it all, she slowly began to find herself and step back into the light. Perhaps this time, she wouldn’t have to face everything alone. Maybe someone new would come into her life, someone who could be her rock and her reason to live. Although she learned that the past was never truly left behind, she also discovered that with a strong foundation, even the most broken things could still stand tall. Life had taught her about the three kinds of love: the one that teaches you how to love, the one you wished was yours but wasn’t meant to be, and the one you never saw coming that heals your wounds and brings true happiness.